LAND SHELLS. 
223 
and weald clays that stretch np to the base of the 
chalk downs of Eastbourne on the west, and those 
of Kent on the east; but on passing on to the 
chalk it is met with in extraordinary numbers. 
In Gloucestershire, shells of this species con¬ 
stitute a stratum, at a depth of 6 or 9 inches 
beneath the surface, that I have traced oyer 
several square miles. In the Isle of Wight and 
in Dorsetshire it is found similarly in a sub¬ 
fossilized state. 
Acme eusca —{the Brown Acme) (PI. XI V figs. 
142, 144).—The shell is scarcely one-tenth of an 
inch long, cylindrical, and very polished; under 
a good lens it is seen to be marked with distant 
longitudinal striations; the colour is glossy 
brown ; the aperture is roundish oval, contracted 
above and closed with a thin horny-whitish oper¬ 
culum; the whorls six or seven; the umbilicus 
is small. 
It is rare in Great Britain, but widely dis¬ 
tributed. It lives among decaying leaves and 
tufts of moss, in moist situations, especially near 
the sea. I was once successful in securing several 
living specimens of this minute species, by collect¬ 
ing dead leaves and shreds of bark into a heap; 
and upon turning over the mass, after a lapse of 
a few weeks, my heart was gladdened with the 
much-prized treasures and many other interest¬ 
ing species. The above kind of bait I have 
