AN EDIBLE SPECIES. 1 43 



regarded as only a variety of fidelis. It is quite flat, 

 and the body whorl has a sharp, angular edge. The 

 shell has a peculiar cloth-like surface, and is of a 

 nearly black color throughout. The umbilicus is dis- 

 tinct, and the aperture is very oblique. The diameter 

 of large specimens is an inch and a half. 



Of a shape similar to the last, but smaller, lighter 

 colored, and beaded within the aperture, is the rare 

 Helix Hillebrandi, Newcomb, Hil-le-brand'-i. This is 

 a Sierra species, and is found in the counties of Cala- 

 veras and Tuolumne. 



Fig. 129 gives us a basal view of 

 a shell found in Southern Califor- 

 nia, particularly around San Diego. 

 The picture represents a small spec- 

 imen, however, for large ones grow 

 to a diameter of an inch and a half. 

 Its name is Glyptostoma Newber- 

 ry anum^ W. G. Binney, Glyp-tos'- 

 to-ma New-ber-ry-a'-num. The spire is flattened and 

 the umbilicus is very large, distinctly showing the 

 coil of rounded whorls. The lip of the aperture is thin 

 and acute, the whorls six in number, and the color of 

 the shell is nearly black. 



Helix (Pomattd) aspersa, Mull., Po-ma'-shi-a 

 as-per'-sa, is a European species which has been 

 introduced into this country on a limited scale, as an 

 article of food. I have specimens from San Jose, 

 California, where a small colony of them have lived 

 in a sheltered spot for many years. 



The shell is large, sub-globose, and without an 

 umbilicus. The whorls are four or five in number, 

 the spire obtuse, and the aperture large. The shell 

 is rather thin and its surface is marked by small 



