154 HELICID^. 



Greatest transverse diameter rather more than half an 

 inch. 



Geographical Distribution. Noticed, hitherto, 

 only in the upper parts of Alabama, Georgia, and Ten- 

 nessee, but will probably be found in all the South- 

 western States. 



Remarks. This is a beautiful and singular species. 

 Its form is very much flattened above, and it is acutely 

 carinated. The epidermis, in good specimens, is chestnut- 

 colored, and covered with prostrate hairs ; these are par- 

 tially noticeable on the edge of the carina, and suggested 

 to Mr. Lea the specific name spinosa. The base is 

 somewhat convex, and is remarkable for the long, narrow 

 tooth which, rising from an indentation of the umbilical 

 axis, and running parallel with, and closely approximat- 

 ing to the lip, terminates near where the latter joins the 

 body-whorl. The aperture is merely a narrow space left 

 between this tooth and the lip, and is so small that it 

 appears hardly possible that the animal should be able 

 to pass through it. In most specimens there is an inden- 

 tation in the lip, about midway of its length, resembling 

 the cleft in the lip of Helix Idrsuta. 



The surface of each whorl is placed in the slightest 

 possible degree below the edge of the preceding whorl, 

 so that the suture is defined by a raised line of hardly 

 appreciable diameter. In its early age, the base is 

 broadly umbilicated, and the hairs, equal in length to 

 two-thii'ds the width of a whorl, project from the peri- 

 phery of each of them Uke a fringe. 



