I 7 2 



HARDWICKK S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Var. mbella is distributed as follows : — 



12345 10 



123(45' 3 



(12345) 3 



02345 1 



C0300 21 



00000 4 



Total ... 42 



The other varieties of H. nemoralis are : castanea 

 00000 (thirty specimens), 'and oo 3 oo (one specimen) ; 

 petiveria 12345, 12345, (12345), and (l2 3 45) ; studcria 

 00000; and olivacea 12 34 5 . I should add that I am 

 indebted to Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell for naming these 

 varieties, and for much other information. 



It is well known that thrushes in seasons of scarcity 

 hunt for snails, and to extract the animal break the 

 shell by beating it against a stone. Stones that have 

 been used for this purpose, with the broken shells 

 lying round them, are frequently noticed, but I had 

 never before found these remains in such abundance 

 as on the present occasion. A very large proportion 

 of the 576 recorded specimens of H. nemoralis and 

 //. hortensis consist of these fragments ; in fact, the 

 birds had so thoroughly worked the district, that 

 until towards the end of my visit, when a heavy fall 

 of rain induced the snails to come forth from their 

 inmost hiding-places, I did not find more than a 

 dozen live shells of these species. The lanes were 

 everywhere sprinkled with broken shells ; during an 

 evening's stroll I counted 10 1 specimens, not in- 

 cluding H. aspersa, which was also abundant. On 

 another occasion I found 42 //. aspersa, H. nemoralis, 

 and H. hortensis round one stone; and, after the 

 shower already alluded to, in a narrow lane not more 

 than one hundred yards long, I picked up 128 speci- 

 mens, and many more had been trodden under foot. 

 (In order to avoid mistakes, or at least to err on the 

 safe side, I counted the lipped mouths to find the 

 number of these broken shells.) 



The other Helices found at Chideock are H. aspersa, 

 II. arbnstorum (one specimen), H. rufescens, H. con- 

 ciuna, IP. hispida, IP. virgata, and vars. minor and 

 albicans ; PP. capcrata, IT. rotundata, and H. pill- 

 chella. H. virgata was very abundant on the hills ; 

 H. caperata was rather scarce, and I could not find 

 H. ericctorum at all. The remaining land-shells are 

 Pupa marginata, P. itmbilicata, Balea perversa, Clau- 

 silia rtigosa, and Cochlicopa lubrica. Owing to the 

 scarcity of ponds, etc., I could only find five species 

 of freshwater shells ; they are Sphtzrium corneum, Sph. 

 lacustrc, limnaa percgra, vars. intermedia and ovata, 

 L. truncalula, var. minor, and Ancylus flnviatilis. 



During a short visit to Portland I found Arion atcr 

 (type), Succinea putris, Zonitcs ccllarius, Z. punts, 

 Helix aspersa, H. virgata, H. hispida, and var. sub- 

 rufa, II. rotundata, and var. pyramidalis, Pupa mar- 

 ginata, Linniaa truncatula, vars. minor and micro- 



stoma, and Ancylus Jluvialilis. If I had had more 

 time, Helix lapicida, Cyclostoma elegans, and Bulimus 

 acutus would doubtless have been added to the list," 

 as in former years I have found all three abundant. 



I am indebted to a friend for a pleasant excursion 

 to the famous Pinney Landslip, near Axmouth, which 

 proved to be an exceedingly productive hunting- 

 ground. During an hour's search I found Zonitcs 

 cellarius, Z. alliarius, Z. nitidulus, Z. crystallinus, 

 Z. purus, Helix aspersa, H. nemoralis, var. libellula 

 12345. (12)3(45), (12345), 12 345, 00345, 00300, and 



00000 ; var. castanea 00000 ; H. hortensis, var. lutea 

 12345, o 23 oo, 00000; var. arenicola 12345. {IT. 

 nemoralis and //. hortensis do not appear to bear the 

 same proportion to each other here as at Chideock, 

 for out of the twenty-nine specimens I picked up 

 only five are hortensis.) PP. rufescens, PI. hispida, PI. 

 concinna, II. virgata, II. caperata, H. rotundata, var. 

 Turtoni, H. lapicida, H. pulchella, Bulimus cbscurus, 

 Pupa secale, Clausilia biplicala, Cyclostoma elegans. 



From Chideock I went to New Quay, on the north 

 coast of Cornwall. Here, strange to say, the first 

 slug I saw was Arion aler, var. bicolor, and I after- 

 wards found it very abundant on the grassy slopes ot 

 the cliffs overlooking the "Fistrell Beach." The 

 New Quay specimens were hardly so fine looking as 

 the ones from Dorset ; the integument at the sides 

 was more prominently wrinkled, and a trace of dark 

 colour was visible at the base of the furrows. The 

 primrose of the sides was very faint in the specimens 

 from both localities, and the colour of the back was 

 more a dark grey than brown. One, however, from 

 Porth, two miles from New Quay, was a rich choco- 

 late brown on the back. Another rare slug obtained 

 here was Limax maximus, var. Ferussaci, of which 



1 only found one specimen. The other mollusca 

 obtained at New Quay or in the neighbourhood are 

 Arion ater, type and vars. rufa and nigrescens ; A. 

 hortensis, and var. rufescens ; Amalia marginata, var. 

 nigrescens ; A. gagates, var. plumbea ; Limax agrestis, 

 with var. sylvatica ; Vitrina pellucida, Zoriites cel- 

 larius, Z. alliarius, Z. nitidulus, Helix aspersa, and 

 var. minor ; II. nemoralis, var. libellula 12345, l 2 345, 

 123(45), (12)3(45), (123(45), 02345. 023(45), 00300, 

 and 00000 ; var. baudonia 12345 and 123(45) ; var. 

 rubella 12345, (12345), and 00300; //. hortensis, 

 var. lutea 00000. (//. nemoralis appears to be much 

 more abundant than //. hortensis. Out of fifty-three 

 shells collected from the railway embankment, only 

 two belong to the latter species ; var. libellula 00 300 

 is the most common form). //. rufescens, II. virgata, 

 with vars. major and albicans ; H. caperata, with var. 

 major ; PP. ericelorum, with var. alba ; H. rotundata, 

 IT. seiicea, H. pulchella, Clausilia rugosa, Cochlicopa 

 lubrica, Bulimus acutus, with vars. alba and bizoria ; 

 Pupa umbilicata, Limnaa peregra, var. ovata ; I. 

 truncatulata, Planorbis spirorbis, and Ancylus flu- 

 viatilis. 



Ealing, IV. Anthony Belt. 



