viii INTRODUCTION TO THE MOLLUSCA. 



occupies the entire cavity before extrusion, is perfectly pellucid. In the woods of Ambolan 

 and other small islands at the east end of Mindoro, although the pulmoniferous Gastropods 

 were in a state of aestivation, specimens of Caracolla {Listen and rota) were obtained from 

 under loose bark ; Helicina jpolita, Bulimus fictilis and syhanus, adhering to the branches; 

 Chondropoma atricapillum and Iceve attached to the under surface of the leaves ; Megaloma- 

 stoma alatum, Pupina Mindorensis, similis, and lubrica hiding in clusters amid the holes 

 and fissures of the banks ; and species of Cyclostoma proper, concealed under loose stones 

 and dead leaves, at the foot of the trees. While slowly sailing through the calm and 

 beautiful sea of Mindoro, the young of two species of Dolium occurred in light brown 

 patches, mixed with floating Alga, among which were also species of pelagic Aplysiadce and 

 several Nudibranchs, which seem to browse on these pygmy forests like caterpillars on the 

 trees, clinging by their long grooved foot to the stems of the Fuci, and relieving by their 

 gaudily-coloured bodies the monotony of the submarine scenery. 



The Batani Islands, or Bashees, a volcanic group, which forms a link of the great chain 

 connecting the Philippines and Formosa, and which is continued by means of isolated craters 

 to the Loo-Choo and Japanese Archipelagoes, exhibits rather a barren field to the labours of 

 the malacologist. Originally torn from the Philippine chain, they still bear traces of their 

 plutonic origin in the shape of old exhausted volcanoes and magnetic iron-stone. On the 

 sheltered side of Ibujos, however, extensive reefs afford good retreats for mollusca ; but the 

 strong tides and black shifting sand render the other shores very unproductive. The inland 

 parts, however, harbour numbers of the beautiful Helix speciosa and three varieties of 

 Bulimus KocJiii, together with a new sinistral snail, our Helix Batanica. There appears to 

 be a sandy belt between China and the Bashee group, for on the coast, about forty miles 

 from the north-east point of Hong-Kong, soundings were obtained in thirty-four fathoms, 

 fine sand ; this extends as far as the Pratas shoals, and between the latter and the Bashee 

 Islands. Clavatula robusta and other species, Murex pinnatus, Isocardia Moltkiana and 

 vulgaris, and a small species of Scalaria, were dredged here. From the North Bashees to 

 Sama-Sana the full force of the N.E.E. current is felt, the nearer Formosa the stronger, but 

 north of this it perceptibly diminishes ; hence, northern species of marine mollusca would be 

 more probably met with as you approach the islands of the Eastern Seas, than southern 

 species among the Corean Archipelago ; the currents, moreover, isolating the islands from 



