MADEIRAN GROUP. 117 



Helix nitidiuscula (pars), Alb., Mai. Mad. 51. t. 14. f. 1-3 



(1854) 

 „ vulgata, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 74 (1867) 

 var. /S. deserticola, Woll. 



Helix vulgata, a. major, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 75 

 (1867) 

 var. /S. giramica, Lowe. 



Helix nitidiuscula, /3. major, Pfeif., Mon. Hel. i. 197 

 (1848) 

 „ giramica, Loiue, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852) 

 „ vulgata, var. 7. giramica, Id.,Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 



173 (1854) 

 „ nitidiuscula, var. /3., Alb., Mai. Mad. 51. 1. 14. f. 7-9 

 (1854) 

 var. 8. pidchra, Paiva. 



Helix vulgata, 8. pulchra, Paiva, Man. Moll. Mad. 75 

 (1867) 

 var. e. saxipotens, Well. 



Helix vulgata, 8. pulchra (pars), Paiva, 1. c. 75 (1867) 

 Habitat Maderam et tres Desertas [a Portu Sancto solo 

 absens] ; a litore maris usque ad 3000' s.m. ascendens, vulgatis- 

 sima. In statu semifossili prope Canigal abundat, ubi H. cani- 

 calensem, Lowe, sequat ; necnon in summo Desertse Australis 

 (sub varietate minuta ' s. saxipotens,^ mihi, occurens) re- 

 peritur. 



This is perhaps the most abundant, and variable, of all the 

 Madeiran Helices, — the H. polymorpha only excepted ; and it 

 appears to occur on every island of the Grroup except Porto 

 Santo and the adjacent rocks, where its place is taken by the 

 allied (but extremely distinct) H. nitidiuscida. Sow. In Ma- 

 deira proper and on the three Desertas it absolutely swarms, — 

 assuming many aspects, however (in size, clothing, and colour), 

 according to the exact district in which it is found. In a sub- 

 fossil condition it exists in profusion both at Canipal and on the 

 summit of the Southern Deserta, — in the former of which 

 localities it represents the H. cahicalensis, Lowe (which seems 

 to me to have absolutely nothing to distinguish it, beyond its 

 thickened calcareous substance and bleached colourless surface, 

 from the usual type), whilst in the latter (where it is small and 

 depauperated, with a much reduced umbilicus) it answers to my 

 ' var. £. saxipotens.'' 



In a general sense the H. vulgata may be described as a 

 rather highly coloured, fasciated species, less strictly opake 

 than the Porto-Santan H. nitidiuscida, and more or less evi- 

 dently clothed (when the specimens are fresh and unrubbed) 

 with short, remote, and excessively minute hairs, — each of 



