Mr. W. H. Benson on new species of Helices. 217 
Ground near Rondebosch, adhering to the undersides of stones ; 
alive in May and July 1846; dead at “the Strand,” False Bay. 
Helix pulchella, well-distinguished by Pfeiffer’s diagnosis from 
H. costata, Miiller, and which has been noticed as occurring in 
Europe, from Ireland to Russia, and from Sweden to Switzerland, 
as well as in Madeira, and through a considerable portion of 
North America, has extended its range to the Southern hemi- 
sphere. I gathered specimens under stones lying on the lawn of 
High Constantia, near the south-east extremity of Table Moun- 
tain. Another European species, H. cellaria, is tolerably abun- 
dant in the hollows of decayed oaks and willows, in the neigh- 
bourhood of Rondebosch, as well as under stones, &c. on the 
ground. It was probably imported originally from Holland with 
the trees which it frequents. 
Among described indigenous shells, Helix Menkeana, Pfr. (of 
which Krauss obtained only a single specimen on the stem of a 
Protea, near Elim in Zwellendam) occurred to me in bushes 
shooting out of the sand-hills which border the head of Hout 
Bay, south of Table Mountain ; but it was deficient in similar 
localities explored near Cape Town and in False Bay. 
Helix globulus, Miller (H. Lucana, Lamk., nec Mill.), is to be 
found within a few hundred yards of the coast, both of Table and 
False Bays, and never, as far as my observations extended, much 
inland. It burrows in the earth and in sand, and only makes its 
appearance in the very wettest weather during the winter season, 
when it may be taken emerging from the ground, or may be 
traced from its earth-cast. The deserted shells are alone ob- 
servable at other seasons. The specimens obtainable on the 
shores of False Bay are larger and more brilliantly coloured than 
those of Table Bay, and belong to the var. rosacea (H. rosacea, 
Lamk.). Krauss notes the species as being only subfossil at 
Green Point, but I have taken it alive on several parts of that 
shore. 
Helix Capensis, Pfr., is also exclusively a shore-loving species. 
It is exceedingly abundant on the borders of Table and False 
Bays and at Green Point, on stones and grass above high-water 
mark, and for a few hundred yards inland. Those of the south- 
ern shores exceed in beauty the shells of the western coast, being 
variously marked with reddish brown bands or radiate stripes. 
An internal rib rarely occurs in the right lip, a character which 
is not noted by Pfeiffer. 
February 1850. 
