392 Natural-Historical Collections. 
thinks, however, that we do not possess the Helix sericea of Drapernaud, 
in this country; and adds, that Dr. Turton now calls the shell in question 
Helix granulata, ‘‘on account of the fine granulated appearance it has, when 
deprived of the hairs.” 
Pupa Britannica. Although the Turbo tridens of English authors agrees 
better with the genus pupa of Lamarck, than with any other of his genera; yet, 
I think, on account of the peculiar formation of the mouth of the shell in ques- 
tion, and its ovoid shape, it ought to be separated from it; and I now call the 
shell Chondrus britannicus, as I am not aware of any objection to its being ar- 
ranged in the latter genus. 
EDINBURGH, 5th November, 1829. 
On the distribution of Fishes in the Asiatic Seas; by R. P. LEsson.—Nature, 
in dispersing her creations over the surface of this great globe, seems to have im- 
posed limits upon each, or, at least, she has only permitted to a certain number of 
priviledged species, the power to live indifferently in opposite circumstances, and 
under the varied influence of different zones and climates. But inhabiting a fluid 
whose temperature is more uniform than that of the air, the fishes are subject to 
numerous exceptions, extending to great distances from their primitive locations, 
adopting new climates, living indifferently, in a word, under any zones, sincenothing 
is opposed to their migration ; wherein they are more favoured than birds or other 
animals, confined to certain islands, to particular lands, whence they cannot pass 
without traversing immense extents of sea. But the power, which created the 
world, and assigned to it its limits, imposed also upon different animals, boun- 
daries which they could not with impunity pass over; and the fishes especially, 
submitted to the influence of climates, and of latitudes, and organized for numer- 
ous modes of existence, appropriate to their manners, and to certain localities, 
were distributed by parallels, and maintained themselves in marked zones, beyond 
which they never passed except from rare and accidental causes. What a diversity 
do we observe in the form of these beings, according as they are destined to fre- 
quent the rocky coast, the long declivities of the sandy beach, the mud of the 
tiver’s mouth, the confined channel of the archipelago, the polar ice, or the tro- 
pical sea ! 
In casting a general gianceon the geographical distribution of fishes, we recognize 
at once this great truth, that certain families or certain species inhabit a determinate 
zone around the globe. Thus, some species live between the tropics, under almost 
every meridian, and do not pass these limits, or at most to a very little distance ; 
others, om the contrary, seem to be proper to the temperate or the frigid zones of 
the northern hemisphere, whilst others belong exclusively to the south ; for instance 
the southern chimera, (chimera australis, ) abounds equally at the south of 
the three great capes Horn, Dieman’s, and Good Hope, and seems to be fixed 
between the 60th and 25th degrees of latitude. On'the other hand, however, the 
greatest number of the families of fishes occupy permanently some of the grea 
basins, which we purpose to pass successively under review. 
In following the order established in-the excellent work of M. Cuvier, in and 
examining the natural families of fishes, we may thus form an idea of the distribu- 
tion of genera, or even of species, in the seas of the different countries of the earth. 
The first family, the cyclostomi of Dumeril, comprises the lampreys, which 
live in the fresh water ; ammocetes which inhabits the sands of our coasts, both of 
the Atlantic and the Mediterranean ; the gastrobranchi, which afford the sin- 
gular phenomenon in the two species of the genus, that one of them ( gastrobran- 
chus glutinosa ) livesin the north sea, whilst the other (g. dombeyi ) inbebas the 
seas of the southern hemisphere. 
The Selachii ( Plagiostomi, Dum.) remarkable for the great number of vora- 
cious and dangerous fishes, which are grouped under that division, are disseminat- 
ed throughout all the seas, almost without exception, frequenting principally and 
in the greatest numbers, the coasts of Europe. General opinion regards the white 
shark, (Squalus carcharias ) as a cosmopolite ; it is found indifferently in the 
