90 Mr. W. H. Benson on new Land Shells from Ceylon. 



determined the whole of them, with the exception of C. Calthce, 

 xanthocq>halum, eryt/u-opus, ohscurum and nigriceps. Heer has 

 a species, C pulchelhim, found in Switzerland, which, from his 

 insufficient description, I have been unable to identify. With 

 the above exceptions I think I have noticed the whole of the 

 European species hitherto known. 



IX. — Characters of new Land Shells, collected by Edgar L. Lay- 

 ARD, Esq., in Ceylon. By W. H. Benson, Esq. 



1. Streptaxis Layardiana, nobis. 



Testa arcuato-rimata, depresso-ovata, abbreviata, lata, leviter striata, 

 albido-cornea ; spira subelevata, apice planulato, excentrico ; sutura 

 crenulata : anfractibus 5, convexiusculis, ultimo ad latus deviante, 

 basi convexiuscula, Isevi ; apertura straminea, subtriangulari uni- 

 plicata, marginibus callo lamellam intrantein validam emittente 

 jmictis, dextro expanse reflexiusculo, antrorsum arcuate, superne 

 profunda sinuato, columellari et basali reflexis, umbilico intus ru- 

 goso-striato. 



Diam. major 10§, minor 8, alt. 4 mill. 



Hab. inter lapides ad verticem rupis Mehintali Insulae Ceylon. 



In one or two specimens the callus near the upper margin is 

 inclined to form an obtuse tooth at the side of the sinus, which 

 is much deeper than in H. Perrotetiana, Petit, from the Nil- 

 gherries. 



A graphic account of the discovery is contained in Mr. Lay- 

 ard's Journal in page 235, vol. xi. of the ' Annals.' This and 

 the following curious species, of a singular genus, capriciously 

 distributed through the tropical regions of the globe, are the first 

 which have been found in Ceylon. The head-quarters of the 

 genus are in South America and Western Africa. The remain- 

 ing species, of which the locality is known, are solitary in the 

 Nilgherry Hills of South India, at Tavoy on the Tenasserim 

 coast of the Bay of Bengal, in Cochin China, and in the Sey- 

 chelles and Rodriguez, islands of the Southern Indian Ocean. 



M. Petit de la Saussaye objects (Journ. de Conchyl. 1851, 

 p. 369) to the reception of Streptaxis as a genus, considering it 

 to be inadmissible in a zoological point of view ; and he adduces 

 as an argument for rejection the circumstance of its gradual 

 change into Helix, through species which belong to the group, . 

 although deficient in the principal character of distortion. The 

 same argument might be used against the reception of most 

 other genera. Bulimiis and Achatina have as little title to sepa- 

 ration as this genus and Helix ; and Streptaxis has equal claims 



