Mollusks . — Quadrupeds. 3187 



Shower of Snails. — The notice of this " extraordinary scene " in your last number 

 (Zool. 3176), induces me to offer to the pages of that useful periodical some observa- 

 tions on a similar phenomenon noticed in the neighbourhood of Bristol many years 

 ago, and reported and commented on in the newspapers of the day. Although I can- 

 not answer all the amusing and pointed questions of Mr. Douglas, I think the follow- 

 ing will throw some light on the recent phenomenon, " the shower of snails which was 

 witnessed at Bradford about twelve miles from Bristol." In the summer of 1821, the 

 Bristol newspaper, Felix Farley, published " an account of a wonderful quantity of 

 snail-shells found in a piece of land of several acres near Bristol, that common report 

 says fell in a shower.'' This shell-storm attracting much attention at the time, I wrote 

 to my now long departed friend, J. S. Miller, the then Curator of the Bristol Insti- 

 tution, and asked him a few questions on the subject. The following is extracted 

 from Mr. Miller's reply to my questions, and will serve to show that a snail-shower 



has engaged the attention of a naturalist. It bears date Bristol, 2nd, 1821. — 



" The periwinkles are indeed wonderful. They descended in a heavy rain-like shower 

 on the field of Mr. Peach, as a due punishment for his disrespect to the virtues of our 

 late Queen. The shower was so intense, that the umbrella of an old lady passing by 

 was broken to pieces, and the fragments lifted in the air by the whirlwind which picked 

 up all the periwinkles on the neighbouring hills, and dropped them three inches thick 

 on Mr. Peach's field. You know the story of 'The Three Black Crows;' and thus the 

 whole is reduced to no periwinkle-rain, no whirlwind, and turns out to be our old friend 

 Helix virgata, making its annual pilgrimage in search of a mate, and occurred one in 

 almost every square inch in the field in question." — Wm. Baker; Bridgwater, July 7, 

 1851. 



Notes on Observations in Natural History during a Tour in Norway. 

 By the Rev. Alfred Charles Smith, M.A. 



(Continued from page 3170). 



The Bear, {Ursns arctos). This is the great terror of the Norwe- 

 gian farmer ; his enormous strength, undaunted courage and terrible 

 fierceness when provoked, render him a foe which they shrink from 

 attacking unless in considerable numbers and well armed ; and yet 

 which thins their sheep-folds and herds of cows year after year. His 

 attacks, too, are not confined to the colder season of the year, when 

 starvation renders even the cowardly wolf bold; indeed, in the depth 

 of winter, the bear is snugly ensconced in his winter quarters, a den 

 formed under some projecting bank, or fallen tree, or cave in a rock, 

 and well covered in with a canopy of snow ; and there he sleeps for 

 months, and dreams of the havoc he had committed and the victims 

 he will sacrifice when he wakes again : but in the very middle of 

 summer the bear will descend the mountain, and seize a cow, and 

 make his feast, not at all daunted by the daylight or the vicinity of 

 houses, or scared away by the bellowings of his victim. 



