HELIX. 197 



Shell subconic, compressed on both sides, rather soHd for 

 its size, but semitransparent, somewhat glossy, light ash-grey, 

 with occasionally faint streaks of reddish-brown, giving the 

 shell a prettily mottled appearance ; there is also frequently 

 on the last whorl a white spiral band like that in H. riifescens ; 

 the surface also is transversely striate as in that species : peri- 

 phery obtusely and indistinctly keeled : epidermis rather thick, 

 sparsely covered with short white haii's, which are easily 

 rubbed off : ivJiorls 6-7, compact, rather depressed above and 

 slightly convex beneath, the last scarcely occupying one-third 

 of the shell : spire short and blunt : suture deep : mouth ob- 

 liquely semilunar, considerably higher than broad, furnished 

 inside with a sharp white rib, which becomes thicker towards 

 the umbilicus and is placed near the opening : outer lip not 

 very thin in adult specimens and somewhat reflected : umbi- 

 licus rather broad, open and deep. L. 0-2. B. 0-4. 



Yar. 1. alhida. Shell white. 



Var. 2. minor. Shell smaller and also white : spire more 

 depressed than usual. 



Habitat : Under stones among nettles and the Ai'um 

 maculatum, as well as at the roots of grass in moist 

 places; generally distributed. Var. 1. With specimens 

 of the usual colour. Var. 2. South of Ireland (Dill- 

 wyn) ; Bath (Clark) ; Dover (J. G. J.). The typical 

 form occurs not unfrequently in our upper tertiary beds. 

 It is not uncommon in many parts of the Continent, 

 but it has been probably overlooked and considered a 

 variety of H. hispida. The second variety I found at 

 Calais, as well as at Dover. 



Between two and three years after I had described 

 this species in the ' Transactions ' of the Linnean So- 

 ciety, I had some misgivings as to its being distinct from 

 some of the numerous varieties of H. hispida, and I 

 expressed this doubt in a Supplement to my Monograph ; 

 but as the species I had proposed is adopted by Conti- 

 nental naturalists, and there is a fair probability that this 

 has quite as good a claim to specific distinction as many 



