184 ME. W. J. LEWIS ABBOTT ON THE [May 1 8 94, 



size, reaching a length of 6 millini. This species, I believe, had not 

 been discovered in Pleistocene deposits until I obtained it from the 

 New Admiralty section, 1 associated with Betula nana ; in this 

 deposit also the species attained a similar size, from which it would 

 appear that the species has greatly dwindled in size since Pleistocene 

 times. I also found on several occasions small fragments of a pearly, 

 flaky shell which I have no doubt is Unio. The Limaces were repre- 

 sented by six specimens. 



I handed the whole of the shells to Mr. B. B. Woodward. P.G.S., 

 with whom I have had the honour of working for many years, with- 

 out telling him whence they came, and asked him to kindly name and 

 report upon them. In reply he said : — " Judging by its frequent 

 occurrence in late Tertiary deposits, Succmea oblong a was far more 

 common formerly than it is to-day. Its presence seems to indicate 

 the proximity of very marshy ground. The V. minutissimce are 

 perfect giants ! All the species are living at the present day, 

 and the state of preservation is not such as to suggest any great 

 antiquity." 



The best estimate of their age can probably be made from their 

 comparison with the fauna of a remarkable land-wash which exists 

 in the neighbourhood. From this latter I obtained some 24 species 

 belonging to 10 genera, and from the bottom of the deposit Neolithic 

 flint-flakes, and pottery ; but there are no signs of Succinea oblonga, 

 nor is the general facies that of so water4oving an assemblage as 

 that of the fissure. Still, with the exceptions of the fragments of 

 Unio in the latter, no truly aquatic forms occur, although all of them 

 are found in river- deposits elsewhere. In contrasting this land-wash, 

 which is some 12 feet thick, with the fissure-deposit, I might observe 

 that it contains scarcely a single bone, thus adding further, in 

 my opinion, to the improbability of the fissure-deposit being a land- 

 wash ; while the absence of album grcecum and path- trodden surfaces, 

 the occurrence of single whole bones, unaccompanied either by 

 fragments or foreign matter, is prejudicial to the idea of the bones 

 having been carried in by, or as having made a passage through, 

 carnivorous beasts or birds. — February 6th, 1894.] 2 



1 Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xii. (1892) pp. 34G-356. 



2 [The last four species (see list on p. 182) bave been added to the mollusca 

 since the reading of the paper. Of these, Helix pulchetta and Coecilioides acicula 

 are represented by a single specimen ; of Cochlicopa lubrica there is also a single 

 example, which is immature ; none of these presents any features of special 

 interest. The two specimens of Carychium minimum, on the other hand, call 

 for some remarks, as they differ greatly from the type, and would no doubt be 

 regarded by many as a new species, or at least a new variety. Seeing, however, 

 that this species varies greatly, both Mr. B. B. Woodward and myself consider 

 it inadvisable to found either a new species or variety on the material to hand. 

 We have compared it with several hundred Pleistocene and recent examples, 

 and find the following features and differences : — In outline it is altogether 

 more slei.der than the type ; it is fully 26 mm. in height, its width not exceeding 

 •75 mm. The whorls are six in number, more closely coiled, and consequently 

 longer, and increase more gradually all through, so that the spire is higher and 

 more tapering. The body-whorl is much less in proportion. The mouth is more 

 rounded, and not at all constricted at the outer tooth ; on the other hand, 



