XEROPHILA ITALA. 121 
In the insect world it is preyed upon by the coleopterous Drilus 
davescens, and Ocypus oleus ix also accused by M. de Saussaye with de- 
stroying and feeding upon the species; while Herr von Linstow has 
described as Cercarue ericetorum, a caudate parasite developed from 
sporocysts found in this species. 
A sarcophagous and possibly saprophagous Dipteron, Surcophaga nigri- 
ventris Meigen, is recorded by Dr. EK. W. Bowell as bred from a number of 
dead and moribund .V. 7ta/a, collected on the common, by Chipstead 
Station, Surrey. Dr. Keilin never obtained this parasite from V. ttula 
at Cambridge, though common there on other species. 
Protective Resemblance.—'l'he ochreous var. dutescens has been 
noted by Mr. Davy Dean as almost undistinguishable upon the dried 
grass amongst which it nay be found, while the ordinary whitish form 
assimilates closely with the caleareous ground on which it is usually found. 
Economic Uses.— According to Moquin-l'andon, this species is 
regarded as edible in France, and he especially mentions its use as food by 
the people of Avignon, Vaucluse. 
In the British Isles, as in Sussex, and Bundoran, Donegal, the village 
children and others gather numbers of this and other species, threading 
them upon twine, and thus making necklaces and bracelets for their own 
adornment or for sale to tourists and others. 
Mr. Swanton believes this use of the shells is a survival of an ancient 
custom, and speculates whether such bored shells have ever been found 
on pre-historic sites. 
Geological Distribution.—Verophila itula is apparently not reli- 
ably known below the deposits of Pleistocene age. ‘lhe fossilized Irish 
specimens of this species are stated to present quite a different facies to 
the shells usually found in this country, the spire being more produced and 
the spiral banding more distinct and pronounced. 
ENGLAND. 
PLEISTOCENE.—In England, it is listed by Mr. W. J. L. Abbott amongst the 
fossils found in the Iehtham fissure, West Kent. 
In Kent East, in a pre- Neolithic deposit, Barton Court, Dover, Rev. R. A. Bullen. 
In South Essex, Mr. B. B. Woodward cites it from Pleistocene river drift at Grays; 
and Mr, J. P. Johnson records a form intermediate between tfal/a and virgata from 
Uphall Brickyard, Ilford. 
In Middlesex, Kennard and Woodward record it as present in the ‘Myles 
Collection,” at the British Museum, as obtained from the sands exposed by the 
excavations in St. James Square, London, S.W. 
In Norfolk W., it is recorded by Kennard and Woodward from the later layers of 
the Pleistocene or early Holocene deposits at Grimes Graves, near Weeting. 
In Cambridgeshire, Mrs. McK. Hughes describes it as common in the deposits 
at Grantchester, Barrington, Bar nwell- Abbey, and Barnwell railway- “sti ution ; and 
Kennard and Woodward remark that the Barnwell Abbey shells are ‘‘ rather small 
and are decidedly flat, while those from Barrington are distinctly Niaher in spire.’ 
FOREIGN DISTRIBUTION. 
In France, it is recorded by M. Locard from deposits of Mid-Pleistocene age at 
Celle, Seine-et-Marne ; by M. Fagot from the grey clays of the Quaternary period 
at Hers, Haute Garonne ; by Dr. Germain as rare in loess at Neyron, Ain, as well 
as in the marls of Mouche and Gerland, Rhone; by Bouillet as common at bottom 
of the ancient lake of Sarlieve, near Clermont, Puy-de-Dome; by Caziot and 
Maury from the Pleistocene deposits about Nice, Alpes Maritimes ; ; by Dr. Bouly 
de Lesdain from the Pleistocene dunes of Ghyvelde, Nord; and M. Locard from 
the quaternary beds about Lyons, Rhone. 
In Dalmatia, M. Bourgnignat reports this species as //. culgarissima from the 
quaternary deposits of Sinj. 
In Greece, M. Hilber has also recorded the same form from this country. 
