CONCHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



321 



Acliatilia acicula. — Mr. Emmet, in his interesting paper, says that he is 

 not aware of any variation from the typical form. Moquin Tandon, however, 

 mentions one variety, Hohenwarti Rossm. (what a name !), distinguished b}^ being 

 much larger, rather ventricose, yellowish, with a rather large aperture. I believe 

 others have been described under various names, but although I have examined 

 countless numbers of British examples, I have not yet noticed any variety. 



Mr. Emmet rejoices over the capture of a dozen specimens in the same number 

 of inches. I wish he could have seen the haul I got of this species at Birchington, 

 Kent, in 1883 ! The river Stour, or rather a branch of it, was my collector, the 

 sea was my carrier, and there on the shore, at a point where the then prevailing 

 winds had driven the floating refuse, were not dozens, nor hundreds, but thousands 

 of Achatin(2. I did not need to pick them up one by one, I simply scooped them 

 into my box, and having obtained a plenteous supply, went on my way rejoicing. 

 With the Achatince were here and there specimens oi Melanipiis myosotis, Hydrobia 

 iilvcs. Pupa inarginata, and other species. 



Nor was this a solitary occurrence ; my brother got a similar harvest of A. acicula 

 in the St. Nicholas Marshes close by, derived probably from the same source, but, 

 as they had not gone out to sea, in somewhat better condition. 



It is asked, why does the Achatina bury itself? The only answer that suggests 

 itself to me is that it so escapes the severe competition with other forms of life it 

 would have to meet were it always above ground. The depths of the earth re- 

 mained comparatively lifeless, and so our little Achaihia became adapted to an 

 easy though uninteresting mode of life, and so became less specialised than other 

 forms, and is less prone to vary, simply because variation would be of little 

 or no use to it. — T. D. A. Cockerell, 51, Woodstock Road, Bedford Park, 

 London, July 1885. 



Achatina acicula and its occurrence near 'Wakefleld..— This 



shell, hitherto considered rare, has been found in abundance in a garden at Wake- 

 field, within about 100 yards of one of the main streets, by Mr. J. Wilcock. On 

 July 9th, 1885, I saw about 400 specimens, which had been collected within a 

 small area. Many were dead and broken, but some w^ere alive. The soil in which 

 they are found is deep and light, and they occur about 5 in. or 6 in. below the sur- 

 face. They were first noticed at this place in April, but others had been found at 

 Newton, near Wakefield, on the roots of dandelion, some years before. As this 

 locality is on the Carboniferous Sandstone, I should like to ask if the species has 

 been recorded from other localities on the same formation. From Mr. Emmet's 

 interesting article in last month's Naturalist, it appears to be abundant on the 

 limestone, though living specimens seem to be very rare. I think the animal, 

 with its very narrow and elongated shell, will have no difficulty in making its way 

 through the sinuosities of loose earth or marl, when we consider that Helix 

 nemoralis, with its shell an inch in diameter, can buiTow into the earth, and if 

 Achatina acicula is eyeless, it is not surprising that it should be subterranean in its 

 habits. The shells of living or recently dead specimens are very shining, and look 

 like delicate whorls of twisted glass. There is, however, in each of them a yellow 

 speck, though the animal is of the colour of the shell. This dainty little mollusk 

 may be enticed ' to come out of its shell ' by placing the specimens on a dish of 

 damp earth shaded from sunlight. I and Mr. Wilcock had half a dozen creeping 

 about at one time. Many of the dead shells are perfectly empty, clear, and pellucid, 

 so that when the animal is dead some minute insect or centipede must clear every 

 particle out from the shell. — Geo. Roberts, Lofthouse, near Wakefield, July 

 13th, 1885. 



Amelia, gagates in Notts. — The v?c{\t\.y plumhea of this species, kindly 

 identified for me by Mr. Roebuck, occurs in tolerable abundance in my garden, 

 36 miles in a straight line from the nearest coast. — W. Gain, Tuxford, July 1885. 



[It is interesting to find that this species occurs inland in Britain. The present 

 record is additional to the fauna of Nottinghamshire, and I have during the present 

 season received it from two other inland counties. Mr. Baker Hudson sent it to 

 me from Oswestry, Shropshire, and the Rev. R. W. G. Smart from Bishopswood, 

 Herefordshire.— W. D. R.] 



Sept. 1885. 



