3o8 Shell Life 



timber, among moss, decacl leaves, and grass roots. It 

 is pretty generally distributed throughout the United 

 Kingdom and in the Channel Islands, and is fairly 

 common. According to Moquin - Tandon it can 

 endure prolonged submersion in water, although 

 strictly speaking it is a land-shell, but in all prob- 

 ability its conversion to a terrestrial life is of 

 comparatively recent date. 



The Mouse-eared Alexia (Alexia myosotis), as will 

 be seen from the figure of the shell, is very close to 

 Carychiam. It is one of a little group that have not 

 yet lost their fondness for salt water, though this 

 species has taken to salt-marshes and mud - flats, 

 where it feeds upon the rotting debris of 

 seaweeds. The shell measures about a third 

 of an inch, and varies from yellow to deep 

 brown in colour; the mouth, which is sup- 

 posed to resemble a mouse's ear, bears two 

 teeth on the pillar, with often a tubercle 

 beside them and a similar projection from the outer 

 lip. Another species (by some regarded as a variety 

 only), A. denticulata, lives in rock-crevices and under 

 stones between tide -marks on the open seacoast. 

 This form has a much paler, often white, shell, with 

 a thickened outer lip which is furnished inside with 

 several tubercles, in addition to those on the pillar. 

 The Two-toothed Leuconia (Leiiconia hidentatus) is 

 a very similar littoral species, but it is smaller 

 (one quarter of an inch), and of ivory white colour. 

 The outer lip has a thin edge but is thickened within, 

 and tlie inner lip has two teeth of diflferent size. Tlie 

 smaller tooth is near the base of the pillar and the 

 larger a little above it. 



