JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY. 24I 



LIFE HISTORIES OF BRITISH HELICES. 

 By JOHN W. TAYLOR. 



I have been induced, by the hope that it might be useful 

 to many conchologists, to commence a series of articles upon our 

 British Helices. On naming my scheme to the scientific friends 

 likely to assist, I was encouraged thereto, and have to thank for 

 any special merit there may be in these papers, the valuable co- 

 operation of, especially Mr. Ashford, Mr. Butterell, Miss Hele, 

 Mr. W. Nelson, Mr. Ponsonby and other friends. To the first 

 named gentleman I am greatly indebted, more particularly for his 

 researches into the darts of the different species, a branch of the 

 subject greatly neglected in this country. Mr. Butterell has kindly 

 prepared and sent me slides of carefully mounted jaws and Ung- 

 uals of the desired species and communicated a number of inter- 

 esting facts. 



As hinted above, it is my intention to follow with other Heli- 

 ces, until the whole of our native species have been treated of I 

 purpose taking H aspersa as my next subject, to be followed by 

 H. hortensis, and I would solicit earnestly the co-operation of al^ 

 conchologists to render these papers as full and accurate as possible. 



It will be seen that the subject has been treated under a 

 number of different headings; this is done designedly, so as more 

 effectually to show, not so much our knowledge, as its deficiency, 

 and to serve as a guide to the particular directions in which ad- 

 ditional information will be most useful. 



Mr. W. Nelson, of Leeds, is engaged upon Life histories of 

 the LimncBtdcB, and will be grateful for any information on the 

 group, especially upon Lit/mcea glabra MuUer, which he purposes 



