206 EULIMIDJE. 



Zoster a and under stones, at Jersey, to a sandy bottom in 

 the greatest depths of the North Sea. The variety in- 

 habits deep and sheltered water at Oban, and in Loch 

 Fyne and Shetland. Sars has enumerated this species as 

 a post-glacial fossil from a shell-bank at Kirkoen in Nor- 

 way, 50 feet above the present level of the sea, and 

 Calcara from Altavilla in Sicily; Mace found the variety 

 in an upper Miocene bed at Biot near Antibes. Both 

 the typical and varietal forms are generally distributed 

 in the North Atlantic, from Finmark to the Canaries, 

 as well as throughout the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and 

 Archipelago, at depths of from 10 to 140 f. A Mazatlan 

 shell in Mr. M'Andrew's collection, from Dr. P. Car- 

 penter, cannot be distinguished from ours. 



This species was evidently known to Montagu; for 

 he says, " minute specimens [of E. polita] are some- 

 times found on oysters and scallops. In this infant 

 state they are of exquisite polish, and when the animal 

 is alive, frequently appear mottled with pink and pale- 

 green; are also somewhat arcuated and very seldom 

 found perfectly straight/' The discrepancies in the 

 several descriptions of the animal which I have collated 

 show a considerable variation of colour; Clark's and 

 mine agree best with that of Philippi in Wiegm aim's 

 Archiv for 1841, viz. that the body is ornamented with 

 purple-red or crimson confluent spots and points, which 

 colouring extends to the base of the tentacles. The 

 animal is agile, and swims well for a mollusk. Malm 

 tells us that the easiest way to procure specimens is by 

 allowing the dredged silt to stand in a tub for an hour, 

 when they may be seen floating on the surface of the 

 drained water. The shell is sometimes truncated to 

 such an extent as to have only four whorls left, the 

 uppermost being plugged off. 



