84 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



have seen it stated that some land shells are so minute that a good 

 glass is necessary to see them at all j — I draw the line at these. 

 Such forms are to be found in and under moss on rocks and shady 

 hillsides, under dead leaves and loose bark on old stumps, and un- 

 der and in decaying wood, stumps and logs. It is especially during late 

 autumn, and in open weather in winter and early spring that these 

 little species can be found in great numbers in their winter quarters. 

 Dr. Sterki, of New Philadelphia, Ohio, writes : — " It may not be 

 "generally known that many small land shells are fond of 

 "animal matter for food; the fact that they have been found 

 " accidentally in considerable numbers in skulls, &c, makes it 

 "advisable to place large pieces of bone with open cavities, 

 " such as the head of a sheep, in suitable localities, well 

 "secured by heavy stones or logs against rapacious animals, 

 " thus forming traps as it were, to be visited from time to time, 

 "for the small Hyalinas, Pupas, &c, living upon and in them. 

 "Pieces of wood covered with lard will answer the same purpose. 

 " In collecting shells never fail to look for them under plants with 

 " broad or numerous leaves spread on the ground and about the 

 " roots. A few weeks since upon a single stalk of Iris, standing 

 " on a dry, gravelly bank, I collected in half an hour more than 200 

 " Pupa Armifera, besides specimens of 5 other species. Many 

 " small species, living in moist places, have to be looked for along 

 "the very edge of waterways of all kinds; some of them like to 

 "ascend reed grass, &c." 



In Woodward's Manual mention is made of a snail which got 

 entangled in a nutshell when young, and the shell growing too large 

 for it to escape, it had to endure the encumbrance to the end of its 

 days. 



Mr. John Ford, of Philadelphia, writes that : — " Certain fresh 

 "water species will live for months without food or even water, while 

 " many species of Helix will endure the same apparent hardships for 

 " years, as I have good occasion to know, having on one occasion 

 " found a number of Syrian species alive and active when taken from 

 " the box-prison in which they had been packed with dry sand on 

 "the Arabian desert quite two and a-half years before; in each case 

 " the usual air-tight curtain had been drawn across the aperture of the 



