HELIX. 113 



course "with those parts of Europe where it abounds. It 

 is yet found only in restricted localities, and chiefly near 

 the sea-shore, but being acclimated it may probably be- 

 come more generally diffused. 



It may be distinguished from the foreign varieties, by 

 its general aspect, its uniformity of coloring, the greater 

 prominence of the spire, the difference in the color of 

 the animal, which Draparnaud describes as " commonly 

 pale, or a little grayish, or slightly reddish ; " a descrip- 

 tion that could not be applied to the variety in ques- 

 tion ; and lastly by its epiphragm, which is a thin trans- 

 parent membranous pellicle, as in one other species, in 

 place of an opaque papyraceous one, as stated by that 

 author. 



In the young shell, the umbilicus, which is at length 

 hardly large enough to admit the point of a pin, is open, 

 and the lip is simple. 



Its habits seem to differ, in some degree, from those of 

 our indigenous species. Unlike them, it does not appear 

 to burrow under stones, or decaying wood and leaves, but 

 is found on the surface of the ground, or ascending the 

 stems, and adhering to the leaves of the shrubs which 

 cover the soil. I have thought, too, that in captivity it is 

 less disturbed by the want of moisture than any of our 

 native species. 



Having kept a large number of this species in confine- 

 ment, I have frequently had an opportunity of noticing 

 the manner in which the epiphragm is formed, a process 

 which seems not to have been heretofore correctly 



VOL. II. 15 



