34 



HALF-HOURS IN THE GREEN LANES. 



some respects connects the shell-bearing snails with 

 the slugs. It possesses only a rudimentary shell, 

 which is placed at the further or tail end of the 

 body. This shell appears to be the dwarfed repre- 

 sentative of one that was once much larger, and few 

 naturalists doubt that the original ancestor of the 

 Testaeella had a large shell, into which it could 

 retreat at pleasure, like the ordinary land and fresh- 

 Water snails. The specific name of lialiotidea is 

 given to our common species on account of the shape 



Fig. 21. 



Part of the Lingual Ribbon of Testaeella lialiotidea. 



of the rudimentary shell resembling that of the well 

 known " Venus' ear " shell (Haliotis), of the Channel 

 Islands. The Testaeella does not possess horny jaws, 

 and its lingual ribbon is very large and wide, being 

 composed of about fifty transverse, oblique rows. 

 The teeth diminish in size towards the centre, each 

 row numbering about fifty teeth. The Succinea is 

 another snail, delighting in moist or marshy situa- 

 tions. Its shell is exceedingly delicate, and on this 

 account, difficult to preserve. But it is a very 

 beautiful object, and richly deserves the necessary 



