pW YORK SHE CLUB Q F 4 Page 5 
A BLIND SHELL COLLECTOR 
Charles Hesselbach sent us an item from the "Princeton Alumii 
Weekly" of May 22, 1978 on the career of the blind malacologist, 
Geerat Vermeij, born in Holland and blinded by glaucoma before his 
fourth birthday. M. K. Jacobson reported on Dr. Vermeij in the 
November, 1976 issue of NYSC NOTES (No. 226, p. 2). The following 
excerpts from the “Princeton Alumni Weekly" give further information 
on the work of this amazing man: 
Since majoring in biology at Princeton and receiving a doctorate 
fron Yale, Geerat Vermeij, the professor of zoology and biology at 
University of Maryland, has made five trips around the world to 
collect shells. He catalogs the specimens, measures them, and re- 
cords their features in large looseleafs with a Braille typewriter. 
At the age of 31, he is already a world authority in malacology. 
In his years of study he has concentrated on the difference between 
fresh and saltwater shells, and on the climatic and geological his- 
tory of the oceans. (For an example, see the reference in "Malaco- 
logical Article of the Month," below. -Ed.) 
The malacologist regards his blindness as nothing more than a 
"wwisance," and his lifestyle bears that out. His personal Braille 
indexing system allows him to conduct his research basically unaided. 
Although the colors of shells are sometimes of importance (and he 
does remember color), he can ask his colleagues to provide descrip- 
tions. Vermeij types his own papers and books, of which he has pub- 
lished several, the most recent being "Biogeography and Adaptation: 
Patterns of Marine Life," which Harvard University Press is bringing 
out this fall. And while his research is important, the scholar is 
also a teacher. Every week he gives a lecture to the 250 students 
who take his sophomore-level zoology course at Maryland's College 
Park campus. 

MALACOLOGICAL ARTICLE OF THE MONTH 
Open coiling, planispiral coiling and umbilici detract from shell 
sturdiness and were commoner among Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic gas- 
tropods than among younger forms. Marine communities have not re- 
mained in equilibrium over their geologic history and biotic revolu- 
tions made certain modes of life obsolete and resulted in other 
adaptive zones becoming newly occupied. This is the subject of Dr. 
Geerat J. Vermeij's paper, "The Mesozoic marine revolution: evidence 
from snails, predators and grazers" in Paleobiology 3: 245-258, 
Su 
mner, 1977. Henry D. Russell 
— 
AMATEUR LAND SHELL CLUB 
Both professionals and amateurs will welcome the formation of a 
shell club aicatne to studying, collecting (in moderation), and con- 
Serving land mollusks of the world. The need has become ee denser in 
Tecent years, and opportunities for more research on and et “Et 
of land snails will now be enhanced by this newly formed club. Mala- 
Cologists can be assured of assistance in o 
field information from the growing legions © 
and amateurs will welcome help from knowledgeable malacologists. To 
