n 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



pared to place the second or third page of the cover of the Magazine at the 

 service of the club, and any notes of special interest would be inserted in the 

 Magazine itself, but several more than two sets of members are needed to 

 make it work well. The Postal Microscopic Society, with an entrance fee of 

 5/- and an annual subscription of 10/-, and not nearly so many advantages 

 has now 13 circuits in full work. Why should the Postal Exchange Club 

 not exceed that number before long? — John E. Robson, Hartlepool. 



CONCOLOGICAL JOTTINGS. 



By ALBERT H. WATERS, B.A., M.C.S., &c. 

 (Continued from Page 6.) 



I think the Chitons, or Coat of Mail shells very curious molluscs. It 

 seems extraordinary that a shell should be so cunningly contrived that the 

 creature inhabiting it is able to roll itself up like a hedgehog, or like one of 

 those " pill-millepedes " which are so abundant underneath damp, decaying 

 logs. Chitons are very eommon on rock-strewn beaches, and may be easily 

 found by turning over the stones. At Hunstanton I find them most 

 frequently under the flat pieces of chalk which lie below the level of high 

 water mark. They do very well in my aquaria and live a long time, often 

 obligingly crawling on the glass so that they can be easily examined with a 

 lens. The species I have had under observation in my vases— for I 

 generally keep them in vases — are Chiton cinereus, Chiton assellus, and 

 Chiton fascicularis. I have not yet noticed any particular difference in 

 their habits. All are constantly engaged in eating the minute confervoid 

 growth which soon makes its appearance on the glass and rockwork of a 

 marine aquarium, and when they crawl on to the former they keep it 

 beautifully clean without any trouble to me. 



Among the other Gasteropoda I have had in my aquaria are the " Top " 

 shells and Limpets. The species I have had are Trochus zizyphinus, Trochus 

 cinereus, and Patella vulgata. I have not had any of them breed and 

 have nothing particular to record about their habits, except that they are 

 fond of being a good deal out of the water. I have found empty shells of 

 Trochus millegranus on the Norfolk coast of the Wash, but have not had the 

 living animal under my observation. 



I have had several other living univalves from the Western shore of the 

 Wash, .as well as other localities, but as I have nothing very particular to 



