54 ChrUtmafi Island. 



the second and third labials ; eyes distinguishable ; upper head- 

 scales a little larger than the scales on the body; four upper 

 labials. Diameter of body 50 to 66 times in the total length ; tail 

 nearly twice as long as broad, ending in a spine. Twenty scaler 

 round the body. Pale brownish, each scale with a brown spot; 

 these spots largest and darkest on the dorsal surface, where thej^ 

 form longitudinal lines. 



Total length, 480 mm. 



Two specimens were captured on the occasion of the visit of the- 

 *' Flying Pish." Several more were brought home by Mr. Andrews,, 

 who found them in damp places, under rocks and fallen trees- 

 Only seen out on dark rainy days. 



[Turtles are often seen round the coasts of the island, and they 

 occasionally come up on to the white beaches to deposit their eggs- 

 in the coral sand — one nest on the West White Beach contained 

 142 eggs. There are probably three species — Thalassochelys caretta, 

 Chelone imhricata, and C. mydas. In January, a small specimen of 

 the last was speared in shallow water near JS'orth-East Point. — - 

 C.W.A.] 



MOLLUSCA. 



By E. A. Smith, P.Z.S. 



(PLATE YIII.) 



The land - shells of Christmas Island are insignificant both in 

 size and the number of species. Eleven different forms were- 

 enumerated by the writer in 1888,^ nine of which were collected 

 by Mr. Andrews, besides single specimens of three additional 

 species, namely, Opeas stihula, Melampus castaneus, and Assiminea 

 andrewsiana. These, however, do not throw any additional light on 

 the relationship of the fauna with that of other parts of the world. 

 Although seven of the fourteen species recorded are, so far as we 

 know, peculiar to the island, it must be pointed out that they 

 belong to genera the species of which have no very striking 

 characters. The three forms of Lamprocystis are very much alike, 

 and approximate very closely to certain species from the Philippines 

 and the Malay Archipelago. The Succineas also present no marked 

 features, and might have been found anywhere. Opeas, too, is- 

 a genus notorious for the sameness of its species and the wide 



1 Proc. Zool. Soc, 1888, p. 536. 



