62 HELICIDS. 
article of food, and in Venice and other parts of the 
Continent I have seen baskets-full collected for this 
purpose. The taste is insipid, and the animals are apt 
to be tough if not well boiled. As nourishing food, 
however, they rank with calf’s-foot jelly, oysters, &c. 
A sinistral monstrosity occasionally occurs which is 
said to be worth a guinea. 
Var. I. albo-fasciata. Reddish brown, with a single 
white band. 
Var. II. exalbida. Yellowish or whitish. 
Var. III. conoidea. Small, thin, conical (sand-hills 
on sea coast). 
Var. LV. tenuis. Dwarfed, thin (Channel Isles). 
5. H. nemorAuis (inhabiting groves). 
Globular, solid, very brilliantly and variously coloured ; 
whorls five and a half; wmbilicus distinct in the young, 
but covered in the adult; inside lip reddish brown. 
This is the common and pretty snail which spots the 
country hedges after a shower of rain. It is also found 
in great abundance on sand-hills by the sea coast. 
There are said to be nearly two hundred colour 
varieties of the common type, and nearly fifty of the 
Var. hortensis! The collector will do well to make a 
series of varieties according to his fancy, keeping three 
or four of each sort, and then to fill up the gaps with 
