ZONITBS. 163 



3. Z. NITI'DULTTS*, Draparnaud. 



Helix nitidula, Drap. Hist. Moll. p. 117. Z. nitiduLus, F. & H. iv. 

 p. 36, pi. cxx. f. 8-10. 



BODY dark-grey or slate-colour, with a brownish tinge, 

 covered with flat and irregularly shaped tubercles of a darker 

 hue, which give a speckled appearance : tentacles rather 

 short and conical ; bulbs small : foot rather narrow in front, 

 swollen and keeled behind. 



SHELL compressed, more convex above than below, thin, 

 moderately glossy, scarcely semitransparent, brown or yellow- 

 ish-horncolour above, whitish underneath, especially about 

 the umbilicus ; sculptured as in Z. cellaring, but having the 

 spiral striae more regular and distinct : epidermis rather 

 thick : whorls 4-5, convex and rounded, the last occupying 

 rather more than one-half of the shell : spire slightly raised, 

 nearly central : suture rather deep : mouth round, except 

 where it is interrupted by the periphery of the penultimate 

 whorl : outer lip not so obliquely set as in the last species, 

 nor reflected : umbilicus very broad and deep, fully expos- 

 ing the interior of the spire. L. (H5. B. O33. 



Var. 1. nitens. Shell rather smaller and of a lighter col- 

 our, with a dull and waxy appearance ; last whorl somewhat 

 larger in proportion to the others and laterally expanded. 

 Helix nitens, Michaud, Compl. Drap. p. 44, pi. xv. f. 1-5. 



Var. 2. Helmii. Shell resembling that of the above- 

 mentioned variety, but of a pearl-white colour. Helix 

 Helmii, Gilbertson's MS. 



HABITAT : Under stones and among dead leaves, moss, 

 and herbage in woods, hedge-banks, and elsewhere in 

 this country, from the Moray Firth district to Guernsey. 

 Var. 1. South Wales, West coast of Scotland, and many 

 other places. This variety is more widely diffused than 

 the typical form, which is not uncommon on the banks 

 of the Thames near London and seems to prefer watery 

 places, like Z. nitidus. Var. 2. Preston (Gilbertson) ; 

 Sevenoaks, Kent (Smith). This species is one of our 



* Rather glossy. 



