1880.] 



W. T. BlanFord — Contributions to Indian 3Ialacoloqy. 



189 



from Travancore, is H. basilessa ; but this is a thicker shell, with broader 

 whorls and rather a thick lip to the aperture ; the sculpture, too, is differ- 

 ent. None of the remaining species of Semiplecta occurring in the Mala- 

 bar province have the mouth compressed. 



5. Xestina* albata, sp. nov., PI. Ill, Fig. 3, 3«., 35. 



Testa angustissime atque suhohtecte umiilicata, depresso-glohosa, soli- 

 diwscula, rugoso-striata, lineis impressis distant ibus spiralibus superne 

 circmidata, alhida, eburnea. Spira depresso-conica, apice obtwso, suturd 

 impressd. Anfr. 5|-, convexiusculi, sensim accrescentes, primi translucen- 

 tes, sublcevigati ; ultiinus prinmm, neo antice, ad peripheriam subangulatus, 

 aperturam versus latior, vix descendens, suhtus subinjlatus. Apertura obli- 

 qua, late lunaris ; peristomate superne simplici, extus subtusque subrejlexo, 

 juxta umbilicum rejlexo atque subincrassato, margine basali arcuato. Diani. 

 maj. 29, min. 231, <^xis V7\ mm. ; apert. intus 15 lata, 14 oblique alta. 



Hab. Ad Papanassam, in montibus ad latus occidentale provincise 

 Tinnevelly, Indise meridionalis {H. Beddome). 



Shell very narrowly and subobtectly umbilicate, depressedly globose, 

 subangulate at the periphery, rather solid, ivory-white, the surface wrinkled, 

 forming a coarse oblique striation across the whorls, with fine spiral distant 

 impressed lines on the upper surface only of the two last whorls. Spire de- 

 pressedly conical, apex obtuse, suture imj^ressed. Whorls 5^, slightly convex, 

 regularly increasing, the first almost smooth and translucent ; the last 

 whorl at first subangulate at the perijihery, the angulation disajipearing 

 some distance behind tlie mouth, the lower portion inflated near the aper- 

 ture, which is oblique and broadly lunate. Peristome simple above, subre- 

 flected on the outer and basal margins, rather thicker and turned back near 

 the umbilicus, which it partly covers ; the basal margin is curved forwards. 

 Major diameter 1-5 inch, minor 95 axis 0"7 ; breadth of aperture inside 

 6, lieight (measured obliquely) 56. 



This form is allied to JT. maderaspafana {Helix maderaspatana, auct.), 

 but it is thicker, much more coarsely sculptured, and white in colour. The 

 peristome too is slightly reflected. There is some resemblance also to X. 

 helangeri in form, but the mouth is somewhat differently shaped, and the 

 sculpture of X. albata is coarser. JJT. helangeri appears to be a near ally 

 of X. tranquebarica, semirugata, and bomhaynna, forms differing in shape, 

 but so variable and so closely allied that it is very doubtful whether they 

 really merit distinction. All of these forms have a horny shell differing 

 from the ivory-white substance of the species now described. 



• Pfuiflfor, J. B. Jahrbuch d. Mai. Ges. v, p. 257. 



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