23 24 Proceedings of the Roi/al Irish Academy. 



until found in Inishbofin during the present survey. Thus its abundance at 

 Cross Abbey is interesting. 



The fact that Helicella intersecta occurred on the pensinula did not surprise 

 me, but I was astonished to find that all the specimens which I saw in this 

 district belonged to the small form which I had hitherto associated with the 

 central limestone plain. The large or western form being common at Louis- 

 burgh, Curraun, and on Clare Island, I expected to find the same form on 

 The Mullet. Some authorities on the Continent have regarded these two 

 forms as distinct species, referring the larger one to the H. intersecta of 

 Poiret 1 and the smaller one to the H. striata of Draparnaud (non Muller). 

 The type of H. caperata, Mont, woidd appear to be the latter shell. 



In the graveyard at Cross Abbey, Helix nemoralis occurred abundantly, 

 but three forms only were observed in this locality. Of these the var. citri- 

 nozonata, accounted for about sixty per cent, of the total, typical specimens 

 for about twenty-five per cent., while the remainder were of a bandless yellow 

 form with bright purple lip. A peculiar feature of this last form — common 

 in many of the western sand-hills — is that the lip is not reflected, and its 

 colour scarcely shows upon the exterior. Thus it gives one the impression 

 of either an immature or a malformed example. Aplecta hyp-norum, which I 

 have been unable to find upon any of the islands, is common in many places, 

 and occurs even in the extreme southern portion of the peninsula. 2 



That this species may have at one time existed on all or some of the 

 islands seems not improbable. To judge by its habits, its existence in any 

 isolated district must always be precarious, as a severe spell of dry weather 

 might exterminate it. Upon the mainland of Ireland and in England this 

 shell has the reputation of appearing and disappearing at intervals — a 

 phenomenon which could not happen easily upon islands. The form of 

 Limnaea peregcr occurring in Cross Lough is a very elegant one (Plate II, 

 fig. 24), with a high spire and strong opaque white shell. Some few years 

 ago Pi. LI. Praeger collected a similar form of this shell on Xorth Inishkea, 

 which island lies off the coast of The Mullet. Palv.destrina stagnalis and 

 P. ventrosa were taken in Lough Learn, into which the sea rises at high 

 water. 



1 The synonymy of this gronp of shells has been so muddled that it is now quite impossible to 

 be certain of the identity of Poiret's species. This has led to the adoption of Montagu's name by 

 many authorities. 



2 Dr. Seharff mentions this species from Achill Island (Irish Nat., i, 151), but this is seemingly 

 an error. He was then under the impression that J. G. Milne had recorded the species from that 

 island (Journal of Conchy vi, 413), but Milne says that it is not to be met with west of Xewport ; a 

 statement which my work in the latter district appears to Terify, though to the south of Clew Bay 

 A. hypnorum is frequently met with to the extreme points of the mainland. 



