218 LIMACIDiE. 



right hinder border. Foot pointed, usually carinate poste- 

 riorly. Vent just below the respiratory aperture. Repro- 

 ductive orifice at the hind base of the right eye-peduncle. 



Shell internal, covered with a thin epidermis, ovate, flat, 

 calcareous, with a thick posterior nucleus, and a thin mem- 

 branous anterior margin. 



Syn. Derocerus, Rajin. Eumelus, Bajin. Krynickia, 

 Krynikillus, Kalenicz. 



Ex. L. maximus, Linnaeus, pi. 79, fig. 1. Shell, L. 

 maximus, fig. 1, a. 



The True Slugs prefer humid places, and are gregarious, 

 hiding during the day under stones ; they are tolerably 

 brisk in their movements, and are especially active during 

 the dews of evening. The corrugated or granular skin of 

 the Slugs proper, like that of all the rest of the family, 

 secretes an abundant mucus, but the tail is unprovided, at 

 its end, with a muciparous pore. As in the Helicida, the 

 mouth is furnished with a horny upper mandible, which in 

 these animals is tri-lobed. They feed on decaying vegetable 

 matter, and appear to be partial to Fungi; Limax rufus, and 

 L. agrestis, consuming not only the Boletus edulis, but the 

 poisonous Agaricus muscarius and A. phalloides ; they like 

 best the firm and crisp Fungi, and attack Discomycetes, as 

 well as Hymcnomycetes. The True Slugs appear to be found 

 in most temperate countries; Europe, North America, the 

 Cape, Canaries, and the Sandwich Islands harbouring spe- 

 cies; in tropical climates their place seems to be occupied 

 by Onichidium and Veronicella. The Hyalimax perlu- 

 cidus is from the Island of Ascension. 



