MADEIRAN GROUP. 133 



sicmally so obscure as to be barely traceable ; though the whole 

 of the upper portion of the shell is more often suffused with a 

 perceptibly browner tint, which is only relieved by a few irre- 

 gular transverse distant whiter line-like dashes which mark the 

 positions of some of the larger costse. Then, its sculpture is 

 peculiar, — the closely-set costate lines being finer than in the 

 maderensis, the smaller ones however having a tendency to be 

 broken-up into elongate granules, which give the entire upper 

 surface a rather coarsely granulated appearance. The under- 

 side, on the contrary, apart from the usual scattered granula- 

 tions towards the aperture, is nearly free from sculpture, — it 

 being a trifle more smooth and shining than is generally the 

 case in its ally. 



The only district in which I am aware that the H. spirorbis 

 has hitherto been observed is near Feijaa d'Ovelha and Paul do 

 Mar, in the west of Madeira proper, — where it was obtained in 

 great profusion by Mr. Lowe, during April 1860, congregating 

 in clusters beneath large slabs of stone on the dry submaritime 

 hills, or cliffs, in the direction of the coast, — though at an 

 elevation of, perhaps, 1,200 feet above the sea. The Baron 

 Paiva records its existence on the Southern Deserta also (or 

 Eugio), and I am inclined to think that this habitat may be 

 trusted ; though the species was not met with in that island 

 either by Mr. Leacock, Mr. Lowe, or myself. But, if true, the 

 fact is topographically important, — implying, as it does, that, 

 of the four allied Helices of the H. maderensis type, the H. 

 spirorbis is the only one which has yet been detected beyond 

 the limits of Madeira proper. 1 



Helix leptosticta. 



Helix leptostica, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 49. t. 5. 



f. 24 (1831) 

 Pfeif.. Mon. Hel. iii. 155 (1853) 

 „ Lowe, Proe. Zool. Soc. Loud. 195 (1854) 



„ „ Alb., Mai. Mad. 30. t. 7. f. 11-13 (1854) 



„ „ Paiva, Mon. Moll, Mad 52 (1867) 



Habitat Maderam, et (sec. Paiva) Desertam Australem ; in 

 colli bus aridis maritimis orientalibus, prsesertim versus Cabo 

 Garajao, gaudens. 



The H. leptosticta is about as large as, or a little larger 

 than, the H. maderensis ; but it differs from that species and 

 its immediate allies, essentially, in its less carinated (indeed 



1 The exact spot, near Feijaa d'Ovelha, where Mr. Lowe met with the 

 //. .spirorbis, is on the Lombo do Canario,— below (or, rather, down) the Lom- 

 bada dos Marinheiros, beyond the Lombo Farrobo, towards the verge of the 

 sea-cliffs. 



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