HELIX. 115 



4-42, convex, body whorl occupying quite two-thirds of the 

 shell ; spire short, apex obtuse ; suture distinct, but shallow and 

 somewhat oblique ; mouth roundish-oval, oblique ; outer lip 

 white, moderately thick, considerably reflected ; inner lip a mere 

 film spread on the base of the penultimate whorl ; interior of 

 shell with bands corresponding with those on the outside ; umbi- 

 licus hidden in adult specimens, slightly visible in the young. 



Inhabits gardens, woods, and hedges. This snail, 

 as horticulturists know to their cost, is exceedingly 

 abundant. Gwyn Jeffreys says he has not observed 

 it so far north as Zetland, and I have noticed that 

 in some of the southern and western counties of 

 Scotland it is much less common than in England. 

 Perhaps the northern gardeners, who are celebrated 

 for their skill and industry, have, in some places at 

 least, partially succeeded in stamping it out. It is 

 slow and lazy in its movements, and rather irritable. 

 It secretes an abundance of thick, greenish-yellow 

 slime, which it seldom fails to pour forth copiously 

 when it is provoked. It is very prolific, laying some- 

 times upwards of one hundred eggs. 



Towards the end of autumn this species is to some 

 extent gregarious. Considerable numbers may then 

 be seen congregated together under large stones, 

 beneath the eaves of houses or sheds, and the coping 

 of walls, as well as in other snug nooks and corners, 

 where, after closing the aperture of their shell with a 

 membranous film (epiphragm), by means of which 

 they frequently cement themselves to each other, 

 they pass through the rigours of winter in a dormant 

 state, deriving mutual warmth and protection from the 

 close manner in which they have packed themselves 

 together. On the return of spring, when they have left 



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