94 HELICIDJS. 



This interesting animal is the only British member 

 of a genus consisting of nearly one hundred and sixty 

 species. It lives underground, and is never found on 

 the surface of the earth in a live state. Whether its 

 subterranean habits are the cause or the effect of its 

 being destitute of the power of sight need not be dis- 

 cussed here, but it is the fact that, in common with 

 other subterranean animals, it is eyeless. 



Dr. Jeffreys remarks: "In all probability the 

 A. acicula lives upon animal matter ; for, in the spots 

 where it has been found living, no underground fungus 

 or other vegetation appears to exist, and the form of 

 the shell would induce a belief that this snail is not 

 only zoophagous but predaceous. The shells of all 

 true Glandina, which are carnivorous, have the same 

 kind of notch or truncature at the base as the present 

 species of Achatina" 



It inhabits various parts of England, Wales, and 

 Ireland, under stones and at the roots of grass, some 

 inches underground. As it would be rather a tedious 

 process to search for it by digging all over a district, 

 it is perhaps fortunate that another means of obtaining 

 it exists. Among the rejectamenta of rivers (Thames, 

 Yorkshire Ouse, &c.) specimens are common, being 

 doubtless washed away by floods from their native 

 localities. The specimens found in this way are of 



