FAMILY LYMN.EACEA. 167 



7. Lymnaea glutinosa. Glutinous Lynmcea. 



Shell; globosely ovate, bright amber horny, extremely thin and 



transparent, submembranaceous, 



spire small, whorls three, longitu- 

 dinally finely plicated, impressed 



round the upper part, thin, convex, 



last whorl ventricosely inflated ; 



aperture ovate, large, columella J^gt- 



thinly callous, lip very largely 



membranaceously reflected over 



the body whorl. 

 Buccimtm glutinosum, Muller (1774), Verm. 



Hist, part ii. p. 129. 

 Helix glutinosa, Gmelin (1788), Syst. Nat. p. 3659. 

 Bulimus glutinosus, Bruguiere (1789), Enc. Meth. Vers, vol. i. p. 306. 

 Limneus glutinosus, Draparnaud (1805), Hist. Moll. p. 50. 

 Amphipeplea glutinosa, Nilsson (1822), Moll. Suec. p. 58. 

 Myxas Millleri, Leach (1831), Turt. Man. p. 149. 

 Limncea (Amphipeplea) glutinosa, Moquin-Tandon (1855), Hist. Moll. 



vol. ii. p. 461. pi. xxxiii. f. 16 to 20. 

 Hal. Europe, from Sweden to the Pyrenees. Syria. England. (Local in 



stagnant pools and ditches.) 



The two remaining species of Lymncea represent a quite distinct 

 form (Amphipeplea) , in which the animal is much larger in propor- 

 tion to the shell, and has the mantle, a viscid sulphur-spotted mass, 

 capaciously reflected. In yoimg specimens the shell, which is of 

 the thinnest possible consistency, membranaceous and flexible, with 

 the columella lip largely appressed on the body whorl, is entirely 

 concealed from view. In adult specimens a small oval space in the 

 middle of the back remains uncovered. The shell is a bright amber 

 colour, so transparent that the columellar axis of the whorls is seen 

 throughout as in a glass bubble. Yet notwithstanding its flexibiHty, 

 tenuity, and extreme transparency, it is convoluted with the utmost 

 symmetry, and is a remarkably delicate and beautiful object in the 

 cabinet. 



L. glutinosa is described as being a very active and sensitive 

 mollusk, withdrawing the reflected extension of its mantle in the 

 water immediately on being touched. It is pretty generally dis- 

 tributed throughout the Continent north of the Pyrenees, and 

 appears, according to Dr. Gray, in Syria. In Britain it has only 



