_Coleoptera of St. Helena._--Omitting those beetles which get introduced everywhere through man's agency, there are 59 species of Coleoptera known from St. Helena; and even of these there are a few widely distributed species that may have been introduced by man. It will be well, therefore, to confine ourselves almost wholly to the species peculiar to the island, and, therefore, almost certainly forming part of the endemic or original fauna. Of these we find that 10 belong to genera which have a very wide range, and thus afford no indication of geographical affinity; 2 belong to genera which are characteristic of the Palæarctic fauna (_Bembidium_, _Longitarsus_); 3 to African genera (_Adoretus_, _Sciobius_, _Aspidomorpha_); and two species of _Calosoma_ are most allied to African species. There are also 4 African species, which may be indigenous in St. Helena. The peculiar genera, 7 in number, are, however, the most interesting. We have first _Haplothorax_, a large beetle allied to _Carabus_ and _Calosoma_, though of a peculiar type. This may be held to indicate a remote Palæarctic affinity. _Melissius_, one of the Dynastidæ, is allied to South African forms. _Microxylobius_, one of the Cossonides (a sub-family of Curculionidæ) is the most important genus, comprising as it does 13 species. It is, according to Mr. Wollaston, an altogether peculiar type, most allied to _Pentarthrum_, a genus found in St. Helena, Ascension, and the south of England, and itself very isolated. _Nesiotes_, another genus of Curculionidæ, belongs to a small group, the allied genera forming which inhabit Europe, Madeira, and Australia. A third peculiar and isolated genus is _Trachyphlæosoma_. The Anthribidæ are represented by {271}2 genera, _Notioxenus_ and _Homoeodera_, which are altogether peculiar and isolated, and contain 9 species. Thus no less than 27 species, or more than half of the undoubtedly indigenous beetles, belong to 5 peculiar and very remarkable genera of Rhyncophora. It appears from this enumeration, that the peculiar species as a whole, exhibit most affinity to the Ethiopian fauna; next to the South European fauna; and lastly to that of the islands of the North Atlantic; while there is such a large amount of peculiarity in the most characteristic forms, that no special geographical affinity can be pointed out. _Land Shells._--These consist of about a dozen living species, and about as many extinct found in the surface soil, and probably exterminated by the destruction of the forests. The genera are _Succinea_, _Zonites_, _Helix_, _Bulimus_, _Pupa_, and _Achatina_. The _Bulimi_ (all now extinct but one) comprise one large, and several small species, of a peculiar type, most resembling forms now inhabiting South America and the islands of the Pacific. _Zonites_ is chiefly South European, but the other genera are of wide range, and none are peculiar to the island.