SHELLS OF THE CHALK. 85 



that a handful of dead and moist leaves, after being 

 spread out on paper to dry, yielded a good harvest 

 of these small mollusca. 



One of the handsomest land-shells, and one which 

 is partial to chalky and calcareous soils, is Cyclos- 

 toma elegans (PL VIII., fig. 8). In shape it is 

 something between Helix and Bulimus, and in colour 

 a yellowish-brown, with more or less of a reddish 

 tinge, marked with purple blotches. The whorls are 

 very finely striated in the direction in which they 

 curve, and the sutures between the whorls very deep. 

 The entire shell is about six-tenths of an inch in 

 length, by four-tenths at the widest part. In Suffolk 

 a variety has been found of a uniform buff or clay 

 colour, without the beautiful purple spots which 

 generally ornament the shell in specimens from the 

 south of England (cf. King, " Zoologist," 1853, 

 p. 3916). 



The mouth of this shell is closed with a very 

 solid operculum, covered on both sides with a thick 

 epidermis, a double fringe of which completely 

 encircles it, and causes it to appear laminated. 

 The animal itself is of very shy and retiring habits, 

 and in dry weather buries itself in the earth, where 



