Mr. W. H. Benson on new species of Helices. 217 



Ground near Rondebosch, adhering to the undersides of stones ; 

 alive in May and July 1846; dead at "the Strand," False Bay. 



Helix pulchella, well-distinguished by PfeifFer's diagnosis from 

 H. costata, Muller, and which has been noticed as occurring in 

 Europe, from Ireland to Russia, and from Sweden to Switzerland, 

 as well as in Madeira, and through a considerable portion of 

 North America, has extended its range to the Southern hemi- 

 sphere. I gathered specimens under stones lying on the lawn of 

 High Constantia, near the south-east extremity of Table Moun- 

 tain. Another European species, H. cellaria, is tolerably abun- 

 dant in the hollows of decayed oaks and willows, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Rondebosch, as well as under stones, &c. on the 

 ground. It was probably imported originally from Holland with 

 the trees which it frequents. 



Among described indigenous shells, Helix Menkeana, Pfr. (of 

 which Krauss obtained only a single specimen on the stem of a 

 Protect, near Elim in Zwellendam) occurred to me in bushes 

 shooting out of the sand-hills which border the head of Hout 

 Bay, south of Table Mountain ; but it was deficient in similar 

 localities explored near Cape Town and in False Bay. 



Helix globulus, Muller (H. Lucana, Lamk., nee Mull.), is to be 

 found within a few hundred yards of the coast, both of Table and 

 False Bays, and never, as far as my observations extended, much 

 inland. It burrows in the earth and in sand, and only makes its 

 appearance in the very wettest weather during the winter season, 

 when it may be taken emerging from the ground, or may be 

 traced from its earth-cast. The deserted shells are alone ob- 

 servable at other seasons. The specimens obtainable on the 

 shores of False Bay are larger and more brilliantly coloured than 

 those of Table Bay, and belong to the var. rosacea (H rosacea, 

 Lamk.). Krauss notes the species as being only subfossil at 

 Green Point, but I have taken it alive on several parts of that 

 shore. 



Helix Capensis, Pfr., is also exclusively a shore-loving species. 

 It is exceedingly abundant on the borders of Table and False 

 Bays and at Green Point, on stones and grass above high-water 

 mark, and for a few hundred yards inland. Those of the south- 

 ern shores exceed in beauty the shells of the western coast, being 

 variously marked with reddish brown bands or radiate stripes. 

 An internal rib rarely occurs in the right lip, a character which 

 is not noted by Pfeiffer. 



February 1850. 



