32 JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY, VOL. l6, NO. I, JANUARY, IQig. 



being from May to July. T saw but one case of copulation, and that 

 in May, I think," but adds "I have never found their eggs in the 

 woods." The fact should not be lost sight of that what the creatures 

 do in captivity is no criterion that the same occurs in the natural wild 

 state. Mr. Dawes' specimens were bred in a large flower pot covered 

 with a sheet of glass. Those which are hatched in spring attain 

 maturity by the end of October or beginning of November, but 

 there may be a few hatched later, which finish growth in spring after 

 hibernation. 



Habits and Habitats. — 



Hibernation usually begins in November, but if the weather re- 

 mains mild and open, the animals may be found above ground much 

 later, even in December, only cold frosty weather driving them to 

 seek shelter, and form the winter epiphragm, which is chalky, white 

 and calcareous, contrasting very beautifully with the pink mouth and 

 dark red of the shell. The snails are hardy, and able to withstand 

 a fair amount of cold, but if after a spell of frost the weather again 

 becomes mild the snails push off the epiphragm and crawl out for a 

 meal, often remaining in this lively state until driven to hibernation 

 again by a recurrence of cold weather. 



Searching for specimens in winter is difficult and tiring work, as it 

 necessitates close scrutiny of the masses of leaves and debris on hands 

 and knees. There are two or three places the snails seem to prefer, 

 viz., heaps of dead leaves mixed with sticks, and the underground 

 crevices of dead and much decayed moss covered stumps of beech 

 trees. One or two writers state that the snails hibernate at the roots 

 of hazel, but I have never found them in such a situation. 



For several years I was unable to find the winter hiding place, and 

 am indebted to Mr. Lionel E. Adams for giving me the first clue. 

 He advised me to tear up the old beech roots, and there, hidden 

 away in the interstices of the roots, sometimes a considerable distance 

 below the surface, I discovered the snails : in such situations the 

 animals had not always formed the usual calcareous epiphragm, but 

 seemed quite ready to leave their hibernaculum on the first intima- 

 tion of mildness above ground. 



Among the heaps of dead leaves and sticks a few inches from the 

 surface, the case seemed different. There the snails had formed the 

 epiphragm, and it was an easy matter to pick them out, as the chalky 

 white plate showed up quite plainly against the brown of the dead 

 leaves. 



The snails evidently form an epiphragm whenever they return to 

 hibernation after coming out, and I am of opinion they do this 

 several times during the winter, except when they hide underground 



