68 JOURNAL OF CONCHOl.OGY, VOI,. I4, NO. 3, JULY, I913. 



var. pallida Jeff., Ann. Mag. N. Hist., 1859, vol. ii., p. 196. — 

 Found occasionally with the type at Torbay, Portland, and Weymouth. 



Melampus bidentatus Mont. — This species lives on the open 

 coast, either under stones or in crevices of rocks and harbours, be- 

 tween tide-marks, while the var. alba lives in sheltered bays and at 

 the mouths of rivers, from the Shetlands to Jersey. It is extremely 

 variable in shape, varying from a short globose form to a slender 

 cylindrical one. A rare form from Torbay has a longer spire and 

 tumid whorls, resembling in outline Li>nficea trimcatula, while a 

 monstrosity from the same district has only one tooth. The teeth of 

 the aperture are present at all stages of growth, and aged specimens, 

 both of this and the next, have the pillar abnormally thickened by a 

 shelly deposit. The shell is nearly always white, but I have some 

 specimens flesh pink and others light grey. 



Jeffreys' figure does not show the flexure on the upper part of the 

 outer lip ; Sowerby's figure does, but the teeth in the latter are 

 equalized, instead of the upper one being twice as large as the lower. 



M. myosotis Drap. — Gregarious nearly everywhere from Jersey 

 to Shetland. 



var. ringens Turt. — Equally diffused with the type, but more 

 marine, though on the open coast at Dover both forms live together, 

 the variety predominating. The colour is whitish, pale yellow, or 

 horn-colour of various shades, and the outer lip is furnished with 

 tubercles and teeth, varying in size, space, and number, ranging from 

 one to ten. In addition, it occasionally has the same rows of bristles 

 surmounting each whorl, though Jeffreys' figure exhibits it in the 

 type only. Like the last species, the variations are extreme, from an 

 attenuated slender form to a short globose one. The largest come 

 from Portland Island, and attain 4 lines by i|. I am indebted to 

 Mr. Charles Jefferys, the naturalist, of Tenby, for some very fine 

 specimens of this variety, which he had procured from a most re- 

 markable habitat — " a narrow fissure extending about 140 feet 

 subterraneously, about 45 feet above high-water mark, and 60 to 80 

 feet below the top of the cliff. The Melampus are about 120 feet from 

 the entrance to this fissure, and are localised in one spot about two 

 feet square. This fissure is nowhere more than two feet wide by five 

 to seven feet high." From another correspondent I am informed that 

 these Afelampjis hold their position in hundreds through the agency of 

 a blow-hole, which in rough weather imparts some degree of moisture 

 to them. This habitat is in the dark, and the Melamp^is must be 

 searched for with a lantern. 



Jeffreys' figures are perfect, except that he makes the var. ringens 

 a more graceful shell than the type ; but there should be no 

 difference between them in that respect. Sowerby's figures are too 



