64 LAND AND FRESH-WATER SHELLS OF N. A. [PART L 



peduncles cylindrical, about one-eighth the length of the body, with small, 

 black, ocular points on the superior part of the terminal bulb ; tentacles 

 immediately under, very short. Respiratory foramen near the posterior 

 lateral edge of the mantle, large, surrounded with a whitish border. Ori- 

 fice of rectum immediately adjacent, but a little above and anterior to the 

 respiratory foramen. Foot narrow ; locomotive band bounded by two 

 distinct longitudinal furrows. 

 Generally about 25 mill, in length, but when fully grown nearly 50 mill. 



Limax agrestis, LiNN^Ens, Syst. Nat. [X], 1758, I, (352. — Moquin-Tandon, 

 Reeve, &c.— Binney, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. IV, 166 (1842) ; Terr. 

 Moll. II, 37, pi. Ixiv, f. 2 (1851).— Leidy, Terr. Moll. I, 250, pl. ii, 

 f. 7-9 (1851), anat.— DeKay, N. Y. Moll. 20, pl. i, f. 4 (1843).— 

 Morse, Journ. Portl. Soc. I, 7, f. 1, pl. iii, f. 2 (1864). 



Limax iutiicaia, Gould, olim, Invert. 3 (1841). 



It is undoubtedly of European origin. Inhabiting Boston, 

 New York, Philadelphia, and other maritime cities of the Atlantic 

 coast. Also in Greenland. It is common in the neighborhood 

 of Boston, under stones at road-sides, and about stables and 

 farm-yards, and in other moist situations, under wet and decay- 

 ing pieces of wood. It is also found in cellars and gardens, and 

 causes some mischief by its depredations. A considerable num- 

 ber of individuals often congregate in the same retreat. Their 

 food appears to be the green leaves of succulent plants, and 

 sometimes ripe fruits ; they feed during the night, and are rarely 

 found out of their retreats in the daytime. Their growth is 

 rapid, the animal excluded from the egg in the spring arriving 

 at full maturity and producing eggs before the succeeding winter. 

 They defend themselves from injurious contact by instantly se- 

 creting, at the part touched, a quantity of milky-white, glutinous 

 mucus. They are active in their motions, and soon escape when 

 disturbed. Suspending themselves, head downwards, they lower 

 themselves from plants and fences by forming a mucous thread 

 which they attach to the point from which they hang. They are 

 occasionally seen in this situation in rainy weather. During the 

 process of excreting the mucous thread, the alternate undulating 

 expansions and contractions of the locomotive band of the foot 

 are seen to take place, in the same manner as when they are in 

 motion on a plane surface. 



This species is much more prolific than the others, the number 

 of eggs deposited during the year being sometimes several 

 hundred ; its numbers, in favorable localities, are therefore very 



