VERTIGO. 269 



Var. columella. Shell somewhat longer, and having the last 

 whorl a little broader than the next. Pupa columella, (V. 

 Martens) Benz, Ueber Wiirtenburg. Faun. p. 49. 



HABITAT : Woods, among dead leaves, at the roots of 

 grass and in herbage, as well as on the trunks of trees, 

 in most parts of the kingdom, from the Moray Firth 

 district to Guernsey. This species, however, is local. 

 The variety has been found by Mr. Waller at Finnoe, Co. 

 Tipperary. It inhabits moister places than the typical 

 form and is the Pupa inornata of Michaud. The present 

 species is one of our upper tertiary fossils. Its foreign 

 range extends from the Amoor territory and Lapland to 

 Lombardy. 



This elegant little mollusk is timid, and retires within 

 its shell at the slightest touch. When crawling, it 

 usually carries the shell in a slanting position. Its slime 

 is watery. Mr. Sheppard noticed that his Essex specimens 

 were uniformly darker than those which he found in 

 Suffolk. It inhabits considerable heights. Puton found 

 it on the Vosges Mountains at an elevation of 1150 

 metres, or 3773 feet. Young shells resemble those of a 

 conical Helix, and have a sharply keeled periphery and a 

 small umbilical perforation. Mr. E. J. Lowe says that 

 Professor Babington once observed this species in great 

 abundance on the under surface of the fronds of Aspidia 

 in autumn. They may be found in winter, together with 

 Carychium minimum and other minute shells, concealed 

 in the decayed stalks of the larger umbelliferous plants. 



Although this species is peculiar and by no means un- 

 common, it seems to have escaped the notice of Mon- 

 tagu and the older writers on British Conchology. It is 

 the V. nitida of Fe*russac, Turbo Offtonensis of Sheppard, 

 and my Alcea revoluta. 



