186 IIELICID.^. 



epidermis rather thin : wliorls 5^, convex, the last occupying 

 about three -fifths of the shell : spire short and ending in a 

 blunt point : suture slight : mouth obliquely and deeply cres- 

 cent-shaped : outer Up thick, reflected and strengthened by a 

 strong internal rib, much inflected above, slightly angular 

 beneath, where it makes an abrupt bend towards the colu- 

 mella ; colour of the lip, rib, and columella reddish-brown : 

 inner Up consisting of a slight reddish-brown layer : umhiUcus 

 open and narrow in the young, but afterwards covered and 

 quite closed. L. 0*65. B. 0'9. 



Var. 1. Jiortensis. Shell smaller and more globular: mouth 

 white-lipped, and rib of the same colour : inner Up excessively 

 thin and coloured or banded like the rest of the shell. H. hor- 

 tensis, Miill. Yerm. Hist. pt. ii. p. 52. 



Yar. 2. hyhrida. Shell of the same size as the &st variety, 

 but not quite so globular : mouth and rib of a pink or liver- 

 colour. H. hyhrida, Poiret, Coq. Aisne, p. 71. 



Yar. 3. major, Ferussac. Shell much larger and rather more 

 depressed than usual. 



Yar. 4. minor. Shell dwarfed, of the same shape and colour 

 as the first variety. 



Habitat : Woods, hedges, gardens, and similar situ- 

 ations everywhere ; and it is one of our upper tertiary 

 fossils. Var. 1. Nearly equally diffused and common. 

 Var. 2. More local, but not rare. Var. 3. Sand-hills and 

 downs ; remarkably large on the rocky Isle of Arran, 

 Co. Gal way (Barlee). Var. 4. Zetland (Barlee) ; Loch 

 Carron, Ross-shire (J. G. J.). This last is analogous to 

 the dwarf variety alpestris of H. arhustorum. A re- 

 versed, as well as a scalariform, monstrosity sometimes 

 occurs J but they are very rare. This abundant, but 

 pretty, shell ranges from Norway to Sicily; and the 

 variety hortensis is described by Gould as North Ameri- 

 can, although he was strongly of opinion that it had been 

 imported and become to a certain extent acclimatized. 



This kind of snail is said to be eaten in France ; but I 

 believe such an experiment has not been tried in this 



