Stelfox — List of Land and Freshwater Mollusks of Ireland. 93 



from Down in the Thompson collection, 

 nor has any other collector ever found 

 the shell in that county ; the record is 

 therefore too doubtful to be admitted 

 into the present list. This is one of the 

 few records of Wm. Thompson's that 

 have not been verified. 



Most Irish specimens are of the rich 

 brown form, but the vAv.flavescens also 

 occurs frequently in Antrim and Leitrim . 

 In shape our shells are generally rather 

 large and often conical. 



Helix aspersa Mliller. 



WD ED LD AN 

 FE TY AR DO 

 WMSL LE MO 



EM RO CV LH 

 WC NG LF WH ME 

 SG KG KD DU 

 CL NT QC CW Wi 

 NK LK ST KK WX 

 SK MC EG WA 

 WG 



As the late Wm. Thompson has 

 pointed out, and as might almost be 

 expected from its distribution on the 

 Continent, which is somewhat similar 

 to that of our Irish Helicellae, this shell 

 is much commoner round our coasts 

 than in the inland areas. On the west 

 coast it is especially abundant ; and 

 in many cases it literally covers every 

 foot of the walls and tombstones of 

 the old churchyards. It seems a pity 

 that the poorer peasants of these 

 districts have not developed the liking 

 for these dainty morsels that thoy have 

 in some parts of the Contineut. Mr. J, 

 G. Milne has stated that this shell is 



apparently losing ground in certain 

 localities, and that it was seemingly 

 extinct on Achill Island. Tlie first 

 statement is perhaps correct ; but the 

 latter is not, as the walls in the western 

 portion of Achill are tenanted by large 

 quantities of this snail. It has also 

 been found on all of the larger western 

 islands that so far have been visited, 

 and is recorded from Lambay, in Dub- 

 lin, and Eathlin, in Antrim. Its varia- 

 tion in most jjarts of the country is 

 negligible; but on the west coast and on 

 the Aran Islands it varies considerably 

 in size, shape, colour, and texture ; the 

 prevailing form is rather liigh-spired, of 

 medium size, and dark in colour. The 

 var. exalhida occurs ou Inishmore in 

 the Aran Islands, and has also been 

 recorded from Antrim and Garlow. 

 One sinistral example has been taken at 

 llaghly in Sligo. 



Helix nemoralis Miiller. 



WD ED LD AN 

 FE TY AR DO 

 WMSL LE MO 



EM RO GV LH 

 WG NG LF WH ME 

 SG KG KD DU 

 GL NT QG GW WI 

 NK LK ST KK WX 

 SK MG EG WA 

 WG 



The type and the uubanded forms 

 of this ubiquitous species are generally 

 distributed ; but nearly all the other 

 forms are confined to certain areas. The 

 distribution of some of these scarcer 

 forms is sometimes very similar to that 



