88 HELICIDiE. 



liarly and ratlior irregularly iiulonted lengthways with 

 broad corrugations that correspond in some degree with 

 the coloured markings, so that under a lens, the exterior 

 reminds one of the cutting of a cameo. Whorls nine or 

 ten, of slow longitudinal increase, convex or a little rounded, 

 separated by a well-marked but simple and but Httle slant- 

 ing suture, tapering to a much attenuated, yet not acute, 

 apex. Body not filling more than a third of the dorsal 

 length, a little ventricose ; its basal declination rounded, 

 and usually more or less abrupt. Mouth devoid of sculp- 

 ture, of an abbreviated oval or ovate shape, that is well 

 rounded below, and rather suddenly contracted (not gra- 

 dually peaked) above. Outer lip simple, acute, regularly 

 arcuated throughout. Pillar lip filling more than half the 

 length of the aperture, straightish, and rather broadly re- 

 flected above, so as to partially conceal the narrow sub- 

 umbilicus. Usual length half an inch, with a breadth of 

 two lines and a third, but these dimensions are often 

 exceeded, especially in foreign examples. 



Animal stout and rather short, dusky on the head and 

 neck, with darker lines passing to the four tentacula ; 

 sides of the body and tail yellowish- white. The posterior 

 extremity does not extend much, if at all, behind the body 

 whorl. There is a dark line down the centre of the fore- 

 head. The upper tentacles are rather thick and clavate, 

 tlie lower ones very short. 



This pretty snail is gregarious in its habits, local in its 

 distribution. It is most abundant near the sea, and in the 

 western districts, especially on sandy or limestone soils. 

 Abundant in the Channel Isles and on the waste lands of 

 Dorsetshire (on chalk, Purbeck, Portland stone), Devon, 

 and Cornwall, South and North Wales, Lancashire, the 

 Isle of Man (on sand and limestone, never on slate), parts 



