i:;0 Beautiful Shells, 



The \\-iclclj-spread Balea frag ills lias been con- 

 founded with tlie pupcBj but it is far too tapering. 

 It is a small, tliin, delicate, sliining, and ratlier 

 transparent sliell, of a yellowisli liorn-colour, and in 

 length about the third of an inch. It is found in 

 trunks of trees, and amidst mosses and lichens. 

 The dark close shell, ClausiUa nigricans, with 



55. Balcrv fra:;lHs (the Fragile Moss Slicll), DrrtparnauJ. 

 5t). Clauailia uigricaiis (the Dark Close Shell), various. 



which we have grouped it, is better known as the 

 common ClaiisiUa \ but it is quite a conchologist's 

 shell, having long escaped vulgar popularity, though 

 very generally distributed throughout Great Britain. 

 This cxclusiveness is due to its habits and colour, 

 which render it far from easy of detection. Its 

 length is half an inch, breadth from a twelfth to an 

 eighth, and it inhabits old walls. The animal, as 

 may be inferred from the shell, is very thin and 

 slender, so much so that in motion it is incapable 

 of raising its shell, but drags it along in the same 

 line as its foot and neck, although when going to 



