182 HELICID^. 



ninth of July, all the eggs were hatched : the young 

 snails had one whorl and a half; the umbilicus was 

 open ; the head and tentacles were bluish-black, and the 

 other parts whitish and semi-transparent. They imme- 

 diately began to feed, and made their first repast of the 

 pellicle of the eggs from which they had just emerged. 

 They grew rapidly, and before the middle of October, 

 when they went into winter quarters, they had increased 

 their bulk four or five times beyond its original measure- 

 ment. 



Mr. Say pubhshed his description of this species, 

 under the name of ^. diodonta, in 1824 ; but that spe- 

 cific name seems to have been preoccupied for a very 

 difiFerent shell, (See Lamarck, Anim. sans Vert. 2d. ed. 

 VIII. 116,) and is now recognized by several authors as 

 applied to a species estabhshed by Von Muhlfeld. It is 

 proper, therefore, to adopt a new name. I propose that 

 of Sayi, in honor of Thomas Sat, the describer of the 

 greater part of our land shells. I am aware that the 

 use of proper names for this purpose has been so much 

 abused, that such an apphcation might no longer be con- 

 sidered a compliment by a living naturalist ; but Mr. 

 Say's reputation is too well estabhshed to suffer by his 

 name being mingled with those of the great crowd of 

 known and unknown persons to whom a similar honor 

 has been offered. 



