112 



CONCHOLOGICAL NOTES. 

 Large Anodons in Nottinghamshire.— The dry summer has given 



collectors special facilities for obtaining the large fresh-water mussels (see note on 

 large Unios obtained at Ossington by Mr. Gain). Quite recently, being exploring at 

 Sutton-in-Ashfield, I found the water in the mill-dam very low, leaving a belt 

 of beach exposed, varying from 20 to 40 yards wide. Some 3 or 4 feet thickness 

 of mud had dried quite hard enough for one to walk on, and gather the shells that 

 lay stranded. A. cygnea was the only species present; many were broken; but 

 leaving hundreds of perfect specimens from which I obtained a fine selection. 

 On cleaning them the type form appears most common, with amongst them a few 

 var. ' zellensis: In size the largest was 7yV in. long, three more 7 in. , several were 

 6^f in., 6j^in., 6|f in., quite two dozen 6| in., two score or more between 6^ in. 

 and 6| in., and probably 200 measure between 6 in. and 6| in. These are the 

 largest yet obtained in this county (so far as is known). No doubt other collectors 

 will be able to give a better account of the large mussels now, than they would 

 have done a year ago. — C. T. Musson, November, 1884. 



Unio pictorum at Ossington, Notts.— I have found a portion of 



the border of the lake untouched by the navvies. This has yielded shells still larger 

 than those previously found. I have several over five inches in length, the largest 

 being five inches and three- sixteenths. — W, Gain, Tuxford, Newark, October 20th. 



Land and Freshwater Shells collected in County Durham, 



1883 and 1884. — As Mr. Roebuck has given an account of a few slugs 

 collected in the county of Durham by myself, perhaps the following list of shells 

 also collected by myself in the years 1883 and 1884 may be of interest. All the 

 shells were taken within three miles of the city of Durham. Helix hortensis and 

 var. roseolabiata : H. ai-bicstoriim and var. flavescens ; also a near approach to 

 var. alpesh-is ; H. aspersa, H. hispida and var. albida, H. 7-otimdata, H. 

 nemoralis, H. sericea, Zonites niiidiiins, Z. cellaTius and var. albinos, Z. 

 fulvus, Z. cjystallimcs, Z. purus, Z. excavatus, Z. alliariics, Vitrina pellucida. 

 Pupa iniibilicata, Claiisilia rzigosa, C. laiimiaia, Cochlicopa licbrica, Carychitun 

 7iiinini7nn, Lytnnea peirgra and an approach to var. labiosa, also one specimen 

 with a broad white band and several indistinct markings on the last whorl ; 

 Ancylus laciistris, Physa fontinalis, and Pisidiiun fontinale. 



The following are from various localities in Durham county : — H. cantiana 

 and H. capcrata, Billingham ; H. ericctornm^ Pupa viarginata, Planorbis 

 spircrbis, P. voriex, Physa hypnoruni, P. fo7ttijialis, and Ly77mea pe7-egra, 

 Seaton Carew ; Pla7t07'bis co77to7-tiis, P. co77ipla7iatiis, P. cari7iatus,- Valvata 

 crisiata, F. pisci7ialis, Bytlmiia tentacidata and var. albida, Sphcerizim co7'7ieu>7i, 

 and A77odo7ila cygfiea, near Horton ; H. ac7cleata and H. piclchella, Barnard 

 Castle; H. ficsca, Middleton-one-Row ; and Balea perve7-sa, near Chester-le- 

 Street. Many of the foregoing have been met with in two or three localities, but 

 I merely give one, space forbidding more. — Baker Hudson, 15, Waterloo Road, 

 Middlesbrough, August 25th, 1884. 



Bulimus acutus : a Query.— The distribution of this shell is peculiar. 



It is an exclusively coast species, never found inland ; and it is a Western or 

 Atlantic species, never having been found on the East coasts of Great Britain. 

 It occurs at intervals all round the Irish and Manx coasts, on the South coast of 

 England and the West coasts of Scotland, Wales and England from Sutherland- 

 shire to Cornv^all. The counties for which it has actually been placed on record are : 

 — Channel Isles, East Sussex, Isle of Wight, Dorset, Devon (N. & S.), Cornwall 

 (E. & W.), North Somerset, West Gloucester, Carmarthen, Pembroke, Anglesey, 

 Carnarvon, Denbigh, Cheshire, Isle of Man, Cantire, lona, Mull, Skye, West 

 Sutherland, Hebrides, Donegal, Sligo, W>st Mayo, Cork, Waterford, Wexford, 

 Dublin, and Down. Will conchological readers kindly add to this ir^formation, 

 and in particular will they state whether or not it occurs in Lancashire, West- 

 moreland, or Cumberland, for none of which has it yet been reported. As it 

 is usually abundant wherever it occurs, there ought to be no difficulty about 

 saying whether or not it occurs at any of the numerous sea-side resorts of Lanca- 

 shire and Cumberland ; and in this case negative evidence is decidedly of value. 



Naturalist, 



