THE HAMILTON' ASSOCIATION. 83 



"mine, as they run one into another to an alarming extent, the 

 "generas Linnsea and Physa being especially so." 



Since I received these letters I have taken six or eight species 

 of these small land shells, to which he referred ; and, as you can see, 

 there is no doubt about some of them being decidedly tiny. One 

 species, Pomatiopsis lapidaria, is new to the Canadian list, but is 

 common in some localities in the United States. 



Through the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. Billings, of this City, I 

 have come into possession of a small collection of land shells from 

 Jamaica. They are from the cabinet of Mr. Wm. Roy, a resident of 

 that island. If such large and strikingly beautiful and graceful 

 species were to be found about Hamilton, there would certainly be 

 more excitement in the actual collecting than there is now. 



The Report of the Conchological Branch of the Ottawa Field 

 Naturalists' Club for 1883-4, gives over 100 species taken in that 

 district, and no doubt that number has heen considerably increased 

 since then. Mr. Latchford, in an able paper, read at one of their 

 soirees, gave descriptive notes of 27 species of the Unionidae. I have 

 taken only 7 species here as yet, but see no reason why this district 

 should not be as rich as the Ottawa when properly worked, and I 

 think we should exceed them in the number of land shells. 



The Report of the Geological Survey of Alabama for 1876 con- 

 tains a list of the shells of that State : — land shells, 76 species — fresh 

 water, 612 species — total 688. This list shows the amazing number 

 of 263 different species of Unionidse, and 155 species of Goniobasis ; 

 of the latter I have but a single representative. 



Numbers of our fresh water shells when in good condition, 

 chiefly among the Unionidse, attain a large size, and some are very 

 handsome. Referring to the Unionidae, the late Dr. Isaac Lea, 

 who studied this order for fifty years, computed that a large 

 specimen of Unio Multiplicatus contained upwards of three million 

 embryonic young. Of course nearly all these perish early, being 

 devoured by fishes, crustaceans and the larvae of insects, few attaining 

 maturity, which is reached in from six to ten years. The young ot 

 Unionidse are for a time provided with hooks, by which they can 

 attach themselves to contiguous objects, as for instance a fish or 

 a water bird, being in this way transported to great distances I 



