South' African Land-MoUnsca. 129 



examples of//, hudsonio', to which hotli liavc been assigned, 

 nor are tlicy quite sitnihir to one another, though so ex- 

 ceedingly close; I should be sorry to separate them. Helix 

 hudsoni'ce having been referred to as the type of Peltaius, it 

 becomes necessary to begin with the shells of that species 

 originally collected by Benson, about i^OO miles away to the 

 westward, and refer to his description. 



He/i.r Inidsotiicv, Bs. 

 Ann. & Mag. Xat. Hist. ser. 3, vol. xiii. p. 493 (1864). 



Original description : — 



" H. testa miniitissime obtecte perforata, globoso-depressa, tenuissima, 

 laevigata, striatula, lineis minutissimis con fort issimis spiralibus 

 superne decussata, prope urabilicura polita, cornea, translucente, 

 prope suturam linea anrpista rufescente ornata ; spira dopresso- 

 conoidea, sutura submarginata, apice obtuso ; anfractibus 3.|, 

 rapide accrescentibus, convexiiisculis, ultimo lato, ad peripheriara 

 rotundato, subtus convcxo; apertura obliqua, globoso-lunata,mar- 

 ginibus subconniventibus ; peristomate teuui, acuto ; margine 

 collumellari superno breviter retlexo, perforationem obtegenfca. 



"Diam. major 12|, minor 10^^, axis 7 mm. 



" A single full-grown specimen, with the young, was 

 received from Mrs. J. F. Hudson, with H. phytostylus'^. 

 The shell has a Vitrinoid appearance ; but the sculpture, per- 

 foration, and suture, as well as the character o£ a portion o£ 

 the animal remaining in the shell, prove it to be a Helix." 



Examining the sculpture of specimen dissected (no. 2022) 

 from Grahamstown, and observed under high power, the 

 protoconch appears to be quite smooth ; it soon passes to a 

 very beautiful and finely decussate surface, in parts punctate 

 up to the second whorl, where it merges into very microscopic 

 longitudinal striation. 



Three specimens of H. hudsonice are in the Natural 

 History Museum, presented by I\[r. R. McAndrew in 1873 ; 

 they are, I am inclined to think, the type shells from whicli 

 Benson made his description, and alluded to as one full- 

 grown specimen and one young, because the coloured suture 

 lie mentions is very conspicuous, most probably due to some 

 colouring-matter derived from the soil and not a true 

 character. In these type shells it was interesting to find in 

 the apical part of the shell the decussate surface mentioned 

 above in the Grahamstown shell. 



* Colesberg, 235 miles west of Natal, and near Riversdale, Swellendam, 

 about 100 miles east of Cape Town. 



Ann. cfe Mag. xV. His(. Ser. 8. Vol. ix. 9 



