IRLF

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

RAMBLES

SEARCH OF SHELLS,

LAND AND FEESHWATEE.

>^^?T^^v>

U*-*' C_^

/i '

oi' Meitx.

nertioralis, /-wrtensis and- hybrida

RAMBLES

SEARCH OF SHELLS,

LAND AND FEESHWATEB.

JAMES EDMUND HABTING, F.L.S., F.Z.S.,

AUTHOR OF A " HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS,"

"THE ORNITHOLOGY OF SHAKSPEARE,"

ETC. ETC. ETC.

LONDON :
JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW.

KDCCCLXXV.

LONDON :

PRINTKD BY WOODFALL AND KINJiER,
MI1.FORD LANE, STOAND W.C.

I- 1
TO THE READER.

THE following chapters, entitled " Eambles in
Search of Shells," were originally published in the
Natural History columns of " The Field," during
the autumn of 1873 and the spring of 1874, and,
judging by the inquiries which have since been made
for a reprint, they appear to have found some little
favour with naturalists.

Through the courtesy of the Proprietors of " The
Field," to whom the Author here desires to express
Iris obligations, these chapters are now republished,
with some important additions and emendations,
and with a series of coloured plates, which it is
believed will materially assist the reader in the
determination of the species mentioned or referred
to in the course of the volume.

In penning these chapters, the Author has essayed
to impart a little practical information on the subject
of British land and freshwater shells without being
too technical or systematic. Minute descriptions of
form and colour have been avoided, as tending rather

VI TO THE READER.

to perplex than assist the tyro in Conchology ; and,
in lieu thereof, an attempt has been made to give
only such a description of each species as will secure
its identification, some reliance, at the same time,
being placed upon the distinguishing characters, as
pointed out from time to time, of such nearly allied
forms as are most likely to puzzle the collector.

The notion of grouping the species according to
the soils they frequent, and the situations in which
they are found, will, it is conceived, render the
chapters more attractive than if they had been de-
scribed seriatim in the order generally adopted by
systematists.

In presenting this little work to the reader, the
author feels that his acknowledgments are due to
the late Dr. J. E. Gray and Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys,
for their friendly assistance in looking over the
proof sheets, and to Mr. J. Weaver, of Uppark,
Sussex, for several interesting communications which
have been embodied in the Introduction.

The plates have been carefully drawn and
coloured by Mr. Arthur Kich, in every case
from recent specimens — a merit not invariably
possessed by modern illustrations to works on
Natural History.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

Internal Structure of the Mollusca — Eespiration — Loco-
motion— Reproduction

CHAPTER I.

Number and Distribution of British Mollusca — Classi-
fication— Bivalves and Univalves — Aquatic and
Terrestrial Univalves — The Commoner Forms of
Shells ' . . . 9

CHAPTER II.

A Ramble over the London Clay — Shells in London
Gardens — Medicinal Properties of Snails — The
Common Garden Snail a Musician — Other Garden
Snails — Snails in Hyde Park — River-side Species —
The Shell-slug 19

CHAPTER III.

The London Clay continued — Shells in London Waters
—Mussels— The Pearl Mussel— The Painter's Mus-
sel—The Swan Mussel— The Zebra Mussel— Pond
and River Shells 34

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

The London Clay continued — Mud-shells and Bubble-
shells — Ovoviviparous Pond Snails — Freshwater
Limpets— Amber Shells— The Needle Agate Shell
— Chrysalis and Close Shells 47

CHAPTER V.

A Ramble over the Chalk— The Edible Snail— Its sup-
posed Introduction by the Romans — Its Curious
Epiphragm — Hybernation — Propagation — At-
tempted Acclimatisation — Culture of Edible Snails
— Snails devoured by Rats — The Heath, Zoned,
and Wrinkled Snails — The Zoned Snail Insecti-
vorous— Said to feed on Lady-birds — The Rock
Snail — Its supposed Power of Boring — The Kentish
Snail — Its Distribution in England — The Cheese
Snail— A Local Species— The Prickly Snail . . 68

CHAPTER VI.

The Chalk continued — Cyclostoma elegans — A Buff
Variety — Singular Operculum — Snails devoured by
Beetles aud their Larvas — A Hint to Coleopterists
— Epiphragm and Operculum — Difference be-
tween— The Close Shells — Clausilia rolphii — Its
Local Distribution — Chrysalis Shells — Whorl Shells
— Slugs and Shell-slugs, and their Enemies — Slugs'
Eggs Phosphorescent 84

CONCLUSION.
Hints to Collectors .... 92

K AMBLE S

SEARCH OF SHELLS.

INTRODUCTION.

SNAILS and slugs in the abstract are not very
attractive objects to the million, at least this may
be said of the few species found in this country;
but if we were to limit our observations to those
natural productions only which have a pleasing
exterior, how many of the most interesting pages
of Nature's great book of wonders should we
pass over unread ! How little, for instance, should
we know of the commonest of our molluscous
animals, beyond the generic and specific character
of the habitations of the shell-bearing species —

2 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

except that they remorselessly devour our cabbage
and other cultivated plants, or disfigure them with
their slimy trails as they crawl over them — if the
comparative anatomist, undaunted by their repulsive
appearance, had not by means of skilful dissection
learnt something of their wonderful structure and
given us the result of his investigations. In the
early days of conchology, it was held sufficient to
study the shells only of these animals, and the
possessor of an extensive collection of such shells
might be intimately acquainted with the name,
geographical distribution, and proper place in a
systematic arrangement of every specimen in his
cabinet without necessarily knowing anything of the
animal that formed it. Now, however, the con-
chologist has given place to the malacologist,
who, not content with examining, describing, and
naming the shell, independently of its inhabitant,
curiously questions the latter as to its habits and
internal structure, and in the case of those which
possess a single shell (Univalves), he literally learns
the relationship of each species from the animal's
own mouth.

Snails and slugs both have the power of drawing

INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE MOLLUSCA. 3

in their horns on being touched, and this is effected
by a singular and beautiful apparatus ; the tentacle
is lengthened by gradually unfolding itself, and not
by being pushed out from the base. Each tentacle
is a hollow cylinder, to the apex of which is at-
tached a muscle, arising from the retractor muscle
of the foot, and by its contraction the tentacle is
simply inverted and retracted, like the finger of a
tight glove; its protrusion, on the other hand, is
effected by the alternate contraction of the circular
bands of muscles which compose the walls of the
tentacle. As a rule, slugs and snails are more
liberally provided with teeth than any other animals
in the parish, one of our slugs, for instance, pos-
sessing no less than 28,000 ; they are not, how-
ever, all in use at the same time. The dental
apparatus of our univalves may be described as a
tube lined with teeth set upon flattened plates,
collectively called the lingual ribbon. One extremity
of this ribbon is open and spread out like a tongue,
teeth upwards, on the floor of the mouth, so as to
occupy, in fact, the same relative position as the
tongue in the mammalia ; the roof of the mouth is
supplied with a horny plate, against which the open

B 2

4 RAMBLES IN SEAECH OF SHELLS.

end of the ribbon can work backwards and forwards,
so as to rasp and triturate the food between them.
The tubular portion of this lingual ribbon is con-
tained in a cavity behind the mouth, and as the
teeth in use become worn or broken, it is con-
jectured that they are absorbed, and a fresh set
from the reserve in the tube is pushed forward to
take their place.

The body of every mollusk with which we are con-
cerned, except those of "the slug family, is contained
in a membranous sac called the mantle, which not
only serves as a model on which the shell is moulded,
but is liberally provided at the edges of its open end
with the glands that secrete the shelly matter. To
this set of glands alone are due the coloured bands
and other markings in the shells, as may be seen in
the case of a fractured specimen that had been
repaired by the owner ; in this, the new matter
thrown out of the mantle under the fracture is
always colourless.

Some curious observations on the growth of shells
of land snails were communicated by Mr. E. J. Lowe,
to the Eoyal Society in 1854. He found that the
shells of Helices increase but little for a con-

GROWTH OF SHELLS. 5

siderable period, never arriving at maturity before
the animal has once become dormant. The shells,
it would appear, do not grow whilst the animal itself
remains dormant, but the growth is very rapid when
it does take place. Most species bury themselves
in the ground to increase the dimensions of the
shells ; and in illustration of this Mr. Lowe states
that a pair of Helix aspersa had deposited their
eggs, which began to hatch on the 20th of June.
The young ones grew but little during the summer :
they buried themselves in the soil on the 10th of
October, coming again to the surface on the 5th of
April, not having grown during the winter. In
May they buried themselves with their heads down-
wards (in winter they and other species buried
themselves with the heads upwards) appearing again
in a week, double the size. This process was car-
ried on at intervals of about a fortnight until the
18th of July, when they were almost fully grown.

The process of growth within the ground takes
place with Helix nemomlis, H. virgata, and H. his-
pida. But H. rotundata burrows into decayed wood
to increase the size of the shell : whilst Zonites
radiatulus appears to remain on decaying blades of

6 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

grass ; and Pupa umlilicata, Clausilia rugosa, and
Bidimiis obscurus bury their Leads only to increase
their shells. With respect to Zonltes cellar ius,
Z. nitidus, and Z. nitidulus, it was not satisfactorily
ascertained whether their heads were buried during
the process of growth or not.

We are all tolerably familiar with the fact that
one essential character of the vertebrated animals is
their possession of a brain and spinal cord, from
which proceed those

*' Tracts along which the mysterious will
Is conveyed, by a process on which Fancy lingers
With awe, from the brain to the tips of the fingers,"

or their analogues, and other portions of the animal
frame. In the species under consideration this plan
is considerably modified, and instead of one cerebral
mass supplying the whole system, we find half a
dozen ganglionic centres from which the nervous
threads radiate to the organs of sight, smell, hear-
ing, and touch (which appear to be well developed),
and the important systems of digestion, circulation,
respiration, locomotion, and reproduction.

Kespiration in the animals of this class is carried
on by means of a rudimentary lung in each member

KESPIRATION, AND OTHEE FUNCTIONS. 7

of the terrestrial division ; the aquatic species, with
some exceptions, being provided with gills. In the
air-breathing molluscs, the air is admitted into the
pulmonary cavity, not by the mouth but by an aper-
ture, which may easily be seen in slugs at the edge
of the convexity on the back formed by the mantle,
and in snails just within the mouth of the shell ; in
both cases on the right' side.

In regard to locomotion, most univalves crawl
upon a large fleshy protuberance which is the homo-
logue of a foot and supports the body, and many,
even amongst the bivalves, by means of this large
foot, are enabled to traverse considerable distances.
Not a few of the aquatic univalves are able to swim,
or rather creep, upside down upon the under surface
of the water.

The mode of reproduction amongst mollusca
varies. Many univalves have distinct sexes, while
most of the land snails are hermaphrodite. Some,
like the Valvatidce, change their sex after a time,
being at first male, and then female. The majority
are oviparous, but some are ovoviviparous, and their
wonderful fertility may be estimated from a state-
ment of Pfeiffer to the effect that the gills of an

8 KAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

average sized freshwater mussel contain about
400,000 eggs.

If we add to this faint outline of the internal
structure of snails and slugs, that these animals are
essential in checking the redundancy of vegetation,
removing decomposing matter, both animal and vege-
table, and supplying dainty food to many other
members of the animal kingdom, we shall have said
enough, perhaps, to show that they possess a high
degree of interest.

It has often been a matter of surprise to us that
the study of the land and freshwater shells has not
more votaries, especially amongst the fair sex. The
subject may be easily coupled with botany, being,
as it were, nearly associated with it ; for whether
we ramble on the downs, in the woodland, or in
the marsh, in search of any particular plant, we
seldom fail to find in close proximity to it some
species or other of mollusca which claims its shelter
or support.

CHAPTEK I.

Number and Distribution of British Mollusca — Classification —
Bivalves and Univalves — Aquatic and Terrestrial Univalves-
Commoner forms of Shells.

THE number of British land and freshwater
mollusca is somewhere about one hundred and
twenty, excluding such as have been evidently
introduced, or described as British on doubtful
authority, but including the slugs, which, though
generally regarded as shell-less, have the shell
either rudimentary, and of an indefinite form, or
shield shape, placed beneath the mantle.

Of these one hundred and twenty, about seventy-
five are terrestrial, and forty-five aquatic; but it
is, of course, to be understood that, in speaking
of them as British, we do not mean to imply that
they are not found out of the British Islands.
So far from this being the case, the majority of
them are commonly distributed over the north of
Europe, while many are found not only in Southern
Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor, but even

10 BAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

in Siberia and the northern parts of Asia and
America. Of these we may have occasion to
speak later. Meantime it will be desirable to
get a general idea of some of the commoner forms
of shells, and the subject is at once simplified by
dividing the whole number of species into two
classes — the Bivalves (Gonchifera) , of which the
common mussel furnishes an illustration, and the
Univalves (Gasteropoda), of which the garden snail
is a familiar example.

Amongst the aquatic shells there are both bivalves
and univalves, but with the terrestrial species only
univalves occur. The reason for this is to be found
in the difference of structure which exists in the
animal itself, particularly in the organs of respira-
tion, and which enables one species to breathe and
live where another would assuredly die.

The bivalves, which are all Lamellibrancliiata, —
that is, having leaf- like gills, — may be separated into
three very distinct and well-marked families — namely,
Sphoeriidce (from the spherical shape of the species) ;
Unwnidce, which contains the mussels (from unio,
a pearl, one of them being a pearl-bearing species),
and Dreissenidce (so named after M. Dreissens, a

CLASSIFICATION. 11

Continental naturalist), of which family, however,
we have but a single genus and species, the well-
known "zebra mussel."

The aquatic univalves are either Pectinibranchiata
— that is, having comb-like gills; or Pulmonobran-
chiata — those with lung-like gills. In the former
order there are three families, which take their
names from some of the genera which they contain
— i.e., Neritidce, Paludinidce, and Valvatidce; in the
latter order, one large family, Limnceida, con-
tains the genera Limncea, Physa, Planorbis, and
Ancylus.

The terrestrial univalves comprise three families,
Limacidce, Testacellidtf, and Helicidce, which in
plain English are known as the slugs, the shell-
slugs, and the snails, with two much smaller families,
to one of which no English name has been given,
and which have been formed each for the reception
of a single genus (Carycliium and Cyclostoma) of
peculiar character.

All this may appear very dry to the unscientific
reader ; but it is scarcely to be dispensed with, since
without a system of some sort it would be not only
impossible to arrange and store one's facts, but

12 EAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

equally impossible to institute comparisons and
draw conclusions.

"Without the aid of figures it is very difficult to
give an accurate idea of shape and size ; yet some
knowledge of the kind is requisite before we can
make any progress.

Let us see how far a verbal description will
answer, if confined to species which may be regarded
as mere modifications of a common type or standard.
The idea, we believe, has not been previously sug-
gested.*

Take the shell of the common garden snail (Helix
aspersa) as a standard. To this genus (Helix)
belong about five-and-twenty species out of the
seventy- five land shells which are generally regarded
as British. We shall consider the distribution and
rarity or otherwise of these twenty-five later.

Now, imagine this type or standard to be in a soft
and plastic condition, and capable of being modelled.
If, holding it by the lip with the left hand, and taking
the apex of the spire between the finger and thumb
of the right hand, we slightly elongate it, what is

* The reader may be reminded that when this chapter
was first published no illustrations accompanied it.

COMMONEB FORMS OF SHELLS. 13

the result ? We increase the length, decrease the
width, and cause the whorls to hecome more diagonal
than horizontal. Deepen the sutures, and we ohtain
in effect a rough model of another genus, Paludina,
of which we have two species — P. contecta, with a
glossy shell of a yellowish or greenish-hrown colour,
with bands and stria3 of a darker brown ; and
P. vivipam, which is somewhat smaller, less glossy,
the whorls less swollen, the sutures less deep, and
the mouth less circular. Both species inhabit ponds
and rivers.

If we now elongate and attenuate the spire, lessen
the depth of the sutures, and imagine the shell to
have become so much thinner as to be almost trans-
parent, we get a notion of Limnaea, a widely-distri-
buted, marsh-loving genus, of which there are some
eight species in Great Britain. They are all found
in still and shallow waters, the best known amongst
them being L. stagnalis, auricularia, peregra and
palustris. The reproductive system of the Limnceidce
and other families of the order Pulmonobranchiata
is very singular. The individuals of species which
possess an operculum are of different sexes, while in
those which have no operculum the sexes are united in

14 EAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

the same individual. In the latter class, however, an
individual requires to be fertilized by another of its
own species. But, as observed by Leach, the sexual
parts are so far situated from each other, that one
individual is able to perform the functions of each
sex with two others at the same time, and it is
consequently not uncommon to find several of these
molluscs engaged at once in a mutual interchange of
attentions.

Having thus changed, the shape of our model, let
us now reduce the size of it, increase its elongation,
and narrow the width until the shell becomes oblong,
with the whorls drawn out and spire long. We
then get some idea of another genus, Bulimus, of
which there are three British species, all herbivorous
— acutus, the commonest, inhabiting downs and sand-
hills ; montanus (or lackhamensis) and obscurus,
both of which are found on the trunks of trees and
amongst dead leaves in woods and hedgerows.

By cutting off a couple of whorls or so from the
apex, and rounding it, at the same time compressing
the model so as to make the whorls more compact,
we get some notion of Pupa. The four species in
this genus — secale, ring ens, umbilicata, and margin-

COMMONER FORMS OF SHELLS, 15

ata — are all of small size and gregarious habits, living
in moss or amongst stones and roots. Besides their
variation in size and colour, they are to be distin-
guished by the curious processes called " teeth,"
which fence in and contract the mouth of the shell.

The eight or nine species which compose the
closely allied genus Vertigo are but miniature forms
of Pupa, and their habits are similar. The chief
difference is to be found rather in the animal than
in the shell, the inhabitant of which has two tentacles
instead of four, as in Pupa.

If we now restore the pointed apex which we
cut off from Bulimus to model Pupa, and, compress-
ing the shell laterally, elongate it until the length is
five or six times greater than the width, we have
something like Clausilia before us. It is a spindle-
shaped shell, with a longer spire than Bulimus, and
is especially characterized by having a curious inter-
nal process called the "clausilium" (hence the name),
which acts as a valve or lid in closing the shell
against all intruders. There are four species to be
met with in the British Islands — C. biplicata, lam-
inata, rugosa, and Rolphii — all of which frequent
the trunks and roots of trees, and may be found also

16 RAMBLES IN SEAECH OF SHELLS.

on moss-covered stones and amongst dead leaves and
debris in woods.

Having so far stretched our model to its utmost
while reducing it in size and width, let us now re-
store it to the shape in which we found it, that is, to
the shape of a common Helix, and attempt some
modifications in another direction. Instead of elon-
gating let us compress the shell vertically, flattening
the spire and all the whorls until the shape is that
of an ammonite, or, to nse a more familiar simile, a
catharine-wheel. We have then a rough notion of
what the genus Planorbis (i.e., flat coil) is like.
In this genus there are said to he eleven British
species, although it requires a nice discrimination to
identify what are, except in regard to size, but eleven
slight modifications of the common type of which we
have endeavoured to give some outline.

The largest of them is Planorbis corneus, being
in diameter, when adult, about the size of a shilling,
and in thickness about a quarter of an inch. The
others are all very much smaller and flatter, varying
in depth from the thickness of a penny to that of
a knife-blade. This genus has some remarkable
peculiarities, which have been well pointed out by

COMMONER FORMS OF SHELLS. 17

Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys in the first volume of his
" British Conchology." One of them is the habit
which the animal has of emitting its purple-
coloured blood on being irritated, apparently as a
means of defence. This is especially noticeable
from its large size in P. corneus; and although
experiments have been made with the view of fix-
ing and utilizing the purple dye thus yielded, they
have hitherto proved unsuccessful. Another pecu-
liarity is, that several of the vital organs are placed
on the left side of the body, instead of on the
right (as in most other univalves), while the shell
is coiled the other way, that is, from left to right.

Some of the smaller species, found in marshy
ground which becomes dried up in summer, close
the mouth of their shell with an epiphragm or filmy
covering, and live in retirement until a return of
moisture tempts them forth again. They are all
herbivorous in their nature.

It would not be possible within the limits of the
present chapter to attempt a description of all the
genera of land and freshwater mollusca. In the
above remarks we have directed attention only to
the more prominent forms. We have not described

c

18 E1MBLES IN SEABCH OF SHELLS.

Zonites, which is nearly related to Helix, nor Physa,
which is close to LimrKza, and have passed over
many other genera, which, though allied to others
above mentioned, might, if named, confuse perhaps
rather than instruct.

We shall ask the reader, later, to accompany us in
spirit in a ramble in search of shells over the London
clay; and in a succeeding chapter over the chalky
downs and through the moist beech woods of Sussex
— ground most fertile to the conchologist. We shall
then search for the prettily spotted Neritina fluvia-
tilis, the delicately coloured Cyclostoma clegans, the
edible snail (H. pomatia) and the freshwater limpets
(Ancylus), which, with many other species, reward
with unspeakable pleasure the collector who finds
them for the first time.

The mention of limpets reminds us of that beauti-
ful little bird the Dipper or Water-ouzel, which feeds
largely on these and other freshwater molluscs ; and
we may here remark that, as a variety of small shells
may be found in the stomachs of many species of
birds, the ornithologist who cares to take up con-
chology may thereby add much to the knowledge
which he already possesses on his favourite subject.

CHAPTER II.

A Ramble over the London Clay — Shells in London Gardens — Medi-
cinal properties of Snails — Other Garden Snails — Snails in Hyde
Park— Riverside Species— The Shell Slug.

IN the last chapter we promised to say something of
the land and fluviatile mollusca inhabiting the London
clay. Those who possess gardens in the metropolis
and its environs may not be prepared, perhaps, to
learn that they may commence a collection of shells
before leaving their own premises ; yet such is the
case. There are certain species so generally dis-
persed, or of such an accommodating nature, as to
find an existence in that generally barren territory
where the only birds are sparrows, and the indigenous
animals cats. Others, no doubt, get introduced
with plants and shrubs, and ultimately become, s.o
to say, acclimatized.

The commonest species naturally presents itself first
to our notice ; but in referring to this, the ordinary
garden snail, Helix aspersa (PL L, fig. 3), which
must be sufficiently familiar to all, it will only be
necessary to do so in order to point out a few facts

c 2

20 EAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

in connection with it which may not he so generally
known. Cowper says :

" Who seeks him must be worse than blind,
He and his house are so combined,
If finding it he fails to find

Its master."

And it is about the "master" rather than the "house"
that we have now to speak. Of the destructiveness
of this mollusc to fruit and vegetable we need say
nothing, hut perhaps it is not generally known to be
carnivorous. Not only will it greedily feed upon
such fresh meat as it can reach, but it has been
known to kill and partially devour a large black slug
which had been previously confined in the same
vessel with it.

Per contra, its use in medicine and as an edible
delicacy, for those who like it, should be taken into
account. For both these advantages we are indebted
to our French neighbours, who have not only shown
us the efficacy of " Helicine" in cases of whooping
cough and other pulmonary complaints, but, through
that culinary art for which they are renowned, have
illustrated the proverb which says that the best
appeal to an Englishman's heart is through his
stomach.

To fare p. 20.

Plate 1

i. Helix Korfertsis. '/'.. li. n.crru)rali^ o H. as per sou.

4-. H puLd^ell<jL . 5. H. fotiLnoicuta . 6. H. ctrbustoru-wi.

7. H. h'lspidci-. 8. H. rufes cen.<s .

W. West & C° imp.

A RAMBLE OVER THE LONDON CLAY. 21

As a probable independent recognition of the
snail's use in medicine, we may mention that the
village dames in Sussex, even at the present day,
recommend " snail syrup " as a specific in all cases
of cough and cold. Their mode of preparing it is as
simple as it is said to be efficacious. A score or
so of snails are strung together by means of a needle
and 'stout thread, which is passed through the shell
and body of each. They are then suspended festoon-
like over a dish or pan of coarse brown sugar, on
which the mucilaginous fluid is allowed to drop.
The resulting compound is a syrup of snails, of
which two teaspoonfuls twice a day is said to be the
proper dose.

This glutinous exudation was formerly used for
bleaching wax, and, in part, for making cement,
until other less troublesome methods came to be
employed.

Few, perhaps, are aware that the snail is capable of
producing musical sounds ; but the fact has been
thus described to us by an observant friend. One
stormy evening in autumn, while engaged with his
books in a room, the windows of which were directly
exposed to the wind and rain, he was startled by a

22 EAMBLES IN SEAKCH OF SHELLS.

sound so sweet — so unlike anything he had ever
heard before, and so peculiar — that he was not
only puzzled to imagine a prohable cause for it, but
actually unable to form a guess as to the exact
spot whence it proceeded. It was often repeated at
irregular intervals during the evening, occasionally
three or four times in the course of as many
minutes ; and, although it was not loud, and did not
continue many seconds at a time, it was distinctly
audible, notwithstanding the noise occasioned by
the beating of the rain against the windows and
the discord of the wind in the chimney stacks.
Several months elapsed ere he had an opportunity of
hearing it again. At this second performance the
rain was falling as before, but the shutters of the
room were not closed as they had been in the first
instance, and he was enabled distinctly to trace the
mysterious sound to one of the windows. A light
held near this window revealed the fact that the
musician was no other than our friend the Helix
aspersa. It appeared that the friction of its foot or
shell — he could not satisfactorily determine which —
against the wet glass had caused a vibration in the
pane on which it was travelling, and in this way

SHELLS IN LONDON GABDENS. 23

produced a note not unlike that which we all know
may be brought out of a drinking glass by the
friction of a wet finger on the rim.

Snails are very sensible of cold, and commence to
hybernate early, clustering together in the crevices
of old walls and trees, or behind water-butts and
flower-boxes, and attached to each other by the
epiphragms which close the mouths of their shells.
Some notion of their prolific nature may be gathered
from the statement of a French naturalist, who
affirms that he has counted upwards of a hundred
eggs laid by a single individual. In this respect,
however, the common garden snail, Helix aspersa,
excels most of its congeners.

Mr. H. Adams informed the Editor of the "Zoolo-
gist " that he once found a rarity in the shape of
a reversed specimen of this species in his garden at
Netting Hill.

Amongst the other species of snail to be met with
in gardens may be mentioned the shrub snail, Helix
arbustorum ; the little banded garden snail, H. hor*
tensis ; and the wood snail, H. nemoralis. The
shrub snail (PL I., fig. 6) is much smaller than the
common garden snail, with a smoother and more

24 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

glossy shell, prettily mottled with wood brown upon
a lighter ground colour. The shell is also more solid,
and has the lip thick, white, and reflected. It cannot,
however, be considered common in gardens, at least
in London, for it requires more moisture and shade
than is generally found there, and is more frequently
met with in copses, amongst nettles, and upon alders
by the river side. It has been found, nevertheless,
at Hammersmith, Fulham, Charlton, and Battersea.
We have referred to H:hortensis and H. nemoralis as
distinct species, but whether they are so has long
been a matter of controversy amongst conchologists.
Linnaeus united them ; Miiller separated them. In
modern times Messrs. Forbes and Hanley agree with
the former, and Dr. Gray with the latter. Mr. Norman
contends stoutly that they are not the same species,
and his principal reason is that nemoralis invariably,
but hortensis never, has a calcareous and frequently
coloured deposit on the columella. We have been
hitherto inclined to take Mr. Norman's view, in
further confirmation of which we have noticed that
nemoralis always has a black lip (PI. I., fig. 2),
hortensis a white one (PL I., fig. 1). But Mr.
Gwyn Jeffreys — to whom all conchologists are in-

GARDEN SNAILS. 25

debted for his able and most instructive work on
British conchology — holds that Linnseus was right,
and observes that the variety hybrida (Frontis.,
fig. 12) seems to connect the two forms so far as
concerns their conchological distinction ; and the
only character of importance upon which a difference
between them can be founded, consists in a slight
variation of shape in their love-darts.* He accord-
ingly regards H. nemoralis as the type, and hortensis
and hybrida as local or casual varieties of one and
the same species. He has never found any two of
these forms living together, and other observers have
made the same remark. There are endless varieties
of each, (See Frontispiece.)

Wherever any rank growth of nettles and other
weeds has been allowed to stand, whether in gardens
or elsewhere, we may look for the little Helix

* During the pairing season, snails of this genus are fur-
nished with little crystalline darts, which, after many little
coquettings, they shoot out towards each other. They are
contained in a special pouch or receptacle ready for use, and
their shape varies according to the species. Some individuals
have only one, others two, while in a few species they are
wanting altogether. After such conflicts, these curious
love-darts may be found sticking in the bodies of the
wounded.

26 RAMBLES IN SEAECH OF SHELLS.

rufescens (PI. L, fig. 8). It is of a reddish-grey
or brown colour, closely striated transversely, and
rather solid and opaque, at the same time much
more compressed in form than any of those before
mentioned. This and the two last-named species (or
species and variety, as we suppose they must now be
called) furnish plenty of food to the blackbirds and
thrushes. The latter, in particular, are very fond of
them, and may be seen searching for them with great
perseverance in many a weed-choked ditch. Little
heaps of empty shells, with the spires broken, may
often be found in our gardens, testifying to the feast
which has rewarded the industrious songster.

In similar situations, as well as under logs and
stones, may be found the little bristly snail shell,
H. hispida (PL L, fig. 7), which is not unlike
rufescens in size and colour, but with a thick epider-
mis, closely covered with short recurved hairs, which
are persistent and not easily rubbed off. It may be
observed, by the way, that the young of rufescens have
the shell also hispid. The hairs may be easily seen
with a lens, and after they have fallen off, the impres-
sions which are caused by their insertion into the epi-
dermis remain on the surface of full-grown specimens,

SNAILS IN HYDE PAEK. 27

and may be easily discerned under the microscope.*
These small snails, which are often very destructive
in gardens, lay from forty to fifty eggs in August
and September, from which the young are excluded
in about three weeks. H. hispida has been found
under stones in Hyde Park.

Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys has described another species,
If. concinna, closely allied to the last named, but
differing in having a more glossy shell, which is
never globose like hispida, and has the umbilicus
more open, with the hairs more scattered and more
easily shed. The animal, too, is of a darker colour,
with a narrower and less fleshy foot.

A smaller species still is H. rotundata (PL I,,
fig. 5), which may be found under stones and bark,
and amongst moss and dead leaves, and is every-
where tolerably common. The shell, as its name
implies, is nearly circular, more compressed below
than above, rather thin, but nearly opaque, and
moderately glossy. It is of a yellowish-brown, or
horn colour, transversely marked with reddish-brown
streaks.

* See a note by Captain Bruce Hutton in the " Zoologist,"
1862, p. 7977.

28 BAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

Under stones, about rockwork in gardens, and in
moist situations generally, may be found the little
Helix pulchella (PI. I., fig. 4), a solid but trans-
parent and glossy shell of a light grey or white colour.
Amongst the localities on record for this widely dis-
tributed species are gardens at Chelsea, Hammer-
smith, Blackheath, and Eltham. This and the four
last named, from their small size, require to be more
carefully looked for than the brighter coloured and
more obtrusive banded snails.

The genus Helix comprises all the true snails,
which have shells more or less globular, and usually
a semilunar mouth. They also have the teeth
notched or serrated. In the closely allied genus
Zonltes the animals have the same glassy-looking
shells as in Vitrina, and, being of much the same
habits, have similarly hooked teeth. They frequent
dark, damp spots, generally under stones, old bricks,
and logs of wood partly buried, as well as amongst
dead leaves and moss. Zonites cellarius (PI. II.,
fig. 1) is found in cellars, drains, and sculleries, and
under tiles or loose bricks about houses. The shell
is thin and brittle, but very glossy and semitrans-
parent, and of a yellowish or brownish horn colour.

To face p. 28.

Plate II.

I

3.

5.

I

L Zonites cellourius . 2. Papcu secoule. 3. P. v^<J(ra|u^cut<)u

& Zonit&s nitulaluus. 5. Ver-tigo ourdivertiqo. 6. T&$tacetta

houHobidecu. 7. Shell of ditto ~

W. m»t i C° imp.

RIVER-SIDE SPECIES. 29

Another kind of Zonites, namely, alliarius, with a
darker and more solid shell, has a very strong smell
of garlic (hence the specific name), especially when
irritated. This peculiar smell, however, varies in
intensity, and is sometimes hardly perceptible, even
when the animal has been much provoked. A third
species, nitiduliLs (with a variety nitens), is not un-
common on the banks of the Thames near London,
preferring more watery places than the last named
(PL II., fig. 4). It has been met with also at Cam-
berwell and Hammersmith. In similar situations
occurs Z. nitidus, a variety of which, named albida,
has been found among the rejectamenta of the Thames
at Richmond. Dr. Gray has obtained Z. crystallinus
at Battersea. It is a thin, glossy, and transparent
shell, of a greenish-white colour and glassy appear-
ance, and the animal inhabiting it is of a clear
greyish- white colour, and nearly transparent. Another
species of Zonites (Z. glaber) has lately been found
in Hertfordshire, and some other parts of England.
It somewhat resembles Z. alliarius, but is much
longer, and has more convex or swollen whorls.

The minute shells of the genus Pupa are not very
readily seen ; and were it not for the fact that the

30 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

species in this genus are gregarious, and attract
more attention when clustered together than they
would do singly, we might look a long time before
finding them. The only two which, so far as we are
aware, have heen found in or near London, are Pupa
umbilicata and marginata, vel muscorum, (PL II.,
fig. 3), both of which are partial to old walls and
roots, and may be looked for with a good chance of
success about the artificial rock or grotto work
with which many fern-growers are wont to ornament
their gardens. Mr. Rich informs us, however, that
Pupa secale, vel juniperi, (PL II., fig. 2) has been
met with on an old wall at Sudbury, near Harrow.

We do not remember to have seen any species of
Vertigo from London gardens, although some of them
are far from rare, and, being of similar habits, are to
be found in similar situations to Pupa, of wThich
genus they may be said to be miniature forms. The
animal of Vertigo, however, has but one pair of ten-
tacles, while Pupa has two pairs. The spire of the
shell is shorter, and the outer lip more contracted.

To find some of the commoner kinds of Clausilia
and Bulimus, we must go to the woods and fields ;
for it would be vain to search the smoke-dried and

THE SHELL- SLUG. 31

soot-begrimed trees which in purer air and soil
would be the haunt of these and other woodland
species.

Before leaving the garden, however, we may look
for the curious shell- slug, Testacella haliotidea (that
is, resembling a Haliotis or ear-shell), which is not
very rare in London gardens, although, from its
habit of burrowing, it is often overlooked. The
metropolitan form, however, is said to differ suffi-
ciently and permanently from haliotidea to warrant
its being regarded as a permanent variety, and it was
accordingly described by the late Mr. George Sowerby
as Testacella scutulum. To this variety probably
belongs the animal described by Mr. Tapping
(" Zoologist," 1856, p. 5105) as Testacella Medii
Templi, from its having been found under the
shelter of a south-west wall, in the Middle Temple
Gardens. Specimens have been procured from time
to time in the Botanic Gardens, Kegent's Park ;
in the Circus Road and Adelaide Road, St. John's
Wood ; at Hampstead, Hendon, Kensington, Ham-
mersmith, and Lambeth (PL II., fig. 6, 7).

The animal partakes of the nature both of a slug
and a snail, having a long naked body, and a com-

32 EAMBLES IN SEAECH OF SHELLS.

paratively small and flat shell, which serves to
protect the heart, liver, and other vital organs. In
the colour of the hody and size of the shell it
varies very much ; hence varieties have come to be
described as new species. It is said to be the
only land mollusc which has truly predaceous habits,
feeding on earthworms, which it pursues under
ground, and devouring snails, slugs, and even
others of its own species. Dr. Ball writes : "I
first became aware o£ this Testacella preying on
worms by putting some of them in spirits, when
they disgorged more of these animals than I thought
they could possibly have contained ; each worm was
cut, but not divided, at regular intervals. I after-
wards caught them in the act of swallowing worms
four and five times their own length."

When following the worm through its winding
tunnels, the Testacella finds in its small flat shell
a useful defence against similar attacks upon itself
from the rear, for as it moves along, the shell serves
to block up the passage, and at the same time acts
as a shield by which the whole body is guarded.
In dry weather this slug retires into a sort of nest
or cocoon, formed of slime, which gradually dries

FROM TOWN TO COUNTRY. 83

and hardens, and in this it remains in a state of
semi-torpor, until more genial weather tempts it
forth again.

An excellent account of this curious animal, too
long to be quoted here, will he found in the first
volume of Mr. Gwyn Jeffrey's " British Conchology,"
p. 141 ; and to this volume we may also refer such
of our readers as desire more minute details re-
garding the species mentioned in these brief and
necessarily very general remarks. Considering the
many different shells which are deserving of notice,
it is not possible in the space at our disposal to do
more than indicate, as we have attempted to do,
their general appearance and peculiarities, with some
hints as to the localities they frequent, and the situa-
tions in which they are most likely to be found.

In our next chapter we shall proceed from
town to country, where we may expect to find
not only better specimens of such shells as are
procurable in gardens, but many others — both
terrestrial and aquatic — which will be new to the
collector.

CHAPTER III.

The London Clay continued— Shells in London Waters— Mussels-
Pond and River Shells.

HAVING made acquaintance with the various species
of mollusca to be met with in and about London
gardens, the collector, ever on the alert for something
new, will naturally turn his attention towards the
country ;* but a visit en route to the different sheets
of water which ornament the metropolis will be
found to be not altogether unproductive in the way
of specimens.

Chiefly conspicuous by their size are the large
swan mussels, Anodonta cygnea (PL III., fig. 3),
adult specimens of which will measure Gin. by 3in.,*
and the pearl-bearing Unios of somewhat smaller
dimensions. Not that there are any pearls now to

* A specimen of this mussel in the author's collection,
from the vicarage pond at Cowfold, Sussex, measures 7in. by
3^in. This is an unusually large one. But, some years
ago, several were taken out of a decoy pond in Firle Park,
Sussex, measuring 8 inches in length and 9 in circumference.
Cf. Merrifield, Nat. Hist., Brighton, p. 155 (1864).

To fa,'.- jo. 34

Plate III.

SHELLS IN LONDON WATERS. 35

be found in London waters, whatever may have been
the case formerly ; but the collector may procure
at least two species, Unio tumidus and pictorum
(PL III., figs. 1, 2), which belong to the same genus
as a pearl-bearing species, U. margaritifer (PI. IV.,
fig. 3), formerly abundant in Great Britain, and
still to be obtained in some parts of the country.
In works which bear upon the subject, many rivers
are noticed as having been at one time the seats of
pearl fisheries ; and, as every one knows, Britain
nearly two thousand years ago was celebrated far and
wide for its pearls : — so much so, indeed, that, accord-
ing to trustworthy historians of that remote period,
we are indebted to these precious jewels for the first
hostile visit of the Romans to our shores, on which
occasion, to use the words of a humorous modern
writer, Caesar broke in upon the natives with con-
siderable energy. At the present day, we are in-
formed that but one pearl on the average is found
in every thirty shells ; and, as only one in about
ten is saleable, it requires the destruction of three
hundred shells to find that one gem. At the present
day, we are told, it is not unusual to find pearls in
the Teith and Tay worth from £1 to £2 each.

D 2

36 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

But to return to the mussels of the London waters,
Unio tumidus and pictorum (PL III., figs. 1, 2)
are sometimes found in the same locality, and there
are two or three varieties of each.

The former is a thick- shelled heavy species, oval
in shape, hlack in colour, and with the hinge very
prominent and swollen ; hence its specific name.
The latter is oblong rather than oval, broader in
proportion to its size, and lighter ; the shell thinner,
of a green or olive-brown colour, finely striated, and
the hinge less prominent. Both produce pearls,
though of a very small and inferior size, and gener-
ally speaking the pearly secretion takes the form of
an irregular mass deposited on the shell. The use
which painters have found for the sheljs, viz., to hold
their colours, has evidently suggested the specific
name pictorum. Besides the London waters, in-
cluding that in Battersea Park, the ponds at Hamp-
stead and Highgate, the reservoirs at Kingsbury and
Elstree, the river Brent between Hendon and Brent-
ford, to say nothing of the Thames itself, are localities
which may be named to such as are desirous of
obtaining mussels ; while those who delight in the
exercise of a long country walk may give attention if

To facep,S6

3late TV

1. 2. UIIJLO rickansis . 3. Urda m-ourcj curiizfo.r

W. We*t £ C° imf

• MUSSELS. 37

they please to the development of another kind of
muscle, which is doubtless of greater importance.

When the water in the Regent's Park was drawn
off after the lamentable skating accident in 1867, by
which more than fifty persons lost their lives, a very
pretty Unio was found partially scattered over the
mud. From its shape and iridescent lining, in
some specimens tinged with blue or lead colour, in
others with pink or champagne colour, it was con-
sidered to be a new and undescribed species, and
was provisionally named Unio Richensis, after a
well-known collector who was the first to call atten-
tion to it at a meeting of the Linnean Society early
in the following year. Although it has since been
regarded by some conchologists as a mere variety
of U. tumidus, we think a glance at our figures
(PL IV., figs. 1, 2) will show the former opinion
to have been not ill-grounded.

It is a little remarkable that, notwithstanding
the depth of black mud in which these shells were
found, not a single specimen showed any trace of
erosion, although numberless examples of Anodonta
cygnea, present in much greater abundance, were
considerably eroded, as usual. Another circumstance

38 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

noted was that, although the so-called Unio Richensis
was highly iridescent in its lining, this was not the
case with Anodonta cygnea. No specimens of pic-
torum were found there.

Mussels furnish food to many animals, hut espe-
cially to otters, rooks, and crows. Numbers of these
shells have been found in an otter's haunt, with the
ends bitten off, and evident marks of teeth upon the
broken fragments, the position of the shells indi-
cating that the otter, after having crunched off one
end, had sucked or scooped out the mollusc in much
the same way as those who are partial to shrimps
dispose of that esculent crustacean. Books and crows
we have repeatedly observed in search of a dinner of
mussels ; and very systematically they set to work.
On the muddy banks of the Thames at low water,
and along the margin of the Brent, especially in
time of drought, numbers of mussels may be found
which have been opened by these birds. Should
the shell occasionally prove a little too strong for
them, they will fly up into the air with it and drop
it from a height on hard ground, following it in
the descent to find it broken, or to repeat the
manoeuvre until at length they get at the contents.

THE SWAN-MUSSEL, 39

Occasionally they will wade a little way into shallow
water in search of the mussels, if none are exposed
on the bank, and it is amusing to watch them
hurriedly take flight from the surface of the water
as they now and then get suddenly out of their
depth. Their efforts, also, to land a heavy mussel,
and at the same time to save a ducking, are worth
noticing.

Independently of its large size, the common swan-
mussel, Anodonta (PI. III., fig. 3), differs, as its
name implies, from the Unios in the absence of
teeth upon the hinge, although it would perhaps be
more correct to speak of these processes as rudi-
mentary only. Like the pearl-bearing mussels, this
species produces eggs, which it retains within its
shell, or, more correctly speaking, within its gills,
until they are hatched ; but the young are at first so
unlike the adult that, as they have been frequently
found adhering to the bodies of fishes, they have
been erroneously regarded as parasites.

The large fleshy foot of these mussels enables
them to travel considerable distances, and " plough-
ing the deep " may be said to be literally part of
their occupation, as any one will admit who examines

40 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

the deep furrows which they make in the soft mud.
They feed on decomposed animal and vegetable
substances ; and the size and solidity of the shell
depends on the abundance of the food and the
state of quiescence or motion, and of calcareous
matter in the water in which they happen to reside.
These shells make capital cream- skimmers, and in
French dairies are used for the purpose. They are
procured by means of a long-pointed stick, which is
thrust between the open shells when the animal is
feeding, and these, closing on the stick, allow it to
be drawn up out of the water.

Although a great many varieties of the common
swan-mussel have been described as different
species, we believe it is pretty generally admitted
that a second species of the genus (A. anatina)
exists in this country. It has a smaller shell,
which is longer in proportion, and the hinge line
is raised instead of being straight, while the pos-
terior side is abruptly instead of gradually sloped
off. It is of similar habits, and frequents similar
situations to the last named.

The curious-looking zebra mussel (Dreissena poly-
morpha), although not indigenous to this country,

THE ZEBEA MUSSEL. 41

deserves a passing notice from the fact of its being
now so generally distributed that it cannot fail to
attract the attention of the collector.* It was first
noticed in the Commercial Docks at Kotherhithe,
and, being able to attach itself by a strong byssus to
extraneous substances, there can be little doubt that
it was introduced upon Baltic timber. It is now to
be met with in canals and rivers in various parts of
the country, and, through the New Eiver, has even
found its way into the streets of London. Some
iron water-pipes which were taken up in Oxford
Street were found to be in some places completely
lined with these mussels, and the colour of the
shells was as bright as if they had been always
exposed to the light. In shape, the shell is oblong,
with a sharp keel in the middle of each valve, and
flattened below, with the end or beak pointed. The
colour is a yellowish-brown, transversely barred on
the upper part with darker brown, giving it that

* M. Marcel de Serres is of opinion that the habitat of
Dreissena polymorpha was originally marine, from the cir-
cumstance of the shells being found in tertiary strata of
marine formation. Pallas, by whom the species was first
made known, described one variety of it as marine, and
another as inhabiting fresh water.

42 EAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

striped appearance which no doubt suggested the
trivial name, " zebra " mussel (PL V., fig. 4). It
is said to be met with occasionally even in unnavi-
gable waters (cf. Strickland, Mag. Nat. Hist., N.S.,
1838, ii. p. 362; Bell, Zoologist, 1843, p. 253;
and Wolley, Zoologist, 1846, p. 1420).

Passing now to some of the smaller bivalves, the
collector will have no difficulty in procuring in and
around London two or three species of the genus
Sphterium, or, as it used to be called, Cyclas. Let
the reader imagine little mussels somewhat spherical
or lens-shaped, and about the size of a sixpence or
less, and he will have some idea of their appearance.
They are found in canals, slow rivers, ponds, and
even ditches, and are very generally distributed.
The commonest kind, perhaps, is corneum (PI. V.,
fig. 1), of which there are several varieties, and one
of which, pisidioides, was first described by Dr.
Gray (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., xviii. p. 25) from spe-
cimens found in the Paddington Canal. The shell
is nearly globular and equilateral, thin, glossy, and
of a yellowish horn colour, often with paler bands or
zones, denoting the periods of growth. S. rivicola
(PI. Y., fig. 3) is much larger, and oval instead of

To flue? p. 42

PJate V.

1. Sp'k&ruwrrb
4. Dreisserux,
6. PisvcUwrn;

cor>ne,vum,

foniu^oble

'. 5. PLsicLuuum

7. Pisuliwin

POND AND RIVER SHELLS. 43

globular, with a more conspicuous ligament. The
two are often found together, and well-known locali-
ties for them are the Grand Junction Canal at Pad-
dington, the Thames shore at Battersea, Richmond,
and Clifden Hampden, the ponds on Wandsworth
and Clapham Commons, and the marshes below
London. A third species, Sphczrium ovale (PL V.,
fig. 2), has been found by Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys in
the Paddington Canal, and, under the name of
S. pallidum, it was figured and described by Dr. Gray
(Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., xvii. p. 465) from specimens
procured in the canal near Kensal Green. Some
years previously, however, it had been met with in
the Surrey Canal, but at the time it was supposed
by the discoverer, Mr. Daniel, to be a variety of
S. rivicola. It certainly resembles this species more
than any other, but may be distinguished by its
oblong and almost angular shape, thinner shell, and
paler colour*

A nearly allied genus is Pisidium, of which there
are five recognizable British species — amnicum and
fontinale, with triangular-shaped shell ; pusillum,
oval; nitidum, round; and roseum, oblong — the
three first named of which have all been met with

44 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

in various parts of the Thames, and marshes
around London (PL V., figs. 5, 6, 7). Formerly
these were all classed with Sphcerium (or Cyclas, as
it used to be called) ; but, independently of their
smaller size, the species of the genus Pisidium differ
from those of Spliaer'mm in the shape of their shells,
which are not equilateral — that is, the beak is situated
near the shorter end — and in having but one tube or
syphon instead of two. It may here be desirable to
explain that in the family Spliceriidce, the mantle is
open in front, and forms at the posterior side a cylin-
der, which is often divided near its opening into two
contractile tubes, one for respiration and nutrition,
the other for excretion. The members of this
family, being gregarious, are often met with in
considerable quantities, the species of Pisidium
looking not unlike peas (hence their generic name)
scattered about. The distinguishing character of
the species in these two genera have puzzled many,
and some idea of the great variation which exists
may be formed from the fact that, out of forty-one
so-called European species of Pisidium, twenty-one,
according to Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys, are referable to
and are mere varieties of P. fontinale, and only six

POND AND EIVEK SHELLS. 45

species in all can be fairly recognized. Short of
pointing out in what respects these six (or rather
five, as British) differ inter se, we have, perhaps,
said enough to stimulate research on the part of
the collector.

The aquatic bivalves, then, may be thus enu-
merated— three Unios, two swan mussels, one zebra
mussel, four species of Sphaerium (or Cyclas), and
five of Pisidium, or fifteen species in all. The
aquatic univalves, or pond snails as they are often
termed, are much more numerous, though the
majority of them belong to two well-marked but
very different genera — the flat coil- shells, Planorbis,
and the thin - shelled, long -spired mud -shells,
Limncea — the remainder belonging to seven other
genera, to be named presently. The various species
of Planorbis, of which some six or seven are to be
met with around London, frequent ponds, ditches,
marshes, and stagnant water, and are generally
found floating on the surface, or adhering to duck-
weed and the leaves of other aquatic plants. Of
the largest and most remarkable species, P. corneus
(PI. VI., fig. 4), we have already spoken (p. 16)
when referring to the more noticeable generic forms

X

46 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

of land and fluviatile mollusca. Of the remaining
species, the flattened coil-shell, P. complanatus ; the
keeled ditto, P. carinatus ; and the white ditto,
P. albus, will be the most easily recognized. The
shell of complanatus (PI. VI., fig. 3) may he dis-
tinguished from that of carinatus (PI. VI., fig. 2)
by its narrower and more rounded whorls, as well
as by the keel being placed below, instead of in or
towards the middle of the periphery. It is usually
larger and thicker than that species, and is much
more plentiful, as well as more generally diffused.
The greyish white colour of albus (PI. VI., fig. 1)
renders it sufficiently conspicuous, and on this
account it is not difficult to select it at once from
amongst a number of its congeners.

To face p.

PlateV

1. Plaunarlois ndhws . 2. - B caurwiaubuLe . 3 P.
4-. P com&iL$ . S.Physa/ fontu'iodLS 6. Valvauta
7. Jjvmnecu pouiastris. 8.L. stc/ugnoJiLS. 9.L

CHAPTER IV.

The London Clay continued — Mud Shells and Bubble Shells —
Ovoviviparous Pond Snails — Freshwater Limpets — Amber Shells
—The Needle Agate Shell— Chrysalis and Close Shells.

IN a little book entitled " Flora Metropolitan,"
published so long ago as 1836, and long since out
of print, will be found an appendix in which the
author, the late Mr. Daniel Cooper, gives a list of
the land and freshwater shells found in the environs
of London. Unfortunately, many of the names
employed have become obsolete, or only hold good
nowadays as synonyms, so that some little trouble
is occasioned in identifying the species referred to;
and, as several of the localities mentioned as the
sites of ponds and marshes have been long since
drained and covered with bricks and mortar, the
collector might now search in vain for shells which
formerly abounded there. Nevertheless, this list is
instructive, as furnishing evidence of the former
existence around London of species which may still
be looked for in congenial haunts which have not
been as yet interfered with. At the same time it

48 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

carries with it a certain amount of authority; for
amongst those who assisted the author in its com-
pilation will be found the names of two well-known
naturalists — Dr. J. E. Gray, whose edition of
Turton's " Manual of British Shells " will always be
a text-book for conchologists, and Mr. Thomas Bell,
the well-known author of " British Quadrupeds,"
whose published researches in various branches of
zoology can never be too highly estimated.

In this list we find ten species of Planorbls
mentioned as occurring in the neighbourhood of
London ; but one of these is mentioned twice under
different names, marginatus and complanatus ; while
fontanus and imbricatus of Cooper are respectively
nitidus and nautileus of modern conchologists. The
Hampstead ponds are referred to as the haunt of
several species of Planorbis, such as carinatus,
vortex, contortus, and spirorbis ; and the Green-
wich Marshes, and ditches about the Surrey Canal
near Deptford, are said to have yielded carinatus,
marginatus, nautileus, corneus, contortus, albus,
and spirorbis.* Mr. A. F. Sheppard, in a list of

* P. spirorbis may often be found on grass in wet mea-
dows.

A BAMBLE OVER THE LONDON CLAY. 49

shells found in the vicinity of Fulham, includes
Planorbis corneus, carinatus, and vortex. In ad-
dition to these localities, may be named the Brent
and the Lea, the reservoirs at Kingshury and
Elstree, and ponds at Edgeware and Stanmore
Marsh, where most if not all of the above-named
species may be looked for with success. The mud-
shells (Limncea) are quite as numerous and generally
distributed. Cooper, in the list referred to, gives
ten species as occurring in the neighbourhood of
London ; but these are reducible to six, since two
of them, scaturigmum and fragilis, are respectively
the young and a variety of stagnalis, and a third,
glutinosa, a local species, belongs to the subgenus
Amphipeplea.* The commonest are peregra (with
a variety ovata) ; stagnalis (PL VI., fig. 8), of which
there are many varieties ; and auricularia, the ear-
shaped mud-shell (PL VI., fig. 9). The last named
has been met with in the ponds on Hampstead Heath.
Limncea glabra has been met with in a pond near Nine
Elms, and formerly near Vauxhall, and L. palustris
(PL VI., fig. 7) is not uncommon in the marshes

* L. glutinosa has been found at Stanmore, Middlesex,
on the leaves of the yellow water-lily, Nuphar lutea.

E

50 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

below London. An interesting account of the habits
of Limncea stagnalis, and its mode of respiration as
observed in confinement, was published some years
since by Mr. W. A. Lloyd, in " The Zoologist " for
1854, p. 4248. In similar, that is to say marshy
situations, are found two species of the genus Physa,
or bubble- shell, a peculiar genus intermediate be-
tween Planorbis and Limncea. It resembles the
former in its long tentacles, and the latter in the
form of the shell, but has the spire sinistral. The
stream bubble-shell, Ph. fontinalis (PI. VI., fig. 5),
may be found on watercress and other aquatic plants
in streams and canals, and is everywhere tolerably
common. The slender bubble- shell, Ph. hypnorum,
is rather more local, affecting ponds, ditches, and
rank grass in dried-up pools. Both are gregarious,
and may be recognized at once by the polished
appearance of their shells, the surface of which,
being more or less enveloped by an expansion of the
mantle, is kept bright by the lubricating friction
which it undergoes. The characters by which
fontinalis may be distinguished from liypnorum are
the oval instead of oblong shell, larger and wider
mouth, smaller number of whorls (that is, four or

MUD-SHELLS AND BUBBLE -SHELLS. 51

five, instead of six or seven), shorter spire, and
deeper suture. The foot of the animal in fontinalis
is rounded in front instead of lanceolate, and the
body is of a uniform greyish colour, instead of
minutely speckled as in hypnorum. Dr. Gray con-
siders these two generically distinct, and places the
latter in the genus Aplexus, pointing out that, in
hypnorum, the mantle has plain edges, and is not
expanded over the shell, which has a long spire and
an epidermis ; while in fontinalis the mantle is
lobed, expanding over the shell, which has a short
spire and no epidermis. But in regarding these
differences as specific, and not generic, we have
followed Turton, Forbes and Hanley, Gwyn Jeffreys,
and other authorities.

Valvata piscinalis (PL VI., fig. 6) is a pretty
little shell, which is not uncommon in ponds and
still waters. The animal inhabiting it is remarkable
for its branchial apparatus, which is external and re-
sembles a plume, and for a curious appendage to the
mantle to facilitate respiration, which looks like a
third tentacle on the right side of the body. The
mouth of the shell is closed with an epiphragm or
valve ; hence the generic name, while its partiality

E 2

52 BAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

for fish-ponds no doubt suggested the specific name
piscinalis.

Another little water snail is Bythinia tentaculata,
which in appearance (PI. VI., fig. 10) is not unlike
a miniature Paludina, already described; but in the
former genus the animal is oviparous instead of
ovo viviparous, and sessile-eyed instead of stalk-eyed.
Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys has pointed out that, although the
derivation of the word Bythinia would imply that
these molluscs inhabit deeper water than others of the
same family, such is not the case. They generally
frequent small streams, canals, shallow ponds and
ditches, especially in the marshes below London,
where they lay their eggs in three long rows on
stones, as well as on the stalks and leaves of water
plants. The animal floats or creeps on the under
surface of the water, and is said to be carnivorous as
well as herbivorous. It has been found commonly
in ditches at Fulham. A second species of the
genus, named Leachii, after the late Dr. Leach, has
been found in the Woolwich Marshes, but it is much
more local than the last named, and less abundant.
In company with the two last named may be found
Hydrobia similis and Assiminia gray ana, but these

WATER SNAILS. 53

are, more correctly speaking, brackish- water shells.
Hydrobia similis resembles Bythinia leachii, but
may be distinguished by its smaller size and grooved
suture ; the operculum is horny, concentric, and the
nucleus lateral ; whereas in Bythinia it is somewhat
shelly, and marked by concentric ridges having the
nucleus central. Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys states that
this species is found in muddy ditches, occasionally
overflowed by the tide, by the side of the Thames
from Greenwich to below Woolwich. These ditches
are separated from the river by a high and broad
embankment, which is provided at distant intervals
with sluices to drain off the surface water. It lives
there in company with Bythinia tentaculata and
other fresh-water shells, as well as with the more
marine and peculiar mollusk Assiminia grayana ;
and it is gregarious. Its food appears to consist of
decaying vegetable matter ; and its habits are rather
active, creeping and floating with tolerable rapidity.
Mr. Prestwich and Mr. Pickering found specimens
of it in peat, in the main drainage cutting between
Woolwich Arsenal and the exit to the Thames,
through Plumstead Marshes ; but it can scarcely be
considered one of our upper tertiary fossils.

54 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

Assiminia gray ana differs from Hydrobia in not
having the eyes placed on tubercles, and from the
marine Rissoa in the tentacles being united to the
eye-stalks, which equal them in length. The shell,
of a liver-brown colour, is ovate-acute, with five
whorls, and about a quarter of an inch in length.
The suture is slightly impressed ; there is no um-
bilicus ; the aperture is ovate ; the operculum horny,
ovate, and of a blackish-brown colour. It inhabits
the banks of the Thames between Greenwich and
Gravesend, and is tolerably abundant, living on the
mud beneath the shade afforded by Scirpus mari-
timus and Festuca arundinacea.*

* "The nnmber of estuarine species," says Mr. Tate, " which
have a place in our works devoted to British land and fresh-
water snails is very few, and the majority, moreover, are
confined to the margins of the tidal rivers in the South of
England. Thus Assiminia grayana, HydroMa ventrosa,
and' H. similis, live on the mud-banks beneath the shade of
sedges and rushes, skirting the Thames below Greenwich.
To gather these small shells singly is a tedious operation ;
but if a thin piece of flat wood, or other substitute as the
ingenuity of the collector suggests, be used to scrape lightly
over the surface of mud, transferring the mass to the dredger,
or tin sieve and washing in water, a number of specimens,
sufficient to stock every private cabinet in the country, may
be obtained in a short space of time."

To face- fj. 54.

Plate VH.

l.JLncyhi^s fljuLviouti'lis 2. A. lacustris. 3. Nenkuia.
vwispara. . 5. 7? con-tecta ^6. VitriruL
7. S/Lcci.nea, pains 8. <S.

A.Buh.Wk.

OVOVIVIPABOUS POND-SNAILS. 55

The two species of Paludina, which, as above
stated, are closely allied to Bythiniaf are vivipara
and contecta (PI. VII., figs. 4, 5). They are pretty
generally dispersed, inhabiting rivers, canals, and
large sheets of water, and their distinguishing cha-
racters have already been pointed out (p. 13). In
the timber docks on the Thames, and in the various
canals about London, these shells are very abundant.
Specimens from a pond on Hampstead Heath
were found to have their apices much eroded, which
was due, no doubt, to the action of sulphuretted
hydrogen given off from decomposing animal and
vegetable matter. The variety unicolor, without
bands, has been obtained by Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys in
the Thames at Richmond.

, In waters which have a stony or gravelly bottom
may be found a pretty little shell about the size of a
pea, with a very short spire and semilunar mouth,
solid and glossy, and of a purple colour spotted
with white. This is Neritina fluviatilis (PL VII.,
fig. 3), the only fresh- water species of the genus
to be found in this country, although there are
several marine forms which are also met with in
brackish water. It may sometimes be found on the

56 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

submerged leaves of Nuphar lutea. It is generally
encrusted with mud, the removal of which appears
to destroy the beautiful coloured markings which
are so ornamental when the shell is found dead
and empty.

The so-called freshwater limpets, Ancylus flu-
viatilis and lacustris, or oblongus as it is often called
(PL VII. , figs. 1, 2), furnish another illustration of
the fact that both salt, and fresh waters have their
respective representative forms. Both species may
be found in the Thames and the Lea, adhering to
stones and leaves of aquatic plants, especially on the
leaves of Nuphar lutea, where they furnish abundant
food for fish, which push them off with their snouts
and swallow them — in much the same way, no doubt,
as the Oyster-catcher (Haematopus ostralegus) over-
turns the marine limpet (Patella) with his bill to get
at the animal within. The freshwater limpets are
frequently sought after as food by the Dipper, Moor-
hen, Water-rail, and different species of Grebe, as evi-
denced by the fragments of shells which have been
found in the stomachs of these birds. They also swal-
low the bubble-shells (Pliysa) and Valvata piscinalis ;
but, although the Little Grebe or Dabchick may be

FRESH- WATER LIMPETS. 57

observed, sportively as it were, picking off these tiny
molluscs from the weeds in our streams and mill-
ponds, we believe that the staple article of food with
all the Grebe family is fish.

Although a few other aquatic species may be
discovered by the industrious conchologist, we believe
we have now mentioned all that are most likely to
be met with by collectors in the environs of London.

There are still a few terrestrial mollusca which,
unlike those already named, are unable to endure the
smoky atmosphere of town and suburbs, and must
accordingly be sought for in the purer air and more
congenial haunts of wood and field. Some, as Helix
virgata, caperata, cartusiana, and ericetorum, al-
though deserving of a place in a list of shells found
in the environs of London, are nevertheless peculiar
to the chalk, and not to the London clay, so that it
may be convenient perhaps to defer noticing them
for the present, until we have concluded our remarks
on those which are not restricted to a chalky soil,
and which may therefore be met with much nearer
to the metropolis. Moreover, by bearing in mind this
distinction of habitat, the memory will be assisted in
discriminating many allied but distinct species.

58 RAMBLES IN SEAKCH OF SHELLS.

The amber snails (Succinea putris and elegans) in
form and habits resemble the mud snails (Limncea),
as also in some respects the true snail (Helix), being
to a great extent amphibious. Sometimes they may
be seen crawling on stones under water, on mud, or on
the leaves of various aquatic plants ; at other times
they may be met with in comparatively dry spots
at a distance from water. The Keed Bunting,
Bearded Titmouse, and other small birds, which
are fond of feeding by the water's edge, take quan-
tities of these tiny molluscs. In the stomach of
the Bearded Titmouse has also been found Pupa
muscorum. The amber snails are very sluggish in
their habits, and secrete a quantity of slime. The
shells in appearance resemble those of Limncea, but
are thinner, more transparent, of an amber colour
— hence the popular name for them — and have no
fold on the columella or pillar (PI. YIL, figs. 7, 8).
The two species named above have been considered
by some conchologists to be mere varieties of the
same species, great variability of form being ob-
servable in all the species of the genus Succinea ;
but elegans, or Pfeifferi, which is another name for
it, is said to differ from putris in the darker colour

AMBER SNAILS. 59

of its body and the more slender shape of the shell,
as well as in its longer and more pointed spire.

Dr. Gray, in his edition of " Turton's Manual "
(pp. 146, 147), treats them as varieties of one species.
Capt. Bruce Hutton, of the 61st Kegiment, writing
in " The Zoologist " for 1862 (p. 8138), records the
following observations, which lead him to believe they
are distinct. He says : " Between the North and
South Camps, Aldershott, runs the Basingstoke
Canal, along the sides of which, both up and down
as far as I have been, the Succinea abounds ; and
they are all alike, small, narrow, very oblique, and,
while the animal is in the shell, the colour is bluish-
black. About a mile from Ash the Canal is raised
on an embankment nearly thirty feet above the level
of the surrounding country, and the land at the foot
of the bank is used as an osiery, where among the
willows, etc., the yellow Iris grows luxuriantly.
Last month (May) nearly every leaf in this spot had
a Succinea on it, some of the largest I have ever
met with, and about four times the size of their
neighbours on the Canal. The colour of the animal
was invariably a dull white, or white with a shade of
yellow. The shell much larger, the whorls more

60 EAMBLES IN SEAKCH OF SHELLS.

convex, the suture not so oblique, and the mouth
broader in proportion ; it has also a varnished appear-
ance, which is wanting in the smaller kind. I kept
many of both kinds alive for a considerable time, and
watched their habits. Several paired in captivity
and deposited eggs, but though kept together they
never united, except with their own sort. The large
kind I observed rather to avoid the water, whereas
the small often took to it of their own accord, and
remained in for a length of time, particularly at
night. I have this year lost dozens of the smaller
Succinea through the ravages of a small worm, pro-
bably a Cochleoctonus. More than once, while look-
ing at my captives, I have noticed an individual
become restless and begin to throw its head from
side to side. Shortly after a worm has made its
appearance, usually by eating its way through the
right side of the neck of the Succinea, just above and
behind the genital orifice. The poor victim seldom
lived more than an hour or two after the exodus, and
seemed to die in great pain, as the genital organs
and ' poche buccale ' often protruded, as if they had
been squeezed out by strong convulsions." The
writer adds, by way of postscript (p. 8171) : —

AMBER SNAILS. 61

" After dissecting and examining many specimens
under a microscope, I have found that the upper jaw
is in S. putris divided into three teeth, one large
projection in the centre and two small ones, one on
each side ; whereas, in S. pfeifferi, there is only one
tooth-like projection in the centre of the jaw. I
have found this to be invariable in very many speci-
mens of both kinds that I have examined ; and the
fact goes far to convince me that S. putris and
S. pfeifferi are more distantly connected than some
conchologists seem to think."

Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys, who considers elegans or
pfeifferi distinct from putris, has met with speci-
mens of the former in the neighbourhood of Ham-
mersmith. A third British species, oblonga, is
much rarer, or more correctly speaking more local,
being generally met with in ditches near the sea
coast. We know of no instance of its occurrence
near London, although Cooper, in the list to which
we have already referred, includes oblonga as found
by Mr. James Carter at Hammersmith. We suspect
that he means elegans, which is more oblong in
shape than putris, the only other species which he
included, although by another name, viz., amphibia.

62 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

Only one species of glass snail (Vitrina) inhabits
this country ; although a second formerly did so,
as proved by its occurrence in our upper tertiary
strata. Vitrina pellucida (PL VII., fig. 6) is not
uncommon under dead leaves, moss, and roots in
woods and shady places, and seems partial to mois-
ture, being always more active after rain. The shell
is very thin, brittle, glossy, and transparent ; the
spire is short and blunt, the suture very slight, and
the mouth nearly oval ; in shape not unlike the shell
of Zonites. The best time to look for this species is
in autumn ; but care should be taken in turning over
dead leaves, moss, &c., in search of it?, since from its
extreme brittleness the shell is very easily destroyed.
It would seem that the animal inhabiting it is a
favourite morsel with the Hedgehog ; numerous frag-
ments of shells having been found from time to
time in stomachs examined. This is also the case
with some species of Zonites.

Where the soil is calcareous, search may be made
for the needle agate shell, Achatina acicula (PL VIII.,
fig. 2), which is often found some inches below the
surface. To give some idea of its appearance, it may
be observed that specimens before now have been

To

Plate VITT

/(.'

1. BaJ^ob joerversa. 2.Adiati,via acicudcu 3. VertLgo pyg
4-.Carychi-um- mivvimam/ 5.J3uiunms monta.nws. 6. B.obsamis.
7. Clouisiliau biblicoita.. 8. (vclastoma/ eleqouns. 9.Clansi2ia^ la/rnmaioi .

* r J

10. C. rolphu . 11. C. ruyo

imp

THE NEEDLE AGATE SHELL. 63

mistaken by the uninitiated for little white maggots,
the shell being long, thin, and cylindrical, and rather
smooth. The Swedish naturalist, Nilsson, who has
given a good description of this mollusk, observed that
through the transparency of the shell the irregular
motion of its breathing could be easily seen with a
glass, and that when the respiratory cavity was shut the
motion ceased, but was continued when the chamber
was reopened ; and he compared this alternate expan-
sion and contraction of the breathing organ in this
snail to the pulmonary action of vertebrate animals.
He supposed that it fed on the tender and jucy fibrils of
the roots of grass. The little sedge shell, Carychium
minimum, may be looked for at the roots of grass and
other plants, and amongst moss in damp situations.
Specimens have been found on the roots of the
Iris pseudacorus at Hammersmith, and in winter
it may be discovered in the hollow stems of the
larger umbelliferous marsh plants. From its very
minute size, being one of the smallest of our land
shells, a very careful search for it is necessary. In
appearance the shell is not very unlike Pupa, already
described, but is more transparent, with fewer whorls,
and has the spire less blunted (PL VIII., fig. 4).

64 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

The fragile moss-shell (Balia perversa, or fra-
gills), as its name implies, may be sought for upon
moss-grown trees and rocks, and is not uncommon.
Cooper mentions it in his list as found at Hammer-
smith at the foot of trees, concealed by grass ; but
since this list was published, trees at Hammersmith
have given way to such an extent to bricks and
mortar that this locality must now be accepted
with reservation. In "The Zoologist" for 1851,
p. 3121, Mr. A. F. Sheppard includes it in a list
of shells found in the neighbourhood of Fulham,
as having been met with on old walls. Although
a small shell, its shape more nearly resembles
Glausilia; that is, instead of being somewhat cylin-
drical throughout its length, it has a wider mouth,
and tapers gradually throughout the length of
the spire. The spire is sinistral or reversed, as
in Clausilia (PL VIII., fig. 1).

Bulimus obscurus and montanus (PI. VIII., figs.
5, 6) may both be found adhering to the trunks of
trees, especially beech,* ash, and hornbeam, and at

* The beech is an especial favourite with snails, more so
than any other tree, and after showers the trunks may be
seen studded with them. The probable explanation, says

CHKTSALIS SHELLS. 65

first sight, and until the eye gets accustomed to their
appearance, might well he mistaken for chrysalides,
or little excrescences of the hark. The Rev. Revett
Sheppard, writing of Suffolk mollusca, ohserves that'
" these shells, particularly in their young state, show
great sagacity and ingenuity, hy covering themselves
with an epidermis adapted to the different situations
in which they are found ; and, when so covered, it is
almost impossible for any other than a conchological
eye to detect them. If its abode be upon a tree
covered with lichens, then is the epidermis so con-
structed as to cause the shell to resemble a little
knot on the bark covered with such substances. If
on a smooth tree, from whose bark issue small sessile
buds, as is frequently the case, it will pass very
well for one of them ; and on a dry bank, or the
lower part of the body of a tree splashed with mud,
its appearance will be that of a little, misshapen,
pointed piece of dirt."

Bulimus montanus prefers a southern aspect, and
ascends trees to a height which frequently renders it

Mr. Tate, is, that this tree is resorted to by the snails for
the purpose of feeding upon the minute parasitic vegetation
with which the trunk is clothed.

66 RAMBLES IN SEAKCH OF SHELLS.

undistinguishable. The supposed security of these
snails and some others, in localities where in fact
they are most abundant, is doubtless due to this
peculiar habit of ascending trees during the summer
months; for at this season only dead shells will
reward a search amongst the herbage at the
foot.

In similar situations are found the close shells
(Clausilia), of which three out of four British
species have been met with in the environs of
London.

These shells are worth examining carefully, on
account of a remarkable peculiarity in structure,
namely, a lid to the mouth of the shell, which closes,
so to say, with a spring. If the outer part of the
last whorl be broken off, there will be found a spoon-
shaped calcareous plate, or valve, attached to the
column of the spire by an elastic filament. When
the animal protrudes from its shell, this plate is
thrust aside, and when it withdraws it closes the
door, as it were, behind it.

Clausilia biplicata (PL VIII., fig. 7) is not un-
common on the banks of the Thames near London ;
and specimens have been obtained in Hyde Park

CLOSE-SHELLS. 67

near the Serpentine. C. rugosa (PL VIII., fig. 11)
has been found by Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys on marshy
ground near Battersea ; and C. laminata (PL VIII.,
fig. 9), although not so common, is nevertheless
reported an inhabitant of trees upon the London
clay. The fourth British species, C. rolphii
(PL VIII., fig. 10), is very local; but we shall have
occasion to notice it at greater length when treating
of the shells which inhabit the chalk.

We have not pointed out the distinguishing
characters of the different species of Clausilia,
and it is by no means easy to do so in a few
words. Some idea of their appearance, size, and
colour may be gained by reference to the figures on
Plate VIII., but in this, as in other cases, the col-
lector will derive the best assistance from an inspec-
tion and comparison of well-authenticated specimens
in the cabinet of some friend. We may direct
attention, nevertheless, to the variation in the form
of the mouth in the different species, and to the
number and arrangement of the so-called teeth.

F 2

CHAPTEE Y.

A Ramble over the Chalk— The Edible Snail— Its supposed Intro-
duction — Culture of Edible Snails — The Heath, Zoned and
Wrinkled Snails — The Rock Snail — Its supposed power of boring
— The Kentish Snail and other local species.

So far as we are aware, there are no aquatic
mollusca, either bivalves or univalves, peculiar to
the chalk, and almost all that have been mentioned,
as inhabiting the London clay, are equally at home
on the lighter and whiter soil. But amongst the
terrestrial univalves there are several which are
only to be found upon chalky ground, and must
therefore be sought at a distance from the metro-
polis. The greater number of these belong to the
true snails (Helix), most of which are well marked
and easily recognizable species.

With regard to the largest of them, the edible
snail, Helix pomatia (PI. IX., fig. 4), there
appears to be some doubt whether it is an in-
digenous or imported species in this country.
Some have supposed it to have been introduced
by the Komans ; but there seems to be no other
foundation for this idea than that it is found in the

To face p. 68 .

Plate IX.

10.

12.

1. H&Lioc rric<e.borwm,. 2.H. caperouboi. . 3.H, vircjatou. 4.
5.6. H. Lafiiticiou . 7. H. ccuntia.rux.8 j

li.H.pygwxcu.iZ.K.

A RAMBLE OVER THE CHALK. 69

vicinity of many ancient encampments. Several
such sites, moreover, could be named where this
large snail is not found ; and, as in Central Italy its
place is supplied by another species, Helix lucorum,
it is not by any means certain that it was known to
the Komans.

Its large size — the mouth alone measuring an
inch in diameter — and the consistency of its body,
will readily distinguish it from all others of the
genus to which it belongs. It is furnished with a
peculiar epiphragm, or mouth-piece, by" means of
which it effectually closes the entrance of its shell,
and keeps out the cold and wet while it is hybernat-
ing. This lid, as we may term it, exactly fits the
mouth of the shell. It is a solid calcareous plate,
slightly convex, and is secreted and formed by the
mantle, resembling, until it hardens, liquid plaster
of Paris. After the animal has hybernated and
the fine weather has returned, this covering is
no longer needed, and is cast aside. A French
naturalist, M. Gaspard, who has paid considerable
attention to the structure and economy of this
species, says that when the period of hybernation
arrives .these snails get indolent, lose their appe-

70 EAMBLES IN SEAECH OF SHELLS.

tite, and become gregarious. Each snail then,
with its large and muscular foot, scoops out a hole
in the ground, just large enough to contain its shell.
This it roofs in, and lines with earth and dead
leaves, and after making with its slime a kind of
mortar, it uses it to smooth over the inside of this
winter domicile. It then closes the mouth of the
shell with the lid already described, and withdraws
as far as possible into the interior of its shell, cover-
ing as it retires the empty spaces with several layers
in succession of a fine membrane or film, in order
more completely to exclude the air. In this snug
receptacle it remains in a torpid state until the
return of spring, all animal functions being in the
meantime suspended. It then loosens and casts
aside its winter bonds, and resumes its former
life.

In May these snails propagate, and in June lay
their eggs, producing generally but a single brood in
the year. The eggs are about the size of a small
pea, and in colour and consistency somewhat re-
semble the berries of the mistletoe. They are
deposited in a sort of nest made in the loose earth,
which protects them from wet and too much heat.

THE EDIBLE SNAIL. 71

No incubation takes place, but they are left to the
care of nature ; and in three or four weeks, according
to the state of the weather and temperature, the
young are duly developed.

On the chalk hills about Dorking and Reigate,
Mickleham, Boxhill, and in some parts of Kent,
this large snail is tolerably common, but we have
looked for it in vain upon the South Downs, where
we should certainly have expected to find it. Mr.
W. Jeffery of Ratham, near Chichester, writing to
us so recently as January 1874, says, " Many times
have I searched for Helix pomatia on our downs,
but always without success. Some five or six years
ago I had between thirty and forty sent me from the
Surrey Downs, a part of which I turned down in my
garden, and the remainder on a bank of light soil
near. Of those on the bank I saw no more, but
those in the garden seemed to do pretty well for a
time, and at least one brood of young were hatched,
some of which attained the full size. Now, how-
ever the old stock is no more, and last summer I saw
only two of those bred in the garden. These are of
of a much darker colour than the imported speci-
mens, and in their earlier stages of growth led me to

72 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

think they were hybrid with H. aspersa. In the
garden H. pomatia is not nearly so destructive as
H. aspersa, preferring as a rule decaying vegetation ;
a yellow, half rotten, and then glutinous turnip leaf
is particularly a favourite morsel with them."

In a copse upon the downs in West Sussex, not far
from Petersfield, one or two dead shells have been
found, from which it may be assumed that Helix
pomatia formerly existed in that neighbourhood,
but no living examples have been met with in
recent times. An enterprising friend, however, with
a taste for acclimatisation, turned out in that locality
fifty or sixty live specimens, which were procured at
Preston Candover, where thirty years ago they were
plentiful ; but the experiment to establish them in
the new locality failed, for not one of them was seen
afterwards ; and if, as we suspect, the hedgehog
found them toothsome, the fact speaks volumes for
the discriminating palate of our erinaceous friend,
who in this instance only emulated certain epicures
amongst our Gallic neighbours. With the latter a
dish of escargots is a recognized dainty, and in the
summer months may be obtained at the restaurants
of most of the principal towns in France as readily

CULTURE OF EDIBLE SNAILS. 73

as whitebait is procured at Greenwich. Some idea
may be formed of the estimation in which these
snails are held there, from the fact that Burgundy
and Champagne alone send no less than 100,000 of
them daily to Paris. In The Field of April 19, 1873,
appeared an article on the culture of edible snails in
France, in which some very interesting details are
given ; and the so-called apple snail, H. pomatia*
is of course especially noticed. To this account
we may refer such of our readers as have not
already perused it.

A curious circumstance is related in Merrifield's
" Sketch of the Natural History of Brighton,"
p. 157 (1864), which proves that rats are as fond of
snails as some members of the human race, and are
quite as ingenious in capturing them. The facts
were thus narrated to the author by Mr. W. W.
Attree of the Queen's Park: — "While my father
was building this house (the villa in Queen's Park)
the gardens, laid out beforehand, were colonized on a

* With regard to the name " apple snail," which is ap-
plied to this species, it may be appropriate as regards its
shape, or with reference to the animal's penchant for apples ;
but the word " pomatia" is derived from irupa, an operculum,
and not from " pomum," an apple*

74 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

sudden by crowds of rats. That they should travel
half a mile from the town was not strange ; but there
was no inhabitant near the unfinished walls, and
apparently nothing more to tempt their visit than
when the spot was a bare hill- side. The workmen
said that the rats came for the new plastering ;
but that, if possibly a bonne bouche in rats' diet,
could not, it seemed to me, support them. Besides,
they could scarcely have eaten it without their
depredations being discovered by the workmen, and
this did not take place. While still wondering
about the matter, I one day watched a rat come
out of his hole at the foot of a mound in the back
garden, go some paces without perceiving me, climb
the stalk of a hollyhock, clear off several snails,
bring them down in fcone paw, like an armful, and
run with them on three legs into his hole. On
examining this hole and others as well, I found the
inside strewed for some distance with broken snail
shells. At that time there was about the place a
great variety of snails with delicately coloured shells
of different sorts. I fancy they have been cleared
off by the pea-fowls who regularly hunt the ground,
the pea-hen quartering the ground like a pointer.

SHELLS ON THE CHALK-DOWNS. 75

We have hardly any, except the common brown
snail, now left. I looked among the debris round
the rats' hole, to see if they had chosen any particular
kind of dainty snail, as the Romans did, and some
moderns have done, but the broken shells were
almost all those of the common brown snail,
with only a coloured one here and there among
them."

Thickly sprinkled over the chalk hills and sheep
walks of the South Downs may be found the heath
snail, H. ericetorum ; the zoned snail, H. virgata ;
and the wrinkled snail, H. caperata (PL IX., figs.
1, 2, and 3). After rain, numbers of these may be
seen scattered over the downs, clinging to the grass
stems or leaves of the different shrubs with which
the downs are studded ; and, from the fact of their
being gregarious and so abundant, the popular notion
has arisen that it sometimes rains snails. Mr. Gwyn
Jeffreys thinks that the idea of their descending in
showers may also have originated in a whirlwind
having caught up a number of them, by sweeping
along a grassy plain, and dropping its contents in a
limited area. Borlase, in his " Natural History of
Cornwall," speaks of these snails as " yielding a most

76 EAMBLES IN SEAECH OF SHELLS.

fattening nourishment to the sheep" which feed upon
the downs, and pick them up with the short grass ; and
a similar observation has been made in other parts of
the south of England, notably at Dartmoor and on
the Hampshire and Sussex Downs. We have often
wondered how these molluscs contrive to withstand
the glaring heat of the sun upon the exposed downs,
especially in the position in which they are often
found, that is, sealed to^ a grass-stem, a foot or more
from the ground.

The flat shape of ericetorum, its usually large
umbilicus and nearly circular mouth, will readily
serve to distinguish it from any other of the banded
snails. In Sussex the village children collect them
by bushels, and, threading them on string, make
necklaces and bracelets of them. Mr. W. Jeffery
informs us that ericetorum attains a larger size in
the valleys on the north side of the downs, where
the herbage is less scanty than on the south side
and the sun has less power. The second species,
virgata, is of a white or cream colour, with a single
broad band of purple-brown just above the periphery,
and several narrower bands below it. In this respect
it differs from pisana (a more local species found

SHELLS ON THE CHALK-DOWNS. 77

nearer the coast),* which has only one hand on the
body whorl (PI. IX., fig. 9).

The colour of these shells, however, varies very
much, being occasionally plain yellowish, white, or
dark brown with white bands, or the dark bands are
streaked "or interrupted so as to make the surface
appear spotted. Helix caper ata differs from virgata
in its much smaller size, depressed spire, and
larger umbilicus, and especially in the numerous
rib-like striae which hoop round each whorl. Virgata
may be found as near London as Lewisham and
Charlton, amongst thistles, nettles, and other rank
herbage about chalk pits ; and around Woolwich
it was formerly not uncommon. It is said to feed
on Lady-birds (Coccinella) and other small insects.

Caperata is also found around Lewisham, and is

I
plentiful at Boxhill. The heath snail, ericetorum,

has been met with as near London as Charlton,
Banstead Downs, and the roadside between Dartford
Heath and Green- street Green. A bank between the
fifteenth and sixteenth milestones on the Sevenoaks-
road has also been recorded as a locality for this snail.

* The specific name "Pisana," was given to this shell,
from its having been first met with at Pisa,

78 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

All three species are plentiful in the neighbour-
hood of Keigate, where caperata is especially common
on palings and nettles. On the stems of heech trees,
and often concealed by ivy, may be found the rock
snail, Helix lapicida (PL IX., figs. 5, 6). It is about
the size of ericetorum, but much more solid, lens-
shaped, of a dark brown colour, and with a sharp
edge or keel round it, which distinguishes it at once
from all others of its kind. The crevices of rocks
and old walls are favourite situations for this snail ;
but, as it is rather inactive by day, the best time to
look for it is at twilight, or after a shower of rain.
The inappropriate name lapicida was bestowed upon
it by Linnaeus under the erroneous impression that
it bored or excavated calcareous rock, as the Teredo

does wood.* This is one of the very few in-

•

* Perforations on the under surface of projecting lime-
stone crags, which H. aspersa and some other species are
found occupying as winter quarters, have been regarded as
the result of a constant resort for shelter to the same spot,
winter after winter. The erosion is believed to be due to
the action of the foot, aided by an acid secretion ; although
another theory is, that the snail works with its shell after
the fashion of an auger. It seems not improbable, however,
that the snails abrade the walls of these limestone cells with
their tongues, for the purpose of obtaining the carbonate of
lime.

THE KENTISH SNAIL. 79

stances in which a species has been inaptly named
by that most remarkable and observant of natu-
ralists.

We have found this snail in Gatton Park near
Keigate, and on Reigate Hill, and have obtained
numerous specimens in the neighbourhood of Chi-
chester, and in the beautiful valley known as Kingley
Vale. The Kentish snail, H. cantiana (PI. IX.,
fig. 7), is by no means rare, inhabiting hedges,
wooded banks, and walls in the home and many of
the southern counties of England.* The shell is

* Eeferring to the distribution of Helix cantiana, which
is generally supposed to be restricted to the south of Eng-
land, Mr. John Hawkins writes in The Field, of 24th
January, 1874 as follows : — " Two years since, when taking
a friend to inspect the Roman camp at Honington, while
searching for shards of old pottery, I found Helix cantiana.
As it was in the winter season, only dead shells were pro-
curable. Upon my next visit, I was fortunate enough to
discover two or three live specimens. I could hardly be-
lieve, at first, that the Kent snail should occur in Lincoln-
shire, and was inclined to attribute the finding it to any
cause but the true one. However, descending into the
valley, and hunting in a dyke for some geological specimens
among the stony debris, I found a whole colony of these
Helices, and on comparing them with specimens brought
from the Undercliff, Isle of Wight, I found them quite the
equals of these in every respect. Since that time I have

80 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

not nearly so flat as the four last-named species,
but yet is not so globular as that of the common
garden snail, aspersa, or the apple snail, pomaiia,
being more compressed above and below. It is
almost of a uniform white or fawn colour, although
sometimes marked with a light but indistinct spiral
band, which is placed a little above the periphery,
and does not extend much beyond the last half of
the body whorl. In the same localities mentioned
for lapicida we have found the Kentish snail
not uncommon, and this is especially the case
in the neighbourhood of Reigate, A much smaller
mollusc is Helix cartusiana (PL IX., fig. 10),
so called from having been first discovered near
a Carthusian monastery. It has a more solid
and nearly opaque shell, that is, much less glossy
and transparent than cantiana, of a light brown or
fawn colour, generally encircled with a whitish spiral
band, placed a little above the periphery. It is
generally found attached to grass stems and weeds in
the hollows of the downs, and is tolerably common.

procured them on the line of the old Eoman road which
intersects our heath district, and there is no doubt that they
occur all along the stony district of Lincolnshire."

THE CHEESE SNAIL. 81

We have heard of its being taken about chalk pits at
Lewisham and Charlton, and even on Hampstead
Heath. It is common on the South Downs, near
Lewes, and about Beachy Head, where it is found on
the short herbage clothing the chalk-downs.

Beech woods are very favourable to many of the
species just named, and, for some reason or other,
shells procured in such situations are generally larger
and better coloured than those found in more exposed
haunts. Doubtless, shade and moisture are indis-
pensable to the growth and healthy condition of the
animals inhabiting them.

The cheese snail (Helix dbvoluta), so called from
the cheese-like shape of the shell (PL IX., fig. 8),
is so local a species that it is supposed to have been
accidentally introduced at no very distant date. As
an inhabitant of Ditcham Wood, near Buriton, it
was first discovered by Dr. Lindsay, at one time a
resident in the neighbourhood. It has since been
found at Ashford Wood and Stonor Hill (Rev. W.
H. Hawker), Uppark, near Peter sfield (Mr. J.
Weaver), Kingley Vale, near Chichester (Mr. W.
Jeifery, Jun.), and Crabbe Wood, near Winchester,
(Mr. W. A. Forbes), amongst moss at the roots of

G

82 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

hazel, and on beech trees at some height from the
ground ; but these are the only localities for the
species in England with which we are acquainted.

It is so very unlike any other British Helix that
it cannot fail to be recognized at once. The shell,
as we have said, is cheese- shaped — but it may be
desirable to add of the shape of a Cheshire cheese,
some cheeses, as the Dutch, being globular. It is
solid and opaque, of a reddish-brown colour, the
eperdimis clothed with stiff hairs, and with the outer
tip rose-coloured, very thick and reflected. The
umbilicus is large, exposing part of the whorls, and
all the internal spire. During the period of hyber-
nation the mouth of the shell is closed with a thick
chalky epiphragm, which contrasts strongly with the
rich reddish-brown colour of the shell itself.

In similar situations — that is, among dead leaves
and moss in woods, as well as under fragments of
chalk — may be found the little prickly snail, Helix
aculeata (PL IX., fig. 12), the shell of which mea-
sures about the tenth of an inch in breadth, and the
same in height. Its distinguishing character is that
the epidermis with which it is clothed rises, at fre-
quent and regular intervals in the middle of each

THE PEICKLY SNAIL. 83

whorl, into sharp teeth or points, so as to present
under a lens the appearance of a very elegant spiral
of bristles. A friend, who has paid some attention
to the land shells in Sussex, affirms that he has found
pieces of decaying hark an excellent lure for many of
the smaller snails, and especially the one just named,
aculeata. Mr. A. F. Sheppard has met with aculeata
on the trunks of oak trees at Fulham (cf. "Zoologist,"
1851, p. 3121).

We should include amongst the shells of the chalk
district, Helix rotundata, had we not already referred
to it (p. 27) as being found upon the London clay.
With the mention of aculeata, therefore, we may
bring our remarks on the common British Helices
to a close.

Two little shells, pretty generally distributed,
Azeca tridens and Zua lubrica, ought not to pass
unnoticed. The first named, a link between Buli-
mus and Clausilia, may be found amongst herbage
and on damp moss; the latter under stones and
logs in moist situations. The former has the mouth
furnished with teeth and folds, the outer lip notched,
and the inner lip thickened; the latter possesses
exactly opposite characters.

G 2

CHAPTER VI.

The Chalk continued — Cydostoma elegans — Close Shells — Clausilia
rolphii, its local distribution — Chrysalis Shells — Whorl Shells —
Slugs and Shell-slugs.

THEBE are but few species to add to the list of
mollusca inhabiting the chalk. Owing to their minute
size, some of them are very difficult to procure ;
and perhaps the readiest way to obtain specimens
is to take out a few small linen bags and an old
newspaper, and in dry weather to pull up moss, grass,
&c., and shake out the sand and earth from the
roots on to the paper. This may then be put into
a bag with a memorandum of the locality whence
taken, and, being carefully tied up, may be carried
home and examined at leisure. In this way have
been obtained Zonites crystallinus, Helix pygmcza
and aculeata, Acme lineata, and different species of
Vertigo, which otherwise might never have been
procured.

Helix pygmcea, (PL IX., fig. 11) has been also
taken successfully, and in some numbers, by sweep-
ing the wet grass and herbage after rain with an
entomologist's gauze net; and Dr. Turton found

SHELLS OF THE CHALK. 85

that a handful of dead and moist leaves, after being
spread out on paper to dry, yielded a good harvest
of these small mollusca.

One of the handsomest land-shells, and one which
is partial to chalky and calcareous soils, is Cyclos-
toma elegans (PL VIII., fig. 8). In shape it is
something between Helix and Bulimus, and in colour
a yellowish-brown, with more or less of a reddish
tinge, marked with purple blotches. The whorls are
very finely striated in the direction in which they
curve, and the sutures between the whorls very deep.
The entire shell is about six-tenths of an inch in
length, by four-tenths at the widest part. In Suffolk
a variety has been found of a uniform buff or clay
colour, without the beautiful purple spots which
generally ornament the shell in specimens from the
south of England (cf. King, " Zoologist," 1853,
p. 3916).

The mouth of this shell is closed with a very
solid operculum, covered on both sides with a thick
epidermis, a double fringe of which completely
encircles it, and causes it to appear laminated.
The animal itself is of very shy and retiring habits,
and in dry weather buries itself in the earth, where

86 BAMBLES IN SEAKCH OF SHELLS.

it often falls a prey to carnivorous beetles, notwith-
standing its closely-fitting operculum. This is not
the only mollusk which furnishes food to beetles.
We have frequently found these insects upon
partially devoured remains of different species of
Helix; and entomologists are aware that the larvae
of some beetles are constantly found in empty snail-
shells (cf. "Proc. Ent. Soc." 1858, p. 9). Some years
since, when rambling over the Sussex Downs in the
spring of the year, we discovered the larva of Drilus
flavescens in an old shell of Helix ericetorum.
When exhibited some time afterwards at a meeting
of the Entomological Society, it was considered to
be but the second female example which had been
obtained in this country (cf. "Zoologist," 1868,
p. 1137). Coleopterists from this may take a hint.
The epiphragm, where it is found in the Helicidce,
is a thin plate accurately fitting the mouth of the
shell, and secreted by the animal for its protection
during periods of inactivity, but cast off at will when
no longer required. The operculum, as in the last-
named species, is a plate of a horny character per-
manently attached to the back of the animal's foot,
and naturally closes the aperture of the shell when

CLOSE-SHELLS. 87

its inhabitant has retired within it. But the next
genus we have to notice, Clausilia, is characterized
by the possession of an apparatus for partially closing
the last whorl of the shell within the mouth, which
is neither epiphragm nor operculum. It consists of a
valve (clausilium) attached to the pillar of the shell
by an elastic hinge, and when the animal wishes to
protrude itself, according to Dr. Gray (cf. " Zool.
Journ." i., p. 212), it pushes the plate on one side
into a groove situated between the inner plate and
the columella, or pillar, where it is detained by the
pressure of the body of the animal, leaving the
aperture free ; and when the animal withdraws itself,
the plate springs forward by the elasticity of its
pedicle and closes the aperture.

Of this singular genus we have already noticed
(p. 66) three species as being found upon the London
clay. A fourth, Clausilia rolphii (PL VIII., fig. 10),
may now be named as peculiar to chalky and calca-
reous soils. It is larger than C. rugosa (or nigricans),
but smaller than laminata (bidens of Gray) and bipli-
cata. It differs from the first named in being more
ventricose, and in having coarser striae and a larger
and broader mouth ; it is also lighter in colour. It

88 KAMBLES IN SEABCH OF SHELLS.

has been found as near London as Charlton, but it
seems to be very local, and is apparently restricted
to the southern counties of England. Other recorded
localities for it are Ashford, Sevenoaks, Southborough,
Tunbridge Wells, Coghurst Wood, Hastings, Mickle-
ham, near Dorking, Uppark, and Buriton, near
Petersfield, Folkestone, Birdlip and Cooper's Hill,
Gloucestershire, and Charlton King's, near Chelten-
ham. It is generally found in damp situations in
woods, amongst dead leaves and moss, and under
nettles and dog's mercury, as well as on the trunks
of trees.

While walking over the downs, which in many
places are studded with junipers and yews, search
may be made at the roots of these trees for some
of the chrysalis shells, Pupa secale (or juniperi) and
marginata,* as well as for one or two of the whorl
shells, Vertigo antivertigo (PI. II., fig. 5), and
pygmcea (PL VIII., fig. 3), all of which affect dry
and barren situations, and may be found in old
chalk pits, attached to chalk stones and beneath
loose flints scattered over the downs. We have
already mentioned Balia perversa, but may refer to

* Pupa marginata is not uncommon at Hampton (Kich).

SLUGS. 89

it again here to note that it is not uncommon
beneath the bark of old hawthorns on the downs,
and may be found also on old willows and ash
trees, and on walls beneath ivy.

The true slugs, which remain to be noticed, do not
possess the same interest for collectors as the snails ;
for, although they are not, strictly speaking, shell-
less, their shells are comparatively insignificant,
while the repulsive appearance of the animals fre-
quently causes them to be purposely avoided.

The popular belief that slugs are only snails,
which for some reason best known to themselves
have temporarily vacated their shells, is not confirmed
by the observations of malacologists, who, on the
contrary, have long been aware of the fact that slugs
are really possessed of shells of their own — of which,
to say the least, they would find it extremely difficult
to divest themselves.

We have already alluded to the prominence on the
back of the slug ; this is the mantle, on the under
surface of which the shelly secretion is spread out in
the form of a thin plate, and the latter from its posi-
tion, is no doubt designed as a protection to the
important organ beneath it. This plate, as may be

90 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

anticipated, varies in the different species ; and in
the so-called shell-slug \Testacella), as we have
already pointed out, it becomes external, and is
situated on the back near the tail.

The common species are the black slug (Arion
ater), the garden slug (A. hortensis), the great slug
(Limax maximus), the yellow slug (L. flavus), and
the field slug (L. agrestis). The two first-named
are very destructive to plants and fruit, and are also
carnivorous, feeding on earth worms and decaying
animal matter, and sometimes even indulging in
cannibalism. The Limax maximus and L. flavus
frequent our houses and stables, and assiduously take
upon themselves the duties of scavengers during the
hours of darkness, retiring to out-of-the-way damp
places and drains in the day time. They do not,
however, confine themselves to buildings, but may
be found also under stones in damp situations and
about decaying stumps in woods.

The Limax agrestis is the pest of the farmer as
well as the gardener, and may be met with in the
corn-fields in such abundance that even the willing
rooks and pheasants find it no easy task to keep its
numbers within safe limits. It is stated in Bell's

SLUGS' EGGS PHOSPHOEESCENT. 91

" British Quadrupeds," 2nd. ed. p. 107, that the
small field slug, Limax agrestis, is a favourite morsel
with the hedgehog ; and is often scratched out and
eaten in the summer months when concealed in
the day in crevices, or amongst the roots of
grass or other close herbage. This slug also fur-
nishes food to the blind worm, Anguisfragilis, which
seizes it as a dog would seize a rat, and, after holding
it for some time in its mouth, passes it slowly
through its jaws and swallows it head foremost.

The eggs of the garden slug (A. hortensis) are
phosphorescent for about a fortnight after they have
been deposited, and may be seen in the evening on
moist hedge banks, giving out a pale light.

We do not propose to say as much of the slugs as
our opportunities have enabled us to do in the case
of the snails ; and, indeed, we may admit that we have
not paid equal attention to them. There can be no
doubt, however, that, although the handling of these
slimy creatures is not particularly agreeable, the
study of their habits and economy opens a wider field
for research, with a greater prospect of novelty, than
can be expected in the case of the testaceous
mollusca.

CONCLUSION.

Hints to Collectors— When to Collect— How .to Collect— And how to
Preserve Shells.

THE best time for collecting is in the autumn, when
the mollusks are full grown, and before the beauty
of the shells becomes destroyed by the winter rains.
At the commencement of the rainy season, too,
snails are much more readily discovered, since they
leave their retreat and may be seen climbing over
trees in all directions. From this habit, indeed,
they have been found to furnish some indication of
approaching change in the weather. An American
naturalist, Mr. B. Thomas of Cincinnati, has ob-
served that, as natural barometers, snails are more
reliable than leaves ; that in consequence of their
never drinking, all the moisture they receive is by
absorption of rain, mist, or dew through the tissues
of their bodies, and this they afterwards exude at
regular intervals until they obtain a fresh supply.
Two days before rain is about to fall they climb
trees, which, according to Mr. Thomas, they never
do on other occasions ; and when they are observed

HINTS TO COLLECTOES. 93

to leave the herbage and get on rocks, it is a certain
prognostication of wet weather. He adds, that the
colour of certain kinds of snail varies according to
the quantity of moisture retained.

As regards the particular time of day to collect
with advantage, a search in an open country should
be prosecuted after a shower of rain, or during
early morn. In damp woods, where throughout the
day the air is sufficiently moist to maintain the
animals in full activity, no such considerations de-
termine the best time for collecting. In such places,
light is usually the desideratum, and, consequently,
a search at mid-day in a clear sky is most likely to
prove remunerative.

Land shells are most abundant on limestone soils,
which are most congenial to their existence and
perpetuation ; and in explanation it may be observed
that the shell is composed almost entirely of car-
bonate of lime ; that the plants upon which the ani-
mals feed are the sources whence the mineral matters
are derived, and that plants affecting calcareous
soils contain proportionately a larger amount of
salts than those inhabiting clayey or sandy soils.
These, therefore, are in greater request. So also

94 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

many species of horse tails and grasses, which con-
tain a large percentage of earthy salts, are on this
account much frequented by land snails.

As to the mode of preparing specimens for the
cabinet, the animals may be killed with boiling
water and removed from their shells by the aid of
a bent pin. Those which retire too far to be reached
by this ordinary expedient, as Clausilia, Bulimus,
and others, may be killed by placing them in tepid
water, and adding gradually hot water ; the animals
may then be partially removed. The shells should
be well dried, to remove the moisture and harden
the soft parts remaining ; but the heat must not be
too great, or else the shells will be discoloured, and
are liable to be broken ; and, further, the specimens
should be well dried before placing them in the cab-
inet, which should be in a well ventilated place, free
from damp ; for their freshness and beauty are apt
to be lost by the growth of fungi upon their surfaces.

In cleaning the shells of some species, great care
is needed, so as not to remove the hairs or bristles
which clothe the surface of the epidermis.

The shells of such snails as Paluclina, Cyclostoma,
and others, would be imperfectly illustrated without

HINTS TO COLLECTORS. 95

the opercula which close the apertures of their shells.
Each one should he detached from the foot of the snail,
the interior of the shell plugged with cotton wool, and
the specimen gummed down in its natural position.

The shells of mussels and other bivalves which
gape a great deal after the animal has heen removed,
should be carefully closed and hound with thread
until dry. Bivalves as small as Sphoerium corneum
may be treated in this way, but the smaller species
of Pisidium and some of the smaller univalves, as,
for instance, the little Sedge-shell Carychium mini-
mum, may be dried in hot sand. Care, however, is
required in the process, since too much heat will cause
a transfusion of the carbonaceous matter of the animal
into the substance of the shell, and so discolour it.

Slugs require a different treatment. On this sub-
ject, Mr. Tate, in his " British Land and Freshwater
Mollusca," says: "As regards the internal shell,
it may be obtained by making a conical incision in
the shield, taking care not to cut down upon the
calcareous plate, which can then be removed without
difficulty. The animals can only be conserved by
keeping them in some preservative fluid ; but the
great object to keep in view is to have the slug

96 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

naturally extended. Most fluids contract the slugs
when they are immersed in them. The slugs should
be killed whilst crawling, by plunging them into a
solution of corrosive sublimate, or into benzine.
Models in wax or dough are sometimes substituted
for the animals. A writer in the " Naturalist " * gives
a process for the preservation of slugs, which he
states to answer admirably, and to be very superior
to spirit, glycerine, creosote, and other solutions :—
" Make a cold saturated solution of corrosive sub-
limate'; put it into a deep wide-mouthed bottle,
then take a slug you wish to preserve and let
it crawl on a long slip of card. When the tentacles
are fully extended, plunge it suddenly into the
solution ; in a few minutes it will die, with the
tentacles fully extended in the most lifelike
manner, so much so, indeed, that if taken out of
the fluid it would be difficult to say whether it be
alive or dead. The slugs thus prepared should not
be mounted in spirit, as it is apt to contract and
discolour them. A mixture of one and a half parts
of water and one part of glycerine has been found to
be the best mounting fluid ; it preserves the colour
* The " Naturalist," vol. i., p. 253 (1865).

HINTS TO COLLECTORS. 97

beautifully, and its antiseptic qualities are unexcep-
tional. A good-sized test tube answers better than a
bottle for putting them up, as it admits of closer exa-
mination of the animal. The only drawback to this
process is, that unless the solution is of sufficient
strength, and unless the tentacles are extruded when
the animal is immersed, it generally, but not in-
variably, fails. Some slugs appear to be more
susceptible to the action of the fluid than others ;
and it generally answers better with full-grown than
with young specimens. But if successful, the
specimens are as satisfactory as could be desired ;
and even if unsuccessful, they are a great deal
better than those preserved in spirit ; for although
the tentacles may not be completely extruded,
they are more or less so."

The Testacellce, or shell-slugs, may be preserved
by partially drying them in sand and removing the
soft parts through a slit in the length of the foot,
filling up with cotton wool, and completing the dry-
ing process.

As to the best mode of exhibiting shells in the
cabinet, opinions differ. They may be gummed on
slips of card, kept loose in card-board trays, or,

H

98 EAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS.

better still, in glass-topped card-board boxes. We
much prefer the last-named method for many reasons.
Being thus protected from dust, they retain their
natural appearance better ; nearly allied species, or
specimens of the same species from different locali-
ties, may be distinguished without risk of their
getting mixed, and the bottom of each box serves as
a tablet whereon to pencil the collector's notes.

The boxes may be arranged systematically, or in
any way most convenient to the collector. For
the benefit of those who may adopt the former and
more desirable method, we subjoin a systematic list
of all the British Land and Freshwater Mollusca,
placing opposite to each of the species referred to
in this book, the number of the page whereon it is
mentioned.

In conclusion, we shall add a catalogue of such
works or published articles as we have met with
which contain notices of the land and freshwater
shells of particular districts. Such publications are
always of interest to local collectors ; and, as indi-
cating the source of much information on the sub-
ject of our native mollusca, we believe that a list of
them will be useful to conchologists.

99

SYSTEMATIC LIST

OP THE

BEITISH LAND AND EEESHWATEK
MOLLUSCA.

I.— AQUATIC.

BIYALYES.

(Conchifera.)
Lamellibranchiata.
FAM. SPH^RIID.JS.

Sphcerium corneum, 42.

„ rivicola, 42.

„ ovale, 43.

„ lacustre, 43.

Pisidium amnicum, 43.

„ fontinale, 43.

„ pusillum, 43.

„ nitidum, 43.

„ roseum, 43.

FAM. UNIONID^E.

Unio tumidus, 35, 36.
„ pictorum, 35, 36.
„ margaritifer, 35.

UNIYALYES.

(Gasteropoda).
FectinibrancMata.
FAM. NERITID^!.
Neritina fluviatilis, 18, 55.

Paludina contecta, 13, 55.

„ vivipara, 13, 55.
Bythinia tentaculata, 52.

„ leacMi, 52, 53.
Hydrobia, similis, 52, 53.

„ ventrosa, 54.

FAM. YALVATIDJB.

Valvciita piscinalis, 51, 56.
„ cristata

H 2

100

SYSTEMATIC LIST.

BIVALVES.
FAM. UNIONHLE — contd.

Anodonta cygnea, 34.
„ anatina, 40.

FAM. DEEISSENID^E.

Dreissena polymorpha, 40.

UNIVALVES.
Pulmonobranchiata.

FAM. LIMN^IDJE.

Planorbis lincatus
„ nitidus, 48.
„ nautileus, 48.
„ albus, 46, 48.
„ glaber
„ spirorlis, 48.
„ vortex, 48, 49.
,, carinatus, 46, 48,

49.
„ complanatus, 46,

48.

„ corneus, 16, 45.
„ contortus, 48.
Pliysa liypnoruin, 50, 51.
„ fontinalis, 50, 51.
Limncea glutinosa, 49.
„ involuta,
,, peregra, 13, 49.
„ auricularia, 13, 49.
„ stagnalis, 13, 49.
„ palustris, 13, 49.
„ truncatula
„ glabra, 49.

fluviatilis, 18, 56.
lacustris, 18, 56.

Ancyli

SYSTEMATIC LIST.

101

II.— TEKRESTKIAL.

UNIVALVES.

(Gasteropoda.)

FAM. LIMACID.E.

Helix lamellata

Avion ater, 90.

„ aculeata, 82, 83.

„ liortensis, 90, 91.

„ pomatia, 68, 73.

Geomalacus maculosus

„ aspersa, 19, 23.

Limax gagates

„ nemoraUs, 23, 25.

r . .

„ arbustorum, 23.

„ flavus, 90.

„ cantiana, 79, 80.

„ agrestis, 90, 91.

„ cartusiana, 57, 80.

„ arborum

„ rufescens, 25, 26.

„ maximus, 90.

„ concinna, 27.

„ hispida, 5, 26.

FAM. TESTACELLID^E.

„ sericea

Testacella haliotidea, 31.

„ revelata

FAM. HELICID^E.

» fusca

„ pisana, 76, 77.

Succinea putris, 57, 61.

„ virgata, 75, 76.

„ elegans, 57, 61.

„ caperata, 75, 77.

„ oblonga, 61.

„ ericetorum, 76, 86.

Vitrina pellucida, 62.

„ rotundata, 5, 27, 83.

Zonites cellaring, 6, 28.

„ rupestris

„ alliarius, 29.

„ pygmcea, 84.

„ nitidulus, 6, 29.

„ pulchella, 28.

„ purus

„ lapicida, 78.

„ radiatulus, 5.

„ obvoluta, 81.

„ nitidus, 6, 29.

Bulimus acutus, 14.

„ excavatus

„ montanus, 14, 64,

„ crystallinus, 29.

65.

„ fuluus

„ obscurus, 14, 64.

102

SYSTEMATIC LIST.

FAM. HELICID^— contd.
Pupa secale, 14, 88.
„ ringens, 14.
„ umbilicata, 14, 30.
„ marginata, 14, 30, 88.
Vertigo antivertigo, 88.
„ pygmcea, 88.
„ alpestris
„ substriata
„ pusilla
„ angustior
„ edentula
„ minutissima
Balia perversa, 64, 88.
Clausilia rugosa, 6, 15, 67.

FAM. HELICID^E — contd.
„ rolphii, 15, 67, 87.
„ liplicata, 15, 66.
„ laminata, 15, 67,

87.

Azeca tridens, 83.
Zua lubrica, 83.
Achatina acicula, 62.

FAM. CARYCHIID^:.
Carychium minimum, 11, 63.

FAM. CYCLOSTOMATID^E.
Cyclostoma elegans, 11, 18,

85.
Acme lineata, 84.

LIST OF LOCAL CATALOGUES

OP

LAND AND FRESHWATER MOLLUSCA.

ABERDEEN, KINCARDINE, AND 'BA.'NFY.—Macgillivray, History
of Mollusca of these Counties, 8vo, 1843; and Taylor,
Zoologist, vol. xi., p. 3878.

ARRAN, ISLE OF. — Landsborougli, Mollusca of Whitney Bay ;
Zoologist, vol. i., p. 86.

BERWICKSHIRE AND NORTH DURHAM. — Johnston, Trans. Berw.
Nat. Hist. Soc., 1838, p. 154; Trans. Tyneside Nat. Club,
vol. i., p. 97 (1850).

CHESHIRE. — Bellairs, Land and Freshwater Shells in the
vicinity of Chester. Pamphlet, n.d.

CORNWALL. — Borlase, Nat. Hist. Cornwall, folio, 1758 ;
Cocks, Contrib. Fauna Falmouth, 1845; and King,
Freshwater Shells of Cornwall, Zoologist, vol. xii., pp.
1038 and 1194.

DERBYSHIRE. — Bloxham, Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. vi., p. 324.
DEVONSHIRE. — Bellamy, Cat. Land and Freshwater Shells

found in the vicinity of Plymouth, Edinb. Journ. Nat.

Hist., Oct. 1837, p. 115 ; Parfitt, List Land and Fresh-

water Shells in neighbourhood of Exeter, Naturalist, vol.

iv., p. 150 (1854).

104 LOCAL CATALOGUES.

DORSETSHIRE. — Pulteney, Catalogue Birds, Shells, &c., of
Dorset, folio, 1799, and the " Ornithology and Conchology
of the County of Dorset," by J. C. Mansel Pleydell.
Privately printed, 1874, vide "Athenaeum," 25th July,
1874, p. 118.

DURHAM.— Tyneside Nat. Club Trans., vol. i., p. 97 (1850).
ESSEX.— Dale, Nat. Hist. Harwich, 4to, 1732.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE. — Webster, Land and Freshwater Mollusks

found near Cheltenham, Naturalist, vol. iv., p. 175 (1854) ;

Prentice, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1856, p. 446.

IRELAND. — Thompson, Catalogue of Mollusca, Ann. Mag.
Nat. Hist., vol. vi., pp. 16, 109, 194 (1841); Walpole,
Cat. Shells, Dublin, Zoologist, vol. xi., p. 4022; and
Clarke, on Genus Limax in Ireland. Ann. Mag. Nat.
Hist., 1843, p. 332.

ISLE OF MAN. — Forbes, Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. viii., p. 69 ;
and Malacologia Monensis, 8vo, 1838, p. 63.

ISLE OF WIGHT. — Guyon, Cat. Land and Freshwater Shells
of the Island, in Venables' Guide to the Isle of Wight,
pp. 461-465.

KENT. — Smith, Mollusca of Levendale, Zoologist, vol. xii.,
p. 4332 ; and Benson, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1856, p. 74. ;
R. H. 8. Smith, List Land and Freshwater Mollusks
found near Sevenoaks, and Mollusca in vicinity of Faver-
sham, Cassell's Floral Guide to East Kent, p. 63 (1839).

LANCASHIRE. — Leigh, Nat. Hist. Cheshire, Lancashire, and
the Peak, folio, 1700; and Kenyon, Shells in Neighbour-
hood of Preston, Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. ii., pp. 273 and 303 ;
and Eeport of Bury Nat. Hist. Soc. (1872).

LINCOLNSHIRE. — Sail, Land Shells of Lincolnshire, " Young
England," May 1, 1864, p. 76.

LOCAL CATALOGUES. 105

LONDON AND ENVIRONS.— Gray, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1856,
pp. 465 and 25 ; Cooper, Appendix to Flora Metropolitana,
12mo, 1836, pp. 120-127; and Sheppard, Mollusca of
Fulham, Zoologist, vol. ix., p. 3120.

MIDDLESEX. — See London and Environs.

MORAY. — Gordon, List of Mollusca of Moray and Moray
Firth, Zoologist, vol. xii., pp. 4318, 4421, 4443.

NORFOLK.— Bloxam, Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. vi., p. 324 ; Bridge-
man, Mollusca of Norwich, Zoologist, vol. viii., p. 2741,
and vol. ix., p. 3302 ; and Trans. Norf. and Norw. Nat.
Soc., 1871-72, p. 47.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. — Morton, Nat. Hist. Northampton,
folio, 1712; and Mollusca of Mears Ashby, Phil. Trans.,
vol. xxv., p. 325.

NORTHUMBERLAND. — Al'der, Trans. Nat. Hist. Society,
Northumb., 1830, p. 16 ; suppl., 1833, p. 5 ; Tyneside Nat.
Club Trans., vol. L, p. 97 (1850).

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. — Lowe, Zoologist, vol. x., p. 3390.

OXFORDSHIRE.— Plot, Nat. Hist., Oxford, folio, 1676; Nor-
man, Zoologist, vol. xi., p. 4126 ; Streech, Mollusca of
Banbury, Zoologist, vol. xiii., pp. 4540 and 4658 ;
J". D., Shells in vicinity of Oxford, Naturalist, vol. v.,
p. 200 (1855) ; Whiteaves, Mollusca near Oxford, 8vo, 1857,
pp. 20; and Stubbs, Mollusca in vicinity of Henley-upon-
Thames, Zoologist, vol. iv., 2nd series, p. 1836.

SHROPSHIRE. — Gwyn Jeffreys, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1855,
p. 464.

SOMERSETSHIRE. — Miller, Shells of Bristol and Environs,
Ann. Phil., 2nd series, vol. vii., p. 376 (1822); Norman,
Proc. Somers. Archaeol. and Nat. Hist. Soc., 1860 ; pub.
separately, 1861, 8vo, pp. 23 ; Jellie, Mollusca of Bristol,
Naturalist, vol. iii., p. 148 (1867).

106 LOCAL CATALOGUES.

STAFFORDSHIRE. — Plot, Nat. Hist. Stafford, folio, 1686 ; and
Sir 0. Mosley, Nat. Hist. Tutbury, 1863.

SUFFOLK.— Sheppard, Trans. Linn. Soc., 1825, p. 148; and
King, Shells near Sudbury, Zoologist, vol. si., p. 3913.

SURREY. — Cooper, Shells at Mickleham, Mag. Zool. and
Bot., vol. ii., p. 471 ; and Saunders, List of the Mollusca
of Eeigate, 2nd ed., 1864, p. 23.

SUSSEX. — Unwin, List Land and Freshwater Mollusca in
vicinity of Lewes, Naturalist, vol. iii., p. 54 (1853);
Merrifield, Sketch Nat. Hist. Brighton, 8vo, 1864, pp.
155-161 ; Chambers, Handbook for Eastbourne, 1873.

WARWICKSHIRE. — Nelson, Eimnceidce of Birmingham, Na-
turalist, vol. iii., p. 26 (1867) ; and Tye, Proc. Birm. Nat.
Hist. Soc., Part I., pp. 106-109 (1869).

WEXFORD. — Hanley, Freshwater Shells of Wexford, Ann.
Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. vl, p. 395,

WORCESTERSHIRE. — Griffiths, Cat. Land and Freshwater
Mollusca of the Malvern District, Trans. Malvern Nat.
Field Club, Part. III. (1870), pp. 157-166.

YORKSHIRE. — HincTcs, Shells of York and Yorkshire, Ann.
Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iii., p. 366 ; Nunneley, on Species of
the Genus Limax near Leeds, Trans. Phil. Soc. Leeds,
1837, p. 41; Ashford, Mollusca of Ackworth, Zoologist,
1854, p. 4261 ; Watson, Naturalist, vol. iv., p. 85 (1854);
Sean, Mollusca of Scarborough, in Theakston's Guide to
Scarborough, pp. 153-158 (1862); Blackburn, Mollusks
collected at Knaresborough, Naturalist, vol. iii., p. 98
(1867) ; Stevenson, Yorkshire Naturalists' Eecorder, 1872;
and Hebden, List of Shells in neighbourhood of Wake-
field, Quart. Journ. Conchol., 1874, p. 3.

INDEX.

ACCLIMATISATION, 71, 72.

Achatina, 62.

acicula, 62.

Acme, 84.

aculeata, 82, 83, 84.

acutus, 14.

agrestis, 90, 91.

albida, 29.

albus, 46, 48.

alliarius, 29.

Amber snails, 57.

amnicum, 43.

Amphipeplea, 49.

anatina, 40.

Ancylus, 11, 18, 56.

Anguis fragilis, 91.

Anodonta, 34, 37, 38, 39.

antivertigo, 88.

Aplexus, 51.

Apple snail, 73, 80.

aquatic univalves, 11.

arbustorum, 23.

Arion, 90, 91.

arundinacea, 54.

aspersa, 5, 12, 19, 23, 72, 80.

Assiminia, 52, 53.

ater, 90.

auricularia, 13, 49.

Azeca, 83.

BALIA, 64, 88.
Bearded Titmouse, 58.
Beech-trees, 64, 81.
Beetles preying on snails, 85, 8

bidens, 87.

bipHcata, 15, 66, 87.

Birds feeding on mollusks, 18, 37,

38, 56, 58, 90.
Bivalves, 10.
Blackbirds, 26.
Black slug, 90.
Blind worm eating slugs, 91.
Bracelets of shells, 76.
British species of mollusca, 9.
Bubble-shells, 50, 56.
Bulimus, 14, 15, 30, 64, 65, 94.
Bythinia, 52, 53, 55.

CANTIANA, 79, 80.
caperata, 57, 75, 77.
carinatus, 46, 48, 49.
cartusiana, 57, 80.
Carychium, 11, 63.
Catalogues, local, 101.
cellarius, 6, 28.
Chalk, shells of the, 68, 84.
Cheese snail, 82.
Chrysalis shells, 65.
Classification, 11.
Clausilia, 15, 30, 64, 66, 87, 94.
clausilium, 15, 87.
Close-shells, 64, 66, 87.
Commoner forms of shells, 12-18.
Common garden snail, 19, 23.
complanatus, 46, 48.
Conchifera, 10.
concinna, 27.
contecta, 13, 55.

108

INDEX.

contortus, 48.
corneum, 42.

corneas, 16, 17, 45, 48, 49.
Crow eating mussels, 37, 38.
crystallinus, 29, 84.
Culture of edible snails, 73.
Cyclas, 42, 44, 45.
Cyclostoma, 11, 18, 85.
cygnea, 34, 37, 38.

DABCHICK, 56.
Darts, 25.
Dipper, 18, 56.
Distribution of species, 9.
Dreissena, 40.
Dreissenidae, 10.

EDIBLE SNAIL, 18, 68, 73, 79.
elegans, 18,57, 58, 85.
epiphragm, 69, 86.
ericetorum, 57, 75, 76, 78, S€

FERTILITY, 8, 23.
Festuca, 54.
Field slug, 90.
flavus, 90.
fluviatilis, 18, 56.
fontanus, 48.
fontinale, 43, 44.
fontinalis, 50, 51.
fragilis, 49, 64.

GARDEN SLUG. 90.
Garden snails, 25.
Gasteropoda, 10.
glaber, 29.
glabra, 49.
glands, 4.
Glass snail, 62.
glutinosa, 49.
grayana, 52, 53.
Great slug, 36.
Grebe, 57.

Growth of snails, 4.

ELEMATOPUS, 56.

haliotidea, 31.

Heath snail, 57, 75, 76

Hedgehog eating snails, 62, 72.

,, eating slugs, 91.
Helicine, 20.
Helix, 12, 16,18,28,57,58,68,

69, 71, 75.
hispida, 5, 26, 27.
Horns, mode of withdrawing, 3.
hortensis, 23, 24, 25, 90.
Hybernation, 23, 70.
hybrida, 25.

Hyde Park, snails in, 27.
Hydrobia, 52.
hypnorum, 50, 51.

IRIS, 63.

imbricatus, 48.
juniperi, 88.

KENTISH snail, 79.

LACKHAMENSIS, 14.

lacustris, 56.

Ladybirds preyed on by snails, 77.

laminata, 15, 67, 87.

lapicida, 78, 80.

Leachii, 52, 53.

Limax, 90, 91.

Limnaea, 11, 13, 18, 45, 49,

50, 58.
Limnaeidse, 11, 13.
Limpets, 18, 56.
lineata, 84.
Lingual ribbon, 3, 4.

t of local catalogues, 101.
Jocomotion, 6.
iondon clay, 19, 34, 47.

,, gardens, 19, 33.
-love-darts, 25.

INDEX.

109

lubrica, 83.
lucorum, 69.
lutea, 55.

MANTLE, 4.
maritimus, 54.
margaritifer, 35.
marginata, 30, 88.
marginatus, 47.
Marsh plants, 63.
maximus, 90.

Medicinal properties, 20, 21.
Medii Templi, 81.
minimum, 63.
montanus, 14, 64, 65.
Moorhen, 56.
Moss-shell, 64.
Mud-shells, 49, 50.
muscorum, 58.
Musical sounds, 21.
Mussels, 34.

NAUTILEUS, 48.

Necklaces of shells, 76.

Needle agate shell, 62.

nemoralis, 5, 23, 24, 25.

Neritina, 11, 18, 55.

Nervous system, 6.

nigricans, 67, 87.

nitens, 29.

nitidula, 6.

nitidulus, 29.

nitidum, 43.

nitidus, 29, 48.

Number of British mollusks,

Nuphar, 56.

OBLONGA, 61.
oblongus, 56.
obscurus, 6, 14, 64.
obvoluta, 81.

operculum, 13, 86.

ostralegus, 56.

Otters eating mussels, 38.

ovale, 43.

ovata, 49.

Oyster- catcher, 56.

PAINTER'S MUSSEL, 35.
Paludina, 11, 13, 52, 55.
pallidum, 43.
palustris, 13, 49.
Patella, 56.
Pearl mussel, 35.
Pearls, 35.

Pectinibranchiata, 1 1 .
pellucida, 62.
peregra, 13, 49.
Perforation by snails, 78.
perversa, 64, 88.
pfeifferi, 58, 61.
Pheasants eating slugs, 90.
Physa, 11, 18, 50, 56.
pictorum, 35, 36.
pisana, 76.
piscinalis, 51, 56.
pisidioides, 42.
Pisidium, 43, 44, 45.
Planorbis, 11, 16, 45, 46, 48,
49, 50.

polymorpha, 40.

pomatia, 18, 68, 71, 73, 80.

Pond shells, 44.

Preparation of specimens, 94.

Prickly snail, 82, 83.

Propagation, 71.

pseudacorus, 63.

pulchella, 28.

Pulmonobranchiata, 11, 13.

Pupa, 6, 14, 15, 29, 30, 58, 63, 88.

pusillum, 43.

putris, 57, 58.

pygmsea, 84, 88.

110

INDEX.

RADIATULUS, 5.
Rats eating snails, 73.
Reed Bunting, 58.
Reproduction, 6.
Respiration, 6.
Reversed specimens, 23.
Richensis, 37, 38.
ringens, 14.

River-side species, 29, 43, 44.
rivicola, 42, 43.
Rock snail, 78.
olphii, 15, 67, 87.
Rook eating mussels, 35, 36.

„ slugs, 90.
roseum, 43.
rotundata, 5, 27, 83.
rufescens, 26.
rugosa, 6, 15, 67, 87.

SCATURIGINUM, 49.

Scirpus, 54.

secale, 14, 30, 88.

Sedge snail, 63.

Sensitiveness, 23.

Sheep fattening on snails, 75.

Shell-slug, 31, 90.

Shrub snail, 23.

similis, 53.

Slender bubble-shell, 50.

Slugs, 89, 90.

,, how to preserve, 96.
Snail syrup, 21.
Snails and slugs utility, of, 8.

,, use in medicine, 20.
Specimens, preparation of, 94.
Sphseriidae, 10, 44.
Sphjerium, 42, 43, 44, 45.
spirorbis, 48.

stagnalis, 13, 49, 50.
Stream bubble shell, 50. -
Structure, 3, 10.
Succinea, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61.
Swan-mussel, 34, 37, 39, 45.

TEETH of slugs and snails, 3, 12.
tentaculata, 52, 53.
Terrestrial univalves, 11.
Testacella, 31, 32, 90.
Thrushes and snails, 26.
trideus, 83.
tumidus, 35, 36.

UMBILICATA, 6, 14, 30.

unicolor, 55.

unio, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 45.

Unionidse, 10.

Univalves, 10.

VALVATA, 11, 51, 56.
Valve shells, 51, 56.
Vertigo, 15, 30, 84, 88.
virgata, 5, 57, 75, 76.
Vitrina, 28, 62.
vivipara, 13, 55.
yortex, 48, 49.

WATER-OUZEL, 18.
Water- rail, 56.
Water snails, 50, 51, 52, 53.
Wrinkled snail, 57, 75, 77.

YELLOW SLUG, 90.

ZEBRA MUSSEL, 40, 45.
Zoned snail, 57, 75, 76.
Zonites, 18, 28, 29, 62, 84.
Zua, 83.

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