218 NOTE ON A WEST AFRICAN "STRIKE-A-LIGHT."
We have only seen one example of this species from
Walton, and that is in the collection of one of us. It is one of
the most ancient forms of our present fauna, since it occurs not
only in the Pliocene of St. Erth, but also in the Lower Miocene
of Wiesbaden, the Middle Miocene of Monthelan, near Tours,
and in the Lower Pliocene (Congeria Beds) at Mauer, near
Vienna.
It is worthy of note that these six species are Southern
forms, the two species of Paludestrina belonging in all probability
to the old Aralo-Caspian fauna. Dr. R. F. Scharff, who has
recently called attention to the origin of our fauna,3 states
(l.c. p. 8) that the Southern forms must have migrated north-
ward from the Continent long ages ago. Of the four species of
land shells, three are unknown in a fossil state on the Continent,
and two of them are Mediterranean in their present distribution,
while the nearest allies of Pyramidula vysa occur in Madeira. Is
it too much to suppose that these forms belong to the old
Lusitanian fauna as described by Edward Forbes, and that they
have reached this country from the south-west over land now
sunk beneath the sea ? With the same group we would include
Helix pisana (Müll.), Helicella virgata (Da Cost.), and H. barbara
(Linn.), all of which are unknown in a fossil state on the Con-
tinent, though they are found in the Pleistocene of Algiers.
These are only tentative views, but we venture to think that
they are supported by all the available evidence both of
geographical distribution and geological history.
NOTE ON A WEST AFRICAN "STRIKE-A-
LIGHT."
By F. W. READER.
THIS object consists of a leather bag, 21/4 in. by 13/4in. square,
and a small iron blade which is fastened on the lower edge.
The bag contains two ordinary gun flints and some tinder.
It is the workmanship of the West African tribe of the
Soosoos, from whom my uncles, Thomas and Edward Reader
procured it with other interesting native objects, during the years
1857-66.
3 R. F. Scharff.—The History of the European Fauna, London, 1899.