NOTES ON THE M0LLUSC4 TAKEN FROM BRITISH 

 BARROWS IN EAST YORKSHIRE. 



Rev. E. P. BLACKBURN. 



The following list contains particulars of the different species 

 of shells in the Mortimer Museum at Driffield, which have been 

 obtained by Mr. Mortimer whilst excavating the various bar- 

 rows in the district, full particulars of which appear in his 

 ' Forty Years' Researches.' The examinations I have been 

 able to make have been brief, and at intervals ; but have been 

 more than cursory. Still I think that careful measurements 

 should be made, and, if possible, photographs procured of the 

 shells for a thorough comparison. Some of the shells are in 

 very good condition ; a few are thrush or mouse eaten. The 

 epidermis is, of course, absent, but the colouring matter of 

 the bands of Helix nemoralis and the markings of Helicigona 

 arhustorum are plainly seen in some of the specimens. The yellow 

 colour of the yellow type of Helix nemoralis is also quite distinct 

 as well as in some cases the reddish-yellowish colour in lip 

 markings. 



There were specimens (from Barrow 2, Oxdale lands near 

 Huggate) of the large Helix nemoralis depressedly globular, 

 yellow coloured without bands, with dark lip, similar to those 

 referred to in Mr. Clement Reid's monograph on ' An early 

 Neolithic Kitchen Midden at BlashenweU.' 



In reviewing my notes, I see that the yellow type seems to 

 predominate, although the five banded type is to be found. 

 The relative proportion of the unhanded and banded types is a 

 point which needs looking into, as well as the question whether 

 the specimens of Helix hortensis are of the banded or unhanded 

 type. At BlashenweU they were of the five banded type. My 

 notes are not clear upon this point, and I am now too far away 

 to investigate it. 



I am well acquainted "with recent shells from all parts of the 

 district, and after examining them my opinion is that the shells 

 from the barrows are not materially different from the recent 

 ones. The Succinea putris are larger than any I have seen in 

 the district. We have taken them of that size in Gloucester, 

 and there are some of like size in the Manchester University 

 Museum, but they are rare. . f : 



1908 November i 



