HELIX. 181 



Transverse diameter commonly less than one inch; 

 but there are specimens in the Philadelphia Museum, 

 from Mr. Hyde's collection, measuring one inch and 

 three-quarters. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. Inhabits all the north- 

 ern parts of the United States, from Illinois to Maine. 

 Is rather common on the slopes of the Green Mountains, 

 in Vermont. 



REMARKS. This is a handsome species, -with a deli- 

 cate, shining epidermis. It is not likely to be taken for 

 any other species, except H. profunda, Say, from 

 which it is distinguished by its inferior size and solidity, 

 its narrow lip and less circular aperture, the absence of 

 the brown lines and bands, and the presence of the tooth 

 on the pillar-lip. It varies in the greater or less depres- 

 sion of the spire, and is sometimes destitute of the tooth 

 on the pillar-lip. 



On the third day of July, 1836, I discovered an indi- 

 vidual of this species in the act of laying its eggs in a 

 damp place under a log. I transferred them, with the 

 animal, to a tin box filled with wet moss. The eggs were 

 not much more than half as large as those of H. aibola- 

 bris, Say ; they were white, adhering together very 

 slightly, flaccid, and apparently not entirely filled with 

 fluid. During the succeeding night the number had 

 increased to about fifty, and in a few hours they became 

 full and distended. As the snail now began to devour 

 the eggs, I was obliged to remove it. On the twenty- 



