NOTES ON RECENT COLLECTIONS OF NORTH AMERICAN LAND, 
FRESH WATER, AND MARINE SHELLS RECEIVED FROM THE 
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
EY 
Robert E. C. Stearns, Ph. D., 
Adjunct Curator of tJie Department of Afollnsks. 
The following" species, received during the year 1S92 from the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, rejD resent the MoUuscan portion of the collections 
made during said year by Dr. C. Hart IVIerriam and his assistants, in 
the Division of Biological Kxplorations, 
As in previous accessions from the above source, many interesting 
facts pertaining to the geographical distribution of the forms collected, 
give additional value to the material obtained, and furnish many items 
of importance relating to the local faun<e of various parts of the country. 
Following the terrestrial species which constitute the principal part 
of the collection, a few fresh-water species are listed, closing with sev- 
eral marine forms from the Gulf border of the State of Mississippi. 
Class GASTROPODA. 
PULMONATA-GlOOPHILA. 
Family TESTACELLID.E. 
Genus GLANDINA Scluimacher. 
Glandiua truncata fJiiielin. 
One or two examples from each of the following localities: 
Chattahoochee, Fla. ; Houma, La.; Washington, Miss.; Riceboro, 
Liberty County, Ga.; Vernon Bailey, April, 1892. Mr. K. J. 
Thomiison also obtained two examples of this speciies at the last-named 
place at about the same time. The Georgia si)ecimens were found on 
the Le Conte iilantation. 
This is a widely distributed vSpecies and probably the most familiar 
form of the genus. It is found in the "Atlantic and Gulf States, from 
Korth Carolina to Texas, as far north as Macon in Georgia, Bibb 
County, Ala., and Jackson, Miss.'- I found it quite numerous among 
the grass in moist, springy ground ju.st outside the military reserva- 
tion of Fort Brooke, at Tampa City, Fla., in 18G9. My collection 
included the typical form as well as the varieties. pHraJlela^ etc. 
Proceedings National Miisenni, Vol. XVI, 2s'o. 971. 
743 
744 NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN SHELLS STEARNS. 
Faiiiilv IJALVCID.E. 
Genus 20NITES Montfort. 
Zonites laevigatus I'feirt'er. 
Three examples. 
Wasliiniitou, Miss., ''in the woods,'" Venioii Bailey, May, 1 892. Binney, 
ill his useful "Manual of AiiuM-ieaii IjaxuI Sliells,'' says of this spe- 
cies, "I have received specimeus from Pennsylvania to Arkansas, 
from Illinois to St. Augustine, Fla., and Mobile. It attains its 
greatest development in the Cumberland subregion." 
Family I'HILOMYC'ILU:. 
Geuus TEBENNOPHORUS ISinuey. 
Tebennophorus caiolinensis Bosc. 
One si)ecimen. 
Stone County, Mo., near Marble Cave; Vernon Bailey. 
This large and distinctly characterized slug occurs as far north as 
"Canada, and as far to the south as Texas and Florida." (Binney.) 
1 have collected numerous examples among the bricks, rnins of an 
old building near the historic Burns residence at the foot of Seven- 
teenth street, Washington, and it is apparently quite common at many 
places in the District of Columbia, and i)resuniably in the surrounding 
country. 
Fiiuiily HKLKJIDyE. 
(ieuus PATULA ll.-ld. 
Section A.NiiHISPlKxV Morsn. 
Helix (Patula) alteruata Say. 
One dead S])ecimeu. 
Washington, Miss,, Vernon Bailey. 
Th(^ solitary example obtained here was not quite mature. Thevari- 
aticm exhibited l)y this species makes it an exceedingly interesting 
form to the student. While limited in this res])ect when compared 
with the ju'otean sfrhjoHU^ nevertheless it includes cnmherlandiana., 
Fcri/iisoiii, and morda.v, as heretofore indicated,* and as proven by the 
ample series in the National jNTuseum, whicih exhibits a direct gradation 
of intermediate and blending varieties. Mr. Pilsbryt in this connec- 
tion s]>eaks of '•alteruata, including also mordax and cumherlaudiana 
(which ,ire hardly more than extreme forms of alt<nutta),''' qXv. 
"This pretty and variable .species ranges from Labrador to Texas 
throughout the eastern United States, and is found in the i)ostplio- 
(Ciie of the Mississii»])i N'alh'y, retaining some (»t' tlie <'olor of the 
red Hame-like patches.'' (IJinncy,) 
" Prof. V. S. Nat. Miisciiin, vol. \iv, 1891. p. 90. 
t Manual of Coucliolony, vol. \ iii. \\. 11."). 
VOL. XV 
1803 
"'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 745 
Helix (Patiila) Hemphilli Newcomb. 
=ir. (PatuJa) strtfjoiia Gould viir. 
Five examples, dead. 
Fort Huacliuca, Ariz., at an elevation of about 4,300 feet above the 
sea; Dr. A. K. Fisher, May 14, 181)2. (Mus. No. 125,509.) 
The si)e<'iinens of the above, collected by Dr. Fisher, exceed in size 
any of the numerous examples of the Hemphilli variety of sirigosa 
that I have seen. In other respects, too, they are of interest, as they 
exemplify within a small number of individuals a range of differentia- 
tion from the subangnlate to the keeled or annulate whorls. They are 
all more or less flattened and carinate, for extreme as the typical 
Hemphilli is when compared with the typical strigosoj it is neverthe- 
less connected by a chain of intermediate and gradually connecting" 
forms. In some of Dr. Fisher's specimens, a supersutural groove fol- 
lows the whorls, and one nearly fresh example shows two color-bands, 
one above and one below the periphery. It is to be regretted that Dr. 
Fisher did not obtain more, and living examples of this interesting 
form from the Arizona r^ion. 
Bailey collected this form in August, 1800, ''amongf rocks at an alti- 
tude varying from 8,000 to 11,000 feet," on the slopes of Needle Peak, 
Lost Eiver Mountains, Idaho. The variety Hemphilli had previously 
been obtained in Idaho by Hemphill, and has heretofore been reported 
from Nevada, Utah, and Colorado. 
In the May, 1802, number of "The Nautilus," I published the fact of 
the detection of Patnla strigosa (Mus. No. 123,570), by Mr. Marcus 
Baker, of the U. S. Geological Survey, at Coon Mountain, Ariz,, about 
10 miles south of Canyon Diablo. Mr. Baker's specimens were found 
"scattered along the interior slopes of the crater;'' they are mostly 
dead shells. The elevation, as stated, is between 5,200 and 5,700 feet 
above tide level. The whole region is excessively arid, and the gen- 
eral aspect of the shells collected by Mr. Baker imi)lies an environ- 
ment of that kind. As a whole they are rather flat than elevated, and 
more or less angulated at the perii)hery. The fresher examples are 
slightly rufous, with two narrow revolving bands on the body whorl. 
The character of the locality partially described by Mr. Baker will be 
still better understood by the following abstract of a paper read be- 
fore the National Geographic Society of AVashington, I). C, by Mr. G. 
K. Gilbert, in March, 1892, and it will further give a pretty fair idea of 
the general character of the environment elsewhere, where this remark- 
able species and its varieties are the prevailing" forms. 
P'roiu Mr. Gilbert's paper, it appears that ('oou Mouutaiii is a curiously sliape<l 
crater in a desolate region some three days journey from Flagstall'. The crater is 
about three quarters of a mile in diameter, bowl shaped and (juite deej), and various 
reasons have been given at times Ibr its existence. Near it have been discovered 
so many specimens of meteoric iron, that it would seem almost necessarily more than 
a mere coincidence. Speaking of tlie unequal distribution of land and water on the 
surface of the eartli, Mr. Gilbert said that om^ reason given in explanation of that 
746 NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN SHELLS STEARNS. 
was that tlicre was a greater density iu that hemisphere and hence a greater attract- 
ing power for water. This unequal density might bo accounted for hy some unusual 
accretion there, such as Avould arise from contact with a star. Speculation as to 
the possibility that the earth's greater hollows originated in this way suggested to 
him a similar exi)lanati()u for the origin of the Arizona crater, that it was caused 
by the coliisidu of an iron star several thousand feet in diameter. 
In order to iind out what this theory was worth, Mr. (iilbert, accompanied by Mr. 
Marcus Baker, visited Coon Mountain and camped near there for some time, carefully 
studying all the peculiarities of the place, and making a number of observations to 
discover whether the relation between all this meteoric iron and the crater, was one 
of cause and effect, or of coincidence merely. Coon Mountain rises some 400 feet 
above the level of the surrounding plain, and the; bottom of tlie crater is al»out GOO 
feet below the highest point on the rim. 
The rock strata of the plain are limestone and sandstone and lie nearly flat. In the 
rim of the crater tliese rocks are bent upward, and ujjon them lie broken fragments 
of the same materials. The peculiarity of the crater, from the geological point of 
view, is that it contains no volcanic rocks, and in this respect is unique. The 
])hcnomena observable in connection with the crater had given rise to a number of 
hypotheses, two of which the speaker discussed more freely than the others. The 
glacial hyi)otliesis and the theory of the limestone sink are both inadequate. The 
true hyi»othesis of the crater implies the expenditure of a tremendous amount of 
energy iu a very brief space of time. By the system of elimination all the hypotheses 
have been abandoned with the exception of the stellar and the explosive. Magnetic 
and volumetric tests Avere ajjplied, and with the former the needle showed no 
evidence of the presence of a considerable mass of iron. After experiments with 
these same needles later it was estimated that if the crater was formed by the pen- 
etration of such a mass, it must have been buried 50 miles below the surface to have 
afl'ected the needle so slightly. 
By the volumetric test it was necessary to determine whether tlie d6bris sur- 
rounding the crater would just till it or exceed the necessary amount by the supposed 
amount of the embedded star. It was found that it would just fill it, and this would 
seem to comjtel the aliandoning of tlie stellar tlieory, arid we are forced to believe 
that the relation of rock and crater is one of coincidence only, though the chances 
of such a coincidence are not greater than one in five thousand. After comparing 
the phenomena of Coon Mountain with those of the volcanic eruptions iu Japan in 
1888, Mr. Gilbert said that iu the future Coon Mountain will probably be looked upon 
as an examjde of the bursting of the earth's surface by volcanic steam unaccompanied 
by lava. It is liighly improbable that this catastrophe was witnessed by man. 
From a description of the region and the phenomenal character of 
the remarkable locality where Mr. Baker collected his examples of 
strigosa, Ave will retnrn to a fnrther consideration of the shells and the 
varietal aspect they exhibit. In a recently pnblished portion of his 
Manual in refering to the .strigosa group of Patula, Mr. Pilsbry says: * 
In the species of this division [Anguispira], the characters of sculpture, form and 
color and to a less degree of tlu^ soft parts, vary to an extent inconceivable to those 
who have not actually seen the shells. It may now i)e demonstrated that the forms 
described as ^. stritjosa, Coojxri, idahoensis, JlemphiUi, Haijdciii, etc., are connected 
by such a multitude of intermediate forms that it is absolutely impossible by the 
most acute analysis, to draw lines of demarcation between them. 
It is refreshing in these days of excessive systeniizatiou and species- 
making to meet with a i)aragraph like the above by an author of Justly 
recognized ability in a ])ublication of standard character and impor- 
* Vol. VIII Manual of Conehology jiage 115, Feb. 28, 1893. 
^"i803^''] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 747 
taiice; yet it would not be ;i matter that need eause snrpii.se to liud in 
the course of twelve months some disciple of the " new school " rushing 
into print with a " re\ ision " of this peculiar group, iu which every third 
individual shell is honored or dishonored with a generic, subgeneric, or 
some other title, to say nothing of elaborate, though more general, 
divisions, subdivisions, etc., ad Uhitnni^ in frivolous iierplexity. 
The National Museum contains a magnificent and exhaustive series 
of striflosa and what are now regarded as its varieties, probably sur- 
passing all others excepting that contained in Mr. Hemphill's i)rivate 
collection; it includes not only the ample series received directly and 
indirectly from Mr. Hemphill, but numerous ac(^essions, large and 
small, made by various parties, in the course of exi)lorations and travel 
within the general territory inhabited by strufosa and its allies. 
Genus POLYGYRA 8ay. 
Helix (Polygyra) amiforinis Inland. 
Ten specimens. 
Bay ^St. Louis, Mississippi; Vernon Bailey, April 30, 1892. "In the 
pine woods''; examples mostly dead and bleached. The foregoing has 
been fouiul to inhabit Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and the 
Lidian Territory. Numerous beds of sejuifossil specimens are found 
in Middle Alabama. (Binney.) 
Helix (Polygyra) Dorfeuilliana Lea. 
Dead shells. 
Stone County, Mo.,' Vernon Bailey, on side hills near Marble Cave. 
This form is widely distributed through nniny of the Southern States, 
having been collected in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Indian 
Territory, etc., and as far to the north as Kentucky, opposite Cincin- 
nati, Ohio. Mr. MclJaniel reports its occurrence in eastern Texas, iu 
Anderson County. 
Genus MESODON Rafinesque. 
Helix (Mesodon) albolabris Say. 
One specimen. 
Stone County, Mo., near Marble Cave, on sidehills, with the previous 
species ; Vernon Bailey. 
This familiar form has a wide geographical distribution. The 
national collection contains numerous examples, forming an exceed- 
ingly fine series, embracing nearly seventy trays. 
The geographical range of albolabris extends from Maine to Minne- 
sota, inclusive of Canada (at various places), thence southerly to 
Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, and the States and Territories 
included between the above northerly and southerly lines, comprising, 
as shown in the collection, a representation of twenty-thre(^ of the 
States, etc. 
748 NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN SHELLS STEARNS. 
As Avoiild iiatiii'all\' he .supposed, of a Ibrui iiiliabitiiig so <ireat an 
area, cousideiabh' variation is cxliibited, and one iinds adults in sonio 
places with small shells, in others with shells conspicuously large; 
some with elevated and some with depressed shells. Again, in some 
localities, the growth lines are delicate, and the shells also liglit and 
thin; others have heavy shells, and a coarse sculpture. Another and 
more striking varietal character is the occasional presence of a tooth- 
like prominence on the parietal Mall, and sometimes a toothlike process 
is seen at the base of colunudla on the peristome. 
The genus Mesodon is rei)resented on the Pacific coast of North 
America by several species. At the present time there is a great gaj) 
between the western and northern extension or limit of the group as 
we trace it wexticard from the Atlantic side of the continent, and the 
extremest eastern locality, at which it has been found as we follow it 
eastward from the Pacific coast, liegarding, as 1 do, both H. Toivn- 
sendiana and H. ptychojyhora as Mesodons, and considering the latter as 
a variety of the former, we find these West or Pacific-coast forms ex- 
tending eastward as far as Idaho, where j;/^67a>7>//o/Y/ has been detected, 
near Salmon Eiver and in the valleys and on the slopes of the Bitter 
Eoot Mountains; it also occurs in Montana, according to Binney. Be- 
tween western Idaho and Minnesota there is, it will be seen, a great 
gaj), in Avhich we have no evidence of the existence or presence of any 
form of Mesodon. It is not, however, unreasonable to suppose, that 
sooner or later this long reach will be materially shortened by the de- 
tection of Mesodon at new localities, both in the easterly and westerly 
margins of the present boundaries. 
From the Miocene of the John Day region,* in the neighborhood 
designated as the North Fork of the John Day liiver, Oregon, longi- 
tude 1190 40'^ latitude 44° 50', as given by Prof. Condon, we find 
Mesodon associat<Ml with i/. [AriouUi) fidelis, H. [PaUda) perspeetiva 
and the rare aiul curious Ammonitella Yatesii of Dr. Cooper.t To the 
Mesodon, which 1 regarded as an undescribed form, I gave the name 
of Dallii. The other species, from the John Day beds, are familiar to 
the coneetoi- and student of recent land shells, though Y<(tesii is about 
as rare an Ji del is is common. 
Mesodon IhtUii differs from any of tlie living representatives of the 
group iidiabiting the Pacific States. It suggests an ancestral form, 
from which may have proceeded the species known as eolnmhiania, 
devia, germana, etc. Ammonitella Yatesii is so exceedingly rare, and 
* Bulletin of the IT. S. Geologioal Survey No. 18. On the Marine Eocene, Fresh- 
water Miofene and other Fossil Mollnsea of Western North America, by Chas. A. 
White, M. 1). Washington. 1885. 
tThis species is generally referred toby authors as (ionosUnim Yulcniu but Cooper's 
genus AmmonitcUa, 18B8, whicli is based on this form, is valid and should therefore 
stand, as Raliues<ine's (ioiiofitoma (applied to a grou)) of lishes), 1810, has ])reccdence 
over the use of sail! name in the Mollnsca, (Hehl.. ls:{7) by twenty-seven years, as 
well as over Pfeilfer's use ol' (iuuoxtomu in 187J). 
^^89^^'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 749 
is so restricted and peculiar in its distribution, that, considered in con- 
nection Avitli tlie fossil exanii)les, it may l)c regarded as obsolescent or 
as an interesting survival of the extraordinary physical changes of the 
John Day ejioch, and the apparent absence of Mesodori in the region 
heretofore indicated, may be due to its absolute obliteration through 
similar causes during the middle or later tertiary periods as well as to 
still later i)hysical changes. 
Helix (Mesodon) dentifera Biiiiiey. 
One dead, fresh example. 
Washington, Miss. ; Vernon Bailey. 
Mr. Bailey has carried this form quite far to the South. Its range 
has heretofore been given as from Maine to North Carolina. 
Helix (Mesodon) thyroides Say. 
Var. hurculfiild (Jmild. 
Several examples. 
Washington, Miss, (one example living); near Marble ('ave. Stone 
County, Mo. (three specimens), occurring on the sidchills, and at 
Houma, La. (nine dead specimens); Yernon Bailey. 
Mr. Binney says of fhi/roidcs: "A post-i)liocene species now found 
all over the eastern i)rovince. The variation in size is very great- 
The small or bucctdentus form of this species is usually that found in 
the Southern States. Both the larger and smaller forms exhibit a 
small parietal callosity or tooth, and the shell is also variable in the 
umbilical feature." Binney credits it to Washington County, Tex., 
and Mr. W. L. McDaniel, of Tyler, Tex., has collected the hucculenta 
form in Williamson County in that State. 
Some examples of thyroides-hucculenta that I have inspected are exter- 
nally very close to occasional individuals of the so-called ptychophora^ 
from CoBur d'Alene, Idaho. 
Geuus TRIODOPSIS Rafiiiesiiue. 
Helix (Triodopsis) inflecta Say. 
Two specimens, dead. 
Stone County, Mo. ; Vernon Bailey, July, 1892. 
The above examples were found on the slopes of the hills near 
Marble Cave. Tlie species inhabits a large territory, extending from 
the Atlantic seaboard westerly to the valley States of the Ohio and 
Mississippi rivers, and southwesterly to Texas. A well marked and 
easily recognized form. 
Helix (Triodopsis) Levettei Hlaud. 
Ten examples. 
Fort Huachuca, Ariz., Dr. A. K. Fisher, May 14, 1892. 
The specimens colle<'ted by Dr. Fisher, thougli much larger tlian the 
type, having from one-and-a-half to two-and-a half more whorls, agree 
750 NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN SHELLS STEARNS!. 
])erfectly in every other respect and also agree with examples in the 
U. S. National Museum (No. 1151481) iVom Tucson, Ariz., present(Hl by 
the late Dr. Isaac Lea. The Lea specimens, of which there are several, 
inelnde examj)les that exhibit the characteristics of Triodop.sis, as well 
as others, in Miiich the ]»eristome is simi)le or not tri(lentat(; or dentic- 
ulate, in this respect being like other species that have been placed 
iu the above genus, and show npon what an infirm fonndation some of 
these genera are based. 
It is quite evident that liowev«;r persistent the tridentate character 
may be in certain forms, in others it is variable, and therefore of lit- 
tle value; the latter may be regarded as the connecting links which 
unite Triodopsis to Mesodon. 
Bland's description* rests npon '' two living and one dead specimen," 
collected by Dr. G. M. Levette, near Santa Fe, N. Mex. Binney, ([not- 
ing Bland, says; '• this species is ([uite distinct from anj' known North 
American or other form. The number of whorls aud of teeth, their 
form and color, with the color of i\w shell aud peristome, are its 
peculiar features. The strije are by no meaus so well developed as 
shown in the figures." 
Further on, he observes: " the species varies iu the num))er of teeth 
on the peristome. vSome have oik^ basal tooth only, which in some 
specimens is widely aud bluntly bifid." 
Attention is called to the geographical extension of the range of this 
species and of Patida sfrigosn var. HcmpliiUi ; for this addition to our 
knowledge we have to thank Dr. Fisher and the Biological Division 
of the Department of Agriculture. 
From the habitat of Dr. Levette's examples to Tucson, the locality 
of the Lea specimens, aud Fort Huacliuca, is nearly 400 miles iu a 
southwesterly direction ; the latter place is so very near the boundary 
line between the state of Sonora, Mexico, and the United States, that 
there can be hardly a doubt that further exploration of the general 
region will detect both H. {Patula) HemphiUi and H. (Triodopsis) 
Lerettei south of the boundary, and add their names to the list of the 
Mexican fauna. 
(ienns ARIONTA Leach. 
Sociion LYSrXOE U. ami A. Ailams. 
Helix (Ariouta) californiensis Lea. 
One specimen, dead. 
Monterey, Cal., "iu the woods," October 8, 1891; Vernon Bailey. 
A familiar form, which seems to have its specific center iu this region. 
I collected a large number of the above at this x)lace iu ^March, 18G7, in 
openings on grassy slojjes. 
Biniiey's Manual oi' Ain. Land Shells ( Hull. 28, U. S. Nat. Mas.), p. 385, 386, fig. 419. 
"""iss^^''] PROCEEDINGH OF TRY. NATIONAL MUSEUM. 751 
Helix (Arionta) Dupetithouarsii DesLayes. 
Two exainples, dead. 
Monterey, Cal., witli the foregoing, on tlie same day; Vernon Bailey. 
This species is rather hjcal in its occurrence; the Santa Cruz form, 
somewhat differentuited in color and epidermis, though modified envi- 
ronmental conditions, has received the name of sequoicola. 
Helix (Aiionta) Rowelli Newcomb. 
^=H. Lohri Gahb. 
Three specimens, dead. 
Fort Huachuca, Ariz.; Dr. A. K. Fisher, May 14, 1892. 
Dr. Fisher's examples agree perfectly with the specimens in the 
National Collection, collected by the late Prof. Gabb, who found them, 
as elsewhere stated by me, in the table-lands of Lower California, near 
Mulege. It has been reported from the Salt Eiver Mountains, 7 miles 
north of Phtenix, Ariz., by Pilsbry, and has been credited to Chihuahua, 
Mexico, and still further to the eastward in the State of Texas. 
It is interesting to note its occurrence at Fort Huachuca, associated 
with Fatula HcmphlUl and TriodopsiH Levettei. 
Binney, on page 22 of the Manual of American Land Shells, in speak- 
ing of H. Rowelli, says it "has been referred to Arizona, but errone- 
ously," and, in connection with E. Kemondi (Carpenteri)^ says "it is 
the only species common to the peninsula and mainland of Mexico;" 
these statements, in the light of later knowledge, require correction. 
It is highly probable that other forms now regarded as peculiar to the 
peninsula of Lower California, will sooner or later be detected on the 
mainland. 
Family liULIMULIDvE. 
Genus BULIMULUS Leach. 
Bulimulus dealbatus Say. 
Four dead shells. 
Stone County, Mo., lu^ar Marble Cave, "on the side hills;" Vernon, 
Bailey. 
The upper wlnnls of the adults exhibit tlie hmgitndiiial ribbing char- 
acteristic of B. Rai/s(h(lei Pilsbry. This species has heretofore been 
reported from various places in Texas by Mr. Bailey and others con- 
nected with the Biological Division of the Department of Agriculture. 
William Lloyd collected several exani])les of this species at Monterey, 
Mexico, in 1891. 
Family srCCLMID.E. 
Geuus SUCCINEA l>rai»ariiaud. 
Succinea Salleana Pfeiffer. 
Six examples, dead. 
Houma, La.. A^ernon Bailey, May 8, 1892. 
This is a well-marked species and quite distinct from the following: 
752 NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN SHELLS STEARNS 
Succinea concordialia (louliL 
Six >s})c(;iiiieiis. 
Houina, La.; Venioii Bailey. 
This also is a well-dctiiicd and <'liara<*teristi(', torin, easily separable 
from the pioccdiii!^ species, and lias lieietolbrc; beeu credited to "Lake 
Concordia, in Texas." 
PlTLMONATA- 1 1 VcajOlMI ILA. 
Fiimily LIMN.EID^E. 
Genus PLANORBIS (iu.tiiinl. 
Plauorbis tumidiis Rtli(i( r. 
Numerous bleached si)ecimens. 
Pan Handle, Tex,, August 25, 181)2; Vernon Bailey. 
The shells of this species were ''found in a dry basin on the i>rairie, 
at an altitude of 3,()t)0 feet above sea level." This form also occurs in 
Nicaragua. 
Plauorbis tiivolvis Say. 
Ten examples. 
Houma, La.; Vernon Bailey, May, ISD'J, 
These shells are i)artly juniors, but (he lot contained a sufficient 
number of perfect adults to admit of identilication. A common form 
found nearly everywheie in North America. The National Museum 
contains exam])les from Puebla, in the State of Puebla, and from Jalapa, 
in the State of Vera Cruz, received fiom the Mexican Geographical 
Commissiou a few years ago. 
Genus PHYSA Diapaniaud 
Physa gyriiia Say. 
Numerous living examples. 
Stone County, Mo., Vernon Bailey, July 7, 1892. 
"Found in a creek near Marble Cave." 
Physa mexicana Philippi. 
Ten or more living specimens. 
Houma, La. ; Vernon Bailey. 
These agree with the form to which Philippi gave the name luexi- 
cana; it appears to be a very globose variety of heterontropha. 
SCUTIBRANCHIATA. 
Section UHI I'l IMHiLOSSA. 
Family HKLK INIDJ:. 
Genus HELICINA Lamarck. 
Helicina orbiculata Say. 
Numerous s])ecimens. 
Missouri, iu intone County, near Marble Cave; Vernon Bailey. 
^'^issY''] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 753 
Common on the slopes of the hills. 
In addition to the localities heretofore credited with this species, Mr. 
Mc Daniel has collected it in eastern Texas, in both Bell and Smith 
counties. 
Writing of this form Mr. McDauiel says: "I found large numbers of 
this species in Bell County, Tex. The exact locality was on limestone 
bluff's ou either side of Salado Creek. On one morning, just after a 
moderate rain, the whole face of the cliffs was sprinkled with them. 
On top of the bluffs they were found walking on twigs in the low brush 
and brambles and on trees 8 feet from the ground. Associated with 
them were found Helix alternata Say, and an occasional Bulimulun 
Schiedeanns var. Mooreana Pfr. This species also occurs in Florida. I 
found a solitary living example under a cedar log between Tampa and 
Kocky Point when collecting in this region in 1869. 
The following marine species were collected by Mr. Bailey on the 
shores of St. Louis Bay (Mississippi), Gulf of Mexico. 
Class PELECYPODA. 
Family CHAMID^E. 
» Geuus CHAMA Bruguiere. 
Chama arcinella Liunc, 
Valves only. 
A widely distributed form, ranging geographically from Hatteras in 
the north, on and around the shores of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico 
to the Antillean region as far south as the island of Guadaloupe, West 
Indies. When perfect this is a peculiarly interesting and striking 
species. 
Family VFNKRID^E. 
Gpniis DOSINIA Scopoli. 
Dosinia disciis l\ceve. 
One example, fresh. 
This species is quite common at many places on the eastern and gulf 
shores of Florida and at many other places in the Gulf of Mexico. Its 
northern limit is given as Virginia, byDall,* and its southerly range as 
^'era Cruz. 
1 have found it abundant on the outer beach of Amelia Island near 
Fernandina, Florida, associated with TelUna alternata Say. 
Ill Bull. No. 37, U. S. National Miisenni ; Cat. marine mollasks. etc., southeastern 
■oast of the United .states, oto. 
Proc. ]Sr. M. 93 48 
754 NOTES ON NORTH AMKRKIAN SHELLS — STEAKNS. 
Class (lASTKOPODA. 
Family FASCTOLAIHID^E. 
Gemis FULGUR Montlort. 
Pulgur perversa Liiiuc. 
One good example. 
This form lias a wide distribution, and is one of the largest species 
of marine gastroi)ods, the shell often attaining a length of 15 inches or 
more. It is found as tar north as (Jape Hatteras, on the Atlantic side, 
where it occurs between tide marks; thence southerly, along the coast, 
to and around tlie extremity of the peninsula of Florida, and on the 
shores of the (lulf of Mexico, in many localities, with Cuba as its south- 
erly limit. At many places within the range of its distribution the 
animal (softer parts) is used as an article of food. It is, however, for 
the most part, tough aud indigestible, in these respects rivaling the 
abalones or Haliotis of the Pacific coast, which are so largely used as 
food by the Chinese, and also exported to China in great quantities for 
culinary, or rather gastronomic purposes. 
Family LITTORINIDJE. 
Geuus LITTORINA Ferussac. 
Littoriua irrorata Say. 
Numerous specimens, living. 
This also is an abundant and widely distributed species, living not 
only between tide marks, but frequently far above high-water line; it 
occurs on the shore of Khode Island, thence along the shores southerly 
around Florida and the Gult of Mexico to Texas and is credited to the 
West Indies and the island of Jamaica. 
It is a solid and rather pretty form, and may be seen in localities 
where it occurs, crawling up or attached to the stiff, wiry sedge grass 
of the lagoons and salt meadows or marshes near the shore. 
Family NATKUD.F. 
Subgenus NEVERITA Kisso. 
Neverita duplicata Say, 
One dead beach-shell. 
A conmion form at many phu^es along the ocean and gulf shores from 
Massachusetts r>ay to Texas ; occurs also at Vei'a Cruz. 1 have collected 
numerous exami)les on Nahant and Chelsea beaches in the north, and 
on both coasts of Florida, and on the i-'lorida Keys, in the south. 
LunutUi hrros Say. may be regarded as the Atlantic anah)gue of the 
West American or Pacilie Linidfia LriciNii, though the latter attains a 
much larger size than licro.s. So Xcverita duplicata may be considered 
VOL. XV 
1893. 
'•] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 755 
as the east coast aualogiie of the Pacific iV. Recluziana, though the 
latter exhibits reniaikable extremes of variation in many ways, and. is 
]nuch less constant in form than dnpUcata. T have collected both of 
these western tonus at many i)laces, from Puget Sound to San Diego. 
L. ZenvVi/is occasionally met with of extremely large size; it is the 
giaut of the Naticas; it is frecjuently eaten by the Indians inhabiting 
the region bordering on the sound. 
Family NEKITID^. 
Geiins NERITINA Lamarck. 
Neritina reclivata Say. 
Numerous living examples. 
Dall gives the distribution of this species, as St. Augustine and both 
coasts of Florida, Texas, and the West Indies to Jamaica, the latter 
place being its southerly limit so far as known at the present time. 
Wherever found it is usually quite abundant. It is a rather x>retty 
and well characterized species. It is quite common around the mouth 
of Hillsboro River where the stream flows into the bay near Tampa. 
Class CEPHALOPODA. 
Family SPIRULID^E. 
Gcuus SPIRULA Lamarck. 
Spirula peionii Lamarck. 
One example, shell. 
This is a pelagic si)ecies and its shells are found, sometimes in vast 
numbers, after storms or high winds, cast up on the beaches. The 
shells which are internal, are quite common in collections, and are often 
sold and used for fancy shellwork, but complete and perfect exami^les, 
animal, shell and all, are rarely met with in the museums. 
Wasihngton, D. C, Xovemhcr 15, 1803,