PLATE CLI. 



Helix albella, Penn. Brit. ZooL Vol. 4. tab. 85. fig* 122. 

 Helix cinerea albidave, fasciata, ericetorum Erica. Da Costa. Brit. 

 Conch, p. 53. Sp. 30. 



This species of Helix, as its name implies, is found on heaths and 

 sandy soils, and is very common both in this country and other parts 

 of Europe. When full grown, this shell is three quarters of an inch 

 in breadth, and one -third of its breadth in height : the spires flat : the 

 outermost wreath very convex beneath, with a large and deep central 

 umbilicus ; and circular mouth or aperture. 



The young shells are quite plain, and of a horny colour, or whitish 

 and semitransparent. When full grown they are opake, dull, white 

 or yellowish, and usually fasciated with one or more brown circular 

 bands, according to the involutions of the wreaths. The order, size, 

 and number of these brown bands, as Da Costa says, vary extremely, 

 though commonly there is one band in the middle or near the bottom 

 of each wreath, and often other fainter and narrower bands accom- 

 pany it. Gmelin speaks of five distinct varieties, which differ in size, 

 in colour, and number of the bands. Sometimes they are quite white, 

 or marked with a single spiral band ; and sometimes these bands 

 amount to eight or nine on each shell. 



Dead shells of this kind are found in vast numbers intermixed with 

 the sand on heaths, and are always observed in great plenty with the 

 others, 



