18 
BULLETIN OE THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
elevation of the land in this region threw the Labrador current 
off from the coast and allowed the water inside the Banks, 
then near the surface, to become warmed up in summer, as it 
is to-day in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. These forms then 
crept northward and all the coast from Virginia to Newfound- 
land was occupied by them. The land is now sinking; cold 
currents are coming back to our shores and the southern 
animals cannot hold their own against the northern, which 
are better fitted for the new conditions. It is probable that 
ultimately all of these southern forms will become extinct in 
the Gulf, but the time is so remote that the practical man 
need not take it into his calculations. 
It should be hardly necessary to call attention to the fact 
here, that there is yet very much to be learned about the 
distribution of Molluscs and other animals upon our shores;, 
about their habits, their relations to other animals, their use- 
fulness and noxiousness to man. Even in the matter of their 
value and palatableness as food there is much need of informa- 
tion. There is an abundance of work for every observer to 
do, and teachers who interest themselves and their pupils in 
such subjects will be repaid many fold, not only by the facts 
observed and training acquired, but by their further initiation 
into the spirit of nature and their refreshment by the pure 
air of new fields, both figurative and literal. 
In the following list, the nomenclature adopted is not in 
ail cases that of the latest authorities, though such names arc 
always given in the synonymy. The scientific name given 
first is usually that of Binney’s Edition of Gould’s Invertebrata 
of Massachusetts, though in certain instances where the latter 
is clearly erroneous, as in the Cephalopods, those of other 
writers are followed. The work mentioned is the only one 
extant which gives an account of our Mollusca, and, unfor- 
tunately, is rare and expensive, though it is to be found in 
most scientific libraries. Those who wish scientific descrip- 
tions and figures should turn to it, and there they will find 
references to other works of importance. The list of works 
given below includes only those consulted in the preparation 
of this paper. 
