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MOLLUSCA OF HUBBARD'S VALLEY. 



C. S. CARTER. M.C.S.. 



Hon. Curator of the Museum of Louth Aiitiquariaii and Xa/u ra/i.sts' Society. 



Hubbard's Valley, about a mile S.W. from Louth, is a ravine 

 excavated in the Lower Chalk. It is less than three-quarters 

 of a mile in leng-th, and has a depth in one place of about 130 

 feet. 



The steep slope on the eastern side of the valley is know^n 

 as Hubbard's Hill and is well wooded, the principal trees being- 

 beech and ash, with a few oaks, larches and willows. The 

 western side, which is less steep and only wooded in part, is 

 known as Fisher's Hill. At the commencement of the valley, to 

 the south, is a steep g-rassy slope, running a little distance 

 almost at a rig-ht ang-le with the ravine. 



All that remains of the torrent which excavated the valley is 

 a small trout stream, whose waters are here augmented by 

 several springs, flowing from between the Lower Chalk and the 

 Red Chalk. 



Altogether this ravine presents a remarkable and picturesque 

 feature in the scenery of the district, greatly differing from the 

 neighbouring pre-glacial valleys of the eastern slope of the 

 wolds, all which are thickly banked up with boulder clay. ^ 



The moUuscan fauna of the ravine is of much interest. That 

 it is only moderately rich, however, cannot be denied, for we 

 miss certain characteristic species such as Cyclostoma elegans, 

 Helicigona lapicida, Claiisilia rolphii, and even Clans ilia laminata, 

 which we are accustomed to associate with exposures of chalk 

 when covered with ancient wood. 



Some of the species which occur in the ravine are extremely 

 numerous in individuals, and the surface soil under the leaves at 

 the foot of Hubbard's Hill contains a prodigious assemblage of 

 dead shells. To illustrate this it may be mentioned that on 

 23rd April 1902 I filled a two-pound sugar bag with this soil and 

 by W' ashing it obtained the following shells : — 



Carycliiniu luiniviuin ... ... 52 Valloiiia pulcJieUa ... ... 13 



Hygroniia ruft'srois ... 10 Bid i ni i h us obscu ni.< ... ... i 



Hygroiiiia liispida ... ... 13 Pupa cylindracea ... ... 2 



HeliccUd ii(da , ... ... 2 Pupa nniscorum .. . ... ... 8 



' For a detailed description of Hubbard's Valley, with plans, see 

 Mr. Jukes-Brownes 'Geology of Part of East Lincolnshire' (Memoirs of 

 the Geological Surve\ ), 1887, pp. 127-130. 



Naturalist, 



