36 



The Irish Naturalist. 



February, 



shells, some of which are derived from much older dunes 

 than those existing at the present day. At Smerwick Bay, 

 resting on Boulder-clay, there is a sandy cliff containing 

 Helix ncmoralis, which, if properly worked, should give 

 good results. At the present time this deposit is being eaten 

 into by the sea. At Ferriters Cove one section along the 

 shore showed a blackish band of perhaps a foot in height, a 

 sample of which I brought home and washed, with the 

 result given below. I think that this black band, of which 

 a mere remnant had been preserved by the more modern 

 blown sand, was of the same age as that above referred to 

 at Smerwick. If samples could be obtained from the 

 marshy area near Stradbally, I imagine that a large list of 

 land and freshwater species would be found in them. It 

 seems probable that the " black bands," such as that at 

 Ferriters Cove, have been formed under conditions some- 

 what similar to those which prevail along the marshes at 

 Stradbally ; but the general absence of freshwater species, 

 together with the absence of such moisture -loving shells as 

 Zonitoides nitidus and Vertigo antivertigo, shows that the 

 conditions were not identical. In many respects the fauna 

 of these " black bands" resembles that of the little gully 

 at Glenfahan ; but here again there is the absence of Acan- 

 thinula lamellata to account for. It will be noticed, however, 

 that none of the xerophile species (Helicella itala group) 

 occur in the black band at Ferriters Cove, although all are 

 common in the more modern deposits which cover it. In 

 his paper, now nearing completion, on the Irish fossil 

 mollusca, Mr. A. S. Kennard will deal more fully with these 

 deposits and the probable changes of climate which are 

 connected with them. 



LIST OF SPECIES CONTAINED IN THE DEPOSITS. 



Deposit in blown sand at Dingle Harbour : — Hyalinia 

 crysicillina, Vallonia pulchella, Helicella itala, Cochlicopa 

 lubrica, Pupa muscorum, P. cylindracea, Vertigo pygmaea, 

 and V. angustior. All but the last named shell still live in 

 in the vicinity ; but the shells of this species probably have 

 been derived from some older deposit now destroyed. 



