CYPR.ltA. 405 



from low-water mark to 100 f. Dead shells are com- 

 mon on sandy beaches, having been washed np by the 

 tide and waves from the laminarian zone. Fossil in 

 most quaternary and upper tertiary deposits in Europe, 

 as far back as the Coralline Crag and Vienna basin, but 

 not found in the Clyde or other glacial beds. The range 

 of this species, in a recent or living state, extends from 

 Drontheim to Gibraltar, and throughout the Mediter- 

 ranean, Adriatic, and iEgean ; depths 0-100 f. 



" It is surprising to see with what facility the expan- 

 ded animal withdraws itself — foot, mantle, head, and 

 tube — through the narrow opening of the shell" (Clark's 

 MS .) . Like Buccinum undatum it continually discharges 

 an immense quantity of clear slime. Couch says that 

 it often gets into crab-pots ; so that it seems to be fond 

 of all kinds of animal food. The colour and spots ap- 

 pear on the shell when it is half-grown. Northern spe- 

 cimens, whether from shallow or deep water, are almost 

 invariably plain — although I have a spotted one, dredged 

 alive in 86 fathoms. Those from the south are more 

 frequently spotted; but bathymetrical conditions do 

 not seem to affect the colour. Young shells are trans- 

 parent and ribless. The variation in size is very great. 

 A specimen from Shetland is 5 \ lines in length, while 

 another from Guernsey measures barely 2 \ lines ; the 

 bulk of the former is therefore five times that of the 

 latter. Some are more globular than others j and mon- 

 strosities or misshapen forms now and then occur. 

 Spanish and Mediterranean specimens are remarkably 

 small. 



According to Lister these pretty playthings of chil- 

 dren used to be called " nuns " at Hartlepool : he dis- 

 tinguished ours from the Jamaica shell (C. pediculus) by 

 not having a furrow along the back. Linne noticed 



