82 



BRITISH MOLLUSKS. 



Helix (Fruticicola) aculeata, Moquin-Tandon (1855), Hist. Moll. vol. ii. 



p. 189. pi. xt. f. 5 to 9. 

 Ilab. Throughoiit Europe. Azores. (Under dead leaves, moss, and stones, 



in damp places.) 



Mollusks affecting damp places of habitation secrete in general 

 a copious supply of mucus, and produce sombre- coloured shells, 

 which they invest with a more than ordinarily fibrous epidermis. 

 This is especially seen in the Melaniadce, inhabiting the marshes 

 and sluggish streams of Pernambuco, Borneo, and the Philippine 

 Islands ; and in Melcmia setosa of the last-named locality, the shell 

 is coronated with a row of flexible epidermic bristles. The same 

 law may be observed among our Helices. Species like H. virgata 

 and ericetorum which inhabit the chalk districts secrete light varie- 

 gated shells, combining a larger proportion of lime ; while, in the 

 shells of H. Mspida and sericea, dwelling under stones and among 

 wet moss, the shell is horny, and the constituent elements par- 

 take more largely of animal matter. In our elegant little H. acu- 

 leata, the epidermis is somewhat of the character of that of the in- 

 tertropical Melania setosa ; it is deposited on the shell in obliquely 

 longitudinal lamellae, and these are prolonged beyond the angle of 

 the whorls into a corona of lashes. 



H. aculeata occurs in all parts of the British Isles, and through- 

 out Europe generally, reaching to the Azores. 



21. Helix pulchella. Pretty Helix. 



Shell ; largely umbilicated, depressed, whitish, subhyaline, 

 covered with a plicately wrinkled epidermis, spire 

 small, raised at the apex, whorls three to four, 

 rounded, the last trumpet-like towards the aper- 

 ture ; aperture round, lip callously expandedly 

 reflected with the margins almost continuous. 



Helix pulchella and costata, Miiller (1774), Verm. Hist. 

 part 2. p. 30, 31. 



Helix paludosa, Da Costa (1778), Test. Brit. p. 59. 



Turbo helicinus, Lightfoot (1786), Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. 

 vol. lxxvi. p. 167. 



Helix crenella, Montagu (1803), Test. Brit. p. 441. pi. xiii. f. 3 



Helix minuta, Say (1818), Nich. Hncy. Phil. 2nd edit. vol. iv. 



Turbo paludosus, Turton (1819), Conch. Diet. p. 228. 



