HELIX. 139 



6-7, gradually increasing ; spire slightly produced, apex glossy ; 

 suture very deep ; mouth semilunar, rather oblique, in full-grown 

 specimens furnished with a white internal rib ; outer lip not very 

 thick, scarcely reflected ; umbilicus very large and deep. 



Inhabits all parts of Great Britain, under stones 

 and fallen timber, as well as among moss and dead 

 leaves in woods and hedgerows. It is inactive and 

 very timid. During the breeding season, which ex- 

 tends from May to September, it only lays from 

 twenty to thirty eggs, so that it is much less prolific 

 than most of its congeners. When crawling it carries 

 its shell in an upright position. 



Var I. minor. — Shell smaller. Gwyn Jeffreys says this variety 

 " appears to be an Alpine form. I have found it not only in 

 Zetland, and on the Jura and Swiss Alps, but also in Guernsey." 

 — B.C.^ vol. i. p. 219, 



Var. 2. Pyramidalis. — Shell subconical ; spire more raised. 

 Swansea and other places (J. G. J.), B.C. Dudley Castle (G. 

 Sherriff Tye), J.C. Ayr, Bristol (McMurtrie). 



Var. 3. Turtoni, Fleming. — Shell greatly depressed above 

 and below, spire nearly flat. Dublin (Turton), Bath (Clark), 

 Bristol, and Dunboy in Bantry Bay (J. G. J.), B.C. Edinburgh 

 (McMurtrie). 



Var. alba, Moquin-Tandon. — Shell pale-yellowish white or 

 with a greenish tinge. This beautiful variety is rare and local, 

 but it seems to have a wide range. The following are some of 

 the localities given for it. Cleveden, near Bristol (Norman), 

 near Birmingham (G. Sherriff Tye), near Wakefield (fide J. 

 Hebden), near Croydon (R. R.), Church Stretton, and near 

 Loch Awe (McMurtrie), Leeds (Nelson), Perthshire (Buchanan 

 White). 



Gwyn Jeffreys remarks that ** this species may be 

 the long-lost H. gothica of Linne." 



