VITRINA. 157 



tinge, and having some minute black specks on the anterior 

 part : foot yellowish underneath, pointed behind. 



Shell convex above, rather depressed below, exceedingly 

 thin and brittle, remarkably glossy and almost iridescent, 

 nearly transparent, marked indistinctly by the lines of growth, 

 as well as by close-set and very minute striae in a spiral di- 

 rection : epidermis thin : luhor-ls 3-4, convex, the last occu- 

 pying more than two-thirds of the shell : sj^ire extremely short, 

 rising gradually to a blunt point : suture very slight, forming 

 a narrow groove, which is striate across : mouth nearly roimd, 

 except where it is interrupted by the periphery of the penul- 

 timate whorl : outer lip not very thin, nor inflected above : 

 pillar lip sharp. L. 0-125. B. 0-25. 



Yar. 1. depressiuscula. Shell rather oval and flatter on 

 both sides : spire scarcely raised above the level of the last 

 whorl. V. Draparncddl and V. depressa, Jefii'. in Linn. Trans. 

 xvi. pp. 326, 327. 



Var. 2. Dillwynii. Shell nearly globular, with the last 

 whorl very convex : spire more prominent. V. Dillwynii, 

 Jeffi'. I. G. p. 506. 



Habitat : Under stones and logs of wood^ as well as 

 among moss and dead leaves^ in woods and shady places 

 throughout Great Britain. Var. 1. Neighbourhood of 

 Swansea and Plymouth (J. G. J.). It approaches very 

 near to V. major of the elder Ferussac and V. Drapar- 

 naldi of Cuvier^ with which I at one time considered it 

 to be identical. Var. 2. Sand-hills near Swansea, at 

 the roots of Rosa spinosissima. The foreign range of 

 this common species extends from Siberia to Sicily. 



This is an active and hardy creature, and, whether 

 crawling or at rest, it seems always to keep the outer 

 lobe of its mantle in motion, so as to polish the shell. 

 Bouchard-Chantereaux says that it does not begin laying 

 its eggs until September, October, or November, and that 

 the young attain their full growth in fi'om eight to ten 

 months. He believes it does not live longer than from 

 twelve to fifteen months, having always found a number 



