440 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



is to a depth in the shale of about three inches it measures externally 

 round the shell about one inch and a half, but at a depth of eight 

 inches it measures three and two-eighths of an inch round the shell 

 at the widest part. The hole of the young one from the outside was 

 not visible, but the hole of the second example was about half an inch, 

 and the large one was a little wider. The method by which Pholas 

 makes its hole in the rock or shale is as follows : — As soon as the 

 Pholas gets underneath the deposit that is lying on the rock it begins 

 to bore with its foot until it gets a cavity, then it moves its foot 

 round and round, sucking away all the time, and pumping out the 

 sand or shale with its siphons. As it grows larger it finds its hole 

 too small for its siphons ; it then uses its siphons to make its hole 

 larger, when the Pholas is able to bore with its fleshy siphons up- 

 wards, so that it can bore with its fleshy foot downwards. To sum up, 

 I conclude that Pholas working outwards with its siphons increases 

 the size of the hole, which was at first . merely a scratch in the rock. 

 The downward boring must be accomplished by the foot only. — 

 A. W. Bkown (Gatty Marine Laboratory, St. Andrews, N.B.). 



VERMES. 

 The Angler as a Factor in the Distribution of Earthworms. — It 

 is well known that the presence of some fishes in our inland waters 

 may be traced to the angler, who, after a day's live-bait fishing, 

 empties the remaining contents of his bait-can, procured from other 

 sources, into the water he has fished. On reading Mr. Friend's 

 valuable notes on the distribution of British earthworms, I was im- 

 pressed with the probability of a similar agency at work, in, how- 

 ever, more circumscribed limits. /{The angler, when worm-fishing, has 

 usually purchased his worms from a tackle-shop, and these annelids 

 are procured by the dealer from many and wide sources. They are 

 usually vended as the lob-, marsh-, red-, and brandling-worms, while 

 " cockspurs" are sent from Leeds, and "pink-tails" from Edinburgh. 

 Among the first-named — lob-, marsh-, and red-worms — I have fre- 

 quently noticed strangers, but all are consigned to the worm-bag, the 

 selection being made while angling, and the remainder being usually 

 thrown away at the end of the day. It is in this pocess of " throwing 

 away " that any interest in this note occurs. Some anglers empty 

 the worm-bag in the water, and there is an end of the matter. As 

 regards myself — and doubtless I am not alone — I always feel that the 

 least I can do for the remainder of my annelid friends who have 

 helped to provide the sport of the day is to empty the worm-bag in 

 some damp spot in the meadow where for the time being I may be. 

 In a moderately long experience as an angler I must have thus 

 distributed earthworms from one county to another, and from north 

 to south. Others must have probably done the same. Mr. Friend, 

 with his great knowledge of these creatures, might find some little 

 expected species on the banks and adjoining meadows of streams 

 and lakes that anglers frequent. — W. L. Distant. 



