SCIENCE-GOSSIP 



i8i 



MOLLUSrA 



(■OM>r< TKU liV Wn IKEli MARK WKHB, K.I..S. 



Two RKMAKKAUi.vi-oRMlcii Snaii.s. — In a larfjo 

 yciicral coUcctinn of shells recemly acciuircd ijy 

 Messrs. Soux-rl)}' ami Kiillon appcareil iwo curious 

 monstrositiL's. Tlie lirsi is Uic chimin >ii snail, //.7/.v 

 aspftsa Miillur, with ihc whorls complulcly separalcil. 

 For a monstrosity ihc I'urm of the shell is remarkahly 

 regular, and it is so freshly coloured that it does not 

 sugc;est anylhiny; in the shape of a malady. The 

 second is af. elongated example of Ficlix Tvrj/ni'n/a/a 

 Miiller, a very common European snail. This 

 specimen is perhaps further removed from the normal 

 form of its species than the last, its diameter heing 

 usually considerably greater than its length. This 

 is a case of accident in the early youth of the snail, 

 the eflects of which are very apparent in the first 

 w horli of the shell. The injury will readily account 

 for the abnormality of its later growth. Both shells 

 are labelled " I'rance," but no inl'ormation is given as 

 to the e.\act localities in which they were found. The 

 .accompanying photographs are by Mr. W. M. Webb. 

 — G. B. Si'-ari/n: 



whole of one side of the shells, leaving the other per- 

 fect. They were collected after the manner of //. 

 lumoialis round a " thrush stone." I'lanorhis 

 iiiaii>iiialiis, /'. laiiiia/iis, /'. vortex, and /'. all'iis. 

 I'isiilhiin foiilinale, and /'. aiiniiiiiii ; S/>Aai:rtiim 

 aiiymiim, very fine, S. laciistre, and S. riviiola, 

 abtmdant in spots and fine, Aiiodonla iy,i;iieiis, and 

 the form called analiiia of C'nio pidoniin, and C 

 /iiiiiiJiis, the latter of the two far uutnumhcring the 

 former. — (AVf. )y. //'. Horsley, St, I'iter's Rcctoiy^ 

 Walworth, S.E. 



N'lCW LOCAI.nV ITIR Cl.AL'SIl.lA Hir'I.ICATA. — 

 Hammersmith is the locality given in the older books 

 on Ijritish land and freshwater shells for Claiisilia 

 bifiliiata Mont. ; but failing to find specimens there, 

 the writer met with better success lower down the 

 river at I'utney. The swamp in w hich the .shell used 

 to be found in profusion having been rechiimed, 

 I'utney can no longer be considered a habitat for this 

 rare British snail (.S.-G., Vol. ii., N.S., p. 207). 

 Hearing recently that Claiisilia bipticata had been 

 collected higher up the liver at MortlaUe, the writer 

 made a search, and can w ith pleasure say that it is by 

 no means rare there, anil was found by him in an 

 active state in the middle of October. From the 

 same spot apparently came the white specimens 

 exhibited not long ago before the Conchological Society, 

 on behalf of Mr. G. E. Mason, who found them, and 

 which form the subject of a note in the current 

 "Journal of Conchology." — Wilfred Af. H'eili. 



lIlii.l.K Asi'[.:rsa vak. Exai.iuda. — Until recently 

 I had always had some doubt about the statement on 

 p. 63 of the second edition of Mr. Lionel Adams' 

 .Manual of lirilish Land and Freshwater Shells, to 

 the elVect that the variety " exalbida is local, but often 

 not uncommon where it occurs, especially in the West 

 of England and in Kent." I have had many oppor- 

 tunities of finding this form in Kent, but during over 

 twenty years' experience of that county, have found 

 two specimens only. Neither has it occurred during 

 infrequent visits to the West of England. Not 



Helix Vermiculata. Monstrosity. 

 Till-: Oi.ii Bed of the Lea. — The field-club 

 excursions of the London branch of the Conchological 

 Society to the old bed of the river Lea, at I'arU, 

 Tottenham, showed what a wealth of moUusc.an life 

 there existed, and now has been utterly destroyed by 

 the diversion of the stream in the formation of some 

 huge reservoirs for the East London Water Company. 

 In many places the bed was covered with shells, 

 amongst which were noticed Sinri/iea ele^'aiis, fine 

 but decorticated; Vi-'ipara vivipara, the green 

 baiulless variety being by no means rare ; Neritiiia 

 jUrrialilis, varying much in colour from a black and 

 white tesselatcd form, to a pretty crimson one. 

 Many also were tril^i.sciated ; Valrata pisiiiialis : 

 Bythinia leiitaculata and its var. alba and a few 

 specimens showing a pathological (?) white line on 

 the periphery ; /.iiiiiiaea peres^er ; L. aiiriciilaria, I., 

 paliistris, not common, and L, slagnalis. (Jf the 

 last some were vety thin shelled and showed marked 

 ribs or slriations, and one or two specimens found by me 

 were beautifully banded with white, riaiior/iis ivnieiis 

 w.as plentiful, but local, and several places were 

 fnmd fovered with its slv lis which h.id been eaten 

 I'rob.ibly by /M;'isi!is mar^'iiial.'s [See "Journal of 

 Mal.icology," Vol. vi., p. 30] by th.- removal of the 



Helix Aspersa, Monstrosity. 



anv of my correspondents have mentioned it as being 

 freijuent in their localities. On a visit, however, to 

 the Lincolnshire Coast sand-dunes from Septemlier 

 29th to October 3rd, I found a number of the varictv 

 exalbida, which appeared in the proportion of about 

 seventeen per cent, of the examples of H. aspersa 

 ob.served. .Many were turned out from their hidings 

 during hibernation. Unfortunately, most of the 

 specimens were badly eroded. Dissection of the eyes 

 displayed only the usual colour, neither did the 

 animals themselves indicate albinism. — Jo/iii JT". 

 Carriiigton, /lo, Strand, Lo::c'or.. 



