Bulletin - United States National Museum

(1)

;^cparfTnenf of

^flic

^nicrior:

U. S.

NATIONAL MUSEUM.

15

BULLETIN

OF THE

UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

TSTo. 1 5.

PUBLISHED UNDERTHE DIRECTIONOF THE SMITHSONIANINSTITUTION

WASHIlSrGTOI^:

G-OVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

1879.

(2)

ADVERTISEMENT.

This

work

isthe fifteeenthofa seriesof papers intendedto illustrate tlie collections of Natural History

and

Ethnology belonging to the United States,

and

constituting the National

Museum,

of which the SmithsonianInstitution

was

jjlacedincharge

by

the act of Congress of

August

10,1846.

Ithasbeen prepared atthe request of theInstitution,

and

printed

by

authority of thehonorable Secretary of theInterior.

SPENCER

P.

BAIRD,

Secretaryof^theSmithsonianInstitution.

Smithsoniai^ Institution, Washington, April15, 1879.

(3)

CONTRIBUTIONS

TO THK

JNTATUEAL HISTOET

OF

ARCTIC AMERICA,

MADE IN CONNECTION WITH

THE HOWGATE POLAR EXPEDITION, 1877-78,

BT

LXJDWia KUMLIEJSr,

NATURALIST OF THEEXPEDITION.

washi:n^gto]n^:

GOVERNMENT FEINTING OFFICE.

IS7 .

(4)

MOLLUSKS.

LISTOFSHELLS OBTAINED BYMR.LUDWIGKUMLIEN, NATURALISTTO THEHOWGATE EXPEDITION, 1877-78, AT POINTS IN CUMBERLAND SOUND, ARCTIC REGIONS, WEST FROMBAFFIN'S BAY.

By

W. H. Dall.

Tlic localityat which the schooner Florence, conveying the party,

made

her winter quarters,according to Mr. Kumlien'sreport,

was

not favorablefor extensive collections in

any

department.

The

prevalence ofice intheirregularitiesof thesound

and

othercir-

cumstances,especially the abrupt

and

rockycharacter of the shores, rendereditdifiBcultto obtainspecimensofinvertebrates,whichinpoint of factwere all collected at afew small areas of beach,

some

of which were a long distancefrom winterquarters.

Nevertheless,

when

the difQcultiesare considered,theresults arevery creditable to Mr. Kumlien's energy

and

perseverance,

and

arenot with- out valueforthestudy ofgeographicaldistribution.

The number

ofspecimens is smallj buttwenty-four species are represented,

some

of

which

were alsoobtained

by

a i^artyunder Lieutenant Mintzer, U. S.N.,

who

explored for mineralsin nearly the

same

region ayear or

two

previousto thevisitofthe Florence.

As was

tobe expected, noneof thespecies are

new:

Modiolariafaha Fabr., which has almost been lost sight of

by

naturalists,

and

Ghjci- merisKurrianaDkr.,aspecies

whose

validityhasbeen

much

questioned, were

among

the mostinterestingformsobtained.

The

speciesare asfollows (thosewith

an

asterisk are represented

by

onlyone or two specimens,

and

only

Buccinum

gronlandicum

was

atall

numerous)

:

*Ommastrephesillecehrosa, Lesileur.

*

Buccinum

glaciale, Linne.

*

Buccinum

ciliatum, Fabr., var. MolleriyEve.

*Buccinumkumphrei/sianum, Bennett (probably).

*Buccinumhelcheri, Eve.

Bull.Nat. Mus.No. 15 10 145

(5)

146 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARCTIC AMERICA.

Buccinum

tenebrosum, Hancock, (typical).

Buccinum

gronlandicunij Cheinn.

*Trophoutruncatus, Strom.

Margaritauinhilicalis,Brod.

&

Sby.

Margarita helicina, Fabr., vars- Litorinagronlandica, Morch.

Acmwa

tcstudinalin, Linu^.

Aeolidiapapillosa,, Linne.

*Bendronotusreynoldsii,Coutliouy.

Mya

^truncata, Linn4.

*GlycimerisKurriana, Bkr.

On mud

^Sats.

Saxicava arctica, Linne.

*Astartehorealis,

Gray

; attachedto kelp.

*Turtonia minuta, Fabr.^; ⁱⁿnest of Modiolaria.

Modiolaria laevigata, Gray.

Modiolariadiscors, Linn^.

Modiolaria {Crenella)faha, Fabr.

Chiton{Tonicella) marmorea, Fabr.

HhynclioneUa imttacea, Fiscber;

dead

broken valves, apparentlydis-

gorged

by some

^bird, were found

on

tliebills at aconsiderable distance from tlie sea.

They

are evidently not fossil,

and

are probably to

be

foundliving in suitableplacesatlow-water mark.

November "Jtt, 1378.