508 



DR. W. A. CUNNINGTON ON THE 



It was in the examination of these shells that the unusual 

 interest which still attaches to certain forms of life found in 

 Tanganyika had its origin. S. P. Woodward, who reported on 

 the collection, was struck by the fact that some of the shells were 

 curiously marine in appearance. Of one of them, which he 

 named Lithoglyplms zoiiatus (now known as Spehia zonata), he 

 said (205, p. 348) that it so much resembled a Nerita or Calyptrcea 

 tliat it might have been taken for a sea-shell. 01:' another, he 

 remarks tliat " Its coloui-, solidity, and tuberculated ribs give 

 it much the appearance of a small marine whelk (iY^ssa)." At 

 the time, these opinions attracted little attention, although tlie 

 matter was destined to come into prominence at a later date. 



Some twenty years later — in 1878 — there was established the 

 first settlement of Europeans on the shores of Tanganyika, when 

 agents of the London Missionary Society settled at Ujiji in 

 August of that year. With praiseworthy public spirit, the 

 Directors of the Society had given instructions that the gathering 

 of scientific information should be considered among the duties 

 of this pioneer expedition, and thus it is that E. C. Hore (101), 

 a member of the party, was the first to attempt a systematic 

 collection of the forms of life occurring in the lake. While the 

 collections since made by trained naturalists have, of course, 

 added very largely to the knowledge of the fauna and flora, the 

 forms obtained by Hore embraced many different groups, and 

 afforded the first comprehensive glimpse of the organisms which 

 the lake contains. 



This English Mission was very shortly followed by the estab- 

 lishment of a French Catholic Mission, and it should be noted 

 that these White Eathers of Algeria have also been instrumental 

 in gathering information, and in particular have made large 

 collections of shells which have been described in later years by 

 French conchologists. 



At the end of 1879, Tanganyika was visited by Joseph 

 Thomson. Collections of shells made by Hore and Thomson were 

 reported on by Edgar Smith in 1880 and 1881 (159, 160, 161), 

 and he also had occasion to remark on the marine appearance 

 of some of them. This matter being brought to the front once 

 more, Thomson put forward the view (190, vol. ii. p. 85) that the 

 water of the lake had probably been saline until i-ecent geological 

 times, when it became freshened through circulation and outflow 

 to the Congo (compare also 191, where he goes further, and 

 suggests the origin of the lake from a former sea occupying the 

 Congo basin). 



The discovery of medusae by Bohm (114), a German explorer 

 who crossed Tanganyika in 1883, only emphasised matters and 

 laid stress on the supposed marine character of the lake fauna, 

 since, with few exceptions, such organisms are confined to the 

 ocean. Von Wissman (204, p. 253) confirmed this discovery 

 when sailing on the lake in 1887, and a few years later, F. L. M. 

 Moir, the manager of a British trading company, undertook to 



