253 Mr. W. H. Benson on new species of Helix. 



Say, of North America (referred to Bulimus by Pfeiffer and Reeve) 

 as well as our own indigenous H. aculeata, was first discovered 

 in July 1836, and sent to me by the late Lieut. Burkinyoung of 

 the 5th Bengal N. I., who fell in the disastrous retreat from 

 Cabul. He was a zealous student of natural history, and one of 

 the small Indian band whose attention I had the good fortune to 

 direct to the land and freshwater testacea of the Bengal Presi- 

 dency. He found the species in a mango grove, distant a day's 

 march from Jounpore, and on the road thence to Benares, creep- 

 ing on the trunks of trees, during very heavy rain. In 1847 

 Dr. J. F. Bacon rediscovered the shell at Dinapore, near Patna, 

 and has since ascertained that it inhabits the mango groves on 

 the whole route from Barrackpore, in Bengal, to the borders of 

 Sikkim, and thence to Chuprah in Bahar. Jounpore is its most 

 westerly limit known, and lies on the line which appears to sepa- 

 rate the moister subtropical climate of the eastern from the 

 more arid tracts of the western provinces ; — a circumstance also 

 indicated by the fauna of the Goomty which waters the district, 

 and in which the more tropical forms Melania variabilis y nobis, 

 and M. lirata, nobis [M. lineata, Troschel), first appear in pro- 

 ceeding from the west ; while, on the other hand, M. tuberculata, 

 Miill., and M. spinulosa, Lamk., enjoying with them a joint oc- 

 cupancy of the waters to the eastward, have a wide range to the 

 west, extending even into Affghanistan. 



3. Helix Barclayij nobis, n. s. 



Testa minute perforata, parvula, depresso-turbinata, cornea, scabra, 

 rude oblique leviterque striata ; spira conoidea, apice obtuso ; an- 

 fractibus 5, lentius convolutis, convexis, ultimo subtus convexo, 

 nitidulo, versus umbilicum excavate, medio leviter carinato, carina 

 antice evanescente ; sutura leviter impressa, marginata ; apertura 

 late lunata vix obliqua, peristomate tenui acute, margine celumel- 

 lari brevi, reflexiuscule. 



Diam. major 4, axis 2, long, apart. 1 mill., lat. vix 2\ mill. 



Hab. infrequens sub lapidibus in cellibus Mokse, apud insulam Mau- 

 ritii. 



I discovered this neat little Helix under stones in February 

 1847, on the grounds of Sir David W. Barclay at Moka. Its 

 companions here were H. similaris, and on the surrounding 

 hedges Cyclostoma rubens, and a delicate little Tor-natellina. In 

 a neighbouring ravine I found it associated with Bulimus clavu- 

 linuSf P. and M., Helix rufa, Lesson, H. inversicolovy Fer. [Caro- 

 colla bicolor, Lamk.) in all stages from the youngest to the adult, 

 and with the young heliciform and adult examples of Pupa da- 

 vulata, fusus, modiolus, &c. I mention these forms particularly, 

 to show that the species cannot be confounded with the young of 



