BIOLOGY LIBRARY
(
*u
WORKS ON
ENTOMOLOGY AND CONCHOLOGY.
The LARVJE of the BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA and their FOOD
PLANTS. By OWEN S. WILSON. With Life-size Figures, Drawn and Coloured
from Nature by ELEANORA WILSON. Part 1. With 8 elaborately Coloured
Plates. 12s. To be completed in 5 Parts. Supplied only to Subscribers for
the entire Work. Subscription? if paid in advance, 50s.
CURTIS'S BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY. Illustrations and Descriptions
of the Genera of Insects found in Great Britain and Ireland. 8 vols. Royal
8vo. 770 Coloured Plates. 28.
BRITISH INSECTS. A Familiar Description of the Form, Structure,
Habits, and Transformations of Insects. By E. F. STAVELEY. 16 Coloured
Plates and numerous Wood Engravings. 14s.
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES and MOTHS : an Introduction to the Study
of our Native Lepidoptera. By H. T. STAINTON. 16 Coloured Plates and
Wood Engravings. 10s. 6d.
BRITISH BEETLES : an Introduction to the Study of our Indigenous
Coleoptera. By E. C. RYE. 16 Coloured Plates and 11 Wood Engravings.
10s. 6d.
BRITISH BEES : an Introduction to the Study of the Natural History and
Economy of the Bees Indigenous to the British Isles. By W. E. SHUCKARD.
16 Coloured Plates and Woodcuts. 10s. 6d.
BRITISH SPIDERS; an Introduction to the Study of the ARANEID.E
found in Great Britain and Ireland. By E. F. STAVELEY. 16 Coloured Plates
and 44 Wood Engravings. 10s. 6d.
HARVESTING ANTS and TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS: Notes and
Observations on their Habits and Dwellings. By J. T. MOGGRIDGB, F.L.S.
With a SUPPLEMENT and 8 additional Plates, 17s. The Supplement separately,
cloth, 7s. Qd.
ELEMENTS of CONCHOLOGY: an Introduction to the Natural
History of Shells, and of the Animals which form them. By LOVELL REEVE,
F.L.S. Royal 8vo. 2 vols. 62 Coloured Plates. 2. 16s.
CONCHOLOGIA ICONICA ; or, Figures and Descriptions of the Shells
of Mollusks, with Remarks on their Affinities, Synonymy, and Geographical
Distribution. By LOVELL KEEVE, F.L.S., and G. B. SOWERBY, F.L.S. Demy
4to. in double Parts, with 16 Coloured Plates. 20s.
A detailed list of Monographs and Volumes published may be had.
CONCHOLOGIA INDICA ; Illustrations of the Land and Freshwater
Shells of British India. Edited by SYLVANUS HANLEY, F.L.S. , and WILLIAM
THEOBALD, of the Geological Survey of India. Complete in one vol. 4to
160 Coloured Plates, cloth, S. 5s.
The EDIBLE MOLLUSKS of GREAT BRITAIN" and IRELAND, with
the Modes of Cooking them. By M. S. LOVELL. 12 Coloured Plates. 8s. 6d.
L. REEVE & CO., 5 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden.
COLONIAL AND FOREIGN FLORAS.
FLORA of MAURITIUS and the SEYCHELLES; a Description of the
Flowering Plants aivi Ferns of those Islands. By J. G. BAKER, F.L.S. Com-
plete in 1 vol. 24s. Published under the authority of the Colonial Government
of Mauritius.
FLORA of BRITISH INDIA. By Dr. J. D. HOOKER, F.R.S., and others.
Parts I. to IV., 10s. 6d. each. Vol. I. 32*.
FLORA CAPENSIS ; -a Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape
Colony, Caffraria, and Port Natal. By WILLIAM H. HARVEY, M.D., F.K.S.,
Professor of Botany in the University of Dublin, and OTTO WILHELM SONDER,
Ph.D. Vols. I. and III., each 12s. Vol. III. 18s.
FLORA of TROPICAL AFRICA. By DANIEL OLIVER, P.R.S., F.L.S.
Vols. I. to III , each 20s. Published under th> authority of the First Com-
missioner of Her Majesty's Works.
FLORA AUSTR ALIENSIS ; a Description of the Plants of the Australian
Territory. By G. BENTHAM, F.R.S., P.L.S., assisted by F. MUELLER, F.R.S.,
Government Botanist, Melbourne, Victoria. Vols. I. to VI. 20s. each.
Published under the auspices of the several Governments of Australia.
[ Vol. VIL completing the work, in the press.
HANDBOOK of the NEW ZEALAND FLORA; a Systematic Description
of the Native Plants of New Zealand, and the Chatham, Kermadec's, Lord
Auckland's, Campbell's, and Macquarrie's Islands. By Dr. J. D. HOOKER,
F.R.S. Complete in 1 vol., 30s. Published under the auspices of the Govern-
ment of that Colony.
FLORA of the BRITISH WEST INDIAN ISLANDS. By Dr. GRISE-
BACH, F.L.S. 37s. 6d. Published under the auspices of the Secretary of
State for the Colonies.
FLORA HONGKONGENSIS ; a Description of the Flowering Plants and
Ferns of the Island of Hongkong. By GEORGE BENTHAM, P.L.S. With a
Map of the Island and Supplement by Dr. HANCE, 18s. Published under the
authority of Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Supple-
ment separately, 2s. 6d.
FLORA VITIENSIS; a Description of the Plants of the Viti or Fiji
Islands, with an Account of their History, Uses, and Properties. By Dr.
BKHTHOLD SEEMANN, F.L.S. Royal 4to, 100 Coloured Plates, complete in 1 vol.
cloth, 8. 5s.
FLORA of TASMANIA. By Dr. J. D. HOOKER, F.R.S. Royal 4to.
2 vols., 200 Plates, 17. I Os. coloured. Published under the authority of the
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.
On the FLORA of AUSTRALIA ; its Origin, Affinities, and Distribu-
tion. By Dr. J. D. HOOKER, F.K.S. 10s.
CONTRIBUTIONS to the FLORA of MENTONE, and to a WINTER
FLORA of the RIVIERA, including the Coast from Marseilles to Genoa.
By J. TRAHERNE MOGGBIDGK. Eoyal 8vo. Parts I. to IV., each with 25
Coloured Plates, 15s., or complete in one Vol. 63*.
OUTLINES of ELEMENTARY BOTANY, as Introductory to Local
Floras. By G. BENTHAM, F.R.S., President of the Linnean Society. New
Edition. 2&. 6d.
LAWS of BOTANICAL NOMENCLATURE adopted by the Interna-
tional Botanical Congress, with an Historical Introduction and a Commentary.
By ALPHONSE DE CANDOLLE. 2s. 6d.
L. REEVE & CO., 5 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden.
TESTACEA ATLANTICA
LONDON ! PRINTED BY
6POTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
AND PARLIAMENT STREET
TESTACEA ATLANTICA
OR THE
LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS
THE AZORES, MADEIRAS, SALVAGES, CANARIES,
CAPE VERDES, AND SAINT HELENA
T. VEBNON WOLLASTON, M.A, F.L.S.
if
LONDON
L. REEVE & CO., 5 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN
1878
BIOLOGY
LIBRARY
Calm in its beauty lay the western sea;
And every rippling wave which leapt around
Those craggy iales took up the ehoral sound
Which tells, great pictured Continent, of thee.
O blest ATLANTIS, can the legend be
Built on l wftcf fancied wfafch^ thy name surround 1
Ot doihu the, story of thy classic , abound
With the. stefliv a>itsi of ^ature's'-face/ agree ?
What if no tongue may tell ! thy halo fair
Still lingers round the isles which slumber there ;
And as those towering peaks, sun-gilded, rise
Into the bosom of primeval skies,
Bathed in God's glance, and ocean-girt, they stand,
Like trophies left by time to mark that shadowy land.
Lyra Devoniensis, p. 135.
EVEN HAD IT NOT BEEN CERTAIN, FROM HIS HIGH
SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS AS A GENERAL NATURALIST,
THAT NO WORTHIER NAME COULD BE CONNECTED WITH
THE DEDICATION OF THE PRESENT VOLUME THAN THAT
OF THE LATE
RICHABD THOMAS LOWE, M.A.
I NEVERTHELESS SHOULD HAVE FELT THAT THE PAR-
TICULAR FRIEND OF MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS' STANDING,
IN WHOSE COMPANIONSHIP SOME OF THE PLEASANTEST
PERIODS OF MY LIFE HAVE BEEN SPENT, AND THAT
TOO AMONGST THE VARIOUS ISLANDS OF THESE ATLANTIC
ARCHIPELAGOS, IS THE ONE OF ALL OTHERS WITH WHOSE
MEMORY IT IS MY EARNEST DESIRE THAT IT SHOULD
BE ASSOCIATED
M15723
PREFATORY REMARKS.
IT is now exactly thirty years since I commenced to collect (in
the autumn of 1847) the Land-Shells of the various outlying
islands and rocks of the Madeiran Group ; and although Insects,
rather than Mollusca, formed at that time the main object of
my researches, I was nevertheless enabled to add a considerable
number of unmistakeably new species to the careful and elabo-
rate catalogue which had previously been compiled by my excel-
lent friend, and after-companion, the late Eev. K. T. Lowe. Not
10 mention the many explorations and encampments which I
subsequently enjoyed in Mr. Lowe's company during four suc-
cessive trips to the archipelago, the last of which occupied the
summer of 1855, it was not until January of 1858 that the
liberality of John Gray, Esq., gave me the first opportunity of
turning my attention to the Canarian fauna.
By a somewhat curious coincidence Mr. Lowe was at that
particular time spending the winter in Teneriffe, so that Mr.
Gray's yacht was generously placed at our disposal to visit the
numerous islands of the widely-scattered Canarian Group ; and,
although Mr. Gray's sojourn was unexpectedly curtailed, I did
not return to England until the following July, and with the
full intention, even then, of making a second expedition so soon
as the necessary arrangements could be completed. This, for-
tunately, did not require long ; for I again had a very profitable
interval, from February to July of 1859, in the Canarian archi-
pelago, joined, as before, by Mr. Lowe.
Seven years now elapsed, during which I was completely
taken-up by the working out of the material which had been thus
v iii PREFATORY REMARKS.
lately accumulated ; and it was in January of 1866 that Mr.
Gray once more offered his yacht for a united trip to the Cape
Verdes, Mr. Lowe, as on the previous occasions, accompanying
us. Our stay at the Cape Verdes extended over but a couple of
months, added to which the season was unusually dry and un-
productive ; nevertheless we gained a certain knowledge of the
fauna, sufficient, at any rate, to convince us of its extreme
poverty.
I had now an interval of nine years, without anything fur-
ther to occupy me beyond the gradual elaboration, and occa-
sional readjustment, of the island material, according as fresh
supplies were transmitted by various naturalists who chanced,
from time to time, to visit one portion or another of the Atlantic
Groups ; but in August of 1875 Mr. Gray again stepped forward
with a totally new proposal, namely, that we should take a
a steam into the southern hemisphere and make the acquaint-
ance of St. Helena. Meanwhile our worthy and greatly valued
friend, the Rev. R. T. Lowe, had passed to his rest, a sad acci-
dent having overtaken him, on his outward voyage to Madeira,
during April of the preceding year ; so that we could no longer
reap the advantage of his society and experience ; nevertheless
all that we could do, to supply the deficiency, we did, and were
on this occasion joined by Mrs. Wollaston, who had become
deeply interested in the Lepidopterous fauna of the islands of
the Atlantic. We accordingly made ourselves ready for a last,
and thorough, campaign ; and, having received, through the
kind consideration of the Earl of Carnarvon, special letters to
His Excellency the Governor, H. R. Janisch, Esq., and having
had quarters allotted to us in the best and most central resi-
dence in the island, ' Plantation House,' a spot from whence
the great Cabbage-Tree ridge is the most easily accessible, we
reached the remote little rock on the 4th of September 1875,
and at once commenced our researches. Mr. Gray having de-
cided to move on after a few weeks to the Cape of Good Hope,
we remained exactly six months at Plantation ; and during that
period we were enabled to investigate the Natural History of
the island with a fair amount of accuracy.
I have thought it desirable to enter into the above details,
PREFATORY REMARKS. ix
in order to place on record that the several islands and archipe-
lagos (with the exception of the Azores) which are treated of in
this volume have been visited personally by myself. Neverthe-
less I should hardly have been inclined to undertake so serious
a task as the critical examination of the characters and habitats
of so many species, had not the bequeathment to me by Mr.
Lowe of his extensive conchological collections (to be distributed
to various Museums, though with power to reserve for my own
use whatever types I might require) thrown on to my hands a
mass of material so unexpected that, in order to do it full jus-
tice^ I felt that it would be absolutely necessary to treat the
whole subject afresh, and to revise (so far as was practicable)
every form which has hitherto been published from the island-
groups to which the present memoir has reference.
I will merely add that this Treatise is not intended to be a
Monograph, but rather a critical enumeration of all the forms
which have been recorded, up to the present date, in the several
Atlantic archipelagos ; nevertheless in most cases I have given
diagnostic remarks which it is hoped will be found useful, if
not in every instance actually to identify the species, at any
rate to supplement the published descriptions of them, and to
point out more particularly in what they differ from their im-
mediate allies. And since I have the firmest conviction that
the question of habitat is even more important (if possible) in
a professedly geographical catalogue than elsewhere, I have
spared no labour in sifting the evidence for the exact localities
(in those instances where I have not been able to vouch for
them by personal observation), and have frequently preferred
to omit the latter altogether than run the risk of perpetuating
confusion by placing upon record what there is every reason to
suspect is not strictly accurate. This being the case, I have
been less anxious to erect new species than to clear up difficul-
ties concerning the old ones, and have always therefore avoided
doing so except in instances where the characters were well de-
nned and it seemed positively essential that the additional
forms should not be omitted from the list. Indeed, although
the mere titles of a few others have of necessity been altered, the
following twenty-nine are the only actual novelties which I
have considered it necessary to characterize :
x PREFATORY REMARKS.
Hyalina osoriensis . . Canaries
Mellissii . . .St. Helena
Patula garachicoensis . Canaries
Helix (Iberus) forensis . . Madeiras
(Leptaxis) subroseotincta . Cape Verdes
(Macularia) gibbosobasalis ". Canaries
(Hemicycla) vermiplicata , '%-' , Canaries
granomalleata . Canaries
nivarise . . Canaries
(Gronostoma) crispo-lanata ; Canaries
beata . . Canaries
gomerse . . Canaries
(Hystricella) echinoderrna . Madeiras
Leacockiana Madeiras
(Coronaria) Grabhami . Madeiras
(Lemniscia) Watsoniana . Canaries
Bulimus palmensis . . . Canaries
osorien-is . ' . . Canaries
chrysaloides \ . Canaries
interpunctatus 'V-. . Canaries
Lowei . . . Canaries
savinosa . . ; Canaries
Subulina melanioides . . St. Helena
Pupa Loweana . . . Madeiras
corneocostata . . * Madeiras
relevata . . . Madeiras
degenerata, W. . . Madeiras
Lovea iridescens, W. . . Madeiras
Auricula Watsoni, W. . . Salvages.
Throughout the various local catalogues (given at the end
of each respective section) I have prefixed an asterisk (*) to
those species which have been found likewise in a subfossil con-
dition ; and when the name is also in italics, it implies that the
particular species has hitherto been met with only subfossilized,
in which case, until evidence to the contrary has been ad-
duced, the latter must be regarded practically as extinct.
As a matter of generalization, however, it is only in the
Madeiran list that I would place any reliance on the conclu-
PREFATORY REMARKS. xi
sions to be drawn from the subfossil statistics ; for it is in the
Madeiran archipelago alone that the Heliciferous deposits
(whether calcareous or muddy) have been accurately denned (as
regards their extent and character), and systematically investi-
gated ; and although it is true that beds of a similar nature
exist in the other Groups also, they have not there been pointed
out, or localized, with equal precision, and it is to be feared
that many of the forms which have been reported, from time to
time, by travellers, as ' subfossilized,' were founded upon
examples which were merely dead and bleached, and which, in
point of fact, were not obtained from any deposits which could
be looked upon as truly subfossiliferous ones. In the Madeiran
archipelago, on the contrary, the beds are both well known and
rigidly circumscribed, and may therefore be safely reasoned upon
in discussing the geological structure of the islands ; and, al-
though in reality there may be more of them than those with
which we have hitherto become acquainted, it is only from three
regions, up to the present date, that the strictly subfossil speci-
mens are recognized, namely (1) Porto Santo, (2) near Canical
in Madeira proper, and (3) on the extreme summit of the
Southern Deserta. So uniform however is the geological con-
formation of these various sub- African Groups, that we may feel
tolerably confident that the same arguments which apply to the
Madeiras will apply with an almost equal amount of truth to
the others.
TEIGNMOTJTH, Oct. 11, 1877.
CONTENTS.
Page
PREFATORY REMARKS . . . . . v . vii
I. AZOREAN GROUP ......!
II. MADEIRAN GROUP . . . . . 57
III. SALVAGES . . . . . . . 290
IV. CANARIAN GROUP , . , . . . 298
V. CAPE VERDE GROUP .. . . . . . . 487
VI. ST. HELENA ... . . , . . 529
SUMMARY AND GENERAL CATALOGUE . . . . 561
INDEX 581
TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
I. AZOEEAN GEOUP.
THE islands of the Azorean archipelago are the only ones treated
of in this volume with which I have personally no acquaintance;
and so desirable do I consider it that some practical knowledge
of the principal habitats concerned should be possessed by any-
body who undertakes to review critically the natural productions
of a given region, that nothing would have induced me to admit
the Grastropodous fauna of the Azores into the present cata-.
logue did not the geographical position of the group give it so
especial an interest in connection with the Madeiras and the
Canaries that I cannot but feel that it is better to waive all
scruples with reference to a personal exploration than omit the
opportunity of incorporating whatever happens to be known on
that branch of our subject which pertains to those particular
islands. I shall therefore, with the help of such material as
I have been able to examine, rely almost exclusively for my
data on the only three works, relating to that archipelago, to
which I have access ( the only three, indeed, so far as I am
aware, which contain any information which is at all to be
depended upon), namely (1) Notice sur VHistoire Naturelle
des Acores, par A. Morelet, Paris 1860; (2) Elements de la
Faune Acoreenne, par H. Drouet, Paris 1861 ; and (3) a
Natural History of the Azores, by Frederick Du Cane Godman,
F.L.S., London 1870.
So intimately bound-up are the Azores with the various
other islands of (what we may be permitted to designate) this
4 Atlantic province,' and so significant is their bearing on the
general questions relating to the whole fauna, that we must be
thankful for the results of even the comparatively small amount
of labour which has hitherto been bestowed upon them. Yet,
B
2 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
although far less so than either their plants or their Coleoptera
(the former of which have been accurately investigated by Dr.
Seubert, Mr. H. C. Watson, and others), the Land Mollusca of
the archipelago, owing to the observations of Morelet, Drouet,
and Grodman, have .perhaps been better worked-out than the
geiie^aiity otVthe/clep^rtments of which, in the aggregate, the
.Natural jlistpry is made up. Yet, judging from the analogy of
^IjeJ inO: 1 ^ ^outhBrn: groups, it is impossible to believe that the
nine islands which compose this widely-scattered assemblage
(and which are mapped out, as it were, into three divisions
topographically distinct) should possess no more (or even no
considerable number more) than the 7 1 Pulmoniferous Gastro-
pods which have been brought to light, for the most part, by
the united exertions of the three independent explorers to whose
published volumes I have just called attention. Eather should
we suspect that a longer and more careful research, in distant
spots and at a high altitude, such as have shown themselves to
be so prolific at the Madeiras and Canaries, will sooner or later
augment the list to (if not more) at least 1 00 species.
Perhaps however it will be objected that the Cape Verdes,
on the other hand, which include a more extensive area still,
and are represented by no -less than ten islands, have as yet
yielded but 40 Gastropods, and that, moreover, to a larger
number of investigators. But to this I would reply, that the
cases are not parallel ones : for the unhealthy and poverty-
stricken Cape Verdes have become so deteriorated and dried-up
since the destruction of their forests, and after all have been
visited for periods so short and insufficient by each successive
adventurer, that the several departments of their Natural His-
tory have not stood a fair chance of a proper examination ;
whereas the Azores, which enjoy one of the dampest atmospheres
in the world and are more or less clothed with a rich vegetation
(even though seldom aboriginal), present all the conditions
except those of soil (which however is much the same in the
whole of these Atlantic archipelagos) for the full development
of the Terrestrial Mollusks ; so that I do not believe that a safe
comparison can be instituted, from the data as hitherto ascer-
tained, between the respective faunas of those two particular
groups. Far rather should we be content to contrast the
Azorean fauna with that of the Madeiras (which already num-
bers 176 species, well separated from each other), or with that
of the Canaries, which, although less perfectly investigated,
has been found to contain (even hitherto) 189.
When we consider the geographical position of the Azores
with reference to Europe, the centre of the group being in
much the same latitude as Lisbon, and when we also bear in
AZOREAN GROUP. 3
mind the constant intercommunication which is (and long has
been) going on between Portugal and the islands, and when we
further recollect how eminently liable many of the Terrestrial
Mollusks are to accidental transport through indirect human
agencies, it is not surprising that we should find a larger
European element in the Azorean fauna than what is indicated
in the sub- African archipelagos farther to the south. Thus,
out of the 71 species which have been proved to inhabit the
cluster, about 27 (some of which have been established equally in
the Madeiras, Canaries, and Cape Verdes) exist on the opposite
continent, leaving 44 eatfra-European ones, which we may
perhaps pause for a few moments to contemplate. Now these
44 members of the Gastropoda are not all of them exclusively
Azorean ; and it is natural therefore to enquire if they include
amongst them anything which is sufficiently characteristic of
the (so-called) ' Atlantic province ' to tend to affiliate the pre-
sent group, in any degree whatsoever, with the more southern
ones which have yet to be considered. Remembering the mar-
vellous segregation of the e#ra-European types in the Madeiras
and Canaries, the majority of which are confined to their own
particular islands and do not permeate even their respective
archipelagos, we should a priori anticipate that there would be
next to nothing in common (when the European element has
been removed) between the faunas (whether singly or combined)
of those groups and that of the Azores. Yet there are a few
points of contact, nevertheless, which seem to me to bespeak a
certain unmistakable affinity between them. Thus the Helix
erubescens and paupercula and the Patula pusilla, all of them
emphatically ' Atlantic,' are represented at the Azores and
Madeiras, the second extending to the Canaries, and third to
the Canaries, Cape Verdes, and even St. Helena ; and the Pupa
microspora, which is essentially sylvan and unlikely to be
introduced by accidental means, crops up likewise in the Azores,
the Madeiras, and the Canaries. Then the depauperated phasis
of the European Pupa umbilicata, which was separated by Mr.
Lowe under the name of P. anconostoma (and which I am not
aware has been observed on the European continent) is so
strictly ' Atlantic ' that it ranges from the Azores to St. Helena;
and the rather undue development of the Vitrinas and Pupcs
(the latter under an emphatically Madeiran and Canarian type),
as well as of the Leptaxis section of the genus Helix (so sugges-
tive of the Madeiras and Cape Verdes), although under expo-
nents which are themselves distinct, is much in harmony with
the idea of this Atlantic ' province ' being but portions of a
once continuous whole. The appearance, too, at the Azores of
that remarkable Cyclostomideous genus Craspedopoma, so
B 2
4 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
exceptionally developed in the Madeiran group and which is
present also, though more sparingly, at the Canaries, is a fact
which should particularly be noticed ; as well as the occurrence
at the Azores and Canaries of the Bulimus variatus, W. et B.,
and of that singular little species the Hydroccena gutta,
which, of all the members of the Gastropoda, is perhaps the
least likely to have been accidentally naturalized. As for the
Auriculidce, which seem to be much the same in the three
archipelagos, I lay but little stress upon them, for those
littoral forms, which in their modus vivendi are practically
marine, have almost everywhere a wide geographical range.
These few instances, however, of course do not embody all
that the archipelagos have in common, for they are principally
' Atlantic ' forms, from which the strictly European element has
been eliminated. If we take the actual species into account
which the Azores (even as hitherto imperfectly known) would
appear to possess conjointly with the more southern groups, we
shall find that there are about 26 which occur equally in the
Azores and Madeiras, and about 19 in the Azores and Canaries;
which (taking the European element for what it is worth)
undoubtedly shows an amount of affinity between the three
archipelagos which cannot well be ignored. The Eev. H. B.
Tristram, in his account of the Pulmoniferous Gastropods of the
Azores, published in Mr. Grodman's volume, can scarcely have
had very reliable data to draw upon in instituting his compari-
son between the Azorean fauna and those of the two archipelagos
the next in succession to the south of it, for he asserts that it
has only 7 species in common with the Madeiras, and 4 with
the Canaries ; whereas, according to my computation, it pos-
sesses (as just stated) at least 26 in common with the Madeiras,
and 1 9 with the Canaries ! * Or, if we regard the Madeiras and
Canaries as integral portions of a single ' Atlantic province,' no
less than 31 species out of the 71 of which the Azorean fauna is
made up permeate more or less of the latter, 5 of them ranging
even to the Cape Verdes, and 5 to St. Helena. 2
1 The 26 species which are found equally in the Azores and Madeiras are
these : Arion ater, lAmax gagates, ntaximus, flavus, and agrestis, Testacella
Maugei, Hyalina cellaria and crystallina, Patula rotundata and pusilla, Helios
pulchella, erubescens, aspersa, pisana, armillata, 2wupercula and lenticula,
JBulimus ventricosus, Stenogyra decollata, Achatina lubrica, Balea perversa,
Pupa microspora and anconostoma, AwicuM cequalis and vesjwtitta, and
Pedipes afra : whilst the following 19 are those which are common to the
Azores and Canaries: Testacella Maugei, Hyalina cellaria and crystallina,
Patula punilla, Helix pulchella, aspersa, lactea, pisana y apicina, paupercula,
and lenticula, Bulimus ventricosus and variatus, titenogyra decollata, Pupa
micro&pora and anconostoma,, aiwicula cequalis and bicolor, and Hydrocfsna
2 Mr. Tristram says, likewise, that It should be observed that, of all the
1'nlinonifera of the Azores, Pedipes afer is the only one common to the
AZOREAN GROUP. 5
A good deal has been urged about the ' American affinities '
of the Azorean species of Zonites (i. e. Hyalina) ; but, when we
look closer into the matter, it seems to me to be scarcely worth
consideration. For, out of the six members of that genus which
have hitherto been brought to light, half are ordinary European
ones, namely, the cellaria, crystalling and fulva (the first
and second of which occur likewise at the Madeiras and Cana-
ries, the cellaria ranging even to St. Helena) ; so that, after all,
there are but three remaining, and those bear, confessedly, only a
superficial resemblance to certain American forms from which
they are specifically quite distinct. Moreover the Hyalinas and
Patulas are subject to considerable development in these various
Atlantic groups, the former having at the Canaries 6 extra-
European exponents (besides 2 European ones), and the latter
1 1, all of which are extra-European ; whilst even in the Madeiran
archipelago there are 1 extra-European and 2 European Hya-
linas, and 7 extra-European and 2 European Patulas. Therefore
the presence of 3 'Hyalinas (extra-European) at the Azores
which are primd facie somewhat suggestive of American ones
(though the H. atlantica alone appears to me to be worth
even mentioning) is hardly a matter, I think, of sufficient geo-
graphical significance to warrant a serious discussion on the
6 American element ' in the fauna.
But as I must reserve any mere speculative observations for
the final section of this volume, our present duty being simply to
investigate the facts, I will not do more now than refer to Mr. Tris-
tram's remark that ' The class of Grasteropods is by far the most
numerous of all the forms of life in the Azores; and among them
are found a larger proportion of peculiar species than in any other
class,' for it seems to me that it is a conclusion which is not
warranted by what has hitherto been ascertained concerning the
Natural History of the islands. For instance, how about the
plants ? 47 8 exponents of which (including 40 which are strictly
endemic) are registered in Mr. H. C. Watson's latest catalogue ;
whereas the Land-shells have reached hitherto but 71 species
(33 of which, at the utmost, are peculiar). Or, if animal life
was meant, and not vegetable, what about the Coleoptera ? of
which even already 212 representatives have been recorded in
Mr. Crotch's carefully prepared list.
Also, in commenting upon the total absence of the freshwater
African continent.' But here, again, I am sorry that I cannot agree with
him ; for, despite the little that we know (comparatively) of the African
f auna, there are certainly 14 of the Azorean species, and probably many more,
which abound in Algeria and Morocco : namely, the Limasc agrestis, Hyalina
cellaria, and crystallina, Helix asjjersa, lactea, pisana, apicina, armillata, and
lenticula, Bulimus ventricosvs, Stcnogyra decollata, AcJtti>ia Inlrica, Auricula
, and Pedipes afra.
6 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
genera in the Azorean archipelago, Mr. Tristram adds : ' There is,
however, one singular hiatus in the molluscous fauna. Though
there are abundant streams, springs, and lakes, presenting the
most favourable conditions for their existence, not a single repre-
sentative of the Pulmobranchiate Mollusca has yet been disco-
vered. These are to be found in every other portion of the
globe. Not an island in the Pacific, not even Greenland and
Iceland which are beyond the usual range of the Pulmonifera,
are without representatives of this class ; yet in the Azores no
species of the world-wide genera of Limncea, Physa, Ancylus,
Neriiina, Cyclas, or Cyrcena has yet been found.' Now to this,
again, I really cannot subscribe ; for, in point of fact, what do
we know about ' every other portion of the globe,' and of every
' island in the Pacific ' ? In all probability we should find plenty
of instances in which the aquatic forms are wanting ; for, even to
come nearer home than the Pacific, the most remote and isolated
spot I have hitherto had an opportunity of exploring, namely
St. Helena, happens to be in precisely the same predicament as
the Azores. There are streams and tanks in the interior of that
island, in profusion, trickling rocks, waterfalls, and pools ; and
yet not a single freshwater species has occurred (beyond a
Succinea, which lives as well out of the moisture as in it, and the
modus vivendi of which may well be paralleled by that of the
Hydroccena gutta at the Azores). And so literally true is this,
that the same hiatus is equally observable in the Coleoptera,
the Hydradephagous groups of which are altogether absent.
Moreover it seems far from unlikely that a similar deficiency may
be indicated in the Sandwich Islands ; at any rate it appears to
be so as regards the water-loving forms of the Coleoptera, for
the Rev. T. Blackburn, writing lately from Honolulu, says (vide
Ent. Month. Mag.' xiii. 228) ' Notwithstanding the frequent
use of the water-net, I have not yet seen a single species of
Hydradephaga.'
Perhaps a word or two may be desirable, before I conclude,
as regards the various habitats which are cited in the present
section. Throughout the other portions of this volume the ma-
jority of the localities are added from my own personal observa-
tions ; and in the generality of the instances where that is not
the case, I have had abundant means for testing their accuracy.
The Azores, however, are to me a terra incognita ; and I have
been compelled therefore to rely, almost exclusively, on the pass-
ing remarks of MM. Morelet and Drouet. The question conse-
quently arises, where extreme precision is absolutely essential,
how far vague and general terms, such as are too often employed
with a looseness which is self-evident, can be trusted. Where
the actual islands are mentioned by name, it would never occur
AZOEEAN GROUP. 7
to me to doubt for a single instant the truthfulness of the asser-
tion ; but what the exact meaning may be (as Mr. H. C. Watson
has pertinently asked) of such expressions as ' all the islands,'
' toutes les iles,' ' tout Farchipel,' &c., more particularly when
used by naturalists who confessedly have explored but imperfectly
some of the remote detachments of the group, and one of which
was not visited by them even at all, is an enigma which I must
confess myself totally unable to solve. In my own instance, if out
of an archipelago of ten islands a given species had been ob-
served on nine of them, and even if I felt well-nigh certain that
it would be met with equally on the tenth, still nothing would
induce me to call that species actually 'universal' until the one
missing link had been proved to a demonstration. I should un-
doubtedly express my belief that it would eventually be ascer-
tained to be universal ; but, holding the most perfect accuracy
to be a sine qua non, and knowing by experience how often an
organism is non-existent upon an island, or rock, while it abso-
lutely swarms on another which belongs to the same assemblage,
I could not risk my reputation by making a positive statement
which it is at least possible might turn out ultimately to have
been fallacious. Therefore I will not hold myself answerable for
the complete truthfulness of the particular idioms, published by
others, to which I have just called attention ; but in those
cases where I have reason to feel dissatisfied with the value of
the evidence for these professedly wide habitats, I shall, while
indicating (in the local catalogue) the asserted universality by
quoting the species under ' all the islands ' (as indeed can
scarcely be avoided), cite, at the same time, the exact authority,
alongside, which must be responsible for the entry.
Although unwilling to make the above remarks, I look
upon them nevertheless as neither more nor less than a neces-
sity ; for, out of the 176 species which have been ascertained to
occur in the Madeiran group, only four (namely ihelt.erubescens,
paupercula, and polymorpha, and the Clausilia deltostoma)
have been found as yet to be absolutely universal, and that
too in an archipelago composed of but Jive islands, and in spite
of the most careful researches of many naturalists extending over
a period of nearly fifty years ; yet, out of the 69 species which
were met with by Morelet and Drouet during a single sojourn of
five months at the Azores (the H. niphas, Pfr., and Bulimus
solitarius, Poir., not having been found by them at all, and the
H. advena, W. et B., being erroneously admitted into the
Azorean list), no less than 23, or exactly one-third, are said to
inhabit ' tout 1'archipel,' i. e. the whok nine islands which
constitute that far more widely scattered cluster. Judging
from the analogy of the Madeiras (and the case at the Canaries
8 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
is even stronger still, two species only, the H. lancerottensis
and lenticula, having been ascertained to be positively universal),
surely some explanation is required for a fact so unprecedented
and remarkable.
If it should be urged however that the smallness of the
three Desertas renders it so unlikely that any large number of
species would be found upon each one of them separately that
the parallel drawn between the 5 Madeiran and the 9 Azorean
islands is hardly a just one, I will regard the Desertas as consti-
tuting a single detachment of the archipelago. But even in that
case the species which have proved hitherto to permeate the
entire group (composed of Madeira proper, the Desertas, and
Porto Santo) are but 8 in number, out of the 176, which it
will be admitted form a striking contrast to the 23 (out of a
fauna of only 69) which have been placed on record by Morelet
and Drouet as existing on every one of the nine islands of the
Azorean cluster.
As in the other local catalogues, I have appended an asterisk
(*) to those few species which have been observed also in a sub-
fossilized state ; and in those instances where they have been
found only subfossilized, under which circumstances they must
be looked upon as extinct (at any rate until further evidence shall
have proved the contrary), the names have been put likewise in
italics.
In accordance with the remark which I have just had occa-
sion to make, the capitals which precede the exceptionally wide
habitats given in the Azorean list at the close of the present
section indicate the authorities which must be held responsible
for their accuracy, the letter ' M ' referring to M. Morelet, and
4 D ' to M. Drouet.
Sectio I. INOPERCULATA.
Tam.1. LIMACID^E.
Genus 1. ARION, Ferussac.
Arion ater.
Limax ater, Linn., Syst. Nat. (ed. 12) 1081 (1767)
Arion empiricorum, Fer., Tabl. Syst. 17 (1821)
ater, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 162 (1854)
empiricorum, Alb., Mai. Mad. 11 (1854)
rufus, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 137 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 140 (1861)
ater, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 2 (1867)
AZOREAN GROUP. 9
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; sub lapidibus
foliisque emortuis, vulgaris.
The Arion ater, Linn. ( rufus, Linn., == empiricorum,
Fer.), which is so general throughout Europe and which occurs
also at Madeira, appears to have become established in the
Azores, where, according to Morelet and Drouet, it inhabits all
the islands of the archipelago.
Although seldom quite black (as its name would imply),
the A. ater has nevertheless an occasional dark variety, or state.
It is more often (indeed in Madeira almost universally) of a
dull ochreous- or olivaceous-brown, with the edge of its pedal
disk (which is entirely visible from above) of a reddish-yellow
inclining to orange and transversely striped with regular but
remote dusky lines which are sometimes very distinct, but at
others obscure. As in the Arions generally, this slug has its
body totally unkeeled, and furnished at the tip with a mucous
pore or gland, its respiratory orifice anterior in position, and
its shield (which is even, and not wrinkled at any rate when
the animal is fully extended) closely contiguous to the head in
front.
Arion fuscatus.
Arion fuscatus, Fer., Hist. 65. t. 2, f. 7.
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 137 (1860)
fuscus, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 140 (1861)
Habitat S. Miguel ; juxta Ponta Delgada et Pico do Fogo
(sec. Morelet) deprehensus.
A European Arion, which according to Morelet and Drouet
occurs sparingly around Ponta Delgada in S. Miguel, and like-
wise (as stated by the former) on the Pico do Fogo. By
Drouet it is identified with the Limax fuscus of Miiller, but
by Morelet with Ferussac's Arion fuscatus.
Arion subfuscus.
Limax subfuscus, Drap., Hist. Nat. 125. pi. 9. f. 8 (1805)
Arion subfuscus, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 138 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 140 (1861)
Habitat ins. omnes (testibus Morelet et Drouet) ; vulgaris
in S. Miguel (sec. Drouet).
Likewise a European species, and one which appears to be
common at the Azores, according at any rate to Morelet and
Drouet, who state that it occurs on every island of the archi-
pelago. Like the A . fuscatus, it has not yet been observed in
the Madeiran group.
10 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Grenus 2. UMAX, Linne.
Limax gagates.
Limax gagates, Drap., Hist. Nat. 122. pi. 9. f. 1, 2 (1805)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 162 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 12. t. 1. f. 3-5 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 139 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 141 (1861)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 3 (1867)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; sub lapidibus
vulgaris..
This European slug, which is extremely common in the
Madeiran archipelago, and which has become naturalised even
at St. Helena, appears to be universal at the Azores according to
Morelet and Drouet-r-who cite it as inhabiting every island of
the group.
The strongly carinated, longitudinally sulcate body of the
L. gagates (the keel of which extends from the extreme end of
the tail to the hinder margin of the shield), and its more or less
ochreous-black, or sometimes cinereous-brown, hue, added to its
not very large size (its greatest length being seldom more than
about an inch), and the two rather conspicuous grooves (sepa-
rated by a raised line) at the top of its neck, will sufficiently
distinguish it.
Limax maximus.
Limax maximus, Linn., Syst. Nat. (ed. 12) 1081 (1767)
cinereus, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 5 (1774)
antiquorum, var. s., Fer., Tabl. Syst. 20 (1821)
cinereus, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 162 (1854)
antiquorum, Alb., Mai. Mad. 12. t. 1. f. 2 (1854)
maximus, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 138 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 140 (1861)
cinereus, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 4 (1867)
Habitat ins. omnes (testibus Morelet et Drouet).
The European L. maximus, which has become established
at Madeira, appears to have also been naturalised in the Azorean
archipelago, where, like the L. gagates and agrestis and the
Arion ater and subfuscus, it is said by Morelet and Drouet to
occur on every island of the group.
The L. maximus is a species which is extremely variable in
size, and a good deal also both in colour and markings; but
normally it is more maculated, or blotched, than the generality
of the Limaces, its surface (which is usually of a pale brownish-
cinereous hue, with the shield a trifle lighter, and with a faint
AZOREAN GROUP. 11
ochreous or even lilac tinge) being spotted with large but un-
equal longitudinal patches of black, those on the shield how-
ever being, most of them, both rounder, smaller, and more
isolated or better defined. The blotches on the body seem to
be brought about by four or five broken-up longitudinal stripes,
which are occasionally subconfluent and suffused, but nearly
always more interrupted (or fragmentary) before than posteriorly.
It is coarsely sculptured, except on the shield, with a multitude
of subconfluent longitudinal grooves or (which amounts to much
the same thing) intervening wrinkles ; and its hinder part is
acutely carinated for about a third of the length from the tip of
the tail to the edge of the shield.
Limax flavus.
Limax flavus, Linn., Syst. Nat. (ed. 12) 1081 (1767)
variegatus, Drap., Hist. Nat. 127 (1805)
flavus, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 162 (1854)
variegatus, Alb., Mai Mad. 12. t. 1. f. 1 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 1 38 (1 860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 140 (1861)
flavus, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 4 (1867)
Habitat S. Miguel ; in hortis umbrosis- circa Ponta Delegada
et Villafranca lectus.
The European L. flavus, Linn, (or variegatus, Drap.) is
said by Morelet to occur 'dans les jardins ombrages,' around
Ponta Delgada and Villafranca, in S. Miguel, where, as is the
case with it at Madeira, it has doubtless been naturalised. It is
a large species, varying from about an inch to nearly two inches
in length ; and its colour is usually of a pale dirty brownish-
yellow, but mottled (or coarsely reticulated) with cinereous-
brown, the sides, however, and the foot, being free from
markings. Its keel is much abbreviated, extending from the tip
of the tail to about a third of the distance to the hinder edge of
the shield (the ground-colour of which is often a trifle paler than
the rest of the surface, as seen from above).
Limax agrestis.
Limax agrestis, Linn., Syst. Nat. (ed. 12) 1082 (1767)
Drap., Hist. Nat. 126. pi. 9. f. 9 (1805)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 39 (1831)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 162 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 139 (I860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 141 (1861)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 5 (1867)
12 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; vulgaris.
In its comparatively small size, the extremely mucose and
variable L. agrestis has more in common with the L. gagatea
than with the other slugs which are here enumerated ; never-
theless, apart from every minor character, its total freedom from
a keel will at once separate it from that species. It is universal
throughout Europe ; and, according to Morelet and Drouet, it
occurs on every island of the Azorean archipelago. Morelet
registers a variety from Villafranca in S. Miguel, and another
from the valley of the Furnas. In Madeira it is by far the most
abundant of all the slugs which have hitherto been brought to
light, often swarming in open grassy spots of a high altitude ;
and considering that it has been placed on record in Mr. Lowe's
publications since 1831, it is surprising to me that Morelet
should not have been aware that it exists in the Madeiran
group, for, speaking of the four Limaces included in his
Azorean catalogue (which are the exact species found at Madeira),
he says ' A 1'exception du Limax agrestis, toutes les especes de
cette section se retrouvent aux iles Maderes.' It is certainly
true that Dr. Albers did not happen to meet with it, and so was
rash enough to omit it from his exceedingly inaccurate mono-
graph ; but Albers passed only a single winter at Madeira, and
collected a mere fragment of the species which had been ascer-
tained to occur ; whereas Mr. Lowe's researches extended over a
period of nearly fifty years, and the results, which had long been
made known, were readily accessible. Therefore I cannot under-
stand how any experienced naturalist should have endorsed the
evidence given by the former (who had had but a few months'
experience in the archipelago), in preference to that of the
latter.
Genus 3. VIQUESNELIA, Deshayes.
Viquesnelia atlantica.
Viquesnelia atlantica, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 139. t. 1.
f. 1 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 141 (1861)
Habitat S. Miguel ; juxta Ponta Delgada, Furnas, et cset.,
sub lapidibus, prsecipue in cultis, parce degens.
This is the most anomalous of the Azorean Limacidce ; and
its interest is still further increased by the fact that the only
other member of the genus which has hitherto been brought to
light in a recent state (namely the V. Dussumieri, Fischer) is
Indian. In a fossil condition, however, the rudimentary remains
of a mollusk which would appear to be closely allied to (if not
actually identical with) the Azorean one were found abundantly
AZOREAN GROUP. 13
in the nummulitic limestone near Feredjik in Roumelia ; and it
was for the reception of the particular species which they repre-
sent that the genus was established by Deshayes (Journ. de
Conch, v. 283) in 1859. And shortly afterwards another ex-
ponent of the group was met with by M. d'Archiac, in a similar
formation, in the Pyrenees. It would seem, therefore, judging
from the only evidence to which we have access, as if the type
had become extinct on the European continent but that it still
lingered at the Azores; though this may in reality be more
apparent than real, seeing what large tracts of country both in
Spain and Portugal are still practically uninvestigated.
According to Morelet and Drouet, it is only in S. Miguel
that the V. atlantica has yet been detected, where it occurs
sparingly around Ponta Delgada and in the valley of the
Furnas, its movements being described as unusually sluggish
and peculiar. The animal is said to be of a somewhat reddish
olivaceous-brown, rather attenuated in front, but with its poste-
rior half not only compressed and carinate but very coarsely
wrinkled. It seems to be obliquely truncate towards the tip ;
but whether the subapical angle carries a mucous gland, as its
mere outline would lead one to suspect (though the ' dryness ' of
its surface would perhaps rather militate against that hypo-
thesis), the diagnosis does not specify. Its shield (when the
creature is fully expanded) is nearly medial in position, the
hinder half, which covers the internal shell (stated to be some-
what ancyliform and oblong), being elevated and protuberant.
Fam. 2. TESTACELLID^E.
Grenus 4. TESTACELLA, Cuvier.
Testacella Maugei.
Testacella Maugei, Per., Tabl. Syst. 26 (1821)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. 8. Trans, iv. 40
(1831)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 163 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Aqor. 143 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. A for. 142 (1861)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 6 (1867)
Mouss.y Faun. Mai. des Can. 11 (1872)
Habitat S. Miguel, Sta. Maria, et Fayal (teste Drouet) ;
prsecipue sub lapidibus in cultis.
The European T. Mangel, which is found in the Madeiran
and Canarian archipelagos, occurs (according to Drouet) in S.
Miguel, Sta. Maria, and Fayal, principally about gardens and
14 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
other cultivated grounds; but there is no evidence that the
nearly-allied T. haliotidea has been observed at the Azores.
The rather robust, somewhat ancyliform shell of this Testa-
cella, which is opaque, usually more or less (as it were) eaten-
into and decorticated, and of a pale dingy olivaceous-yellow
externally, but which is whitish, shining, and pearl-like within
the enormous aperture, will readily distinguish it. The latter is
somewhat parallel-sided and oblong ; but the curve at the upper
angle of the outer margin is a little interrupted by a slight ex-
cavation or sinuosity which is best seen when the shell is
viewed from the direction of the nucleus. The lines of growth,
although very irregular, are for the most part exceedingly
apparent, a few deeper and coarser ones than the rest, filled-
up with a brownish deposit, being also more particularly con-
spicuous.
Tarn. 3. VITRJNID^E.
Grenus 5. VITRINA, Drop.
Vitrina brumalis.
Vitrina brumalis, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 146. t. 1. f. 4
(1860).
Drouet, Faun. A$or. 146 (1861)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 22 (1876)
Habitat S. Miguel ; in Caldeira de Sete-Cidades prsecipue
lecta.
This Vitrina, which is found in S. Miguel, particularly
within the Caldeira of the Sete-Cidades, measures about 9 milli-
metres across its broadest part; it is excessively thin and
fragile, being well-nigh membranaceous ; and its spire is re-
markably depressed. Its aperture is largely developed; the
lower or columellary border of its peristome is exceedingly
narrow, and almost wholly membranaceous ; and (as in the
three following species) its spiral whorls are visible from beneath
up to their extreme apex.
Vitrina jnollis.
Vitrina mollis, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 147. t. 1. f. 5
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. A cor. 144 (1861)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 22 (1876)
Habitat Terceira ; inter Angra et Praya copiose deprehensa.
It is in Terceira that the present Vitrina appears to have
been met with, particularly between Angra and the little town
of Praya. It is of about the same size as, or perhaps a trifle
AZOREAN GROUP. 15
larger than, the last species, and has the spire similarly de-
pressed, and the spiral whorls traceable (from beneath) up to the
apex ; nevertheless it is more rounded in outline, the basal
volution being a little more convex both above and below, its
surface is somewhat smoother, and its colour is appreciably
deeper or more pronounced. Its aperture, too, is not quite so
elongate or produced, and has its columellary border (which is
extremely membraneous) less narrowed.
Vitrina brevispira.
Vitrina brevispira, Morel., Hist. Nat. des A ^or. 148, t. 1.
f. 6 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. A$or. 146 (1861)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 22 (1876)
Habitat Sta. Maria, et S. Miguel ; prsecipue, in ilia, ad col-
lum Pico Alto vulgaris.
Judging from the diagnosis and figure, the present Vitrina
does not seem to me to differ very materially from the V.
brumalis ; and, although Morelet and Drouet mention it as
occurring more particularly in Sta. Maria, it is found also (like
that species) in S. Miguel. It is, however, apparently, a trifle
smaller, and has its spire a little more minute and lateral, as
well as composed of half a volution less. The lower border too
of its aperture is, if anything, even narrower and straighter ; and
its suture is said to be somewhat denticulated.
Vitrina finitima.
Vitrina finitima, Morel., Hist. Nat. des A for. 150. t. 1. f . 7
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. A for. 145 (1861)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. vii. 22 (1876)
Habitat Flores; sub ligno lapidibusque in humiusculis,
vulgaris.
In its size and general contour (the shell measuring about
8 millimetres across its broadest part), as well as in the ex-
tremely narrow and membraneous lower border of its peristome
and the fact of its spiral whorls being visible from beneath up to
the extreme apex, the V. finitima is very similar to the
brevispira ; nevertheless, apart from its ultimate volution being
just appreciably rounder, it may at once be recognised, both
from that species and the others, by the right or upper edge of
its peristome being a little thickened and even subreflexed, a
structure which is decidedly anomalous in the members of this
genus.
The V. finitima was taken abundantly by M. 'Drouet in
16 TESTACEA ATLANT1CA.
Flores ; but it does not appear to have been observed in any of
the other islands.
Vitrina angulosa.
Vitrina angulosa, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 191. t. 2. f. 1
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 144 (1861)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 23 (1876)
Habitat Sta. Maria ; ad basin montis Pico Alto parce
reperta.
This is the smallest of the Azorean Vitrinas, measuring only
6 millimetres across its widest part ; but, not to mention its
diminutive bulk, it may be recognised by its ultimate volution
(which is, in proportion, largely developed, and somewhat convex
beneath) being appreciably angulose. The colour seems to be of a
more brownish-, or even reddish-, green than is usually the case
in this genus, and its whorls are about three in number. It was
found in Sta. Maria, at the base of the Pico Alto, and would
appear to be scarce.
Vitrina laxata,
Vitrina laxata, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 144. t. 1. f. 3
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 142 (1861)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 21 (1876)
Habitat Sta. Maria, et S. Miguel ; in convallibus umbrosis
praecipue degens.
The V. laxata is the largest of the Azorean Vitrinas
(measuring about 12 millimetres across its widest part), and one
which is said by Morelet to approach nearer than the others to
the ordinary European types, particularly to the V. diaphana.
It is extremely thin and fragile, with the ultimate whorl very
broadly developed or produced, causing the aperture to be ex-
ceedingly large or elongated ; and, as in the V. pelagica, the
upper and lower margins of its peristome (the latter of which is
bordered by a narrow membrane) are connected across the body-
volution by an extremely faint lamelliform thickening.
The present Vitrina is found in Sta. Maria and S. Miguel,
in the former of which islands a variety is said to occur which is
a little more globose and also a trifle less fragile.
Vitrina pelagica.
Vitrina pelagica, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 143. t. 1. f. 2
(1860).
55 Drouet, Faun. Acor. 143 (1861)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 21 (1876)
AZOREAN GROUP. 17
Habitat Sta. Maria ; sub lapidibus, et cset., versus Pico Alto
deprehensa.
The present Vitrina, which is found about the Pico Alto in
Santa Maria, is apparently a trifle less fragile, and more Helici-
form in its contour, than the other species, its less largely
developed aperture and the widened and somewhat convex base
of its ultimate whorl, in conjunction with the margins of its
faintly thickened peristome being connected by an extremely
thin intervening lamina, recalling somewhat the F. Blauneri
which is so characteristic of Grand Canary. Its proportions
however are not quite the same as those of that species, its
spire is less flattened, and the columellary edge of its lower lip
is narrowly and shortly expanded and subreflexed, forming
(according to the diagnosis) a kind of very minute umbilical
fossette or chink.
Fam. 4. HELICIDJE.
Genus 6. HYALINA, Gray.
( Radiolus, Woll.)
Hyalina volutella.
Helix volutella, Pfeiff., Proc. ZooL Soc. Land. 33 (1856)
brumalis, Morel, et Dr., Journ. de Conch, vi. 149
(1857)
Zonites brumalis, Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich, 164
(1858)
Helix volutella, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iv. 102 (1859)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 166. t. 3. f. \
(1860)
Zonites volutella, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 148 (1861)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; sed vix
abundans.
A very beautiful little Hyalina which, according to Morelet
and Drouet, is found on every island of the Group. It is ap-
parently peculiar to the Azores ; and, judging from the diag-
nosis and figure, it has much the same discoidal outline as the
//. cellaria, but is considerably smaller and with a more minute
(but nevertheless very deep) umbilicus; and its volutions are
transversely striped, or radiated, with reddish-brown, or yellowish-
red, bands. It appears to be subject to slight modifications in
the different parts of the archipelago, the examples from Fayal
and Sta.> Maria having their spire more elevated than those
from S. Miguel, as well as their striae more distinct (which
latter fact is said to diminish somewhat their brilliancy) ; whilst
those from Graciosa, on the other hand, are not only (when
c
18 TESTACEA ATLANTIC A.
adult) less strongly striate, but likewise more solid and of an
obscurer surface, being free (according to Drouet) from darker
radiating transverse lines.
By Mr. Grodman the H. volutella was met with in the island
of Fayal.
Hyalina miguelina.
Helix miguelina, Pfeiff., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 33 (1856)
Vidaliana, M orel. et Drouet, Journ. de Conch, vi. 148
(1857)
Zonites Vidalianus, Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich, 164
(1858)
Helix miguelina, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel iv. 78 (1859)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 164. t. 2. f. 6
(1860)
Zonites Miguelinus, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 147 (1861)
Habitat Sta. Maria, S. Miguel, et Terceira ; sub lapidibus in
umbrosis, vulgaris. In Sta. Maria necnon semifossilis invenitur.
Judging from the diagnosis and figure, this Hyalina (which
occurs abundantly in Sta. Maria, S. Miguel, and Terceira)
seems, in its discoidal contour and widened ultimate whorl, to
have much the prima facie aspect of the H. cellaria, or,
perhaps, still more, of the Canarian H. lenis and the imme-
diately allied forms ; but it is apparently a little larger with a
very much smaller umbilicus, and faintly striped transversely
(or radiated) with obscure and irregular (sometimes obsolete)
fulvescent lines. According to Morelet and Drouet the speci-
mens from S. Miguel are generally thinner, more brilliant, and
more largely developed, than the others ; whilst those from
Sta. Maria (in which island it is found also subfossilized)
are not only smaller, more solid, less shining, and more dis-
tinctly striate, but have their last volution rather less dilated ;
and those from Terceira are a trifle more convex and less
narrowly umbilicate.
Mr. Tristram, in alluding to this shell, in his account of the
Pulmonifera which had been met with at the Azores by Mr.
Grodman, 1 speaks of it as being (like the H. atlantica) ' im-
perforate ' ; but there can be no doubt that in this respect he
was mistaken, for it is expressly defined by Morelet as
'anguste umbilicata ' (Drouet even calling it ' ombiliquee ') ;
1 I regret that I am not able to cite Mr. Godman's work amongst my
references to the Azorean Gastropods ; but as no absolute list is given of the
species which he obtained (the chapter by Mr. Tristram containing merely
observations on the general catalogue of MM. Morelet and Drouet), it is
scarcely possible to allude formally to the volume amongst the absolute
synonyms.
AZOREAN GROUP. 19
added to which, a decided, though small, perforation is clearly
indicated in the figure. And I should very much doubt whether
its so-called 'American affinities' are at all more traceable than
its Canarian ones.
( Lucilla, Lowe.)
Hyalina cellaria.
Helix cellaria, Mull, Hist. Verm. ii. 28 (1774)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 177 (1854)
Albers, Mai. Mad. 17 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 165 (1860)
Zonites cellarius, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 149 (1861)
Hyalina cellaria, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 15 (1872)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; vulgaris. In
Sta. Maria etiam semifossilis occurrit.
The common European H. cellaria is reported by both
Morelet and Drouet to occur on every island of the Azorean
Group, varying a little in the different parts of the archipelago.
The examples from S. Miguel are said to be, on the average,
somewhat larger than those from the other islands, those from
Sta. Maria (where it exists likewise in a subfossilized state)
more solid, and those from Terceira more convex. It is a
species of a widely acquired range, it being eminently liable to
accidental introduction through indirect human agencies ; and
it has consequently become thoroughly established in the
Madeiras and the Canaries, and even at St. Helena.
( Crystallus, Lowe.)
Hyalina crystallina.
Helix crystallina, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 23 (1774)
Lowe, Gambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 47
(1831)
Albers, Mai. Mad. 17. t. 2. f. 18-21
(1854)
Morel, Hist. Nat. des Acor. 167 (1860)
Zonites crystallinus, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 149 (1861)
Hyalina crystallina, M ouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 17 (1872)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; sub lapidibus,
minus frequens.
Said by Morelet and Drouet to be found on all the islands
of the archipelago, where it has doubtless become naturalized
from the European continent. It is a little species which is
eminently liable to accidental transmission, along with consign-
ments of trees and plants ; and it has consequently gained
a footing both in the Madeiran and Canarian Groups.
c 2
20 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
( Conulus, Fitz.)
Hyalina fulva.
Helix fulva, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 56 (1774)
Drap., Hist. Nat. 81. t. 7. f. 12. 13 (1805)
Conulus fulvus, Fitzinger, Syst. Verz. 94 (1837)
Helix fulva, Pfeiff., Mori. Hel. i. 30 (1848)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 169 (1860)
Zonites fulvus, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 150 (1861)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; hinc inde sub
lapidibus.
According to Morelet and Drouet, the European H. fulva,
Miill., is found on every island of the Azorean Group ; and
this is all the more remarkable, inasmuch as it has not
hitherto been observed in any of the more southern archi-
pelagos. Considering too its inconspicuousness, one can only
conclude, from the fact of its having been detected by those
anomalously successful naturalists on nine different islands
which are so widely separated from each other, that it must be
extremely abundant ; yet, curiously enough, they do not give us
to understand that this is the case.
( Hettcella, Beck.)
Hyalina atlantica.
Helix atlantica, Morel, et Dr., Journ. de Conch, vi. 149
(1857)
Zonites atlanticus, Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich, 164
(1858)
Helix atlanticus, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iv. 344 (1859)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 167. t. 3. f. 2
(1860)
Zonites atlanticus, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 149 (1861)
Habitat ins. omnes (teste Godman et Drouet); in Sta.
Maria necnon semifossilis occurrit. Sec. Morelet in Sta.
Maria, S. Miguel et Fayal invenitur. In Flores, sec. Drouet,
' au milieu des bois de genevriers ' copiose vivit.
According to Godman and Drouet, this Hyalina occurs on
every island of the Azorean Group ; but it is only for Sta.
Maria, S. Miguel, and Fayal that Morelet actually refers to it,
though he speaks of it, indefinitely, as ' repandue dans la
plupart des iles de 1'archipel.'
Drouet, however, mentions expressly that in Flores ' cette
zonite vit en abondarice sous les pierres et dans les mousses, au
milieu des bois de genevriers.'
The complete freedom from an umbilicus is the main point
which will at once distinguish the present Hyalina; and in
AZOREAN GROUP. 21
that respect it is said to be somewhat on a North-American
type, having, according to Mr. Tristram, a good deal in com-
mon with the Helicella suppressa of Say. It is fulvo-corneous
in hue, shining, diaphanous, and but feebly striated, but at the
same time sufficiently solid in substance ; and the columellary
border of its peristome is minutely and shortly expanded, or
thickened, at the point of its insertion, so as to seal-up the
spot which is usually occupied by the umbilical perforation.
Both Morelet and Drouet speak of a small variety of this
species as occurring in Fayal, and which measures only 5 milli-
metres (instead of about 9) across its broadest part.
G-enus 7. PATIILA, Held.
( Patulce normales.)
Patula rotundata.
Helix rotundata, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 29 (1774)
Patula rotundata, Held, in Isis, 916 (1837)
Zonites rotundatus, Gray, Man. 165, t. 5. f. 44 (1840)
Helix rotundata, Morel., Hist Nat. des Acor. 174 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 156 (1861)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 81 (1867)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Drouet) ; vulgaris, ac late diffusa.
According to Morelet the common European P. rotundata
'est extremement multiplied aux Apores,' but he does not
mention in what particular islands he met with it. Drouet,
however, supplies the required information by adding ' Habite
tout 1'archipel' ; though whether that expression (as in other
places) is used indefinitely, or whether it means to imply that
he has actually taken the species in the whole nine islands
of the Group, I have no mean of ascertaining ; and I can there-
fore only tabulate the range in accordance with the terms in
which it is asserted. Morelet speaks of the Azorean examples
of this Patula as being slightly different from the ordinary con-
tinental ones. ' Elle constitue,' says he, ' dans ces iles, une
variete locale, plus convexe que le type, plus fortement striee, et
dont les tours de spire sont aussi plus nettement separes.'
The P. rotundata has been introduced within the last few
years into Madeira, where however it is extremely rare; but
hitherto it has not been observed at the Canaries.
( Acantkinula, Beck.)
Patula monas.
Helix monas, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 173. t. 3. f. 5
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 156 (1861)
22 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat S. Miguel, et Fayal ; in ilia ad Las Furnas, sed in
hac juxta Caldeira reperta.
This extremely diminutive Patula (which is unknown to
me except through the excellent figure given by Morelet)
appears to recede from the P. pusilla, mainly, in being a little
less conical (or with the spire more depressed), as well as in
being more coarsely costate, and in having a rather wider
umbilicus. From the placida, Shuttlew., it is said to differ
' par I'eyasement de 1'ombilic, et la forme a peu pres circulaire
de 1'ouverture.' It is recorded by Morelet from S. Miguel and
Fayal, namely from the valley of the Furnas in the former,
and from the edges of the Caldeira in the latter. Drouet gives
only S. Miguel as its habitat, amongst dead leaves, and under
stones, in woods.
Patula pusilla.
Helix pusilla, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 46. t. 5.
f. 17 (1831)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 101 (1848)
servilis, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. Diagn. 6 (1852)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iii. 101 (1853)
pusilla, a. annulata, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land.
176 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 18. t. 2. f. 7-10 (1854)
servilis, Morel., Hist. Nat. des A$or. 173. t. 3. f. 6
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 156 (1861)
hypocrita, Dohrn, Mai. Bldtt. 1 (1869)
Patula servilis, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 25. pi. 2.
f. 13-16 (1872)
Habitat S. Miguel, et Fayal ; sub lapidibus in inferioribus
(haud procul a mare), sec. Morelet, sed sec. Drouet inter folia
emortua in sylvis ; rarior.
I have had no opportunity of inspecting Azorean examples
of this minute shell ; nevertheless if it is rightly referred by
Morelet and Drouet to the servilis of Shuttle worth, it is iden-
tical with the Madeiran P. pusilla, Lowe, for there cannot be
the slightest doubt whatsoever that Shuttleworth's species and
Lowe's are one and the same. Indeed there is hardly a single
member of the Atlantic Grastropods which is more widely dis-
persed than this little Patula ; for not only does it occur
in the Azorean and Madeiran archipelagos, but likewise at the
Canaries and Cape Verdes (from whence it was re-enunciated by
Dohrn under the name of H. hypocrita), and even in the inter-
mediate districts of St. Helena. Had Morelet been aware
(which I am surprised was not the case) that Shuttleworth's
AZOREAN GROUP. 23
H. servilis and Lowe's pusilla are conspecific, he would not
have fallen into the error of supposing that the species had not
yet been observed in the Madeiran Group. But, so far from the
latter being the case, it was absolutely first described (in 1831)
from Madeira, where it is one of the most abundant of the
land-shells.
The P. pusilla (assuming Morelet's identification of it to be
correct) appears to have been noticed hitherto only near Ponta
Delgada in S. Miguel, and in Fayal ; in the latter of which
islands it is expressly stated by Morelet to have been found in
rocky places near the sea. This exactly accords with its usual
habitat in the Madeiran archipelago, for it is comparatively
seldom that it is to be met with (like the P. placida, Shuttl.) in
the laurel-woods of a high altitude ; nevertheless it does occa-
sionally occur in the latter also, and therefore Drouet's remark
that, in Fayal, it exists ' au milieu des feuilles mortes dans les
bois de lauriers et de genevriers ' may be likewise applicable,
for he would doubtless have at once perceived the difference
had the examples to which he alludes been referable to the
placida, rather than to the pusilla.
Apart from its diminutive size, the P. pusilla (which is a
trifle smaller, darker, and more depressed than the placida)
may be readily known by a certain number of its oblique,
transverse, thread-like striae being more developed than the
rest ; for although they are sometimes exceedingly faint, .at
others they are quite conspicuous and at once distinguishable
beneath even an ordinary lens. Morelet's figure, though other-
wise good, does not represent this latter character with suffi-
cient precision.
Patula aculeata.
Helix aculeata, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 81 (1774)
Gray, Man. 149. t. 4. f. 33 (1840)
Pfeiff.,Mon. Hel. i. 50(1848)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 175 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 157 (1861)
Habitat S. Miguel, et Fayal ; in montibus parce lecta.
The European P. aculeata is recorded both by Morelet and
Drouet from S. Miguel and Fayal, where it appears to occur at
a rather high elevation ; but it has not hitherto been noticed
in any of the more southern archipelagos. According to Drouet
it is found in the laurel woods, amongst fallen leaves.
24 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Genus 8. HELIX, Linne.
( Vallonia, Risso.)
Helix pulchella.
Helix pulchella, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 30 (1774)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 45
(1831)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 45. t. 12. f. 1-4 (1854)
Morel, Hist. Nat. des Acor. 175 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 157 (1861)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 57 (1872)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Drouet) ; sub lapidibus vulgaris.
This common little European Helix which has established
itself in the Madeiras and Canaries, and even at St. Helena,
and which is cited also from the Cape of (rood Hope is found,
according to Drouet, on every island of the Azorean Group.
Morelet indeed does not assert this totidem verbis, but merely
states that it occurs in the archipelago ; and one can hardly
therefore resist the enquiry as to whether the expression
' Habite tout 1'archipel ' is used (here as well as elsewhere)
merely indefinitely, in order to imply the wide distribution of
the species, and its probable occurrence, throughout the cluster,
or whether it is to be accepted in its true and literal meaning,
and as a positive guarantee that it has been carefully ascer-
tained to exist on each of the nine islands which constitute
the entire Group. If the latter fact is intended to be conveyed,
MM. Morelet and Drouet deserve unbounded praise for the
perfectly incredible proportion of their species which they have
succeeded in detecting on all the detachments of an archipelago
which is so widely scattered ; but if, on the other hand, the
term is employed without absolute precision, I cannot too
strongly express my belief that loose statements of this kind,
which are not strictly in accordance with facts, are neither
more nor less than disreputable, calculated as they are to place
on permanent record what is simply and de facto untrue.
( Leptaxis, Lowe.)
Helix vetusta.
Helix vetusta, Morel, et Dr., Journ. de Conch, vi. 152
(1857)
Morel, Hist. Nat. des Acor. 176, t. 5. f. 12
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 158 (1861)
Habitat Sta. Maria, semifossilis ; hactenus recens haud
detecta.
AZOREAN GROUP. 25
Judging from the diagnosis, and the admirable figure which
is given by Morelet, I am inclined to think that the present
Helix, which has been found hitherto only in a subfossil condi-
tion in the south of Sta. Maria, is perhaps more akin to the
likewise subfossilized H. chrysomela, Pfeiff. (particularly the
larger state of that species, which was subsequently described
by Lowe under the name of fluctuosa], than it is to anything
else which has yet been brought to light in the various Atlantic
archipelagos. Prima facie it has undoubtedly somewhat in
common with certain Canarian members of the Lemniscia sec-
tion, such as the H. tumulorum and phalerata ; but in no
instances are they wholly imperforate, neither are the margins
of their peristome connected by a decided lamelliform callosity;
and although this latter character is by no means distinctive of
Leptaxis proper, but quite the reverse, it nevertheless is strongly
expressed in the H. chrysomela which it is quite impossible
to remove from the same actual group which embraces the
erubescens and membranacea types. Moreover it appears to be
present also in the (equally extinct) H. atlantidea, Morel., from
the Cape Verdes. The rather straightened and thickened lower
lip, too, is much in accordance with what one observes in the
Porto-Santan H. chrysomela ; while its strongly pronounced
keel, and what little we are able to trace of its colouring, are
marvellously suggestive of that same species.
Whether the H. vetusta (which measures about 19 milli-
metres across its broadest part, and has an altitude of about 11)
belongs altogether to a past epoch can hardly be decided, until
the numerous submaritime districts of Sta. Maria have been
more carefully explored.
Helix erubescens.
Helix erubescens, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 40. t. 5.
f. 3 (1831)
et simia, Pfeif., Hon. Hel. i. 270 et 288
(1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc.Lond. 165 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 47. t. 12. f. 11-16
(1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 153 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 150 (1861)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 13 (1867)
Habitat S. Miguel ; in citranetis, prsesertim intra cavernas
arborum et sub cortice laxo, sat copiose latitans.
The very beautiful, but inconstant, H. erubescens, which is
so universal (under various modifications both of contour and
26 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
hue) throughout the Madeiran archipelago, occurs in the orange
grounds of S. Miguel, both around Ponta Delgada, &c., and
even (according to Morelet) in the valley of the Furnas ; and
considering this singular limitation of its habitat, we may feel
tolerably sure that the species is not an aboriginal native of the
Azores, but that in all probability it has become naturalized
accidentally from Madeira. The fact too that it appears to be
confined to a single island of the Group, and that one the most
cultivated of them all, is quite in accordance with this supposi-
tion. Both Morelet and Drouet lay great stress on the curious
fact that it would seem to be attached exclusively to the gardens
and plantations where the orange-trees are grown, concealing
itself more especially within the fissures and cavities of the
trunks, often in large clusters.
Drouet says that at Madeira the H. erubescens is found
essentially in woods, but this is absolutely untrue ; for although
it does occasionally make its appearance in subsylvan spots, as
in the chestnut groves of intermediate altitudes, its normal
range is most unmistakeably beneath stones on the open moun-
tain slopes (as on the grassy declivities of the Pico da Silva,
&c.), and within the lichen-covered inequalities of the weather-
beaten rocks. Indeed on the three Desertas, where it absolutely
swarms, there is not so much as a single tree for it to inhabit ;
and even in Porto Santo, the higher districts (to which it is
confined) are, and clearly always have been, totally devoid of
wood. 1
1 Although it is well-nigh superfluous to do so, I may perhaps just notice
in this place the H. advena, W. et B., which is cited bj Morelet, as one of
his 69 species, on the strength of its having been recorded by Pfeiffer as
occurring not merely at the Cape Verdes [to which it is, nevertheless, abso-
lutely peculiar], but also in the Canaries and Azores. And he even goes on
to affirm that Madeira likewise must be added to its range, inasmuch as
Albers includes it in his [extremely inaccurate] ' Malacographia Maderensis ' ;
so that, according to him, elle est repandue dans les quatre archipels.'
Here then is an accumulation of blunders, both as to habitat and identifi-
cation, which it is perfectly sad to contemplate. In the first place, the H.
advena is confined exclusively to the Cape Verdes ; the examples which Dr.
Albers referred so unhesitatingly to that species, and which he said were
found by M. Hartung in Porto Santo, having nothing whatever to do with it.
And then, as regards its Canarian claims, I thought it was now generally
understood that it was through the excessive carelessness of Mr. Webb that
it was ever quoted amongst the Land-Mollusca of that archipelago at all ;
for, unless I am greatly mistaken, it was communicated originally to the
joint authors of the ' Histoire Naturelle,' along with the equally Cape- Verdian
Stenogyra subdiapkana, by M. Terver, of Lyons, whose orchil-infesting
Helices (the precise countries of which were guessed at with a recklessness
almost unparalleled) have been the means of creating an amount of geo-
graphical confusion which perhaps will never be altogether obliterated.
This unpardonable mode of treatment was inflicted on other species also,
besides those to which I have just called attention, notably on the H.
taniata and tiarella of Madeira, which were pronounced to be ' Canarian,'
AZOREAN GROUP. 27
Helix azorica.
Helix azorica, Alb., Mai. Bldtt. 30 (1852)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iii. 148 (1853)
Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich, 165 (1858)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iv. 163 (1859)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 154, t. 2. f. 2
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 151 (1861)
Habitat Sta. Maria, et S. Miguel ; in montibus sub lapidibus,
necnon inter ramulos Ericce vulgaris et cset. latitans, baud
infrequens.
The present variable Helix appears to be confined, according
to Morelet and Drouet, to the mountains of Sta. Maria and
S. Miguel, where it occurs not only under stones but, in the
latter, amongst the shrubs of Erica vulgaris and Myrsine
retusa which clothe so much of the uncultivated country in
the loftier districts of the island. In the former it was met
with on the summit of the Pico Alto.
Judging from their diagnoses and figures, I think there can
be little doubt that the present species and the four following
ones belong to the same group as the H. erubescens ; and, from
the analogy of the latter, which at the Madeiras has a more or
less different phasis for every detachment of the archipelago,
one cannot but feel it possible that some of these forms which
cluster around the H. azorica may prove in reality to be but
insular modifications of a single plastic type. Nevertheless
since it is the opinion of Morelet that they may be upheld as
specifically distinct, I will cite them in accordance with the
conclusions which have been arrived at by himself and M.
Drouet.
The H. azorica appears to be exceedingly thin and fragile,
as well as somewhat shining and pellucid ; and, like the other
members of this particular section, it is wholly imperforate.
Its colour, as in the H. erubescens, is eminently inconstant,
though the more normal individuals seem to be brownish but
mottled with small disjointed (sometimes vermiculiform) mark-
ings of a paler or yellowish hue. Occasionally however the
latter are obsolete, when the shell is concolorous ; and the
specimens from Sta. Maria (which are smaller, and a trifle less
and which were received as such (without evidence) by Webb. Indeed the
H. cyclodon, W. et B., was declared by Terver (in his total ignorance of its
actual habitat) to be not only Canarian, but also from the Cape Verdes, the
Madeiras, and the Azores, a statement which was at once accepted by Webb,
and even by Pfeiffer ; whereas in real fact it has not been detected, as yet, in
any of those Groups, except possibly the Canaries (for it is by no means abso-
lutely certain that it was found even there).
28 TEST ACE A ATLANTICA.
fragile, than those from S. Miguel) are opake, except the nucleus
and the base (which are translucid), and of a uniform pallid or
nearly straw-coloured hue, constituting a well-marked variety,
the ' 7. minor ' of Morelet. The aperture is a little more
rounded in the H. azorica than it is in the cognate forms, and
has its columellary margin but very slightly thickened or
expanded; and the ultimate volution is rather broader or more
developed.
Helix caldeirarum.
Helix caldeirarum, Morel, et Dr., Journ. de Conch, vi. 150
(1857)
azorica (pars), Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich, 165
(1858)
Pfeiff., Mai. Bldtt. 81 (1858)
caldeirarum, Id., Mon. Hel. iv. 347 (1859)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 156. t. 2.
f. 3 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 152 (1861)
Habitat S. Miguel ; sub lapidibus in Caldeira de Sete-Ci-
dades, rarissima.
The H. caldeirarum (which measures about 12 millimetres
^across its widest part), although thin and subdiaphanous, is
apparently not quite so fragile and pellucid as the azorica, and
it is also more appreciably striate ; its surface is of a light
uniform corneous-brown, free from paler blotches or irregular
markings, but ornamented with a well-defined darker band---
which occupies the dorsal region, or circumference, of the ulti-
mate whorl, and runs up alongside the suture of the pen-
ultimate one ; its aperture is not quite so rounded ; the
columellary margin of its peristome is a trifle thicker or more
dilated,^and its last volution is rather less broadly developed.
It seems to have been only in S. Miguel that the present
Helix has hitherto been observed, where it was met with
(though sparingly) by Morelet and Drouet, beneath stones, in
the Caldeira of the Sete-Cidades.
Helix niphas.
Helix niphas, Pfeiff., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 108 (1857)
Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich, 166 (1858)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iv. 159 (1859)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 162 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 153 (1861)
Habitat S. Miguel (teste PfeifTer) ; ex speciminibus a Dom.
Cuming missis descripta.
AZOREAN GROUP. 29
The present Helix, which was described by Pfeiffer from
examples communicated by the late Mr. Cuming, is said to be
from S. Miguel ; but it was not met with either by Morelet or
Drouet. There can be little doubt that it belongs to much the
same type as these immediately allied forms, though its white
colour and more solid substance, in conjunction with the fact
that its ultimate whorl does not appear (judging from the pub-
lished diagnosis) to be at all deflected at the aperture, show it
to be specifically distinct from them all.
In his observations on the H. niphas, Morelet says : ( II est
evident que cette espece se rattache par des liens etroits au
groupe que nous venons d'etudier ; ainsi la taille, la forme glo-
buleuse, la spire conique, 1'absence d'ombilic, le peristome droit,
epaissi au point d'insertion, enfin la direction de la columelle,
sont des caracteres communs a toutes les coquilles de cette
serie. Le nombre des tours de spire, leur developpement
graduel et la simplicite du bord droit, se retrouvent en outre
chez YH. caldeirarum, dont Fespece de M. Pfeiffer semble se
rapprocher d'avantage ; mais elle en differe, ainsi que de toutes
les autres, par la solidite, la couleur, et la direction du dernier
tour de spire qui ne flechit pas a sa terminaison.'
Helix terceirana.
H. caldeirarum (pars), Morel, et Dr., Journ. de Conch, vi.
150 (1857)
Terceirana, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 158. t. 2. f. 4
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 152 (1861)
Habitat Terceira ; inter arbusculas Myrsine retusa, necnon
sub lapidibus, in Caldeira, copiose lecta.
Apparently very nearly allied to the H. caldeirarum, but
found in Terceira instead of S. Miguel. It appears to be com-
mon in that particular island, where it was found by Morelet
and Drouet beneath stones and about the bushes of Myrsine
retusa in the great Caldeira.
The H. terceirana is more solid, less diaphanous, and more
coarsely striated than the caldeirarum (indeed it is said to be
sometimes quite free from gloss) ; its ultimate whorl is rather
more flattened beneath ; and its peristome is more thickened or
bordered internally, and has the columellary margin gradually
more flattened or dilated towards its point of insertion. Its colour
too is different, the darker zone of the H. caldeirarum being
absent, and the surface usually more or less faintly freckled with
subopake and slightly paler fragmentary markings.
30 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Helix Drouetiana.
Helix Drouetiana, Morel., Hist. Nat. des A for. 160. t. 2.
f. 5 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Ac or. 153 (1861)
Habitat Fayal ; ad orientem montium versus Caldeira ascen-
dentium, sub lapidibus rarissima.
This species appears to be a trifle larger than the three
preceding ones, having about the same expanse (13 millimetres)
across its broadest part as the H. azorica with which also it
agrees somewhat in its general type of colouring, in the fine-
ness of its striation, and in its ultimate whorl being a little
widened. It is however more solid and less transparent than
the azorica and caldeirarum ; its spire is appreciably more
acute and prominent ; and its peristome is more decidedly
thickened within, and has the columellary margin more flattened
or expanded. From the H. azorica it further differs in its
aperture being less rounded, and in its axis being shorter (or
less vertically visible) at its point of junction with the lower
lip. In ornamentation the H. Drouetiana is of a pale yellowish
brown, but variegated with more or less evident and irregular
transverse radiating lines of a more corneous hue ; and there is
usually a darker, interrupted, or broken-up zone at the circum-
ference of the basal volution, and which runs alongside the
suture of the penultimate one.
The H. Drouetiana was met with by M. Drouet in Fayal,
towards the east of the mountains which rise so as to form the
Caldeira ; where, moreover, it would appear to be scarce.
( Pomatia, Beck.)
Helix aspersa.
Helix aspersa, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 59 (1774)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. i. 241 (1848)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 152 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 151 (1861)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 69 (1872)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; in cultis late
sed vix copiose diffusa.
According to Morelet and Drouet, the common H. aspersa,
Mull., occurs on every island of the Azorean archipelago, where
doubtless it must have been introduced from the European conti-
nent. It is a species which is extremely liable to accidental trans-
mission, along with consignments of trees and plants ; and it was
in all probability in that manner that it has become thoroughly
naturalized at St. Helena. Into Madeira it was imported a
AZOREAN GROUP. 31
comparatively few years ago, but I have no evidence that it has
succeeded in establishing itself to any appreciable extent ; but
in Palma of the Canarian Group it has gained a complete foot-
ing, and, since it assumes there a slightly local aspect, there is
reason to suspect that it may have existed in that island for at
all events a considerable period.
( Maoularia, Alb.)
Helix lactea.
Helix lactea, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 19 (1774)
W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. Syn. 313
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. ii. 2. 55 (1839)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 152 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 150 (1861)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 70 (1872)
Habitat Sta. Maria, et S. Miguel ; in inferioribus, sed haud
abundans.
The Mediterranean H. lactea, which is found in the Canarian
Group, and is very abundant on the coast of Morocco, occurs
sparingly around Ponta Delgada in S. Miguel, as well as in a
calcareous district in the south of Sta. Maria. Morelet, who
remarks that the Azorean examples are very similar to those of
Portugal, is of opinion that it has probably been imported into
the islands.
( Euparypha, Hartm.)
Helix pisana.
Helix pisana, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 60 (1774)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 52 (1831)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 21. t. 3. f. 118 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 153 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 150 (1861)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 28 (1872)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; in inferioribus,
prsecipue cultis, vulgaris.
By both Morelet and Drouet the common European H. pisana
is said to occur on every island of the Azorean archipelago,-
abounding in gardens, and other cultivated spots. It is locally
plentiful in the Madeiran and Canarian Groups ; and in the
latter, as well as on the intermediate isolated rocks of the
Salvages, it is developed into several very beautiful and well-
defined varieties. Hitherto, however, it has not been observed
at the Cape Verdes.
32 , TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
( Xeropliila, Held.)
Helix armillata.
Helix ' striata, Drap. ? ' Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv.
53(1831)
Lowei, Pot. et Mich, (nee Per. 1835), Gall, des
Moll. 91 (1838)
armillata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. 113 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 116 (1853)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 20. t. 2. f. 32-35 (1854)
eumaeus, Lowe, Proc. Linn. Soc. Loud. ; Zool. 198
(1860)
armillata, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 174. t. 3. f. 7
(1860)
Drouet 9 Faun. Acor. 155 (1861)
Habitat ins. omnes sec. Drouet, sed ins. fere omnes sec.
Morelet; in cultis inferioribus juxta mare, vulgaris. Prope
Horta, in ins. Fayal, praecipue abundat.
I cannot feel altogether satisfied that the H. armillata,
Lowe, should be separated specifically from the smaller and
more depressed form of the common European H. caperata,
(striata, Drap.), which is so often to be met with, commingled
with the larger and typical one, throughout the maritime and sub-
maritime districts of southern Europe ; indeed Mr. Lowe himself
regarded it originally as a mere state of that species. At Madeira
it is locally abundant ; and, according to Morelet, it has been
taken lately by MM. Bouvier and de Cessac in S. Vicente of
the Cape-Verde Group. It occurs also around Mogador, on the
west coast of Morocco, where it is a trifle more strongly
costate-striate, and from whence it was re-described by Lowe,
in 1860, under the name of H. eumceus.
In the Azorean archipelago the H. armillata is said by
Morelet to be common ' dans la plupart des iles/ but Drouet
(after specially mentioning Sta. Maria and Fayal) adds ' Habite
tout Parchipel ; ' and it seems to me, therefore, that it presents
another instance of that sad want of precision which character-
izes these vague expressions of universality which we are called
upon to believe without the slightest evidence being supplied
to show that they are strictly true. If Drouet really obtained
the H. armillata on the whole nine islands of the Group, why
does he not say so plainly ? But, knowing as I do the extreme
difficulty of procuring even the commonest forms on every
single island' of a widely scattered assemblage, I cannot but
feel unbounded surprise that so overwhelming a proportion of
the Gastropods of MM. Morelet and Drouet should have been
recorded by them as inhabiting ' tout 1'archipel.'
AZOREAN GROUP. 33
Helix apicina,
Helix apicina, Lam., Hist. vi. 102, 93 (1822)
Xerophila apicina, Held, in Isis, 913 (1837)
Helix apicina, Morel., Moll, du Port. 63 (1845)
' Pfei/., M on.Hel.i. 170(1848)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 174 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 158 (1861)
Pfei/-, M OU. Hel. vii. 242 (1876)
Habitat Terceira ; forsan ex Europa introducta.
The European and North- African H. apicina, Lam., was
found both by Morelet and Drouet in Terceira, ' sur les pelouses
au fond de la baie de Praya,' where it appears to be common ;
but they did not meet with it in any of the other islands.
The only evidence of its occurrence in the more southern
archipelagos is embodied in two examples which were taken
during the ' Challenger ' expedition at Teneriffe.
Helix obruta.
Helix obruta, Morel., Hist. Nat. des. Acor. 178, t. 5. f. 13
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 158 (1861)
Habitat Sta. Maria, semifossilis ; hodie recens haud
inventa.
This rather obscure little Helix appears to be found subfos-
silized, in a somewhat calcareous region, towards the southern
coast of Sta. Maria ; and as it has not been observed hitherto
in a recent condition, it may perhaps have become extinct.
Still, judging from the analogy of the numerous Madeiran
Helices, in a similar predicament, which had long been sup-
posed to have passed away, but which have ultimately been
brought to light as members of the present fauna, it would be
unsafe to assert this until at any rate the neighbouring districts
of the island have been fully and accurately investigated.
Being in an almost colourless state, the characters of the
H. obruta are not easy to be denned ; nor indeed are its affini-
ties very evident, though Morelet compares it with the larger
examples of the H. armillata. It is, however, less depressed
and less angulose than that species, the columellary edge of its
peristome is somewhat less expanded, and its umbilicus is nar-
rower. It seems to me to be rather solid, and faintly marked
with oblique striae, measuring about 8 millimetres across its
broadest part.
34 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
( Sjrirobula, Lowe.)
Helix paupercula,
Helix paupercula, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 47. t. 5.
f. 19 (1831)
Pfeiff., Man. Hel. i. 189 (1848)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 35. t. 8. f. 27-30 (1854)
Morel, Hist. Nat. des Acor. 175 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 157 (1861)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 60 (1872)
Habitat S. Miguel, Fayal, et Pico ; in aridis apricis infe-
rioribus submaratimis, hinc inde ad rupes adhaerens necnon sub
lapidibus.
The curious little H. paupercula, which occurs on the whole
five islands of the Madeiran Group (where it is manifestly abori-
ginal), and which exists likewise (though sparingly) in the
eastern part of the Canarian archipelago, has been detected (at
the Azores) in S. Miguel, Fayal, and Pico, where it is found,
as in the Madeiras, in dry and rocky places near the coast.
Whether it has been naturalized accidentally from the more
southern Group, or whether the Azores constitute a portion of
its primevally-acquired range, is a problem which it is scarcely
possible to solve.
The small size, and flattened, planorbiform outline of this
obscurely-coloured, solid little Helix (which has the singular
habit of cementing itself over, more or less, with a hardened
covering of mud), in conjunction with its whorls being only
about four in number, its basal region inflated and convex,
its umbilicus large, deep, and spiral, and its aperture (which is
a good deal deflexed) powerfully constricted behind, so as to
shape out an annular ridge-like prominence, whilst the peri-
stome itself is comparatively thin, well-nigh circular, and ele-
vated, will readily distinguish it. Its average width, across the
broadest part, is about 2^ lines.
( His2)idella, Lowe.)
Helix horripila.
Helix horripila, Morel, et Dr., Journ. de Conch, vi. 149
(1857)
Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich, 165
(1858)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iv. 303 (1859)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 170. t. 3. f. 3
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 154 (1861)
AZOREAN GROUP. 36
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; praecipue in
umbrosis humidis, vel cultis inferioribus vel montosis, vulgaris.
A rather commonplace little Helix which, according to
Morelet, and judging from his excellent figure, belongs to
much the same type as the H. plebeia, hispida, rufescens,
sericea, lurida, &c., though distinct from them all. It is a
reddish-brown shell, with a faint yellowish band more or less
traceable on the ultimate volution, extremely thin and fragile,
and even subdiaphanous. Its surface is densely crowded with
minute oblique striae, which are decussated by a few fine but
less regular spiral lines (more particularly evident about the
dorsal region and the base) ; and it is conspicuously studded
with short erect hairs, which have a tendency to arrange them-
selves in radiating transverse rows. The peristome is exces-
sively thin and fragile, and has the columellary margin a little
reflexed, as well as minutely and triangularly dilated at its in-
sertion so as very slightly to overlap the edge of the umbilicus
which is, itself, rather small.
According to Morelet and Prouet, the H. horripila is found
on every island of the Group ; and one cannot but admire the
extreme diligence of those two naturalists, who obtained, in one
short visit, so overwhelming a proportion of their species on the
whole nine detachments of an archipelago which is so remotely
scattered as that of the Azores.
( Cwacollina, Beck.)
Helix barbula.
Helix barbula, Charp., in litt.
Rossm., Icon. vii. 11 (1838)
Morel., Moll, du Port. 57 (1845)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 210 (1848)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 170 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 155 (1861)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Drouet) ; sub lapidibus, ad muros,
et cast., prsecipue in cultis, vulgatissima.
The H. barbula, which is so common in Portugal, is, ac-
cording to Morelet, 4 extrement multiplied aux Azores ; ' and he
adds ' se trouve j usque dans les iles lointaines de Flores et
Corvo, ce qui fait presumer qu'elle est indigene de 1'archipel.
On la rencontre au pied des murs, dans les rues meme de
Horta et de Ponta Delgada.' Drouet, however, cuts the matter
shorter by saying < Habite tout 1'archipel ;' and we are therefore
bound to accept this statement, until otherwise explained, as a
positive guarantee that he has either found it or else ascer-
tained that it occurs in the whole nine islands of the Group. I
n 2
36 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
can only hope therefore that this is truly the case, and that in
registering it as universal it is strictly in accordance with
facts. 1
Helix lenticula.
Helix lenticula, Per., Tabl. Syst. 37, 154 (1821)
subtilis, L&ive, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 45. t. 5.
f. 13(1831)
lenticula, Id., Prod. Zool. Soc. Lond. 196 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 43. t. 11. f. 9-12 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 169 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 156 (1861)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 66 (1872)
Habitat Sta. Maria, S. Miguel, et Pico : sub lapidibus in
aridis, rarior.
The South-European H. lenticula, Fer., appears to occur
sparingly in Sta. Maria, S. Miguel, and Pico ; but it was not
observed, by either Morelet or Drouet, in any of the other
islands. It seems to be found under stones at the base of walls,
as well as amongst the plants of Agave americana (or American
Aloe), in dry spots of a low altitude. It is common in the
Madeiran and Canarian archipelagos, but less so at the Cape
Verdes.
( Lemniscia, Lowe.)
Helix vespertina.
Helix vespertina, Morel, Hist. Nat. des Acor. 170. t. b. f. 3
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 154 (1861)
Habitat Terceira; in montibus juxta craterem magnum
Caldeirao dictum parce reperta.
The affinities of this rather insignificant little Helix seem to
me to be very dubious ; and, unfortunately, Morelet gives us no
clue as to its nearest allies. Judging however from his diag-
nosis and very excellent figure, I am inclined to think that it
may perhaps have something in common with the Canarian
species (of Lowe's section Lemniscia) around the H. Wood-
wardia of Tarnier and the cosmenlitia of Shuttleworth ; and I
would therefore cite it accordingly, though at the same time
not without considerable hesitation. It is only in the island of
Terceira that it has hitherto been met with, where it was found
1 The H. barbula. is well distinguished from the lenticula by (inter alia)
its comparatively gigantic size (the larger examples measuring about 5 lines
across their broadest part), its more numerous volutions, its more strongly
costate surface, and by its incrassated peristome, the columellary and basal
margins of which are much more recurved, as well as armed internally with
two obtuse, but unequal, tooth-like callosities.
AZOREAN GROUP. 37
sparingly on the mountains in the immediate neighbourhood of
the great crater known as the Caldeirao.
The H. vespertina would seem to be somewhat depressed
and lenticular, but with the nucleus nevertheless (as in the H.
Woodwardid) prominent, very thin in substance, and glabrous,
but not shining. It is of a corneous brown, but has a faint
paler band immediately below the rather obtuse keel ; its whole
surface is finely and closely striated ; the margins of its peri-
stome are remote, but joined by a very thin lamelliform callus;
and its umbilicus is small and shallow, the outer edge being-
reached (but scarcely overhung) by the very slight columellary
dilatation.
Genus 9. BULIMUS, Scopoli.
Bulimus ventrieosus,
Bulimus ventrieosus, Drap., Tabl. de Moll. 68 (1801)
Id., Hist. Nat. 78. t. 4. f. 31-33 (1805)
Helix ventrosa, Fer., Prodr. 377. t. 52 (1807)
Bulimus ventrosus, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 62
(1831)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 54, t. 14. f. 18, 19
(1854)
Morel., Hist. 'Nat. des Acor. 1 96 ( 1 860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 163 (1861 )
Helix ventricosa, Mouse., Faun. Mai. des Can. 46 (1872)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; sub lapidibus
in aridis, vulgaris.
This Bulimus, which is so widely spread throughout Medi-
terranean latitudes occurring in the Madeiran, Canarian, and
Cape-Verde archipelagos, as well as on the west coast of
Morocco is found, according to Morelet and Drouet, on every
island of the Azorean Group. As elsewhere, it resides princi-
pally, beneath stones and about old walls, in dry spots of a low
elevation. 1
Bulimus solitarius,
Helix solitaria, Poir., Coq. Fluv. et Terr. 85 (1801)
conoidea, Drop., Tabl. de Moll. 69 (1801)
Theba conoidea, Beck, Ind. Moll. 11 (1837)
Bulimus solitarius, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 216 (1848)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 196 (1860)
1 Considering that this common Bulimus was described by Draparnaud,
under the name of ventrieosus, in 1801, and by Ferussac under that of ventrosus
in 1807, it is difficult to understand why so many authors should quote it
under the latter title instead of the former. So long as the law of priority is
to be recognized, there is a manifest want of consistency in not following it
implicitly.
38 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat Fayal (sec. Dunker) ; a D. Tarns sc. deprehensa.
The Mediterranean B. solitarius (which is well distin-
guished from the ventricosus by its rather shorter or less pro-
duced spire, its more carinated basal whorl, and its larger and
more open umbilicus) was not met with at the Azores by either
Morelet or Drouet ; nevertheless it is stated by Dunker to have
been found commonly by Dr. Tarns in Fayal.
Bulimus Santa-Marianus.
Bulimus Sanctse-Mariae, Morel, et Dr., Joum. de Conch, vi.
150 (1857)
Mouss., Viert. derNat. Zurich, 167
(1858)
Pfeiff.,Mon. Hel. iv. 474(1859)
Santa^Marianus, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 194.
t. 4. f. 6 (I860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 163 (1861)
(.status junior).
Helix membranacea, Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich, 165
(1858)
Habitat Sta. Maria, et recens et semifossilis ; ad montem
Pico Alto sub lapidibus detecta.
This is rather a short, broad, and inflated Bulimus, par-
taking more of the general contour of the B. ventricosus than
any of the following species ; and it is also thin and fragile,
semitransparent, of a corneous brown, but usually more or less
ornamented with a fascia of darker and paler ray-like, some-
times zigzag markings, which (although seldom quite obsolete)
is occasionally reduced to a narrow line, but which is far more
often so wide as to occupy nearly the whole breadth of the
penultimate whorl. Its peristome is whitish and very slightly
expanded, the columellary margin however being rather more
so, as well as a little dilated (at its point of insertion) over the
umbilical chink.
The B. Santa-Jifarianus, which measures from about 10 to
1 3 millimetres in length, occurs in Sta. Maria, especially under
stones on the Pico Alto, where it is said to be abundant ; and
it was met with likewise in a subfossilized condition, in the
south of that same island.
Bulimus Hartungi,
Bulimus Hartungi, Morel, et Dr., Journ. de Conch, vi. 151
(1857)
Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich, 166
(1858)
AZOEEAN GROUP. 39
Bulimus Hartungi, Pfeiff., Man. Hel. iv. 503 (1859)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 188. t. 4.
f. 2 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 162 (1861)
Habitat Sta. Maria, et recens et semifossilis ; sub lapidibus
in saxosis, parum vulgaris.
The present Bulimus, which is found in Sta. Maria, and
which occurs also in a subfossil state on the southern coast of
that island, is considerably smaller and less ventricose than the
B. Santa-Marianus (it being only about 10 millimetres in
length), and it seems to be free from a variegated band or
fascia. In point of fact, it is far nearer to the B. vulgaris, of
which it might almost be regarded as a small and stunted
modification peculiar to Sta. Maria (in which island the typical
vulgaris has not yet been observed). Indeed even Morelet
admits that occasional ' formes intermediaires ' of the B. Har-
tungi are not easy to separate from the vulgaris, adding, how-
ever (which seems to me to involve a petitio principii), ' on ne
peut expliquer ici ces deviations du type par 1'alliance des deux
especes, car le B. vulgaris ne parait point exister dans Vile de
Sta. Maria.'
The B. Hartungi is described as both < ruguloso-striata '
and ' spiraliter granulata ' ; and it is said to possess the habit
of coating itself over with a hardened envelope of earth, much
as one sees in the Canarian B. Guerreanus, from Hierro, as well
as (occasionally) in the darker forms of the B. variatus, W. et
B., from Lauzarote, and sometimes even in the badiosus, Yer.,
of Teneriffe. Its volutions are rather convex, with the sutural
line deeply impressed ; and the upper and lower margins of its
peristome are connected by a thin callus.
Bulimus vulgaris.
Bulimus vulgaris, Morel, et Dr., Journ. de Conch, vi. 150
(1857)
Mouss.,Viert.derNat.Zurich,l66 (1858)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel., iv. 418 (1859)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des A$or. 184. t. 4.
f. 3 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 161 (1861)
Habitat S. Miguel, et Fayal ; inter folia emortua, sub la-
pidibus, et cset., sat vulgaris.
A species which appears to be found in S. Miguel and Fayal
(in both of which islands it was met with likewise by Mr.
Grodman), being more particularly abundant in the former,
where it occurs beneath stones, under fallen leaves, and at the
40 TESTACEA ATLANT1CA.
base of the walls. It is compared by Morelet to the common
European B. obscurus ; but it is a little larger and more ven-
tricose, and its peristome is more obtuse and thickened. It
seems to be very variable in stature, its extreme length mea-
suring from about 9 to 11 millimetres.
Morelet calls attention to a shell which exists on the moun-
tains of S. Miguel, in the neighbourhood of the Lagoa do
Congro, which is so strictly intermediate between the B. vulgaris
and pruninus (the types of which are otherwise altogether dis-
similar) that he is quite unable to decide to which of them it
should be referred; and he consequently arrives at the con-
clusion that, in all probability, it is a hybrid between the two
species.
Bulimus delibutus.
Bulimus delibutus, Morel, et Dr., Journ. de Conch, vi. 151
(1857)
Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich, 167
(1858)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iv. 474 (1859)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 190. t. 4.
f. 4 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 161 (1861)
Habitat Terceira, et Fayal ; hinc inde in saxosis occurrens.
The B. delibutus, which has been found in Terceira and
Fayal, seems to be very near to the vulgaris, from which it
mainly differs in being a trifle slenderer and more shining, and
in having its suture obscurely and very narrowly edged with
white. It appears also to be more or less lightly marked with
spiral undulating lines, sometimes paler and sometimes darker
than the ground-colour, but which are apt to become obsolete
when the shell happens to be thinner than usual and more
transparent. The columellary edge of its peristome is just
appreciably wider than is the case in the B. vulgaris, and has a
.very slight tendency to be subrecurved.
Bulimus Forbesianus,
Bulimus variatus, Dunk, [nee W. et B., 1833], Ind. Moll.
6. t. 1. f. 24, 25
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 355 (1853)
Forbesianus, Morel, et Dr., Journ. de Conch, vi.
151 (1857)
atlanticus, Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich, 166
(1858)
Forbesianus, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iv. 422 (1859)
AZOREAN GROUP. 41
Bulimus Forbesianus, Morel., Hist. Nat. des A$or. 192. t. 4.
f. 5 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. A$or. 161 (1861)
Habitat Terceira, Graciosa, Pico, et Fayal ; exemplaribus e
Terceira plerumque crassioribus (quare minus translucentibus),
ac magis aut etiam omnino concoloribus.
This is apparently larger and more elongated than any of
the foregoing species, its average length being about 15 milli-
metres ; and it seems to. be somewhat slender and subdia-
phanous, rather shining, granulated at the base, and usually
marbled or variegated with irregular, more or less confluent
and fragmentary, paler lines and spots ; though some examples,
particularly those from Terceira, are said to be concolorous.
There can be little question that it is very closely allied to the
B. variatus, W. et B. (to which indeed it was originally re-
ferred by Pfeiffer) ; and, considering the extreme inconstancy
of that species in the Canarian archipelago, I cannot but feel
doubtful whether it ought to be regarded as more than a modi-
fication of the latter, and one moreover which is not absolutely
similar even in the four islands Terceira, Graciosa, Pico, and
Fayal- on which it is said to occur.
Bulimus variatus.
Bulimus variatus, W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. Syn. 326
(1833)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 125 (1845)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des A<?or. 192 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. A$or. 160 (1861)
Habitat Sta. Maria, et recens et semifossilis ; sub lapidibus
haud infrequens.
I have not been able to procure a type from these islands for
comparison, but the B. variatus, W. et B., which is so widely
spread in the Canaries, and which presents so many different
modifications for different islands of the Group, is said both by
Morelet and Drouet to occur in Sta. Maria; and the latter
mentions that it likewise exists in a subfossil state (in company
with the Helix vetusta, &c.) near Praya, on the southern coast.
Considering how little in common, as regards their true faunas
(i. e. after the manifestly introduced species have been elimi-
nated), the Azorean and Canarian archipelagos have with each
other, it is certainly strange that one of the most unmistakeably
indigenous members of the latter should be found, both recent
and subfossilized, in the former. Judging from Drouet's diag-
nosis, the examples from the Azores would seem to accord better
perhaps with the TenerifTan ones (which represent the ' status
42 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
normalis* of this catalogue) than with those from either
Lauzarote or Palma.
Bulimus pruninus.
Bulimus pruninus, Gould, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 190
(1846)
Id., Exped. Shells, t. 6. f. 83 (1851)
cyaneus, Alb., Mai. Bldtt. 31 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 354 (1853)
Mouss.,Viert.derNat.Zurich,lQQ (1858)
tremulans, Id., Ibid. 167 (1858)
pruninus, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iv. 418 (1859)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Apor. 179. t. 4.
f. 1 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 159 (1861)
Habitat Sta. Maria, S. Miguel, et Terceira; vulgaris, ac
valde inconstans.
This is the largest of the Azorean Bulimi, measuring from
about 14 to 18 millimetres in length ; and it is, apparently, the
most variable shell in the archipelago, the number of phases,
both in colour and sculpture, through which it passes being
well-nigh endless. Ten of the more conspicuous of them are
alluded to by Morelet, to whose account of the species I must
consequently refer. It is in the three eastern islands Sta.
Maria, S. Miguel, and Terceira that the B. pruninus is found,
and it seems to be as common there as it is unstable, occurring
principally beneath stones, amongst dead leaves, and at the
bases of the walls.
The B. pruninus is a more or less solid shell, and opake,
generally roughly striated but sometimes with the striae obsolete,
with the aperture rather angulose at the base, and with the
peristome (the upper and lower portions of which are connected
by an intervening callus) thickened and (especially towards the
columella) expanded. In colour, it is often (except at the
apex) blueish or plumbeous, passing-off however into a yel-
lowish- or corneous-brown, as well as into a rosy-white, and even
white; but the blueish or cyaneous tint is often indistinctly
traceable in examples in which at first sight it would seem to
have totally disappeared.
Genus 10. STENOGYEA, Shutil.
Stenogyra decollata.
Helix decollata, Linn., Syst. Nat. (edit. 10), 773 (1758)
Bulimus decollatus, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 62
(1831;
AZOREAN GROUP. 43
Bulimus decollates, Alb., Mai. Mad. 54, t. 14, f. 16-17
(1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Agor. 196
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 163 (1861)
Stenogyra decollata, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 120
(1872)
Habitat Sta. Maria, et S. Miguel; hinc inde in apricis
inferioribus, forsan introducta.
It is only in the islands of Sta. Maria and S. Miguel that the
Mediterranean 8. decollata has hitherto been observed, namely,
near the fort of San Braz in the former, in company with the H.
paupercula, and in a somewhat calcareous district of the latter
which constitutes the southern base of vhe Facho. In all pro-
bability it has been naturalized in the archipelago.
Grenus 11. PUPA, Drap.
( Truncatellina, Lowe.)
Pupa microspora.
Pupa microspora, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 275 (1852)
Pfdff., Mon. Hel. iii. 532 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 207 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 61 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des A$or. 197,t. 5. f. 1
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Aqor. 167 (1861)
Mouss.,Faun. Mai. des Can. 124 (1872)
Habitat S. Miguel, Fayal, et Pico ; sub foliis dejectis,
lapidibus, et inter muscos in umbrosis humidiusculis occurrens.
This fragile, subdiaphanous, conical, edentate little Pupa,
which is so abundant, particularly amongst ferns, in the laurel-
woods of a high elevation both in Madeira and the Canaries,
and which is very nearly allied to the European P. edentula,
Drap., was found by Morelet and Drouet in S. Miguel, Fayal,
and Pico, in the first and second chiefly in the Caldeiras, and
in the third amongst the fallen leaves of the Persea azorica.
( Gastrodon, Lowe.)
Pupa umbilicata.
Pupa umbilicata, Drap., Tabl. des Moll. 58 (1801)
Helix anconostoma, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 62.
t. 5. f. 30(1831)
Pupa Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 314 (1848)
44 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Pupa anconostoma, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 208
(1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 61. t. 15. f. 19-22
(1854)
MoreL, Hist. Nat. des Acor. 198
(1860)
umbilicata, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 165 (1861)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 120 (1867)
anconostoma Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 123
(1872)
umbilicata, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 223 (1876)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Drouet); sub lapidibus necnon ad
muros, prsesertim in cultis, vulgatissima. In Fayal a Revdo.
R. T. Lowe lecta.
The form which this common European Pupa assumes at
the Azores appears chiefly to be the rather smaller one, with a
less developed ventral plait, to which Mr. Lowe gave the name
of anconostoma, and which is so abundant in the Madeiras
and Canaries, and which occurs even at St. Helena. Morelet
is content to speak of it as ' tres commune aux Apores ' ; but
Drouet, less guarded in his mode of expression, adds ' Habite
tout 1'archipel.' It is far from unlikely that the latter may in
reality be true ; nevertheless if M. Drouet did not absolutely
meet with it on the whole nine islands, it is at least rash (to
say nothing of the want of precision in the actual statement) to
assume that it is universal ; for, to take the instance of the
neighbouring Group, although it positively swarms in Madeira
proper, it has not as yet been observed in Porto Santo at all,
and but very sparingly on only two of the three Desertas.
Therefore I cannot but consider it somewhat strange that the
nine Azorean islands, which are far more widely separated from
each other, should have been ascertained to harbour it both
universally and in profusion.
( lAostyla, Lowe.)
Pupa fuscidula.
Pupa fuscidula, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 202. t. 5. f. 5
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 165 (1861)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; sub lapidibus
et inter folia emortua degens.
A Pupa which is said by Morelet and Drouet to be found on
every island of the Azorean Group ; a range which, judging from
the analogy of the allied forms at the Madeiras and the Canaries,
AZOREAN GROUP. 45
is certainly a wide one at any rate for a species which, is mani-
festly aboriginal and which has no appearance of having been
naturalized. It is smaller and rather more conical (or less
strictly barrel-shaped) than the P. tessellata ; and its pale
corneous surface (which is minutely striated and somewhat
shining) is almost entirely darkened or concealed (except
beneath, or at the base of the shell) by a fuscous band which
more or less covers the whorls. The aperture is relatively a
little smaller than in the P. tessellata,, and not quite so
posteriorly-prominent, or downwardly-produced ; and it is
armed internally with five plaits, two of which are ventral
(the outer one being the larger and more salient, and connected
by a corneous sphincter with the angle of the lip), one columel-
lary, and two (which are more immersed or remote) palatial.
Although unmistakeably allied to several Madeiran species
of the laurinea and concinna type, I think nevertheless
(judging from the diagnosis and figure) that the present Pupa
has still more in common with the P. castanea of the Canarian
archipelago, and (perhaps more particularly) with the P.
pythiella.
Pupa fasciolata,
Pupa fasciolata, Morel., Hist. Nat. des A$or. 198. t. 5. f. 2
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 165 (1861)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Morelet et Drouet) ; sub lapidibus
et inter folia emortua, una cum specie prsecedenti, vulgaris.
Judging from the diagnosis and the very excellent figure
which is given by Morelet, this seems to be a more ovate and
ventricose little Pupa than the fuscidula, as well as thinner
and more pellucid, and less broadly clouded with a dark-brown
or castaneous fascia, the latter (at all events as represented in
the plate) being reduced to a somewhat narrower and better-
defined band. Its aperture would appear to have only a single
very distinct plica, namely, in the usual place, on the ventral
wall, at a short distance from the angle of the lip ; nevertheless
there are manifest indications of another, on the columella,
which however is deeply immersed, and by no means con-
spicuous.
The P. fasciolata is reported both by Morelet and Drouet
as existing on every one of the Azorean islands (' dans toutes
les iles de 1'archipel ') ; and it supplies, therefore, another
instance of the extreme diligence of those two explorers, who,
during a single visit extending over a period of but five months,
succeeded in obtaining no less than one- third of their Grastro-
46 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
podous fauna on the whole nine detachments of a Group which
is so widely scattered as that of the Azores. 1
Pupa tessellata.
Pupa tesselata, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. t. 5. f. 6
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 164 (1861)
Habitat Sta. Maria; in sylvis laurorum et Myricoe in
montibus copiose degens.
This is the largest of the Azorean Pupce which have hitherto
been detected, and one which has been found only in Sta. Maria,
where it is said to occur abundantly, in the laurel and Myrica
woods, on the mountains of .the interior. It is very much on
the Madeiran type, and seems to me (so far as I can judge from
the diagnosis and figure) to have most in common with such
species as the P. laurinea and concinna, with which its some-
what downwardly-produced and trefoil-shaped aperture would
still further tend to affiliate it.
The P. tessellata is a rather oval or barrel-shaped species,
somewhat obtuse at the apex, lightly costulated, and of a ful-
vescent hue, but a good deal darkened, or chequered, with
irregular, squarish, more or less confluent, castaneous makings ;
and its aperture has six plaits, two of which are ventral (the
outer one being the larger, and joined by a corneous sphincter
to the angle of the lip), two columellary, and two (more
internal and less developed) palatial.
( Craticula, Lowe.)
Pupa rugulosa.
Pupa rugulosa, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 199. t. 5. f. 3
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 166 (1861)
Habitat Pico ; in horto quodam versus occidentem insulae,
semel tantum (inter Helicem pauperculam, Lowe) reperta.
The present Pupa and the P. vermiculosa appear to differ
from the other Azorean species here enumerated in being a
little more solid and opake, and more distinctly sculptured
across the whorls with longitudinal costse. Indeed, so far as I
can judge from the diagnoses and figures, I should say that
they are very intimately allied, the rugulosa, however, being
rather the larger of the two, as well as somewhat more oblong
1 And this, I may add, is rendered even still more remarkable when we
take into account that at any rate the island of S. Jorge does not appear to
have been visited by MM. Morelet and Drouet at all.
AZOREAN GROUP. 47
(or less short and ventricose), and with its surface a little more
roughened, though its costse (which are slightly more numerous
and regular) are nevertheless not quite so coarse. Its aperture,
too, is relatively a trifle smaller, and (according to the diagnosis)
is provided with only three plaits, two of which are ventral
(the outer, or larger, one being connected with the angle of the
lip by a corneous sphincter), and the third one on the middle of
the columella. In the figure, however, there would seem to be
indications of a fourth one, on the palate ; but this perhaps
may be merely accidental.
The P. rugulosa is apparently unique, the single example
which served Morelet as a type having been found by Drouet in
a garden, in company with the H. paupercula, Lowe, on the
western coast of Pico.
Pupa vermiculosa.
Pupa vermiculosa, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 201. t. 5.
f. 4 (I860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 166 (1861)
Habitat S. Miguel ; in montibus juxta lacum ad Las Furnas
parce lecta.
As already implied, the present Pupa is a trifle smaller
and more ovate than the P. rugulosa, and its costse are rather
wider apart, at any rate on the ultimate and penultimate
whorls, where they have also a slight tendency to be flexuose or
vermiform. Its aperture is said to be armed internally with
four plaits (instead of only three) ; but the fourth one cannot
be very conspicuous or well defined, seeing that a different
situation is assigned to it by Morelet and Drouet, the former
citing it as (small and ' punctiform ') on the ventral wall, to
the left of the usual large and prominent one ; whilst Drouet
speaks of it as on the ' bord externe ' (or palate), in which case
(according to him) there is only ' 1 sur la paroi superieure,'
i.e. on the ventral paries. I doubt, therefore, if the aperture
can be regarded strictly as more than 3-plicate.
The P. vermiculosa was met with in S. Miguel, at the base
of the mountains which adjoin the southern border of the lake
in the valley of the Furnas.
( Staurodon, Lowe.)
Pupa pygmaBa.
Pupa pygma3a, Drap., Tabl. d. Moll. 57 (1801)
Vertigo pygmasa, Gray, Man. 201. t. 7. f. 83 (1840)
Pupa pygmsea, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. ii. 362 (1848)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 206 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 167 (1861)
43 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat S. Miguel ; juxta Ponta Delgada parce deprehensa.
This common and minute European Pupa was found both
by Morelet and Drouet in S. Miguel, where in all probability
it must have been introduced accidentally, along perhaps with
consignments of shrubs and plants. It would seem to have
been found principally near Ponta Delgada, though Morelet
alludes to it also as occurring in the Caldeiras.
Genus 12. BALEA, Pridx.
Balea perversa,
Turbo perversus, Linn., Fna. Suec. 2172 (1761)
Balea perversa, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 387 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 215 (1854)
,, Alb., Mai. Mad. 69. t. 16. f. 15, 16 (1854)
nitida, Mouss., Viert. der Nat. Zurich) 168 (1858)
perversa, Morel, Hist. Nat. des Acor. 206 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 167 (1861)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad., 140 (1867)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Drouet) ; ad muros, in muscis, et
cset., vulgaris.
Morelet makes no particular mention of the exact range of
this common European Gastropod at the Azores, but Drouet
adds, more boldly, ' Habite tout Farchipel ' ; and we have con-
sequently no option but to accept the latter statement (until at
all events it has been otherwise qualified or explained) as
literally and dogmatically true. It is therefore interesting to
feel assured that the B. perversa, which is so nearly absent
from the more southern Groups that it has been observed
hitherto only on the extreme summit of a basaltic mountain in
Porto Santo (where it was detected sparingly by myself), should
be absolutely abundant in the whole nine widely-scattered
islands which constitute the Azores. Such facts as these are of
great geographical importance, and we cannot be too thankful
to M. Drouet for having established so conclusively the Azorean
universality of this species.
It would appear that the examples of this Balea from the
present archipelago are, on the average, a little more shining
than the ordinary continental ones, with their volutions a trifle
more tumid, and their aperture (which is just appreciably
smaller and rounder) free from a ventral plait ; and this cir-
cumstance induced Mousson to describe it as new, under the
name of B. nitida. It is the opinion, however, both of Morelet
and Drouet that these distinctions are not permanent ones, the
individuals varying according to the districts in which they are
AZOREAN GROUP. 49
found, and some of them having their plait conspicuously
developed ; so that it is not possible to regard the Azorean
specimens as representing more than, at the utmost, a slight
geographical variety of the usual type.
Genus 13. ACHATINA, Lamarck.
( Coclilicopa, Fer.)
Achatina lubrica.
Helix lubrica, Mull, Verm. Hist. ii. 104 (1774)
subcylindrica, Chemn., Syst. Conch, ix. 2. 167. t.
135. f. 1235 (1786)
Achatina lubrica, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 272 (1848)
Glandina azorica,-^., Mai. Bldtt. 125 (1852)
Achatina azorica, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 54 (1853)
Zua azorica, Mouss., Viert der Nat. Zurich, 167 (1858)
Glandina lubrica, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 197 (1860)
subcylindrica, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 164 (1861)
Achatina lubrica, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 223 (1876)
Habitat ins. omnes (sec. Drouet), sed Sta. Maria, S. Miguel,
et Fayal sec. Morelet ; sub lapidibus, et caet., vulgaris.
According to Morelet and Drouet the Azorean examples of
this common European Achatina differ in no respect from the
usual ones, and it is therefore utterly inexplicable how Albers
could have described them (as he did in 1852) as the exponents
of a new species. It occurs also in the cultivated districts of
the Madeiran and (judging from Morelet's list) the Cape-Verde
Groups, where there can be little doubt that it must have
become accidentally naturalized; but since the Madeiran
specimens belong for the most part to the slightly smaller and
slenderer phasis of the shell which Mr. Lowe enunciated as the
A. maderensis (and which is the one equally alluded to in
Dr. Albers' ' Malacographia '), I have not cited the works of
either Lowe or Albers amongst the references (as above given)
of the species. Nevertheless I might have done so without any
real inaccuracy, for there can be little doubt that the rather
narrower and depauperated form which was characterised by
Mr. Lowe, and which is the almost universal aspect assumed in
Madeira, is conspecific with the somewhat larger type.
Morelet speaks of the C. lubrica as abundant in Sta.
Maria, S. Miguel, and Fayal ; but Drouet, as is his wont in so
many other similar instances, adds ' Habite tout 1'archipel ' ;
though whether that means that he absolutely met with it (or
had ascertained positively that it exists) in the whole nine
islands, as the expression would inevitably imply, or whether,
E
50 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
simply, that he thought it must be found upon them all, is a
problem which I am altogether unable to solve. At any rate,
until cause has been shown to the contrary, we have no choice
but to receive his assertion as strictly true.
Fam. 5. AURICULID^E.
G-enus 14. PEDIPES, Adans.
Pedipes afra.
Le Pietin, Pedipes, Adans., Hist, du Seneg. 11. t. 1. f. 4
(1757)
Helix afra, Omelin, Syst. Nat. i. 3715 (1790)
Pedipes afra, Lowe, Zool. Journ. v. 296 (1835)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 218 (1854)
afer, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 169 (1861)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 153 (1867)
Habitat Pico ; rupibus maritimis, sestu maris quotidie sub-
mersis, adhaerens.
The P. afra, which is locally abundant along the shores of
Madeira, and which occurs likewise at the Salvages, appears to
be common on sea-washed rocks in Pico ; but it has not hitherto
been noticed in any of the other islands of the Azorean archipe-
lago. It is a species of a wide geographical range, and one
which seems to be found on many parts of the African coast.
Although it has not yet been observed for certain at the Canaries,
we may be pretty sure that it must exist equally in that Group.
G-enus 15. AURICULA, Lam.
Auricula sequalis.
Melampus aBqualis, Lowe, Zool. Journ. v. 288, t. 1 3. f. 1-5
(1835)
Auricula sequalis, Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 217 (1854)
Vulcani, Morel.* Hist. Nat. des Acor. 207. t. 5. f, 8
(1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 167 (1861)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 135 (1872)
sequalis, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 220 (1876)
Habitat Terceira, et Pico ; rupibus saxisque adhgerens, in
salinis et subsalinis, ad oras rivulorum.
I have mentioned in my account of this Auricula which is
given in the section pertaining to the Madeiran Group that I
possess the most conclusive evidence that the A. Vulcani, of
Morelet, described from examples taken in Terceira and Pico,
and which is said to occur likewise in Teneriffe, is nothing more
AZOREAN GROUP. 51
than a state of the common Madeiran A. cequalis,in which the
outer lip of the peristome is thickened internally into a central
denticle, and in which the impressed spiral lines which are so
often traceable (more especially towards the base) in that spe-
cies happen to be more than usually evident. Judging from
an immense series of the A. cequalis which I have lately over-
hauled, composed of nearly two thousand specimens, I find that
these particular features on which the A. Vulcani was made to
rest are liable to be gradually assumed by every phasis of the
shell, and moreover to an equal extent, and that consequently
they possess no kind of specific significance whatsoever. Indeed
I have examples in which they are so rudimentary as to be barely
appreciable, and others in which they are more and more ex-
pressed until they become comparatively conspicuous ; and as for
the somewhat 'slenderer' outline of the A. Vulcani, I will
merely add that the individuals from the Salvages are almost
invariably a trifle narrower and more elongated than those from
Madeira, and yet they pass so completely into the ordinary type
that it is impossible to regard them as representing more than a
very slightly modified local race of the universal Madeiran shell.
Whether the strictly normal aspect of the A. cequalis, however,
is met with at the Azores, or whether all the examples have the
right-hand margin of the aperture thus incrassated, I have no
means of deciding. In all probability the examination of a
sufficiently long array of specimens would bring to light the ex-
istence (as in Madeira) of both varieties.
Auricula gracilis.
Melampus gracilis, Lowe, Zool. Journ. v. 288 (1835)
Auricula gracilis, Id., Proc. ZooL.Soc. Loud. 217 (1854)
vespertina, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 210. t. 5.
f. 9 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 169 (1861)
Alexia Loweana, Pfei/., Mai. Bldtt. xiii. 145 (1866)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 154 (1867)
Auricula denticulata et Loweana, Wats., Journ. de Conch.
220 (1876).
Habitat Pico ; per litora maris, inter rejectamenta, parce
(emortua) reperta.
Several examples of this Auricula are stated by Morelet to
have been found (dead), amongst rejectamenta, on the sea-shore
in Pico ; and the excellent figure given by him, accompanied by
the equally good diagnosis, leaves no doubt whatever on my
mind that his 'A. vespertina ' (which is the title under which
he describes the species) is identical with the A. gracilis, of
E 2
52 TEST ACE A ATLANTICA.
Lowe, from Madeira. Indeed he himself mentions that he
possesses Madeiran examples of the vespertina, differing in no
respect from the Azorean ones except that they are a little more
purpurascent, which is one of the most conspicuous features
which distinguishes the A. gracilis. However, the point, of all
others, by which the shell may be recognised consists in the
number and relative proportions of the denticles and plaits with
which its aperture is furnished, two (the lower one of which is
large and prominent), often increased to three, being on the
ventral paries, one on the columella, and from about one to four
within the outer lip. Apart however from these primary cha-
racters, the A. gracilis may be further known by being very
much smaller than the cequalis, as well as less ovate (or more
strictly fusiform) in outline, and not quite so solid in substance.
Auricula bicolor.
Auricula bicolor, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 209, t. 5. f. 7
(1860)
Drouet., Faun. Acor. 168 (1861)
Alexia bicolor, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 136 (1872)
Habitat Pico ; in salinis subsalinisque ad oras rivulorum,
rupibus saxisque adhserens.
A species which has been found in saline and subsaline
places in the island of Pico, at those parts of the coast where
the rivulets empty themselves into the sea, so that, like the
cognate forms, it appears to live sometimes in salt water and
sometimes in fresh. It is identical with an Auricula which was
met with abundantly by Mr. Lowe and myself in the north of
Lauzarote, in the Canarian archipelago, and which agrees
almost precisely with some examples which I have received from
Marseilles as the ' A. myosotis, Drap.' ; but since it is possible
that the Marseilles shell may have been wrongly identified, I
prefer citing the present species under the name which was pro-
posed for it by Morelet.
The A. bicolor is decidedly peculiar in tint, the pale horn-
coloured surface being more or less conspicuously darkened by
a rich purplish bloom, which sometimes quite covers the spire ;
and its aperture has usually but a single plait (which is large
and prominent) on the ventral wall, though there are occasionally
indications of a minute tubercle-like second one midway between
the former and the insertion of the peristome. Its whorls are
a little convex ; its extreme nucleus is generally pale, transpa-
rent, and tilted ; and the entire shell is rather thin and pellucid
(for an Auricula), having at first sight somewhat the appear-
ance of a Limncea.
AZOREAN GROUP. 53
Sectio II. OPERCULATA.
Fam. 6. CYCLOPHORDLE.
Genus 16. CRASPEDOPOMA, Pfeiff.
Craspedopoma hespericum.
Cyclostoma hespericum, Morel, et Dr., Journ. de Conch, vi.
152(1857)
Cyclostomus hespericus, Pfeiff., Mon, Pneum. Suppl. 1.
122 (1858)
Craspedopoma hespericum, Mouss., Viert. des Nat. Zurich,
168 (1858)
Cyclostoma hespericum, Morel., Hist, des Nat.Acor. 212. t. 5,
f. 10 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. A cor. 170 (1861)
Habitat Sta. Maria, S. Miguel, Terceira, et Fayal ; in mon-
tibus sub foliis emortuis, parum vulgare.
This characteristic little Cyclostomid is quite on the Ma-
deiran type, and is probably more allied to the C. Monizianum
of that archipelago than it is to the lucidum. It appears to be
smaller than the latter, and less globulose, but with much the
same peculiarity of colouring, namely, a coffee-brown, fading-
off frequently (either wholly or in part) into a yellowish or
ochreous tint. Occasionally also it would seem to be somewhat
transparent, but it is more often solid and slightly shining.
The C. hespericum is recorded by both Morelet and Drouet
from the islands of Sta. Maria, S. Miguel, Terceira, and Fayal ;
where it occurs, beneath fallen leaves, &c., at a tolerable eleva-
tion in the mountains.
Fam. 7. HELICINID^E.
Grenus 17. HYDROGEN A, Parreyss.
Hydrocsena gutta.
Hydrocsena gutta, Shuttl, Bern.Mitth. Syn. 145 (1823)
Pfeiff., Mon. Pneum. Suppl. 1. 157
(1858)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des A cor. 214. t. 5.
f. 11 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. A cor. 170 (1861)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 147
(1872)
Habitat Sta. Maria, S. Miguel, et Fayal ; sub foliis emortuis
in sylvaticis editioribus occurrens.
Said by Morelet and Drouet to occur in Sta. Maria, S.
54
TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Miguel, and Fayal, amongst dead leaves in wooded spots of a
rather high altitude. In the Canarian archipelago I have taken
this very minute shell abundantly, in similar situations, both
in Teneriffe and Palma, but always in the dampest places.
Indeed it was usually to be met with about the fronds and roots
of ferns which were kept in a constant state of douche by the
spray of the waterfalls ; and I think therefore that Mousson must
have fallen into some strange error, in his ' Faune Malacolo-
gique des Canaries,' when he states, apparently on the authority
of Blauner, that it lives c sous les pierres dans les lieux arides.'
Indeed this modus vivendi is absolutely disproved by his own
assertion that it exists in company with the Hyalina Clymene,
Shuttl., and the Pupa castanea ; for the only spot in which
those two species have ever been observed together (indeed the
only one in which the former of them has hitherto been found
at all) are some trickling rocks, adjoining a small waterfall, be-
twesn the little town of Grarachico and Ycod de los Vinhos, in
the north of Teneriffe, where they are associated likewise with
the Ancylus striatus, Q. et Gr., and the Physa acuta, Drap. I
suspect, therefore, that the sylvan localities at the Azores in
which the H. gutta is to be met with are, as at the Canaries, at
any rate damp ones.
AZOREAN CATALOGUE.
S.M.
Mig.
Terc.
Grac.
Jorge
Pico.
Fay.
Flor.
Corv.
LIMACIDJE.
Arion, Fet
ater, Linn. . M., D.
fuscatus, Fer.
Jfr
#
subfuscus, Drap. M., D.
*
ft
#
#
*
ft
ft
ft
*
Limax, Linn.
gagates, Drap. M. } D.
maximus, Linn. M., D.
*
#
*
ft
*
*
*
M
*
flavus, Linn.
*
agrestis, Linn. M., D.
*
*
ft
*
*
*
*
*
ft
Viquesnelia, Desli.
atlantica, Morel. , ,
#
TESTACELLIDJE.
Testacella, Cuv.
Maugei, Fer. . . .
*
#
ft
VITRINIDJE.
Vitrina, Drop.
brumalis, Morel. .
#
mollis, Morel. . .
#
brevispira, Morel. 3 .
ft
AZOREAN GROUP.
56
AZOREAN CATALOGUE (continued).
S.M.
Mig.
Terc
Grac
Jorge
Pico
Fay
Flor
Corv.
finitima, Morel. .
angulosa, Morel.
laxata, Morel. . .
pelagica, Morel. . . *
HELICID.E.
Hyalina, Gray.
(EadioUs, Woll.)
#
tt
* miguelina, Pfeiff. .
(Lucilla, Lowe)
* cellaria, Miill. . M., D.
(Crystalhts, Lowe)
#
*
*
*
*
*
*
ff
*
(Conulus, Fitz.)
(Helicella, Beck)
Patula, Held.
(Patulce normales)
(Acanthinula, Beck)
monas, Morel,
pusilla, Lowe
aculeata, Miill. . ,
Helix, Linn.
(Vallonia, Risso)
pulchella Miill D
*
#
#
*
(Leptaxis, Lowe)
* vetusta, M. et D. .
erubescens, Lowe
azorica, Alb.
caldeirarum, M. et D.
niphas, Pfeiff.
terceirana, M. et D.
Drouetiana, Morel. ,
(Pomatia, Beck)
*
*
*
ff
(Macularia, Alb.)
lactea, Miill. . ,
(Euparypha, Hartm.)
*
(XeropUla, Held)
apicina, Lam.
* obruta, Morel. . . .
(Spirorbula, Lowe)
paupercula, Lowe -
(Hispidella, Lowe)
horripila M et D M D
*
*
*
(Caracollina, Beck)
barbula (Charp.) Rossm. D.
lenticula, Fer. . "V -
(Lsmniscia, Lowe)
vespertina, Morel. . .
#
;
*
*
V
#
*
#
*
ff
#
56
TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
AZOREAN CATALOGUE (continued').
S,M.
Mig.
Terc.
Grac.
Jorge
Pico
Fay.
Fior.
Corv.
Bulhnus, Scop.
ventricosus, Drap. M., D.
solitarius, Poir. .
if
*
* Santa- Marianus, M. et D.
if
* Hartungi, M. et D, .
a
vulgaris, M. et D.
*
if
delibutus, M. et D.
#
if
Forbesianus, M. et D.
n
g
if
*
* variatus, W. et B. ,
*
pruninus, Gould .
*
*
If
Stenogyra, Shuttl.
decollata, Linn. .
*
*
Pupa, Drap,
(Truncatellina, Lowe)
p
microspora, Lowe
*
if
*
(Gastrodon, Lowe)
umbilicata, Drap. . D.
*
*
*
#
n
*
if
*
if
(Liostyla, Lowe)
fuscidula, Morel. M., D.
fasciolata, Morel. M., D.
if
I
*
J
*
*
*
*
ft
tessellata, Morel. " .
*
(Craticula, Lowe)
rugulosa, Morel. . .
*
vermiculosa, Morel. . .
#
(Staurodon, Lowe)
pygmsea, Drap. , .
If
Balea, Pridx.
perversa, Linn. . . D.
*
*
*
if
If
*
*
*
If
Acliatina, Lam,
(Cocklicojw,, Fer.)
lubrica, Mull. . , D.
Pedipes, Adans,
afra, Gmel, ....
*
Auricula, Lam.
sequalis, Lowe
8. Vulcani, Morel. . .
*
n
gracilis, Lowe
^
bicolor, Morel.
*
CYCLOPHOKIDJE.
Craspedopoma, Pfeiff.
hespericum, M. et D. .
*
*
*
*
HELICINIDJE.
Hydrocsena, Parreyss.
gutta, Shuttl.
*
*
#
MADEIEAN GROUP. 57
II. MADEIEAN GROUP.
OF all the Atlantic Islands, those which constitute the Ma-
deiran Group have been by far the most carefully examined ; and
I think also that it is not too much to affirm that their species
are the most isolated, as regards structure, and peculiar. The
observations of the Kev. E. T. Lowe were extended, at intervals,
over a period of at least forty years ; and they have been well
supplemented by those of Mr. Leacock, Senhor J. M. Moniz,
the Eev. E. B. Watson, the late Mr. Bewicke, the Barao do
Castello de Paiva, Senhor N. Marcial, and others ; added to
which, the occasional visits to the archipelago of distinguished
European naturalists, such as Dr. Albers, Professor 0. Heer,
M. Hartung, and Sir Charles Lyell, have combined to increase
our knowledge of the fauna, and to throw additional light on
many an obscure problem with which it is connected. My own
researches were commenced in 1 847 ; and during the thirty years
which have since elapsed the Natural History of Madeira, under
one or another of its departments, and in connection with that
of the more southern clusters, has been well-nigh constantly be-
fore me.
In reviewing the Pulmonata of this archipelago (which num-
ber, in all, according to my computation, 176 species), the most
salient fact which meets us at the outset consists in the marvel-
lous segregation of its several members within areas of the most
limited extent. Thus, to take the Terrestrial species only, if we
remove the European and North-African ones (represented by
the Limaces and Testacellce, the Hyalina cellaria and crys-
talling the Patula rotundata and pygmcea, the Helix pul-
chella, aspersa, pisana, caperata, armillata, lenticula, and
lapicida, the Bulimus ventricosus, the Stenogyra decollata,
the Pupa umbilicata^ the Balea perversa, the Achatina acicula,
and lubrica, and the Lovea follicidus), which in all probability
have become accidentally naturalized, and which are no more
characteristic of the Madeiras than they are of the Canaries and
the Azores ; out of the 138 which remain there are absolutely
only 7 which have found their way beyond the limits of the
58 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Group. 1 And it is highly probable that three of even these
seven (namely the Patula pusilla, the Helix erubescens, and the
H. paupercula) may have been transported from their original
centres along with ballast. So that we arrive at the conclusion,
that the archipelago, as represented by its extra-European Pul-
moniferous Grastropods, is almost wholly independent of those
to the north and south of it.
And now, to advance a step further, if we cast an eye down
the Madeiran list as given at the close of this section, we shall
perceive that, out of the 138 Terrestrial species (eatfm-Euro-
pean) to which I have just called attention, 61 are peculiar to
Madeira proper, 44 to Porto Santo, and 10 to the Desertas, 23
only remaining promiscuous (i. e. more or less permeating the
entire cluster) ; and of these 23 2 merely five 3 have been ob-
served as yet on all the islands. From which we infer, that
even within the archipelago itself no great number of its Pul-
monata have wandered far from their particular islands, the
areas of an overwhelming majority of them remaining most
wonderfully circumscribed.
In making the above remarks I consider it necessary to point
out, that the forms on which I have relied are for the most part
so distinct from each other that they could scarcely fail to be
looked upon, by any careful and experienced naturalist, as other-
wise than ' species ' (technically so called). Into the abstract
questions of derivation and common ancestry I do not now
enter, because all such problems (however ' philosophical ') are
at the best only speculative, and I hold that no accurate mono-
graph has anything whatever to do with mere speculation. The
truth of this becomes at once obvious from the fact, that if a
plausible hypothesis were allowed to be made the basis of a
treatise like the present one, and the species were to be reduced
in consequence to half the number, it would be open to any
future naturalist to demand a still further reduction (according
to the views which he happened to entertain on the qucestio
1 These 7 are the minute Patula placida andpusilla (the former of which
occurs likewise at the Canaries, and the latter in the Azores, Canaries, Cape
Verdes, and St. Helena), the Helix erubescens and paupercula (the former of
which is equally Azorean, and the latter Azorean and Canarian), the Pupa
microspora and fanalensis (the first of which is found both at the Azores and
Canaries, and the second at the Canaries), and the Lovea tornatellina (an
example of which was lately detected by Mr. Watson in Grand Canary).
2 The 23 which have found their way into more than a single island are
the following : Vitrina marcida, Patula bifrons and pusilla, Helix erubescens,
B&wdichiana, punctulata, vulgata, paupercula, spirorbis, leptosticta, arcta,
actinophora, compacta, abjecta, sphferula, and polymorpha, Pupa millegrana,
Clausilia deltostoma, Achatina eulima, Lovea gracilis, tornatellina, and mitri-
formis, and Craspedopoma lucidum.
1 Helix erubescens, pavpercula, and polymorpha, Clausilia deltostoma, and
Lovea mitriformis.
MADE1RAN GROUP. 59
vexata of * origin '), a process which might, and probably would,
be again and again repeated until there were no ' species ' at all
left (as such) either to enumerate or to monograph ! Of course,
within reasonable limits, every monographer is at liberty, in the
first instance, to use his own judgment as to what forms are spe-
cific ones and what varietal ; indeed he must of necessity do
so ; but where there is an abundance of material before Trim,
and he possesses a personal knowledge of the principal habitats
concerned, he is not likely to make many very serious blunders
as regards the value of the characters upon which he has to ad-
judicate ; for where the forms in question cannot be connected
by intermediate links (either recent or fossil) and are at once
readily separable from their congeners, although he has a per-
fect right to speculate on their origin in any way (and to any
extent) he pleases, he certainly would not be justified in impos-
ing his guesses upon others, or in citing the organisms as other-
wise than specifically distinct. In recording what we see, facts
and fancies must be kept apart ; for if they are permitted to be
mixed up unnecessarily in descriptive Natural History, it does
not require much foresight to perceive that the result at last
will become so shifting and untrustworthy that, sooner or later,
they will be mutually destructive of each other. 1
After what has been said, it will readily be admitted that
* varieties ' likewise (properly so called) i. e. forms which may
be connected with their parent types, but which nevertheless
have a sufficient permanence about them to be recognisable as
modifications, or races, within their respective areas, no less
than species, must have a significant place in a catalogue like
the present one. And to return to the subject of segregation, if
we take into account the varieties also, we shall find that the
same tendency is shadowed forth, and in a manner even more
conspicuous still. Thus, for instance, the eminently plastic Helix
polymorpha, Lowe, of which I have registered no less than
thirteen easily separable (but more or less overlapping) states,
may be well-nigh said to possess a slightly different phasis not
only for each of the larger islands (on which there are several of
them), but for every minute rock, particularly those around
Porto Santo, which has hitherto been landed upon and explored :
a fact which bears witness to the same principle of localisation,
only in this instance exemplified by ' varieties,' instead of by the
1 Acting upon this principle, I shall reserve until the closing section of
the present volume any mere speculations which I may venture to offer on
what will have previously been recorded, and which must be taken for what
they are worth, for they may, or may not, commend themselves to the minds
of others. All that we have to do now is to look to our facts, and to use every
endeavour to make them strictly accurate.
60 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
more pronounced forms to which the name f species ' must prac-
tically be given.
Marvellous however as is the segregation of the various
forms in the Madeiran Group which are truly indigenous, only
about seven actual species (apart from the littoral, subsaline
ones, which in their modes of life are practically marine) having
apparently been either transmitted to or received from the
neighbouring archipelagos, and only about five having been ob-
served as yet on all the islands of the cluster, I would by no
means wish to insinuate that a certain unmistakeable relationship
is not plainly indicated between some of the members of certain
well-marked types which permeate more or less of the entire
6 province' Thus, for instance, the Helicideous section Leptaxis,
which is so characteristic of the Madeiras, may be said, although
totally absent from the Canaries, to be the dominant one both
in the Azores and Cape Verdes ; the section Discula, which is so
abundant and universal at the Madeiras, but which is non-exis-
tent at the Azores, puts in an appearance (even though, in com-
parison, feebly) at the Canaries ; the Vitrinas and Pupce are
largely developed, and under somewhat analogous modifications,
in the three northern Groups ; the Bulimi, although totally un-
represented (except under a couple of exponents which have
manifestly been introduced) at the Madeiras, are expressed to a
monstrous extent both at the Azores and the Canaries ; the ge-
nus Lovea (allied to Achatina, and lately enunciated by Mr.
Watson) reigns supreme in the Madeiran and Canarian archi-
pelagos, but is wanting at the Azores and Cape Verdes ; the
Cyclostomideous Craspedopoma, which attains its maximum in
Madeira, extends into both the Azorean and Canarian Groups ;
and the minute Hydoccena gutta crops up at the Azores and
Canaries, but is absent from Madeira. From which it will be
seen, without adducing further instances, that many of the most
distinctive types range over more or less of these immediate
archipelagos, being sometimes absent from one of them and
sometimes from another, but combining as a whole to give a
certain amount of unity to what we may be permitted to call
this ' Atlantic region.'
In the preceding remarks I have endeavoured to show that
in the actual species of which its fauna is composed the Madei-
ran Group is almost wholly independent of the others which are
to the north and south of it, but at the same time that a consi-
able proportion of characteristic types which permeate to a
greater or less extent the whole of the archipelagos impart
nevertheless a certain individuality to the entire province which
cannot well be ignored. This general connection of the clusters,
MADEIRAN GROUP. 61
however (manifest though it be), is immeasurably overbalanced
by a consideration of how radically the respective faunas do in
reality differ from each other in the vast majority of their ab-
solute details. Thus, to take the Madeiras, which more parti-
cularly concern us in this section, the most distinctive forms are
peculiar to the Group, not only as regards the species but even
as regards the very types. Look, for example, at the section
Coronaria, of the genus Helix, and Hystricella, both of
which stand isolated, and apart, as pre-eminently Madeiran ; or
the little assemblages to which Mr. Lowe applied the names of
Placentula, Actinella, Rimula, and Caseolus. Or, to instance
the larger modifications, there is the Tectula department, as
well as Helicomela, Katostoma, and Cryptaxis, all of which
are restricted to the archipelago. And, apart from the true
Helices, facts are not wanting which would likewise tend to sepa-
rate, as it were, the Madeiras, at any rate to a considerable ex-
tent, from the other islands. Thus, the genus Clausilia is not
only well expressed there but literally universal ; yet it is with-
out so much as a member at the Azores, Canaries, and Cape
Verdes ; and the true Cyclostomas, which are so greatly deve-
loped at the Canaries, have in the Madeiras no single represen-
tative. This latter circumstance however is quite in harmony
with the Helicideous section Hemicycla, which is altogether
unknown at Madeira, but which numbers 37 exponents (indeed
probably more) in the neighbouring Canarian Group.
As I have already mentioned in the prefatory remarks to this
volume, there are certain spots, and even small districts, scat-
tered here and there throughout these several Atlantic archipe-
lagos, which may be defined as essentially subfossiliferous ones.
They are either calcareous (partaking sometimes of the nature
of sand-dunes), under which circumstances the specimens are for
the most part more completely subfossilized, or else muddy,
as though composed of earth and refuse which had been washed,
at some remote period, into their present positions, by the
action of sudden and violent floods ; in which latter case the
shells, although generally more brittle and broken up, are less
altered, being totally unthickened, and presenting at times
faint traces of even colour. The nature, and probable age, of
these sedimentary beds I do not propose to discuss, for they
scarcely enter into my exact subject, and moreover they involve
considerations of great geological difficulty such as even Sir
Charles Lyell was not able satisfactorily to grapple with when he
examined those of Madeira and Porto Santo, now many years
ago, with considerable care ; but since it is pretty evident, I
think, that some of them must have been deposited previous to
62 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
the breaking-up of the intermediate land, it is tolerably cer-
tain that an enormous period must have elapsed since the shells
which are now either deeply imbedded or are else scattered
loosely over the surface were in a living condition. Yet in no
single instance have they been transformed into 'fossils' (as
usually understood by that term), being strictly, and merely, sub-
fossilised.
Whatever be the history of these singular beds, 1 it is quite
clear that they have a direct bearing on the geological struc-
ture, and former configuration, of the islands ; and therefore in
tabulating their contents we must do so with the utmost cau-
1 It has always appeared to me that the drift sand of which the Canical
beds, and so many of those in Porto Santo, are mainly composed is strictly of
a marine nature, in fact similar to that of the present beaches, with which
some of them are in almost immediate proximity ; for the broken-up frag-
ments of sea shells, well distinguished by their solidity and sculpture, abound
in it everywhere, and the spines of Echini are also far from uncommon.
Moreover, although I have not myself observed it, a microscopic Polystomian
was mentioned by Mr. Lowe (Prim,., Append. XV., note) as being not more
rare, in the Canical deposits, than it is in the sand which forms the neigh-
bouring beach. Heer therefore was decidedly in error when he asserted that
no Polystomians had been observed in its composition, and that the sand
contained exclusively the triturated remains of Terrestrial Mollusks. No
doubt the latter occur to a prodigious extent, and may perhaps add largely,
when ground down and afterwards decomposed by the action of the elements,
to the calcareous matter which binds together considerable portions of the
surface and has enabled the infiltrations which have followed the course of
various roots and branches to assume definite and often the most grotesque
shapes, standing out, when the loose surrounding drift has been gradually
blown away from them, like (what might almost be regarded, at first sight,
as) the fossil remains of a former copse or wood. But that these trunk- and
root-like concretions (formed of varying proportions of earth and sand sol-
dered together, as it were, by a calcareous cement) have been slowly accu-
mulated around the different parts of shrubby plants (which perhaps were
washed down, along with the shells, by overwhelming torrents, from a higher
altitude) is rendered all the more probable from the fact that when broken
open they will generally be found to be longitudinally hollow in the centre,
as though the stems and roots which were originally enclosed had perished,
leaving only the clumsy masses which had been solidified, more or less per-
fectly, around them. But, be this as it may, the sandy portion itself seems
to me to be entirely marine, blown up, in a great measure, from the beach,
towards which this particular conchyliferous district uniformly slopes.
Nevertheless, on the other hand, the deep layers of somewhat indurated but
friable earth with which the calcareous incrustations are here and there
commingled, and which more or less teem with land-shells (whether whole
or fragmentary, and seldom much thickened or solidified), a large proportion
of which are characteristic of the sylvan regions of a lofty elevation, now totally
disconnected with this low tongue of land on which the Canical beds are placed,
point unmistakeably to the action of sudden and violent floods, which must
have carried them down, accompanied frequently by the remains of birds, to
well-nigh the level of the shore, and that too at a period when the configura-
tion of the adjoining country was very different from what we now observe it to
be. So that two counter processes would appear to have been concerned in
the elaboration of these singular deposits, namely, the washing down of
material from the mountain habitats above, and the gradual drifting up of
the marine sand from the beaches beneath.
MADEIRAN GROUP.
63
tion, lest a too hasty analysis lead to conclusions which are un-
reliable, and we fail to gain a genuine estimate of the fauna of
that distant epoch. Moreover we must at all times be quite
certain that the shells upon which we may have occasion to
pronounce are truly subfossilised, and not merely bleached and
decorticated ; a consideration which makes me look with suspi-
cion upon many of the species which are said to have been found
in a subfossil condition in the other archipelagos, where the
deposits have not been pointed out with the same precision as
they have in the Madeiran Group. And so fatal indeed do I
consider this element of uncertainty in dealing with the ques-
tions arising out of the subfossil fauna that it is only from the
Madeiran catalogue that I shall attempt to draw any conclu-
sions at all upon the subject, for at any rate in the Madeiras the
beds have been both properly defined and systematically investi-
gated, and in no instances have their contents been mixed up
with material from other and doubtful sources. In fact so great
has been the desire to avoid all evidence which is untrustworthy,
that there are (as already intimated; but three regions in this
archipelago from which the subfossil forms have hitherto been
acknowledged as absolutely and undeniably genuine, namely
( 1 ) the island of Porto Santo, where the deposits in question
(chiefly calcareous) are numerous, and widely scattered at low
and intermediate altitudes ; (2) near Canical, in the east of Ma-
deira proper, where they slope down to well-nigh the level of
the sea, but nevertheless contain species many of which are of a
mountain character and sylvan habits ; and (3) the extreme sum-
mit of the Southern Deserta (or Bugio), where, although small
in extent, they are deep and strictly m,uddy+ t
The following then is the list of the subfossilized species
which have been observed up to the present date, so far as I am
able to ascertain, in these three localities of the Madeiran
archipelago 1 :
Pto.Sto.
Mad.
S. Des.
n
Hyalina crystallina, Mull. . . . .
*
n
placida, Shuttl
g
Helix Lowei, Fer. . ..,...
portosanctana, Sow
*
*
1 Those species to which an asterisk (*) has been added, and the names of
which are printed in italics, have not hitherto been met with in a recent
state ; and they must therefore be looked upon, until evidence to the contrary
has been adduced, as extinct.
64
TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Pto.Sto.
Mad.
S. Des.
Helix undata, Lowe
*
*
*
*
*
*
if
#
#
#
*
n
*
*
#
N
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
#
*
*
#
#
y
K
K
*
*
#
#
n
tf
H
tt
*
*
*
#
^
*
*
#
* chrysomela, Pfeiff.
furva, Lowe
erubescens, Lowe
* BmvdicJiiana, Fer.
punctulata, Sow
vulgata, Lowe
6. saxipotens, Woll
nitidiuscula, Sow
squalida, Lowe . "">..' -X' -
* Latinea, Paiva . ., . . .
obtecta, Lowe ...
fictilis, Lowe . ; . . .
obserata, Lowe
)8. * bipartite, Woll. . - .'.*
actinophora, Lowe
j8. * descendens, Woll.
rotula, Lowe
consors, Lowe
compacta, Lowe
7. portosanctana, Lowe . .
commixta, Lowe
)3. * pusilla, Lowe *
sphaerula, Lowe
bicarinata, Sow.
/3. aucta, Woll *' .
* vcrmetiformiS) Lowe . .
oxytropis, Lowe
a. [normalis] . . .
/8. * subcarinulata, Woll
tetrica (Paiva), Lowe
MADEIRAN GROUP.
65
Helix polymorpha, Lowe
ft. salebrosa, Lowe * *
7. poromphala, Lowe *
0. pulvinata, Lowe . . .
1. papilio, Lowe *
K. discina, Lowe *
/*. attrita, Lowe
testudinalis, Lowe . . . . . . *
Bulwerii, Wood *
tectiformis, Sow.
a. [normalis] *
ft. * Imdwici, Alb. v " ? .' ; . : V' ! .- *
* delpltinula, Lowe
a. [w0r7W#/is] ....... *
ft. planispira, Paiva ..... #
coronata, Desh. *
* coromila, Lowe
tiarella, W. et B '
calva, Lowe ....... *
Pupa * linewris, Lowe . V . .
cassida, Lowe
laurinea, Lowe *
* Wollastoni, Paiva . . .... *
millegrana, Lowe . . ',' .,
corneocostata, Woll. .',i. ,.
calathiscus, Lowe
abbreviate, Lowe . . . ...
gibba, Lowe *
lamellosa, Lowe ...... *
saxicola, Lowe
Clausilia crispa, Lowe
ft. decolorata, Woll *
deltostoma, Lowe
a. raricosta, Lowe *
ft. [normalis]
Achatina eulima, Lowe ....,.#
Lovea terebella, Lowe
a. subula, Lowe . . . .
oryza, Lowe .
triticea, Lowe . . . , . '
melampoides, Lowe . . . .
tornatellina, Lowe .....
mitriformis, Lowe ...... *
ovuliformis, Lowe . . , . .
* cylichna, Lowe . . . . .
Craspedopoma lucidum, Lowe . .. .
trochoideum, Lowe ...
Pto.Sto Mad. S. Des
From which we gather that, out of the 176 members of the
Pulmonata which have been recorded up to the present time in
the Madeiran Group, no less than 82 are met with in a sub-
fossilized state. And inasmuch as these 82 are made up almost
exclusively of the species which are manifestly indigenous
(those which there is every reason to suspect have been esta-
blished accidentally within a comparatively recent period being
66 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
well-nigh unrepresented in the conchyliferous deposits ! ), and
inasmuch as I have already mentioned that the truly aboriginal
ones may be estimated at about 138, it follows that so large a
proportion of the species which are strictly endemic have been
found subfossilized that there is strong presumptive evidence
for concluding that, sooner or later, the whole of them will be
detected in that condition. Indeed each year this is rendered
more and more probable, every fresh examination of the beds
bringing to light some additional quondam-analogue (which
had hitherto escaped notice) of the living forms ; whilst, on the
other hand, a critical research in new localities, and a still
closer one in those which were already known, is constantly
revealing the modern representative of some species which had
long been supposed to have passed wholly away. 2 So that we
may fearlessly assert that continued and well-directed observa-
tions are tending rapidly to equalize what were conceived to be
(so far as the aboriginal species are concerned) the 'recent'
and ' extinct ' faunas, and to show them, more and more, to be,
in point of fact, conterminous.
It is quite clear however that many of the species which
were once excessively abundant, although they have not yet
completely ceased to exist, are at the present time of the
utmost rarity, just lingering on, as it were, before they die
out. This is eminently the case with the Helix Lowei, Fer.,
and the coronata, Desh., to which I have lately called atten-
tion, and which, although now extremely scarce, and confined
each of them, to a single spot of the most limited extent, are
nevertheless universal in the subfossiliferous beds of Porto
Santo, the latter of them absolutely swarming. And on this
1 I say 'well-nigh,' because there are two or three exceptions to this
statement which will perhaps require to be explained, such, for instance,
as the European Hyalina crystalling Miill., and the Patula pygmcea, Drap.,
both of which are said to have been found by Mr. Watson in the beds near
Canical. Even instances, however, like these would seem merely to imply
that the species in question, although possessing (like the Helix lapicida,
Linn., subfossilized in Porto Santo) a wide European range, had nevertheless
succeeded in colonizing this Atlantic region during the remote epoch when
the calcareous deposits were in process of formation.
2 In corroboration of this latter circumstance, I need only allude to the
discovery by Senhor J. M. Moniz, on the Ilheo de Cima, off Porto Santo, of
the gigantic HeUx Lowei, Fer., which for half-a-century had been assumed to
be totally extinct ; or to that, by myself, on the extreme eastern peak of
Porto Santo, buried deep in the soil beneath slabs of basalt, of the singular
little H. coronata, Desh., which is so abundant in all the subfossiliferous
deposits of that island ; or to that, by Mr. Lowe and myself, of the H. tiarella,
W. et B., in the north of Madeira proper, a species which swarms in the
beds near Canical, but which up to that date (namely the summer of 1855)
had been looked upon as belonging exclusively (despite its enunciation by
Webb in 1833, from examples which may or may not have been subfossilized)
to a former epoch.
MADEIRA^ GROUP. 67
account, perhaps, it might be more natural to conclude that at
any rate some few of the forms have really passed a.way, even
whilst the tendency of every renewed observation is to lessen
the number of those which were supposed to be extinct. In-
deed one of the most anomalous of all the land-shells which
have yet been brought to light the Helix delphinula of
Madeira proper, which teems in the calcareous drift near
Canipal has up to the present moment altogether eluded
detection in a recent state, and we might almost therefore be
justified (considering its comparatively large size) in assuming
it to belong exclusively to a passed epoch had not the discovery
by Mr. Lowe of a form scarcely less conspicuous (the somewhat-
cognate H. delphinuloides), so recently as in 1860, rendered it
at least possible that even the H. delphinula may still survive
in some elevated, remote, sylvan ravine, and may yet reward
the researches of future naturalists. But if this should ever be
the case, we may confidently anticipate that it will be found, as
it were, only just to linger on, in some area of the most reduced
dimensions and perhaps well-nigh inaccessible. And the same
remarks may hold good for a few other species, such as the
H. Bowdichiana, Fer., which abounds in the conchyliferous
deposits both of Madeira and Porto Santo ; for, although it is
within the range of possibility that it may represent nothing
more than a gigantic quondam-ph&sis of Sowerby's H. punctu-
lata (which is common in Porto Santo and on one of the
Desertas), nevertheless since the latter has not hitherto been
observed at all in Madeira proper, the extreme abundance of
the H. Bowdichiana in the Canial beds places the species in
much the same category as the H. delphinula, which is
equally plentiful at Canipal, but which (in like manner) is un-
known to the recent fauna of the central island (and indeed, in
this particular instance, to the fauna of the whole group).
There is also a minute Achatina (or, more probably, a Lovea,
as lately defined by Mr. Watson) to which attention might be
drawn, as having escaped discovery in a living condition, and
the characters of which are sufficiently peculiar to render it an
important member of the general catalogue, namely the
A. cylichna of Madeira proper ; and amongst the other Helices,
as yet exclusively subfossilized, which we may hope will be
made, sooner or later, to augment the recent fauna, I might
single out the little Helix arcinella, Lowe, so common at
Canical, and the curious H. coronula, Lowe, from the southern
Deserta, or Bugio.
If we add to these five species (namely the Helix Bowdich-
iana, arcinella, delphinula, and coronula, and the Lovea
cylichna) the following seven Helix chrysomela, Pfeiff.,
F 2
68 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Latinea, Paiva, lapicida, Linn., echinoderma, Woll., vermeti-
formis, Lowe, and the Pupa linearis, Lowe, and Wollastoni,
Paiva, which, in like manner are found only subfossilized,
the resulting 12 embody all the forms, regarded by me as truly
specific ones, which (so far as our present information would
imply) are presumably extinct ; but as the seven, last men-
tioned, are, with the exception of the Helix lapicida and the
Pupa linearis, more doubtfully separated from their imme-
diate allies than is the case with the preceding five, I do not
consider it worth while to direct any further attention to them
than what has already been done in their respective places in
the systematic list. Suffice it just to recal that the Helix
chrysomela, Pfeiff., is most closely related to the erubescens,
the H. Latinea, Paiva, to the depauperata, the H. echino-
derma, Woll., to the echinulata, the H. vermetiformis, Lowe,
to the tumcula, and the Pupa Wollastoni, Paiva, to the
P. sphinctostoma ; whilst the Pupa linearis, Lowe, is re-
garded by Mr. Watson (vide 'Journ. de Conch.' 223; 1876),
though I cannot quite agree with him in this conclusion, as
absolutely identical with the European _P. minutissima of
Ferussac.
In the general Madeiran catalogue, which is given at the
close of this section, I have (as in the case of the lists pertain-
ing to the other archipelagos) appended an asterisk (*) to such
species as have been found also subfossilized ; and in those
instances in which the species have occurred only in a sub-
fossilized condition (under which circumstances they must be
looked upon, until proved to the contrary, as extinct) the
names have been printed likewise in italics.
Sectio I. INOPERCULATA.
Fam 1. LIMACID.E.
Grenus 1. ARION, Ferussac.
Arion ater.
Limax ater, Linn., Syst. Nat. (ed. 12) 1081 (1767)
Arion empiricomm, var. 1, Fer., Tabl. Syst. 17 (1821)
a. et /3., Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans.
iv. 39 (1831)
ater, Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 162 (1854)
empiricomm, Alb., Mai. Mad. 11 (1854)
MADEIRAN GROUP. 69
Arion rufus, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 137 (1860)
ater, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 2 (1867)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 221 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; prsecipue in editioribus, rarissima.
This European Arion (which is recorded also at the Azores)
is decidedly somewhat scarce in Madeira, and is found prin-
cipally at rather high elevations. I have taken it however
pretty plentifully at the Pico do Infante (nearly 3000 feet
above the sea), and it was met with by Mr. Lowe in the chest-
nut woods at the Mount, as well as at Camacha, and on the
side (ascending from the Curral) of the Pico Grande. It is a
decided Arion, its respiratory orifice being very anterior in
position, the mucous gland at its extremity large and distinct,
its body totally uncarinated, and its shield even and arenaceo-
granulate (instead of being uneven and wrinkled, as in the
Limaces).
The colour of this slug (which varies from about 1 to 3
inches in length), is usually dusky-brown with an ochre tinge
(i.e. somewhat of a dark olivaceous-drab), the sides however
being gradually a little paler; and it is, therefore, anything
but that (at all events when in its normal state, for it is now
and then blacker) which is implied by its specific title ; and the
edge of its pedal disk (or foot) is of a clear ochreous-yellow
(sometimes approaching to orange), with the transverse lines
dusky, distant, and pretty regular, though occasionally obscure.
This edge (the colouring matter of which would seem to be
somewhat moveable) appears at times white, with a narrow
orange line immediately within it.
Genus 2. LIMAX, Linne.
Limax gagates.
Limax gagates, Drap., Hist. Nat. 122. pi. 9. f. 1, 2 (1805)
antiquorum, var. a., Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans.
iv. 39 (1831)
gagates, Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 162 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 12. t. 1. f. 3-5 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 139 (1860)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 3 (1867)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 221 (1876)
Habitat Maderam, et Portum Sanctum ; in ilia vulgaris,
sed in hoc rarior. In graminosis intermediis prsecipue degit.
The L. gagates, which is widely spread throughout Europe,
and which occurs also in the Azorean Group and even at
St. Helena (where it has probably been introduced along with
70 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
shrubs and plants), is extremely common in Madeira proper.
I have taken it around Funchal, at the Pico do Infante, and
elsewhere ; and Mr. Lowe appears to have met with it towards
the Alegria, at the Mount, in the Cayados ravine, &c ; and he
likewise obtained it in Porto Santo, during our visit to that
island in April of 1855. The Porto-Santan examples were
found on the summit of the Pico do Castello, and were similar
to those of the ordinary Madeiran cinereous-brown state, the
keel being very strong and sharp up to the hinder edge of the
shield, which last had the usual depression in the middle with
the sides raised or tumid.
This slug, which is easily distinguished from its allies, is of
a rusty ochreous- or brownish-black ( frequently cinereous-brown,
and often of a deep uniform black), but brighter on the shield,
and a trifle so at the sides and keel. At the top of the neck
there are two longitudinal grooves, with a raised line between ;
the lateral portion of the shield (the colouring matter of
which appears however to be somewhat moveable) is generally
of a dusky brown ; and the body is coarsely grooved (or
striated) longitudinally, the stria3 being more or less branched
and confluent. Ets usual length is from about three-quarters of
an inch to an inch.
Limax maximus,
Limax maximus, Linn., Syst. Nat. (ed. 12) 1081 (1767)
cinereus, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 5 (1774)
antiquorum, var. s., Per., Tabl. Syst. 20 (1821)
cinereus, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 162 (1854)
antiquorum, Alb., Mai. Mad. 12. t. 1. f. 2 (1854)
maximus, 'Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 138 (1860)
cinereus, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 4 (1867)
maximus, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 221 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; hinc inde, prsesertim in cultis.
This is a very large but inconstant slug, varying from about
1^ bo 4 inches in length, and one which is common throughout
Europe, and which has become established in the Azorean
archipelago. At Madeira it is not very abundant, but found
occasionally around Funchal and elsewhere, particularly in
gardens and cultivated grounds ascending to nearly 2000 feet
above the sea. It is generally of a palish cinereous-brown with
a warm (but very faint) lilac tinge ; its shield (which is
sprinkled all over with distinct and well-defined black spots)
being a little paler. The shield however (which is subconcen-
trically striate, or finely wrinkled, and rounded behind, though
often when the animal is contracted and quiescent slightly
MADEIRAN GROUP. 71
apiculate) is occasionally marbled (rather than spotted) with
larger black blotches. The body, which is much roughened by
longitudinal sutci, has four or five (occasionally ill-defined, and
often subconfluent) interrupted stripes of black, which are
broken anteriorly into still more isolated spots or patches ; and
the keel extends scarcely more than a quarter of the length
from the tip of the tail to the hinder edge of the shield.
Limax flavus.
Limax flavus, Linn., Syst. Nat. (ed. 12) 1081 (1767)
variegatus, Drap., Hist. Nat. 127 (1805)
., Fer., Tabl. Syst. 21 (1821)
Lowe, Cambr. PhU. S. Trans, iv. 39
(1831)
flavus, Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 162 (1854)
variegatus, Alb., Mai. Mad. 12. t. 1. f. 1 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des A for. 138 (1860)
flavus, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 4 (1867)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 221 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; late sed parce ditfusa.
Likewise a European Limax, and one which occurs also in
the Azores. In Madeira it is widely distributed, and is found
occasionally around Funchal (where I have taken it at the Val),
at the Praia Bay, in the Curral das Freiras, &c. ; and it has
been met with by Mr. Watson in the north of the island. Its
average length is from about an inch to an inch and a half ; and
its colour above is a pale dirty- or brownish-yellow (slightly
brighter on the shield), but coarsely reticulated, or mottled,
except at the sides and at the edge of the foot (which are
immaculate), with dusky cinereous-brown. The keel, as in
the L. maximus, is short, reaching scarcely a third of the
distance from the tip of the tail to the posterior margin of the
shield (which last is transversely, or subconcentrically wrinkled,
and appears often, when the slug is contracted, to be somewhat
mucronato-rotundate behind or apiculate.
Limax agrestis.
Limax agrestis, Linn., Syst. Nat. (ed. 12) 1082 (1767)
Drap., Hist. Nat. 126. pi. 9. f. 9 (1805)
f. et 7., Fer., Tabl. Syst. 21, 22 (1821)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 39 (1831)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 162 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 139 (1860)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 5 (1867)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 221 (1876)
72 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat Maderam ; in graminosis editioribus prgecipue abun-
dans, sed ubique sat vulgaris.
The European L. agrestis is tolerably common in most parts
of Madeira proper, abounding more especially in grassy moun-
tain pastures of a rather high altitude. I have taken it at the
Pico do Infante ; and whilst encamped with Mr. Lowe near the
Pico d'Arribentao, during April of 1855, it was in great profu-
sion at a place (in the direction of the Eibeira d'Escalas) called
the ' cova d' Antonio Caldeira,' about 2600 feet above the sea,
exhibiting two tolerably distinct states, which Mr. Lowe defined
as the * a. major, palUdo-cinereaJ and the ' jB. minor, ochraceo-
fusca; ' the first of these (which was the rarer, and nearly an
inch in length) being larger and of a creamy pale ash-grey,
mottled and punctate with darker markings (agreeing exactly
with the common English L. agrestis) ; whilst the second
(which was excessively abundant, and about half an inch long),
was slender, of a warm pale bistre-brown, with the head, neck,
tentacles, and fore-half of the shield lighter and brighter, the
hinder half of the latter and the tail being gradually of a
darkish tint.
The L. agrestis, which is extremely mucose and has its
shield subconcentrically striated (like the lines at the end of
one's fingers) may be instantly recognised from the L. gagates
by, inter alia, its ecarinate body, which is rounded, or almost
flattened, towards the hinder edge of the shield, the only trace
of a keel (and that merely in the ' status a,' as above enun-
ciated, for the 'status ft' is quite uncarinated) being at the
extreme tip. 1
Fam.2. TESTACELLID^l.
Genus 3. TESTACELLA, Cuvier.
Testacella Maugei.
Testacella Maugei, Fer., Tabl Syst. 26 (1821)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. Soc. Trans, iv. 40
(1831)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 163 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 143 (1860)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 6 (1867)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 11 (1872)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 221 (1876)
1 Mr. Lowe, in reference to the fact that Dr. Albers did not appear to have
met with the present Limax while at Madeira, made a note about it to this
effect : * Most distinct in all its stages from every state, or variety, of the
L. gagates. Although not less common than the latter, from September to
May or June, Dr. Albers, searching little for himself, might well not meet
with it. It is only strange that he should have supposed that it could be a
mere form of the L. gayate*.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 73
Habitat Maderam ; in hortis cultisque circa Funchal,
passim.
This European Testacella, which occurs likewise in the
Azorean and Canarian groups, is found occasionally in gardens
and other cultivated spots around Funchal, though seldom in any
abundance. I have taken it at the Val ; and it is reported by
the Baron Paiva from S. Gronpalo and Camara de Lobos. Mr.
Lowe also met with it, on several occasions, in Dr. Kenton's
garden at the Val Quinta, as well as near S. Martinho.
The animal of the T. Maugei, which gradually tapers
anteriorly and possesses no shield, and which carries the shell
on its posterior extremity (where it conceals the respiratory
aperture), is of a livid black (sometimes with a faint picescent
tinge), and the edge of its pedal disk (as seen from above) is
gradually of a pale salmon colour, the darker hue of the rest
of the surface passing into it (not abruptly, but) by means of a
number of minute darkish specks. The surface is much
roughened (somewhat after the manner of very coarse sealskin),
and marked with a number of irregular grooves or reticulations
(arranged rather like lattice-work) and with three longitudinal
ones (occasionally distinct, but often rendered obsolete by the
movements of the creature) running down the dorsal region. It has
the power of emitting an extraordinary pile of froth, or mucus,
from its subapical orifice beneath the shell, which takes usually
a globular form, and appears much like a cluster of very minute
soap-bubbles.
The shell (which is somewhat Ancyliform, or limpet-like) of
this Testacella is externally of a pale dingy olivaceous-yellow,
or yellowish-brown, thick in substance, opake, generally a good
deal eroded and decorticated, and coarsely but irregularly striate
with a few deeply-impressed lines of growth; but inside its
enormous aperture (which is nearly oblong, with the sides
almost parallel, and with a slight emargination or sinus at the
upper angle of the outer lip) it is shining, whitish, and pear-like,
sometimes reflecting an indistinct opaline lustre.
Testacella haliotidea.
Testacella haliotidea, Drap., Tabl. des Moll. 99 (1801)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 40
(1831)
W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28 syn.
(1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 49 (1839)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 163
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 5 (1867)
74 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Testacella haliotidea, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 1 1
(1872)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 221 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; in horto mox supra Funchal olim par-
cissime capta.
I am a little doubtful whether the T. haliotidea of central
and southern Europe can be truly regarded as having established
itself at Madeira. It appears formerly to have occurred, though
very sparingly, near Funchal ; but I have no evidence that it
is still to be met with. Indeed the only three examples, so far
as I am aware, which have ever been observed in the island
were in Mr. Lowe's garden at the Levada de Sta. Luzia, now
many years ago, namely during February of 1830, 'crawling
about a small tank, after a long continuance of rain.'
I have not myself had an opportunity of inspecting the
animal of the T. haliotidea ; but, commenting on the speci-
mens to which I have just called attention, as having been
found near Funchal in 1830, I possess an old note, made by Mr.
Lowe, to the effect that it is ' of a uniform pale clear buff-
yellow, except the edge of the foot which is tinged with pink or
flesh-colour. The disk of the foot beneath and the posterior
extremity behind the shell are of the same pink, or salmon-
coloured, hue. Two faint grooved lines, and a still fainter one
between them (making three in all), run down the middle of
the back which is also marked out from the sides by two
stronger grooved lateral ones, ascending upwards towards the
shell (much as in the T. Maugei) ; but this dorsal compartment
is not portioned out by coarse oblique grooves so as to become
uneven and tumid, or reticulated. The whole creature is more
slender than that of T. Maugei ; and the shell is of a uniform
horn-colour, the margin appearing, when the shell is in situ,
a little pinkish.'
Although Albers has figured and described, in his ' Malaco-
graphia Maderensis,' both of the Testacellas which are here
enumerated, I have nevertheless refrained from citing his
monograph, because it appears to me that he has inadvertently
mixed up the characters of the two species, or at any rate has
interchanged their shells.
Fam. 3. VITRINIDJE.
Genus 4. VITRINA, Draparnaud.
Vitrina ruivensis.
Vitrina Lamarckii, Lowe [nee Per. ; 1822], (pars), Cambr.
Phil. S. Trans, iv. 40. t. 5. f. 1. b.
(1831)
MADEIRAN GROUP. 75
Vitrina ruivensis (Couthouy), Gould, Proc. Bost. Soc. N.H.
ii. 180 (1848)
Pfeif.,Mon. Hel. ii. 507 (1848)
Behnii, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 112 (1852)
Teneriffse, Id. [nee Q. et 0. ; 1827], Proc. Zool. Soc.
Lond. 163 (1854)
ruivensis, Alb., Mai. Mad. 15. t. 2. f. 4-6 (1854)
Teneriffse, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 9 (1867)
ruivensis, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 20 (1876;
Habitat Mad^ram ; in humidis editioribus, prsecipue sylva-
ticis, baud infrequens. In stratu conchylifero ad Canical semi-
fossilis parce reperitur.
The Haliotis-sh&ped outline (the nucleus being lateral,
rather than subcentral), enormous aperture, and comparatively
depressed form of this large Vitrina, added to its fewer volu-
tions (there being only two of them, or at the utmost 2J), its
flattened apex and its consequently indistinct suture, will suffice
to separate it from the other species with which we are here
concerned. It is not quite so highly polished, usually, as the
V. nitida (i.e. the V. Lamarckii, Lowe, nee Fer) ; and there
are more appreciable indications beneath a high magnifying
power of a few minute, broken-up spiral lines, or (as it were.)
scratches. The obsolete transverse plicse, also, or folds, are, for
the most part, more curved and radiating.
Although less common than the V. nitida, the present
Vitrina is tolerably abundant at a high elevation in Madeira
proper, where it occurs in the damp sylvan regions, principally
under stones and logs of decaying wood ; and it is found spar-
ingly, in a subfossil state, at Canigal.
As regards its synonymy, this Vitrina is a little complicated.
Mr. Lowe originally cited it as a mere phasis of the ' V La-
marckii ' as understood by him (i.e. of the nitida, Gould), but
he afterwards published it (in 1852) as the V. Behnii in honour
of the Professor at Kiel, who had pointed out to him what he
conceived to be its true differential characters. But in the
meanwhile it had been (in 1848) described by Gould under
Couthouy's manuscript name ' ruivensis, 1 which seems to me
(as it did, apparently, to Dr. Albers) to be the oldest title for
the species on which we can absolutely depend. True it is
that Mr. Lowe, in his last enumeration of the Madeiran Mol-
lusca, identified it with the Canarian V. Teneriffce of Quoy and
Gaimard (which bears the date 1827): but then the V. Tene-
riffce proves to be identical with the genuine, and previously
described, V. Lamarckii (which is expressly registered by
Ferussac as having come from Teneriffe), as is manifest from
the diagnosis of it which is quoted by Pfeiffer, and as indeed
76 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
has recently been acknowledged by Mousson. Moreover it is
evident that Mr. Lowe was mistaken in the opinion which he
had adopted both of the F. Teneriffce and of the V. Lamarckii
(which, as just stated, are one and the same species) ; for he
assumed the former to be identical with the Madeiran V. rui-
vensis (which is also his V. Behnii\ and the latter with the
other (and more common) Madeiran Vitrina which was de-
scribed by Gould (in 1846) under the name of nitida. So that
I come to the conclusion, that the title ruivensis is the oldest
reliable one for our present species.
Vitrina marcida.
Vitrina marcida, Gould, Proc. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. 181
(1848)
Pfeiff., Mon. Eel. ii. 507 (1848)
media, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 164 (1854)
marcida, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 9 (1867)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 21 (1876)
Habitat Portum Sanctum vulgaris, sed in Madeira rarior ;
locos humidos editiores praecipue colens.
I am exceedingly doubtful whether this is anything more
than a smaller state of the V. nitida (i.e. of the V. Lamarckii,
Lowe, nee Fer.), with which in its outline, and in the relative
proportions of its aperture, it agrees almost exactly. But,
apart from its (on the average) distinctly reduced size, it is
further characterized by being almost always of an appreciably
paler tint, in its spire being more depressed (though not quite
so flattened as in the V. ruivensis), indeed in its general con-
tour being a trifle less inflated or convex, and in its lower lip
being more broadly and conspicuously membraneous. It has
usually, too, half a volution less than the F. nitida ; and there
are for the most part more evident indications of a few abbre-
viated radiating plicae just below the suture (and towards the
aperture) of the basal whorl.
The F. marcida is extremely common on the mountains of
Porto Santo, where it occurs about damp rocks, and under
stones in moist grassy places, at a rather high elevation. I am
not quite sure that I have myself met with it in Madeira pro-
per ; nevertheless it is recorded by Mr. Lowe from the Eibeiro
Frio, and it appears to have been found in other sylvan spots
of an intermediate altitude.
Vitrina nitida.
Helicolimax Lamarckii, Lowe [nee Fer. ; 1822], (pars),
Zool. Journ. iv. 338-344 (182U)
MADEIRAN GROUP. 77
Vitrina Lamarckii, Lowe, (pars), Cambr. Phil. Soc. Trans.
iv. 40. t. 5. f. 1. a. (1831 }
nitida, Gould, Proc. Post. Soc. N. H. ii. 180 (1848)
Lamarckii, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 164
(1854)
nitida, Alb., Mai. Mad. 15. t. 2. f. 1 -3 (18*4)
Lamarcki, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 8 (1867)
nitida, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 21 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; in sylvaticis intermediis vulgaris.
This is the universal Vitrina of Madeira proper, where it is
more or less abundant throughout most parts of the sylvan dis-
tricts at intermediate and lofty altitudes, occurring, like the
preceding two, beneath damp stones and refuse, on the mossy
trunks of trees, and under logs of decaying wood. But I am
not aware that it has been observed for certain elsewhere in the
Group ; for although it is true that Mr. Lowe recorded it origi-
nally as existing in Porto Santo likewise, he had not at that
time distinguished more than a single Vitrina as inhabiting
the archipelago, and it was not until 1854 that he separated as
specifically distinct (under the name of media) the previously
described V. marcida, of Grould, which is not only common in
Porto Santo, but which may almost be denned as principally
Porto-Santan ; and as for the Baron Paiva's assertion that it is
to be found on the mountains of that island, as well as on the
adjacent rock known as the Ilheo da Fonte d'Areia, it must be
taken for what it is worth, seeing that, by his own admission,
he could not himself discriminate the two species in question. 1
So that I think we must still require evidence of a more posi-
tive nature before it will be safe to cite the V. nitida as occur-
ring beyond the limits of Madeira proper.
The present Vitrina is, on the average, a trifle smaller, and
just appreciably more brilliant and highly coloured, than the
ruivensis ; and it is also less depressed (or more ventricose and
Heliciform), and, instead of there being only two, there are
about 3J or even 4 volutions. The spire too is less flattened,
the nucleus (which is generally paler, and subcentral instead of
lateral) being somewhat convex, and the suture is consequently
deeper and more conspicuous. The aperture is both less enor-
mous and rounder (causing the left-hand portion of the ultimate
whorl, when viewed from beneath, to be relatively wider and
more visible) ; and the surface appears to be almost free (even
under a high magnifying power) from any traces of the minute
1 That this was the case, it appears evident from his remark under the
V. marvida : ' Species mihi dubia, nee a corigeneribus sat distincta.'
78 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
spiral broken-up lines, or scratches, which are more or less dis-
tinguishable in that species. 1
The V. nitida would seem to represent in Madeira the V.
Lamarckii of the Canarian archipelago ; for my own belief is that
the former does not occur at the Canaries at all, its analogue
in that Group being the true Lamarckii of Ferussac, which Mr.
Lowe unfortunately mistook for this common Madeiran species.
Indeed the V. Lamarckii proper (which is also the V. Teneriffce
of Quoy and Gaimard) appears in some respects to be interme-
diate between the V. nitida and the ruivensis, having the
more numerous volutions and subcentral nucleus of the former,
with the larger size, less ventricose contour, more flattened
apex, and the more outwardly-produced (or less rounded, and
more enlarged, elongate) aperture of the latter ; and it is per-
haps owing to this circumstance that Mr. Lowe fell into the
error of identifying it, although confessedly Canarian, under the
title of ' V. Teneriffce ' with the ruivensis, and under that of
c V. Lamarckii ' with the nitida.*
Fam. 4. HELICID^l.
Genus 5. HYALINA, Gray.
( Lucilla, Lowe.)
Hyalina cellaria.
Helix cellaria, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 28 (1774)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 47 (1831)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 177 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 17. t. 2. f. 15-17 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des A^or. 165 (1860)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 21 (1867)
Hyalina cellaria, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 17 (1872)
Helix cellaria, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 222 (1876).
Habitat Maderam, necnon etiam (sec. B. de Paiva) De-
1 The portion of the lip, in the V. nitida, which adjoins the columella is
sometimes membraneous (though not so conspicuously so as in the V. ruiven-
sis}, whilst at others it is so comparatively thickened as to be in every respect
similar to the remainder of the shell. And I think it is not unlikely that it
was from specimens in the latter condition (which are often smaller and a
trifle more globose) that Gould's diagnosis of his V. nitida (Exped. Shells,
26 ; 1846) was principally drawn out.
2 I may just notice in this place the Vitrina Bocagei of Paiva (Journ. de
Conch., Oct., 1866 ; and Mon. Moll. Mad. 10. t. 2. f. 6. 1867), which was
founded on a young example of the Helix Webbiana, Lowe, as has been
pointed out by the Rev. R. B. Watson. ' Vitrina Bocagei, Paiva,' says the
latter (Journ. de Couch. 219 ; 1876), ' est certainement le jeune age de V Helix
WebMana, apporte de Porto Santo, et mule accidentellement avec les especes
strictement maderiennes.'
MADEIEAN GROUP. 79
sertam Australem ; frequens sub lapidibus, prgecipue in cultis.
Forsan ex Europa introducta.
The common European H. cellaria (which occurs likewise
in the Azorean and Canarjan archipelagos, and even at St.
Helena) is tolerably abundant, chiefly at rather low elevations
and about cultivated grounds, in Madeira proper ; but I am not
aware that it has yet been observed in Porto Santo. Iff is
recorded, however, by the Baron Paiva, from the Southern
Deserta, a habitat, nevertheless, concerning which I cannot
but feel that we require further evidence. In all probability it
has established itself, accidentally, from more northern latitudes.
( Crystallus, Lowe.)
Hyalina crystallina.
Helix crystallina, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 23 (1774)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 47 (1831)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 178 (1854-)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 17. t. 2. f. 18-21 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 167 (1860)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 22 (1867)
Hyalina crystallina, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 17 (1872)
Helix crystallina, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 222 (1876)
Habitat Maderam, et Desertam Australem (ab hac a B. de
Paiva recepta) ; hinc inde in graminosis, sub lapidibus. Etiam
semifossilis in calcareis juxta Canical a Eevdo. E. B. Watson
semel lecta,
The European H. crystallina, Mull., which is found like-
wise in the Azorean and Canarian archipelagos (indeed I have
myself met with it in Fuerteventura, Teneriffe, Palma, and
Hierro, of the latter), is widely spread throughout Madeira
proper, though nowhere very abundant; and it has been re-
corded by the Baron Paiva from the Southern Deserta, or
Bugio. It occurs generally in grassy places, beneath stones ;
often also in gardens, and other cultivated grounds. I have
not, myself, observed it in a subfossil condition ; but the Rev.
R. B. Watson states (Journ. de Conch. 222; 1876) that he
obtained a single example of it in the calcareous deposits near
Canical.
( Vermetum, Woll.)
Hyalina scintilla.
Helix scintilla, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. 115 (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 177 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 18. t. 2. f. 22-25 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 23 (1867)
80 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat Maderam; sub lapidibus detecta, supra urbem
Funchalensem. Rarissima.
This extremely minute Hyalina is even smaller than the
H. crystallina, the largest examples being scarcely a line in
diameter ; and it may at once be recognized from that species
by its very much wider and more open umbilicus, which is
spirally visible from beneath (almost as much so as in the
Patula rotundata and Guerineana\ and by its colour being
less white, fresh examples having always a more or less dis-
tinct greenish, or yellowish, tinge. It appears to be of the
greatest rarity, and was first detected by Mr. Lowe near
Funchal, namely, beneath stones, at the edge of the Levada
de Sta. Luzia; and it has likewise been met with by Mr.
Leacock and the Eev. R. B. Watson. The Baron Paiva cites it
as having been taken also in the north of the island, at Sta.
Anna.
The H. scintilla is indeed far more nearly akin, both in
colour and general features, to the (nevertheless comparatively
gigantic) H. festinans, Shuttl., from the island of Palma in the
Canarian archipelago. But, in addition to its very much
smaller size, its umbilicus is relatively more wide and open, its
spire is not quite so depressed, and its entire surface is a little
more polished and less sculptured, the H. festinans appearing,
beneath a high magnifying rjower, to be very minutely subalu-
taceous, and densely covered with extremely fine hair-like
transverse lines.
Genus 6. PATULA, Held.
( lulus, Woll.)
Patula deflorata.
Helix deflorata, Lowe, Proc. ZooL Soc. Loud. 179 (1854)
Pfeiff, Mon. Hel. iv. 131 (1859)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 27 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in montibus supra Funchal semel, nec-
non semel a meipso in Rib. de Sta. Luzia, hactenus lecta.
This very obscure species is still represented by a single
adult example (for the one which I myself met with in the
Ribiera de Sta. Luzia, in 1848, is immature), which was com-
municated to me by Mr. Leacock in 1853 as having been found
by the late M. Rousset near the Pico d'Arribentao, on the
mountains above Funchal ; and, judging from its discoidal
form, rather large umbilicus, and general aspect, I should be
inclined to regard it as a large Patula.
If therefore the sole type which is accessible may be con-
sidered to be normal for its kind, the P. defloroM is a little
MADEIRAN OHO UP. 81
smaller than the bifrons (it being about 5^- lines across the
widest part), but with somewhat the same primd facie aspect.
It is, however, thinner in substance, paler in hue, and still less
shining ; its umbilicus is a trifle larger, but at the same time
more suddenly (or less gradually) excavated ; its spire is ap-
preciably more depressed, although the volutions are rather
tumid; the latter are not quite so numerous, or so coarsely
sculptured with oblique costate lines ; and the basal whorl is
conspicuously (though not very greatly) deflexed at the aper-
ture. This character, last mentioned, is indeed rather im-
portant ; but I do not think it is sufficiently so to remove the
deflorata from that particular section of Patula which embraces
the gorgonarum, Bouvieri, and Bertholdiana, of the Cape
Verde archipelago, and the Canarian P. garachicoensis. 1
( Janulus, Lowe.)
Patnla bifrons.
Helix bifrons, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. Soc. Trans, iv. 46. t. 5.
f. 18(1831)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 144 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 178 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 44. t. 11. f. 13-16 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 24 (1867)
1 A species (which has been identified for me by Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys with
the common European H. hisjrida, Linn.) has been communicated by Mr.
Leacock, somewhat allied to the P. de/torata but very much smaller, several ex-
amples of which were taken many years ago in the garden of Mr. Hollway's
house above Camacha, on the mountains to the eastward of Funchal,and which
were ' imported from France along with some young apple trees.' Of course it
has no connection with the true fauna of Madeira ; nevertheless since there is
some reason for suspecting that it may have established itself in that par-
ticular district (for I am informed by Mr. Leacock that specimens of it were
found to have strayed immediately outside Mr. Hollway's grounds), it perhaps
ought not to be passed over altogether in silence. It is a trifle larger and
more depressed than the common European H. sericea, Drap., with an
appreciably larger and more exposed umbilicus, and apparently quite free
from hairs. And, as compared with the P. deflorata, in addition to its much
reduced stature (the examples measuring only from about 3^ to 4 lines across
their broadest part), it has its spire a little less flattened, its umbilicus re-
latively not quite so large, and its surface somewhat less coarsely costate-
striate ; its ultimate whorl, also, does not seem to be deflexed (as in that
species) at the aperture. It may be briefly characterized as follows :
Helix hispida, I/inn.
T. sat late umbilicata, rotundato-depressa, lenticularis, discoidea sed haud
carinata, tenuis, nitidiuscula, leviter et . inasqualiter striatula, calva, pallide
cornea sed hinc inde parcissime subalbido-marmorata ; spirti subdepressa ;
anfractibus 6, convexiusculis, lente crescentibus, ultimo antice haud deflexo ;
umbilico spirali, prof undo, sed haud valde lato ; apertura lunata, peristomate
tenui, acuto, marginibus non approximatis et lamina subnulla junclis. Diam.
maj. 3^-4. alt. 2. Helix hispida, Linn., Syst. Nat. 675 (1758)
Habitat Maderam (certe a Gallia introducta) ; in horta quadam supra
Camacha, circa 2,500' s. m., olim (teste D. Leacock) reperta.
82 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
Habitat Maderam (vulgatiss.), Desertam Grandem (rarior),
et Desertam australem (rariss.); hinc inde, in intermediis, sub
lapidibus. In statu semifossili in Madera propria ad Canical
abundat; necnon in summo etiam Desertse Australis semi-
fossilis exstat, sed ibidem rarior.
This is one of the most universal, and characteristic, of the
Land Mollusca of Madeira proper, and one which occurs like-
wise, though more rarely, on the Desertas : but in Porto Santo
it seems to be absolutely non-existent, there being no traces
of it in either a recent or a subfossil condition. In Madeira
proper however it is extremely abundant, principally at inter-
mediate but also at comparatively low elevations, frequently
swarming (as on the lofty sea-cliffs towards the Cabo Garajao,
or Brazen Head) amongst loose stones and rubbish, as well as
amongst the soil around the roots of shrubby plants. On the
Northern Deserta (or Ilheo Chao) it has not yet been observed,
though we may expect that it will sooner or later be found
there ; but on the Deserta Grande it is not very uncommon,
although by no means abundant ; whilst on the Southern De-
serta, where it was met with by Mr. Lowe, and from whence it
has been obtained subsequently by the Baron Paiva, it is ex-
tremely rare.
In a subfossil state the P. bifrons teems in the calcareous
and muddy deposits at Canipal ; and it likewise exists, though
much more sparingly, on the summit of the Southern Deserta.
The P. bifrons (which is rather variable in stature, adult
specimens ranging from about 5 to 8 lines across the broadest
part) may be known by its rather flattened, discoidal contour,
pale corneous-yellow hue (often with a faint greenish tinge),
and by the oblique and curved costse with which its very nume-
rous volutions are roughened. Its underside is shining and
free from ridges (it being merely sculptured with radiating
lines) ; its umbilicus is deep, but not large ; the region about
(or immediately before) its aperture is usually of a more de-
cided yellow; and its apical whorls are for the most part
whitish or decorticated.
Patula stephanophora.
Helix stephanophora, Desk., in Fer. Hist. 111. t. 90. f. 8.
calathus, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
stephanophora, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 142 (1853)
calathus, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 178 (1854)
stephanophora, Alb., Mai. Mad. 44. t. 11. f. 17-20
(1854)
calathus, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 25 (1867)
MADEIRAN GROUP. 83
Habitat Maderam ; prsecipue in intermediis sylvaticis, sed
quoque ad rapes umbrosas maritimas, hinc inde vulgaris. In
statu semifossili ad Canical sat copiose invenitur.
Although locally rather abundant, the P. stephanophora is
very much rarer than the bifrons ; and it is confined, appa-
rently, to Madeira proper, where it occurs also in a subfossil
state at Canipal. In most of the damp ravines of an inter-
mediate elevation (as, for instance, in the Eibeiro de Sta. Luzia,
and the Ribeiro Frio) it may be taken more or less commonly,
principally in the loose soil which has accumulated around the
roots of feros, and on the ledges of the rocks ; but it is likewise
to be met with on certain of the submaritime cliffs, such as
the Cabo Garajao, and others in that direction.
The P. stephanophora is one of the most beautiful, and
well-defined, of the Madeiran Land-Shells; and although its
affinities are manifestly with the bifrons (with which it almost
agrees in the size and proportions of its umbilicus, the cavity
of which however is rather more suddenly, or less gradually,
scooped out), it differs from that species in being smaller and
darker, in its under-parts being less shining, in its spire being
less depressed, and in its volutions (the outer ones of which are
relatively narrower or less developed) being elegantly sculptured
with very much more raised, and less oblique, curved trans-
verse costae.
( Patulce normales.)
Patula calathoides.
Helix calathoides (Paiva\ Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. xii. 338
(1863)
55 Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 26. t. 2. f. 4
(1867)
Habitat Desertam Grandem, et (semifossilis) Desertam
Australem ; ab insulis primus discernit cl. Baronus de Paiva.
This most interesting Patula was obtained in a subfossil
condition from the Southern Deserta (or ' Bugio '), by the
Baron Paiva, in the spring of 1 863 ; and since that period the
Baron has recorded its occurrence in a living state on the
summit of the Deserta Grande, from whence lie received it in
1867 ; though I may add that I have not myself inspected it
except from the former of those islands, and semifossilized.
The P. calathoides is extremely important locally, as be-
longing to the same geographical type as the P. Guerineana of
the sylvan districts of Madeira proper, and which differs from
that of the common European P. rotundata (otherwise closely
allied) in its still larger and more open umbilicus, its narrower
G 2
84 TEST-ACE A ATLANTIC A.
and more numerous volutions, and in the coarser, fewer, and
more elevated costae (or folds) of its upper surface.
Indeed the present Patula (so far as I am able to judge
from colourless and subfossilized examples) so nearly resembles
the Madeiran P. Guerineana that it might well-nigh be sup-
posed, at first sight, to represent but the quondam phasis of
that species. When accurately looked at, however, it will be
seen to possess a few differential characters of its own which
will suffice to stamp it as a perhaps truly distinct, though
proximate, member of the same local assemblage. Thus it is
not only a little less flattened both above and below (the spire
being just appreciably less depressed, and the under portion of
the basal whorl conspicuously broader, convexer, and more de-
veloped), but its umbilicus is not quite so wide at the com-
mencement, its keel is less pronounced (or somewhat more
obtuse), and the costae of its upper surface are not only still
more elevated and regular, but likewise appreciably less ob-
lique, being more at right angles to the suture. What its
colour may be, when in a recent condition, I have no means of
deciding.
Patula Guerineana.
Helix Gruerineana, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 115 (1852)
semiplicata, Pfeiff., Mai. Blatt. 63 (1852)
Id., Mon. Hel. iii. 114 (1853)
Guerineana, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 176 (1854)
semiplicata, Alb., Mai. Mad. 19. t. 2. f. 1 1-1 4 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 80 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in sylvaticis intermediis rarior, sub
foliis marcidis necnon in humidis latens.
This is one of the most elegant of the Madeiran Land-
Shells, its flattened, discoidal contour, added to its enormous
umbilicus, its highly polished (and obliquely, though very
obscurely, subfasciated ) under-region, and the beautifully varie-
gated hue of its coarsely costate volutions (which seem to be
striped with alternate, but unequal, transverse bands of a lively
reddish-brown and of a dirty whitish-yellow) giving it an
appearance which it is impossible to mistake. Until lately it
has been regarded as the Madeiran representative of the
common European P. rotundata, Mull. ; but, as already shown,
it belongs to a rather different type, characterised by its more
numerous, narrower, and strongly costate whorls, by its brightly
polished, nearly unsculptured inferior portion, and by its still
larger umbilicus. And, apart from these points, it is more de-
pressed, and (on the average) a trifle larger, than the P. rotun-
data, and its keel is sharper. Added to which, the latter
MADEIRAN GROUP. 86
species has itself been brought to light, within the last few
years, in no less than two distinct, and distant, parts of the
archipelago.
The P. Guerineana is decidedly a rare species, and one
which is confined to the damp sylvan districts of Madeira
proper at intermediate and lofty altitudes, where it is most
unmistakeably aboriginal, or indigenous. It occurs sparingly
in many of the deep wooded ravines, in the interior of the
island, beneath stones and decaying vegetable refuse, and was
first detected (so far as I am aware) in the Levada of the
Eibeiro Frio (into which it had fallen from the overhanging
bank above) by Miss J. C. Guerin after whom the species is
named.
Patula rotundata.
Helix rotundata, Mull., Hist Verm. ii. 29 (1774)
Patula rotundata, Held, in Isis, 916 (1837)
Helix rotundata, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 105 (1848)
Hard., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 174 (1860)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 81 (1867)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 222 (1876)
Habitat Maderam, et (sec. B. de Paiva) ins. parvam juxta
Portum Sanctum ' Ilheo da Fonte d'Areia ' dictam ; rarissima.
A single example of this common European Patula was ob-
tained by the Baron Paiva (as asserted in his Monograph),
during 1864, from the little uninhabited rock off the N.W.
coast of Porto Santo known as the Ilheo da Fonte d'Areia ; and
it would appear that he has since received a few others from the
same remote spot. I possess these specimens (which were trans-
mitted to Mr. Lowe), and also several more which were taken
by the Eev. E. B. Watson in 1866 at the Jardim da Serra
(about 2,000 feet above the sea) in Madeira proper ; so that I
think we have no option but to admit the species into our
catalogue. It would seem highly probable however that its
presence at the Jardim da Serra may be the result of an acci-
dental introduction from England during a comparatively recent
period, inasmuch as it is well known that the late Consul Mr.
Veitch was in the habit of receiving consignments of plants for
his garden at the Jardim ; but the existence of the shell on a
distant and well-nigh inaccessible rock is a fact, if truly to be
depended upon, which cannot be glossed over by any such
supposition, and one which would tend to place the P. rotun-
data amongst the autochthones of the archipelago. Perhaps
however its occurrence in even such a spot is, at any rate, not
more remarkable than that of the European Balea perversa on
the extreme summit of the Pico de Facho in Porto Santo, or
86 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
than the equally rare appearance, in the subfossil deposits of
that same island, of the common H. lapicida of more northern
latitudes. However in Madeira proper it is not only at the
Jardim that it has been met with, for Mr. Watson obtained a
single example on some wild and uncultivated rocks in the
Eibeira dos Soccorridos.
The P. rotundata may be known from the P. Guerineana
(which is so characteristic of, and unmistakably indigenous in,
the damp sylvan districts of Madeira proper) by being on the
average a trifle smaller, but at the same time less flattened and
less strongly keeled ; by its volutions being wider, convexer, and
less numerous, as well as regularly striated with sharp, hair-
like, oblique ridges (instead of broad and irregular plicae), and
very much more obscurely clouded with suffused bands ; by its
umbilicus being smaller ; and by the under-region of its basal
whorl being not only larger and more inflated, but likewise
almost opake and conspicuously sculptured with coarse ra-
diating costate lines.
( Pyramidula, Fitz.)
Patula pygmaea,
Helix pygmsea, Drap., Hist. Nat. 114. t. 8. f. 9, 10 (1805).
5 , Pfeiff-, Man. Hel. i. 97 (1848)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 78 (1867)
Watson, Journ. des Conch. 222 (1876)
Habitat Maderam, rarissime ; in Ribeiro de Vasco Gil, prope
Funchal, a Revdo. R. B. Watson, A.D. 1866, reperta. Etiam semi-
fossilis prope Canipal a Dom. Watson occurrere dicitur.
This common little European Patula is one of the two or
three Madeiran land-shells which I have not myself had an op-
portunity of inspecting. Indeed its introduction into the cata-
logue is comparatively recent, a few examples having been
found by the Rev. R. B. Watson, in the Ribeira de Vasco Gil,
near Funchal, in 1866. Hitherto the P. pusilla, Lowe, has
been looked upon (though, as it has always seemed to me, very
erroneously) as the representative in Madeira of this minute
species of more northern latitudes; but now that the true
pygmcea has been brought to light, this can no longer be the
case, unless indeed the latter should owe its presence in the
island to recent accidental introduction from Europe, a sup-
position, however, which will hardly be tenable if the assertion
that it has been detected also in a subfossil state at Canipal
be correct.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 87
Patula placida.
Helix pusilla (pars), Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 46.
(1831)
placida, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 140 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. Hi. 82 (1853)
pusilla, @. sericina, Lowe, Proc.Zool. Soc. Lond. 176
(1854)
Luseana, Paiva, Journ. de Conch, xiv. 342.pl. 11.
f. 9 (1866)
Id., Mon. Moll. Mad. 80. t. 2. f. 3 (1867).
Patula placida, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 25. pi. 2.
f. 9-12 (1872)
Habitat Maderam ; sub cortice arborum, necnon inter muscos
lichenesque ad truncos laurorum, in sylvaticis editioribus prae-
cipue gaudens. Semifossilis prope Canical a Revdo. R. B. Wat-
son, reperitur.
This minute Patula formed a portion of Mr. Lowe's H. pu-
silla (enunciated in 1831), and which in 1852 he separated
from the still smaller, browner, and more depressed examples
(the habits of which are different, and which have a tendency
to be sculptured with remote hair-like costse) as the 6 var. ft.
sericina? In the meanwhile however it had been published by
Shuttleworth, under the name placida, from the Canarian
archipelago.
I think there can be little doubt that the P. placida is
truly distinct from the smaller and less turbinate form which
constituted the type of the pusilla, Lowe ; and its mode of life,
too, is not the same, for, whilst the pusilla (which possesses
a very wide geographical range) occurs principally under stones,
and within the hollows and crevices of scoriae, in dry spots of a
comparatively low elevation, the placida, on the other hand, is
attached normally to the sylvan districts of a higher altitude,
where it congregates beneath the bark of trees, as well as
amongst moss and lichen on the damp trunks of the old laurels.
Under such circumstances it is universal throughout the wooded
portions of Madeira proper, but it has not yet been observed in
any of the other islands of the Group. In the Canarian archi-
pelago it is equally common as at Madeira ; and I have myself
met with it in the forest regions of TenerifTe, Palma, and
Hierro.
I may add that in Madeira the P. placida appears to be
found likewise in a subfossil condition, the Rev. R. B. Watson
having informed me that he obtained it sparingly (along with
the true P. pygmcea, Drap.) in the calcareous deposits near
88 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
The P. placida is, on the average, a trifle larger than the
pusilla, and it is also less depressed, or more turbinate, the
spire being comparatively elevated. It is usually too of a pale
olivaceous brown, there, being nearly always either a green or a
yellowish tinge ; and its surface, which has a somewhat sericeous
appearance, is very densely and regularly crowded with minute
hair-like lines, unmingled with any coarser ones, such as are
more or less conspicuous in the P. pusilla, and which are at
times even sublamelliform.
The P. placida is a little smaller than the common European
P. pygmcea, and with at least one volution less, its umbilicus
is relatively not so large, and its colour is altogether different,
the pygmcea being usually of a dark coffee-brown. The striae
also of the pygmcea, at any rate those on the underside, are
more oblique.
( Acanthinula, Beck.)
Patula pusilla,
Helix pusilla, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. 8. Trans, iv. 46. t. 5.
f. 17 (1831)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. i. 101 (1848)
servilis, ShuttL, Bern. Mitth. 140 (1852)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iii. 101 (1853)
pusilla, a. annulata, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 176
(1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 18. t. 2. f. 7-10 (1854)
servilis, Morel., Hist. Nat. desAcor. 173. t. 3. f. 6 (1860)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 79 (1867)
hypocrita, Dohrn., Mai. Bldtt. 1 (1869)
Patula servilis, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 25. pi. 2.
f. 13-16 (1872)
Habitat Maderam, et Desertam Grandem ; sub lapidibus,
necnon in fissuris scoriaB, praecipue in aridis inferioribus, latens.
As already mentioned, this extremely minute Patula is the
type of Mr. Lowe's Helix pusilla, the rather larger, less de-
pressed, and olivaceous P. placida, which was mixed up with it
by him, having been separated in only his later catalogue (under
the name 'var. /3. sericina') as at any rate a distinct form.
Mr. Lowe's original diagnosis (-in 1831) seems to have been
drawn out from the typical (or smaller) shell; whilst his
' Habitat in Maderse sylvis ' manifestly applies to the larger
one, afterwards treated by him as the ' var. (3. sericinaj but
previously published by Shuttleworth (in his Canarian diagno-
ses) under the name of H. placida. The pusilla proper, which
is smaller, browner, and more depressed than the placida (or
MADEIRAN GROUP. 89
pusilla, /3. sericina ' of Lowe), occurs, unlike the latter, in dry
and rocky spots of a comparatively low altitude, where it may
be met with more particularly beneath stones, on old walls, and
within the cavities of scoriae. In such situations it abounds
throughout Madeira proper, and was obtained by Mr. Lowe and
myself, not uncommonly, on the Deserta Grande.
The P. pusilla is manifestly, however, a species of a widely
acquired range, for it is found in the Azorean and Canarian
groups, and five examples of it are now before me which were
communicated by Dr. H. Dohrn (having been described by him
under the name ' H. hypocrita ' ) from S. Antao in the Cape Verde
archipelago. I may add that I have inspected these types of
the hypocrita with the greatest care, and that they are abso-
solutely undistinguishable (so far as I can perceive) from the
ordinary Madeiran and Desertan specimens of the pusilla. I
likewise met with the species, during 1875 and 1876, in the
intermediate districts of even St. Helena.
This minute Patula differs from the P. placida in being a
little smaller, browner, and more depressed (its spire being ap-
preciably less elevated), and in its volutions having a greater or
less tendency to be furnished with a few additional, remote,
more decidedly raised, hair-like lines, which are occasionally
so much developed as to be quite conspicuous, and even to ap-
pear (at first sight) almost lamelliform. These thread-like
lines, however, are more often so indistinct that they can be
observed only beneath a high magnifying power.
Genus 7. HELIX, Linne.
( Vallonia, Kisso.)
Helix pulchella.
Helix pulchella, Mull., Hist. Verm. ii. 30 (1774)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 45 (1831)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 176 (1854),
Alb., Mai. Mad. 45. t. 12. f. 1-4 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 77 (1867)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 75 (1872)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 222 (1876)
Habitat Maderam, et (sec. B. de Paiva) etiam Desertam
Australem ; hinc inde sub lapidibus, prsecipue in cultis.
This widely spread little Helix, so common throughout
Europe, and which occurs also in the Azorean and Canarian
archipelagos, and which I met with at St. Helena, and which
was taken by Mr. Benson even at the Cape of Good Hope, is
tolerably abundant around Funchal (and in similar cultivated
90 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
districts) in Madeira. I have not myself observed it in any of
the other islands of the group, but it is recorded by the Baron
Paiva as existing sparingly on the Southern Deserta or Bugio ;
though I cannot but suspect that this latter habitat must be
regarded as still requiring corroboration.
( Campylcea, Beck.)
Helix Lowei.
Helix portosanctana, /3. gigantea, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S.
Trans, iv. 46. t. 5. f. 16 (1831)
Lowei, Per., Bull, de Zoolog. 89 (1835)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 233 (1835)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 169 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 82. t. 17. f. 11, 12 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in statu semifossili vulgaris.
Etiam recens cl. J. M. Moniz, sub lapide magno (quasi sepulta),
in ins. parva ' Ilheo de Cima ' dicta, semel detexit.
The H. Lowei (the larger examples of which measure up-
wards of two inches across the broadest part) stands pre-eminent
amongst the Madeiran Helices for its gigantic stature ; but it
has been a question, with various monographers, whether it
should be regarded as anything more, in reality, than the
quondam, highly-developed state of the present H. portosanc-
tana which in nearly all respects except size it closely re-
sembles. Without entering into this problem, which is perhaps
unsolvable, I will merely add that it has more often been looked
upon latterly as specifically distinct ; a supposition which is ren-
dered none the less probable from its having been lately ascer-
tained not to belong altogether to a fauna that has passed
away, a single living example, which was found by Senhor J.
M. Moniz beneath a large stone (and at a considerable depth
underground) on the little island known as the Ilheo de Cima,
proving to a demonstration that the species, in an unaltered
condition, still lingers on, and that too in company with its
modern analogue the H. portosanctana.
But considering how abundant the H. Lowei is in the sub-
fossiliferous beds of Porto Santo, there can be little doubt that
the species (which is now practically all but extinct) was once
dominant ; whilst the comparative rarity of the H. portosanc-
tana in a semifossilized condition would seem as if the former
had in some measure been supplanted by the latter (which at
present is so universal). Still, I do not think that we have suf-
ficient evidence for assuming that the one has been, by any
fancied process, altered into the other, for intermediate links do
MADEIRAN GROUP. 91
not occur (either subfossil or recent), and there would seem to
be a few characters, apart from the very great dissimilarity of
stature, which may serve to separate the two forms. Thus the
H. Lowei appears to be less evidently subpunctulated (or
minutely asperate), even beneath a high magnifying power ; and
the three large fasciae which are nearly always more or less trace-
able on the portosanctana^ and which are at times so broadly
developed as to be. subconfluent, are uniformly reduced in the
H. Lowei (when in a sufficiently perfect condition for the colour
to be preserved at all) to two narrow, thread-like lines, the
upper cloudy band, below the suture, being obsolete. And
there is likewise no appearance of the H. Lowei having been
(like the portosanctana) infinitesimally hispid; though this
perhaps may be merely owing to the surface having been
necessarily somewhat worn, or altered, in the process of
decortication.
The H. Lowei is locally abundant in many of the subfossili-
ferous deposits in Porto Santo, and it is also common in those
on the immediately adjoining Ilheo de Baixo ; but the single
example to which I have already alluded, as having been taken
by Senhor Moniz on the Ilheo de Cima, embodies the only
instance (so far as I am aware) in which the species has been
observed in a recent state.
Helix portosanctana.
Helix portosanctana, Sow., Zool. Journ. i. 57. t. 3. f. 5
(1824)
a., Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 46.
t. 5. f. 15 (1831)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 367 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 169
(1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 46. t. 12. f. 5-7
(1854)
., Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 20 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, insulasque parvas adjacentes;
sub lapidibus vulgaris. In statu semifossili minus frequens.
As already mentioned, the H. portosanctana (which is pecu-
liar to Porto Santo and the immediately adjacent islets) may be
regarded as the modern representative of the subfossil, and com-
paratively gigantic, H. Lowei ; yet, for reasons which have been
assigned, I do not think that we possess sufficient evidence for
considering the two to be but altered phases of a single species.
The fact that both of them were members of the ancient fauna
(the portosanctana being then scarce, and the Lowei abundant),
92 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
and that both are still living (the Lowei being all but extinct,
whilst the portosanctana is universal), in conjunction with the
circumstance that there are no traces of genuine intermediate
links (either fossil or recent), would seem to imply, at any rate
to my mind, that the two forms were aboriginally distinct, but
that they have been slowly changing places as regards ascen-
dency.
The H. portosanctana passes through . many degrees of
colour and outline, some examples being abruptly banded,
and others with the fasciae so greatly increased and suffused that
they appear at first sight to be well-nigh unicolorous ; whilst
many specimens have the spire comparatively elevated, and
others comparatively depressed. But there is one form (amongst
the numerous others, more or less slightly differing) which may
properly be noticed as more salient than the rest, but which does
not seem to have been sufficiently brought forward by Mr. Lowe.
I allude to the particular phasis which occurs more especially
(though intermingled with the ordinary type) on the Ilheo de
Cima, and which is (on the average) rather larger, flatter, and
thinner than is usually the case, with the umbilicus generally
wide and open, and with the surface for the most part darker
(the fasciae being broad and suffused), as well as (when viewed
beneath a high magnifying power) more thickly and decidedly
subpunctulate. This aspect of the shell, which I think perhaps
is the only one which it is worth while to single out as a posi-
tive ' variety,' we may be permitted to record as the ' var. /3.
cimensisS
When inspected under a powerful lens, the H. portosanc-
tana will generally be seen (in individuals which are fresh and
unrubbed) to be infinitesimally hispid, or pubescent.
( Cryptaxis, Lowe.)
Helix Vulcania.
Helix vulcania, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 147 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 168 (1854)
(pars), Alb., Mai. Mad. 48. 1. 1 3. f. 4-6 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 17 (1867)
Habitat Desertam Eorealem, et Desertam Grrandem ; sub
lapidibus vulgaris.
The H. portosanctana, the Vulcania (with its closely allied
H. leonina), and the undata may be regarded as strictly ' re-
presentative ' species, the first being peculiarly Porto-Santan,
the second Desertan, and the third Madeiran ; yet it is impos-
sible to treat them practically as, in any degree, insular modi-
MADEIRAN GROUP. 93
fi cations of each other. Indeed the portosanctana belongs to
a rather different type (characteristic of Beck's section Campy-
Icea), in which the umbilicus is open, and the tendency of the
surface is to be very minutely hispid or pilose ; whereas in
Cryptaxis, Lowe, which embraces the other two forms, the
umbilicus is closed up (at any rate in the adult shells), and ^the
surface, although more or less malleated or uneven, is glabrous :
and it will be gathered therefore from this circumstance, that
the exponents from Madeira proper and the Desertas are more
nearly akin inter se than they are to the one from Porto Santo.
The H. Vulcania has been found hitherto only on the
Northern and Central Desertas, 1 its place on the southern
island being supplied by the very intimately related (but more
largely developed) H. leonina which likewise makes its ap-
pearance towards the southern extremity of the Central Deserta
(or Deserta Grande). And indeed were it not for this last-
mentioned fact, I should certainly have been inclined to treat
the H. leonina as a mere enlarged and exaggerated phasis (or
insular modification) of the Vulcania; but since the two forms
co-exist on the central island, that conclusion would hardly be
tenable. Nevertheless I am by no means satisfied that the
H. leonina is more in reality than the (locally) more southern
aspect of the Vulcania^ for it must be admitted that we have a
very gradual and curious progression, as regards contour, from
the Northern Deserta (or Ilheo Chao) to the southern one (or
Bugio), the examples from the former of those islands being a
little flatter and less malleated than the ones (equally referable
to the Vulcania proper) from the Deserta Grande ; whilst the
characters of the leonina, which makes its first appearance
towards the southern end of the Deserta G-rande, and which
reigns supreme on the Bugio, are merely those of the H. Vul-
cania but (particularly on the southern island) exaggerated.
However since both the Vulcania and leonina exist on the
Deserta Grande, I think that we may practically refuse to
treat them as insular states of each other, and may so find it
more convenient to register them as distinct.
The H. Vulcania (and leonina) may be said, in a general
sense, to combine the fasciated surface of the portosanctana
with the closed-up umbilicus and more or less malleated sculp-
ture of the Madeiran H. undata. However, the lower band,
which is nearly always present in the portosanctana^ is in the
1 The Baron Paiva cites the Southern Deserta also for the H. Vulcania ;
but since his material was never obtained by himself, but was brought to
him by paid collectors (who were neither over-accurate nor over-scrupulous),
I cannot without further evidence place any reliance on that particular
habitat.
94 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Vulcania obsolete, causing the basal volution to be two-, in-
stead of three-fasciated ; and the upper band (just below the
suture) has a greater or less tendency to be broken-up or inter-
rupted, giving a somewhat dappled, or tessellated, appearance
to the anterior region of each whorl. The ground-colour of the
H. Vulcania is an olivaceous brown ; and the volutions are
obliquely striated with irregular, sub-undulating, more or less
confluent ribs, imparting a malleated character to the whole.
The examples of this shell from the Northern (or Flat)
Deserta may be looked upon as the most typical ones for, the
species, and they are (on the average) a little more depressed
(and perhaps & trifle smaller) than those from the Deserta
Grande, the basal whorl being somewhat less inflated and with
a more evident tendency to have an obsolete keel ; and their
surface is rather more closely, and not quite so coarsely striate,
or so conspicuously malleated. The very slightly altered aspect
of the H. Vulcania from the Deserta Grand e, or central island,
we may perhaps cite as the ' var. /3. desertce. 9
The H. Vulcania was first detected by Mr. Leacock, in
June, 1848 ; and it has subsequently been met with by Mr.
Lowe, myself, and others, in considerable profusion, on both of
the more northern Desertas.
Helix leonina,
Helix leonina, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Vulcania, var., Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 148 (1853)
leonina, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 168 (1854)
Vulcania, var. ft., Alb. 9 Mai. Mad. 48. t. 13. f. 1-3
(1854)
leonina, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 18 (1867)
Habitat Desertam Australem, vulgaris ; necnon etiam (var.
a. intermedia) Desertam Grrandem, sed ibidem rarior.
As already mentioned, this may perhaps represent but an
enlarged and local modification of the H. Vulcania ; neverthe-
less it certainly is not an insular one, inasmuch as it co-exists
with that species on the Deserta Grande ; and, whatever there-
fore be the true state of the case, I think that it will practically
be more convenient to cite it as distinct.
The H. leonina is larger and more highly coloured than the
Vulcania, its basal volution being more inflated, and with the
two bands (the anterior one of which has scarcely any tendency
to be broken-up or tessellated) more broadly developed ; its
surface is even still more coarsely malleated ; and its columella
is proportionately longer.
It is on the Southern Deserta (or Bugio) that the //. leonina
MADEIRAN GROUP. 95
is more particularly dominant, and where it may be said to
attain its maximum. In the central island it just makes its
appearance, on the abrupt eastern side (towards the south), in a
spot known as the Feijaa Grande ; where however the specimens,
which we may register as the ' var a. intermedia,' are (on the
average) a little smaller and darker than those from the Bugio.
Helix undata,
Helix undata, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 41. t. 5. f.
5 (1831)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 191 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 168 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 50. t. 13. f. 13-16 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 16 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; sub lapidibus necnon ad muros, prsecipue
in cultis inferioribus, congregans. In stratu conchy lifer o ad
Canical semifossilis occurrit.
This is one of the most universal, and characteristic, of the
Land-Shells of Madeira proper, to which island it would seem
to be peculiar, and where it often swarms, beneath stones and
about old walls, chiefly at rather low elevations and in cultivated
spots ; and it occurs likewise in a subfossil state, though in no
great profusion, at Canipal.
The H. undata is more nearly related to the H. Vulcania
and leonina, of the Desertas, than to any other species which
has hitherto been brought to light. Indeed with the ' var. a.
intermedia ' of the latter, from the Deserta Grande, it has a
good deal in common ; nevertheless it is considerably smaller
and less inflated (or globose), even still more undulate in its
sculpture, and also of a uniform and paler brown, there
being no traces whatsoever of fascia, or bands, on any of the
volutions.
( Katostoma, Lowe.)
Helix psammophora.
Helix psammophora, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 113 (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 166 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 83. t. 17. f. 15
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 16 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, hodie recens non inventa ; in
arena calcarea conchylifera semifossilis reperitur.
This Helix, which is peculiar to Porto Santo, has been
found hitherto only in a subfossil state, it being rather
96 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
common in many of the calcareous deposits, where I believe
that it was first met with by myself.
The H. psammophora belongs to the same type as the
phlebophora, from which however it differs in its somewhat
smaller size and more elevated spire, in its basal volution being
a little more deflexed at the aperture (which is just appreciably
rounder), and 'in its entire surface being (instead of coarsely
malleated and confidently costate-striate) densely crowded with
large granules, which are elegantly arranged (not exactly on
ridges, but) in oblique irregular rows.
In general size and contour the H. psammophora has more
in common with the ' var. 8. craticulata ' (which was detected
by myself on the Ilheo de Ferro) than with any other form of
the H. phlebophora ; nevertheless its totally different sculpture
(the 8. craticulata being quite free from granules, and even
more malleated than the ordinary type) will at once separate it.
Helix phlebophora.
Helix phlebophora, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 41. t.
5. f. 6 (1831)
nivosa, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 192 (1848)
phlebophora, a. chlorata, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc.
Lond. 166 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 49. t. 13. f. 7, 8
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 15 (1867)
var. 0. planata.
Helix phlebophora, /3. planata, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
166 (1854)
(pars), Alb., Mai. Mad. 49. t. 13. f. 9,
10 (1854)
var. 7. nivosa [pallida, immaculata].
Helix nivosa, Sow., Zool. Journ. i. 56. t. 3. f. 3 (1824)
phlebophora, 7. decolorata, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc.
Lond. 166 (1854)
var. S. craticulata.
Helix craticulata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 113 (1852)
nivosa, var. 0., Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 148 (1853)
phlebophora, 8. scrobiculata, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc.
Lond. 166 (1854)
var. 0., Alb., Mai. Mad. 49. t. 13. f. 1 1,
12 (1854)
var. a., Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 15
(1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, insulasque parvas adjacentes ;
MADEIRAN GROUP. 97
vulgatissima. Necnon in solo arenoso semifossilis occurrit.
Var. 8. craticuata ad insulam ' Ilheo de Ferro ' solum recens
pertinet ; sed in statu semifossili in Portu Sancto ipsissimo
late reperitur.
This is one of the most abundant and universal of the
Helices of Porto Santo, to which island, and the immediately
adjacent rocks, it would seem to be peculiar ; and it is tolerably
common in a subfossil state, particularly under the phasis
which I have cited as the ' 8. craticulata, Lowe, which in a
recent condition occurs now only on the Ilheo de Ferro.
The H. phlebophora may be known by its more or less
globose, strictly Helix-shaped, or subtrochiform, contour, and
by its variegated (or fasciated) surface, which is more or less
coarsely molleate and beset with oblique and very irregular sub-
confluent costate lines, a peculiarity of sculpture which im-
parts a wrinkled appearance to the whole.
The present species, however, passes through many degrees
of colour, outline, and sculpture, the four principal ones being
[1] the normal state (corresponding with the 'a. chlorataj
Lowe), in which the shell is comparatively globose, and the
corrugations of the surface are more developed than the costse ;
[2] a more depressed form (answering to Lowe's ' /3. planata '),
in which the spire is a little less raised, the surface, on the
average, a trifle paler and more variegated (the bands being
narrower, and more broken-up or interrupted), and in which
the oblique irregular costae are more sharply developed ; [3] a
yellowish-white, almost colourless or albino variety, free from
fasciae and markings but otherwise agreeing with the c a.
chlorata, Lowe, and which represents the H. nivosa of
Sowerby ; and [4] a smaller, darker, and a more beautifully
dappled phasis, with the corrugations very coarse and large but
with the ridges almost obsolete, and with the spire relatively a
little more elevated, peculiar apparently (at any rate in a recent
condition) to the small islet known as the Ilheo de Ferro
(where it was first detected by myself), and which was de-
scribed by Mr. Lowe in 1852 (under the name of H. craticulata)
as distinct, but which in 1854 he suppressed as a species, citing
it as the ' var. 8. scrobiculata ' of the H. phlebophora. 1
1 By a glance at the synonyms given above, it will be seen that in reality
Sowerby's name ' nivosa ' is the prior one for this Helix, by many years, it
having been published in 1824, whereas Mr. Lowe's * phUbojihora ' did not
make its appearance until 1831. If therefore it be insisted that priority out-
weighs every other consideration whatsoever (even, for instance, the employ-
ment of a title which conveys an absolutely false idea of the species to which
it has reference), the change in the nomenclature must of course be made.
Under ordinary circumstances I should myself have made it ; but since the
name pklebophora has almost universally been allowed for this Helix, on
98 TESTACEA ATLANT1CA.
( Tberus, Monf.)
Helix Wollastoni.
Helix Wollastoni, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon Hel. iii. 169 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 198 (1854)
Alb., Mai Mad. 22 [nee ? ff] (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 100 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in monte orientali ' Pico do
Concelho,' sub lapidibus vulgaris. Semifossilis ad, necnon
juxta, Zimbral d'Areia prsecipue invenitur.
Peculiar to Porto Santo, where it was first detected (in a
recent state) by myself, during April of 1849, on the slopes of
the Pico do Concelho, in the east of that island, having, how-
ever, been found in a subfossil condition by Mr. Lowe so far
back as in 1828. It swarms, beneath stones, on that particular
mountain, but I have never met with it elsewhere ; and even in a
subfossil state it is only at the Zimbral d'Areia (which abuts on
the base of the Pico do Concelho), and in its vicinity (as, for
instance, in the muddy deposits of a sea-cliff below the Pico
dos Macaricos) , that it has hitherto, so far as I am aware, been
brought to light. 1
The H. Wollastoni may be known by its acutely carinated
basal volution, and minutely granulose, obliquely plicate
surface, the plicae being more or less undulate, irregular,
and here and there confluent. In colour it is usually of an
olivaceous- or yellowish-brown, and with two very obscure
darker bands on each whorl, generally so obscure as to be
barely traceable, but often appreciably developed ; and the
under-part of the ultimate volution is either altogether con-
colorous, or else ornamented with a narrow darker fascia at a
little distance from the keel.
The present Helix belongs to the same type as the subfossil
Canarian H. digna, Mouss., from Gomera, and (more especially)
as the Sicilian H. scabriuscula, Desh. (Encycl. Meth. ii. 130),
with which latter indeed it has a great deal in common. It is,
however, smaller and rather less flattened than the scabriuscula
(its spire being more exserted), its oblique transverse rugce are
more elevated or developed, its keel (which is less compressed)
account of the unfortunately selected one which was previously imposed upon
it by Sowerby, I have thought it sufficient merely to call attention to the
fact, leaving the alteration in the hands of those who may regard it as
necessary.
1 In the Baron Paiva's Monograph an albino state of the H. Wollastoni is
mentioned as occurring on the Pico Branco ; but I feel it exceedingly pro-
bable that that habitat was inserted through a lapnuz calami, or by mistake.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 99
merges entirely into the suture at the commencement of the
penultimate whorl (instead of being minutely raised above it,
and so more or less faintly traceable up the spire), its umbilicus
is always completely closed over, its peristome has the two lips
more evidently connected by a corneous callosity, and the
portion towards the axis internally broader, and its surface is not
only more opake and granulated but totally different in hue,
being dark and often obscurely banded, instead of nearly
white.
I possess eight examples of the H. Wollastoni which are so
nearly intermediate between that species and the phlebophora (!)
that it is almost impossible to tell at first sight, to which of the
two they should be assigned. They are smaller and less granu-
lated than the ordinary type, and very much less distinctly
keeled ; and I may perhaps cite them as the ' var. a. subdubia.'
Helix forensis, n. sp.
T. omnino imperforata, subdiscoidea, utrinque convexius-
cula, mediocarinata, opaca, ubique densissime granulata plicisque
valde obliquis remotis subundulatis subirregularibus instructa,
supra subinsequaliter vel marmoratim rufo-brunnea nucleo
(Iseviore, prominente) subroseo, sed subtus in medio (i.e. intus
fasciam latam marginalem) pallidior aut magis flavescens ;
anfractibus 5J- planiusculis, ultimo antice valde descendente,
sutura distinctissima, impressa ; apertura valde obliqua, labris
conniventibus, lamina callosa, incrassata, albida (intus rosea)
junctis ; peristomate roseo, basi reflexiusculo, axin versus
incrassato et ibidem dilatato-plano. Diam. maj. 9 lin. ;
alt. 4i.
Helix Wollastoni, Alb., Mai. Mad. t. 4. f. 1-3 \nec diagn.]
(1854)
Habitat ins. parvam 'Ilheo de Fora' dictam, juxta Portum
Sanctum [nee Ilheo de Fora juxta Maderam\ nee etiam in
Portu Sancto ipsissimo] ; a DD. Leacock et Moniz olim com-
municata.
Obs. H. Wollastoni affinis, sed nisi fallor vere distincta.
DifFert testa minore, densius rugosiusque granulata (quare
omnino opaca), necnon obscurius colorata, sc. submarmoratim
rufo-brunnea (nucleo magis prominulo, Iseviore, roseo), nee
supra etiam obscure fasciata, subtus in medio solum pallidiore,
fascia exteriore usque ad carinam ipsam extendente ; apertura
paululum magis rotundata (aut subminus carinatim angulata),
labris callo crassiore junctis.
Several examples of this shell (which Albers appears to have
figured as the //. Wollastoni, Lowe, whilst drawing out his
H 2
100 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
diagnosis from the type of the latter) were communicated by
Mr. Leacock and Senhor J. M. Moniz, about 15 years ago, as
having been taken on the ' Ilheo de Fora,' a little islet off the
eastern coast of Porto Santo, opposite to the Pico do Concelho
(of the mainland) which is the sole locality (so far as I am
aware) for the H. Wollastoni ; and others have since been
received from the same spot by the Baron Paiva. They have
consequently been placed aside, for a considerable period and
without further examination, as representing in all probability
a smaller phasis, or variety, of the H. Wollastoni, which in
most of their features they nearly resemble ; and it must be
admitted that the situation of their habitat namely a little
islet exactly facing the particular mountain in Porto Santo
which seems alone to harbour the H. Wollastoni would tend
to favour the idea of an ' insular modification ' of that species.
Still, when closely inspected, the distinctive characters appear
to me to be too important and numerous to render it safe to
treat the present Helix as a mere phasis of the last one ; and
although it is not absolutely impossible that in reality it may
be so, I will only remark that there would be a primd facie
inconsistency about admitting it as such, while at the same time
allowing the specific claims of the H. Lyelliana, as distinct
from the Bulveriana, or those of the Lowei and Bowdichiana,
as distinct from the portosanctana and punctulata.
Judging from a long array of examples which are now
before me, the H. fcwensis differs from the H. Wollastoni in
being smaller, and more densely and roughly granulated, and
therefore more opake, in its spire being somewhat more raised,
the nucleus especially (which is more shining, lightly sculptured,
and rosy) being more prominent, in its aperture being a little
rounder (or less sharply angled at the keel), in its upper and
lower lips being joined across the body-volution by a more
thickened corneous process, and by its colour being considerably
darker, or of a more reddish marbled-brown. Indeed its colora-
tion is on a rather different pattern, the volutions not being
ever (even indistinctly) fasciated, but unequally suffused all
over with the obscurer tint; whilst the single band on the
underside is broad and completely lateral, extending to the
very edge of the keel, instead of being (when present at all)
narrow and removed to a certain distance from it.
( Mitra, Alters.)
Helix Webbiana.
Helix Webbiana, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 44. t. 5.
f. 10 (1831)
MADEIRAN GROUP;
'301
Helix Webbiana, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 219 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 197 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 53. t. 14. f. 13-15
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 98 (1867)
Vitrina Bocagei, Paiva [testa junior] 1. c. 10. t. 2. f. 6
(1876)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, et ins. parvam adjacent em ' Ilheo
de Cima ' ; sub lapidibus in graminosis montium degens. In
statu semifossili parcissime reperitur.
This most remarkable of the Helices of the Madeiran archi-
pelago appears to be confined to Porto Santo, and the little
adjacent island of the ' Ilheo de Cima ' (where it was taken
sparingly by Senhor J. M. Moniz) ; and, although not very
generally abundant, it is locally far from uncommon, beneath
stones, and usually at a rather high altitude. It is true tnat
the Baron Paiva cites it as occurring likewise on the Southern
Deserta ; but I can only say that no traces of it were observed
there either by Mr. Leacock, Mr. Lowe, or myself, and that
until further evidence therefore has been adduced I shall
refuse to regard it as in any way connected with that remote
and little-known rock, and more particularly so, since the
Baron's material was seldom, if ever, obtained by himself, but
was merely brought to him (at intervals) by paid collectors
sent out from Funchal. But on many of the higher mountain-
slopes of Porto Santo it has been met with by Mr. Lowe, Mr.
Leacock, myself, and others, in tolerable numbers, especially
on the ascent of the Pico Branco, the Pico do Concelho, aL.d
the Pico de Baixo. In a subfossil condition it is scarce, but
was taken by Mr. Lowe and myself at the Zimbral d'Areia, and
in several of the other calcareous deposits.
In the paucity of its whorls, its brownish-green hue, its
thin, shining, subpellucid substance, its total freedom from an
umbilicus, its enormous aperture, and in its upper and lower
lips being quite unconnected by a corneous lamina, the H.
Webbiana has a slight prima facie element in common with
the genus Vitrina ; ! and it is further conspicuous by its
acutely developed keel, and by the fact of its being more or
less studded with coarse and remote granules, which however
become gradually evanescent towards the inner portion of the
(very obliquely striated) volutions. Its peristome is a good deal
1 It is remarkable that the Vitri<na Bocagei of Paiva {Mon. Moll. Mad. 10.
t. 2. f. 6), recorded (evidently through an error) to have been taken in Madeira
proper, was established, as I am assured by the Kev. R. B. Watson, on an
immature example of the Helix Webbiana ! "(cf. t also, Journ. de Conch. 219 ;
1876.)
^-^ . ^ ^TJSSTACEA ATLANTICA.
reflexed, and the central part of its underside is of a paler and
more olivaceous tint than the rest of the shell.
The H. Webbiana has a greater affinity with the H.
cuticula, Shut tl., of the Canarian Group, than with anything
else with which I am acquainted ; and, although abundantly
distinct, there can be little doubt that the two species have
something in common. The H. cuticula, however, is a great
deal smaller, being in fact comparatively diminutive ; and,
although perhaps not quite so shining, it is very much thinner,
paler, greener, more pellucid, and more Vitrina-like ; its keel
too is not only more compressed, but also not completely merged
into the suture at the penultimate volution, it being traceable
up the spire (which is relatively a trifle more elevated) ; and its
peristome is not reflexed.
( Leptaxis, Lowe.)
Helix chrysomela.
Helix osnostoma, Lowe (olim), in litt.
chrysomela, Pfeiff., Mon HeL i. 281 [sedvid. p. 447]
(1848)
Lowe, Proc. ZooL Soc. Loud. 167 (1854)
fluctuosa, Alb., Mai. Mad. 82, t. 17. f. 13-14 (1854)
var. a. chrysomela, Paiva, Mon. Moll.
Mad. 19 (1867)
var. (3. fluctuosa.
Helix fluctuosa, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 167 (1854)
Paiva, Mon Moll. Mad. 19 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, hodie recens non inventa ; in solo
calcareo semi-fossilis copiose reperitur.
The H. chrysomela has been found hitherto only in a subfossil
state, and only in Porto Santo, where it is extremely common,
both in its smaller and its larger phasis. It is to the former of
these that the name chrysomela was applied (in 1848) by
Pfeiffer (who, however, by mistake cited the species as Brazi-
lian), the larger one having been subsequently enunciated by
Mr. Lowe, in 1852, under that of fluctuosa, as specifically dis-
tinct. And thus, on the principle of priority, Pfeiffer's title
takes the precedence, and the race which he described must be
treated as the type. And this being the case, it is perhaps
somewhat fortunate that they are both about equally abundant,
and that it matters but little, therefore, which of them be
looked upon as normal.
Owing to the necessarily bleached condition of semifossilized
specimens, it is well-nigh impossible to detect the law of colo-
MADE1RAN GROUP. 103
ration in this species ; but in some examples there are evident
traces of a narrow darker interrupted (or tessellated) fascia on
the hinder edge of each volution, which is particularly visible
above the keel of the basal one, and likewise a similar one (at
some distance from the keel) on the underside; and in the
sm aller (or typical) state of the shell the peristome and the lamel-
liform callosity which unites its upper and lower halves preserve
an abruptly-defined and conspicuous reddish-yellow hue. Indeed
this last-mentioned peculiarity is one of the main distinctive fea-
tures in Pfeiffer's diagnosis ; nevertheless occasional specimens of
even this smaller phasis have the peristome colourless, whilst
the exponents of the larger race (or fluctuosa, Lowe) have never
any indication of a brilliant hue about the aperture (which is uni-
formly white). But, apart from its diminished size and this
colouring of the peristome, the typical state differs from the
larger one (or fluctuosa, Lowe) in having its keel less acutely
developed, its whorls just perceptibly more tumid, and its entire
surface more uneven or malleate, though rather less evidently
sculptured with minute oblique striae. Nevertheless, in nearly
all their features, I think that the two aspects of the shell pass
imperceptibly into each other. Both of them also (particularly
however the larger one) have, as just mentioned, a slight ten-
dency to be freckled, or blotched, with a few opake milky
markings, in all probability occupying the positions of former
interrupted fasciae, or patches.
The affinities of the H. chrysomela are manifestly with the
H. erubescens, Lowe ; and indeed the larger state (which I would
register as the ' 0. fluctuosa ') has so much in common primd
facie with the Porto-Santan phasis of the latter (or 'a. porto-
sancti ') that I had at first imagined that the two might prove
perhaps to be but the subfossil and recent homologues of each
other ; nevertheless a closer inspection of them would seem to
imply that they pertain in reality to slightly different types,
the H. chrysomela being not only more keeled and less globose
(which is particularly observable in the state 6 @. fluctuosa ') but
having likewise its columella shorter, and its lower lip straighter
and more horizontal, as well as much more thickened internally,
the incrassated portion too extending throughout nearly its entire
length, instead of being gradually terminated at only a short
distance from the axis.
Helix membranacea.
Helix membranacea, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iii. 38 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 165
(1854)
104 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
Helix membranacea, Alb., Mai. Mad. 47. t. 12. f. 8-10
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 11 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in sylvaticis intermediis umbrosis, nec-
non sub foliis arborum emortuis, degens, sed nunquam vulgaris.
In statu semifossili ad Canipal Rev. R. T. Lowe parcissime
collegit.
The H. membranacea, which is widely, though not very
abundantly, scattered over the wooded districts, particularly in
the damp shady ravines, of Madeira proper, may be known by its
extremely thin, flexible, pellucid, Farina-like substance, by the
paucity of its volutions (which vary from about 4 to 4-|) and the
largeness of its aperture, and by its pale yellowish- or even green-
ish-corneous hue, which has often an obsolete rosy additional
tinge, as though to affiliate the species with the closely-allied
H. erubescens. Its basal whorl is rather distinctly keeled, the
keel however becoming evanescent at the aperture (the margins
of which are simple and acute, with the upper one not at all
deflexed); its umbilicus is altogether absent ; and its entire sur-
face is malleated and lightly transverse-plicate, as well as
freckled all over with yellowish-white, subopaque, irregular
specks and broken-up, elongate, more or less confluent milJcy
markings which are usually condensed about the keel into
something approaching to a narrow but disjointed fascia.
The Baron Paiva records this Helix as occurring also on a
little uninhabited rock off the north of Porto Santo, known as
the ' Ilheo da Fonte d'Areia ; ' but the species is so eminently
characteristic of the damp sylvan districts, at a rather high alti-
tude, in Madeira proper that I cannot but suspect that some error
must have arisen concerning the former habitat (and more par-
ticularly so, since the Baron's material was not collected by him-
self). I think therefore that further evidence is required before
the H. membranacea can safely be cited as Porto-Santan, or
even indeed as eotfra-Madeiran.
Helix furva.
Helix furva, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 40. t, 5. f. 2.
(1831)
Pfwff; Mon. Hel. i. 29 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 165 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 48. t. 12. f. 17-19 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 12 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in excelsioribus (vel graminosis vel syl-
vaticis ) occm-rens. In statu semifossili ad Canipal rarissime
invenitur. -
MADEIRAN GROUP. 105
Readily known from all the varieties of the H. erubescens
(which in size, contour, and sculpture it much resembles) by its
uniformly rich, deep, brownish-yellow, or yellowish-brown, hue,
its rather stronger substance and more shining surface, and by
its volutions having a narrow, dark, interrupted, or disjointed,
tesselated fascia at their base (very conspicuous on the ultimate
one, where it is just above, and immediately adjoining, the in-
distinct keel), and generally faint traces of a very obsolete and
paler (but equally fragmentary) one, often altogether absent, on
their anterior edge (fringing the suture). The peristome, like-
wise, is a little less developed and reflexed than in the H. eru-
bescens ; the basal whorl descends somewhat more abruptly in
front ; the keel is, if anything, a trifle more expressed ; and the
surface is perhaps, on the average, less malleated but more per-
ceptibly striate.
The H. furva (which is found also in a subfossil condition,
though very rarely, at Canipal) is widely spread over the inter-
mediate and lofty regions of Madeira proper, to which island it
would seem to be peculiar. On the mountains above Funchal it
is at times comparatively abundant, particularly in the chestnut-
woods at the Mount, towards the Pico d'Arribentao, at the Pico
do Infante, and on the southern slopes of the Pico da Silva ;
and it was met with by Mr. Lowe and myself at the extreme
head of the Eibeira do Inferno (on the Paul de Serra), in the
north-west of the island.
Helix erubescens.
Helix erubescens, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 40. t. 5.
f. 3 (1831)
et simia, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 270 et 288
(1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 165 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 47. 1. 12. f. 11-16 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 13 (1867)
var. porto-sancti, Woll.
Helix fluctuosa, var. a., Paiva, I. c. [videObs. p. 14] (1867)
var. advenoides, Paiva.
Helix advena, Lowe [nee W. et B,~|, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
165 [vid. Obs. 2] (1854)
erubescens, var. 7, advenoides, Paiva, I. c. 14 (1867)
var. hycena, Lowe.
Helix hyaena, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 200 (1853)
erubescens, var. ., Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1 65
(1854)
106 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
Helix erubescens, var. /3., Alb., Mai. Mad. 47. t. 12. f. 14-
16(1854)
var. a. major, Paiva, I. c. 14 (1867)
Habitat ins. omnes Maderenses (sc. Maderam, tres Desertas,
et Portum-Sanctum) ; in intermediis editioribusque degens.
In statu semifossili ad Canical Maderse, necnon in summo etiam
Desertse Austral is, reperitur.
This is one of the most widely diffused, and variable, of the
Maderan Helices, it having been met with by Mr. Lowe, Mr.
Leacock, myself, and others on the whole five islands of the
archipelago (namely Madeira proper, the three Desertas, and
Porto Santo) ; and it is reported even from San Miguel, in the
Azores. Until within a comparatively recent period it was sup-
posed to be non-existent in Porto Santo (where its place seemed,
at first sight, to be supplied by the larger state (or ' /3. flue-
tuosa ') of the more keeled, and rather differently constructed,
semifossilized H. chrysomela); but in May of 1855 it was found
by myself, and subsequently by Mr. Lowe, on the ledges of the
damp rocks on the northern side of the extreme summit of the
Pico de Facho, in that island, from whence it has since been
obtained by the Baron Paiva.
In a subfossil condition the H. erubescens is rather common
at Canical, in Madeira proper, and it was detected by Mr. Lowe
on also the extreme summit of the Southern Deserta (or Bugio) ;
but it has not been observed hitherto, so far as I am aware, in
any of the deposits (whether calcareous or muddy) in Porto
Santo.
The H. erubescens passes through an almost infinite number
of changes, both in outline and hue, as regards the latter,
scarcely two specimens being precisely alike. Sometimes the
volutions are elegantly banded, at others some of the fasciae are
obsolete and at others the latter are more or less broken-up into
tessellated fragments ; while many individuals are unicolorous,
being entirely devoid of markings. The ground-colour (apart
from the darker bands) varies chiefly from a pale pinkish-
brown and whitish-yellow, into a dusky yellowish-grey ; and
there is generally (though by no means always) a more conspi-
cuous rosy tinge about the peristome ; and the surface is more
or less wrinkled, or malleated, as well as marked with oblique
irregular striae, which however are often extremely indistinct.
But perhaps the principal aspects under which the H. eru-
bescens presents itself may be arranged, topographically, as
follows :
a. porto-sancti, Woll. Rather less globose than the type, be-
ing a trifle more flattened both above and below, witli the aperture
a little more straightened or horizontal, and the basal volution
MADEIRAN GROUP. 107
just appreciably keeled. The surface is less malleated than in
the other varieties, but the minute striao are somewhat more
regular and apparent. Although very variable in hue, this is
usually a highly decorated state, the ground-colour being often
of a comparatively clear yellow. Detected by myself and Mr.
Lowe on the northern side of the extreme summit of the Pico de
Facho, in Porto Santo.
/3. [normalis~\. This is the phasis which obtains throughout
the intermediate and lofty elevations of Madeira proper, and on
the Deserta Grande ; and it is rather less flattened (or more in-
flated) than the Porto-San tan one, with the aperture less
straightened, and the surface more appreciably malleated, but
somewhat less evidently striate. It is often extremely thin and
semi-transparent ; and its colour is so inconsistent that it may
be said to pass through almost every gradation (in that respect)
to which the species is liable. Even its contour is by no means
fixed, some examples having the spire more raised than others ;
and, on the whole, the specimens from the Great Deserta may
perhaps be said to be a trifle larger and more globose, as well as
more highly decorated, than those from Madeira proper.
y. advenoides, Paiva. A rather larger (on the average) but
less globose form, which is characteristic of the Northern De-
serta (or Ilheo Chao), but which likewise makes its appearance
in the extreme east of Madeira proper, namely on the Sao Lou-
renco promontory, which stretches out in the direction of that
small and flattened island. It was inadvertently regarded by Mr.
Lowe as identical with the H. advena, W. et B., a species
wrongly stated to be Canarian, but which however appears
equally to be not Madeiran (it being peculiar to the Cape Verde
Group). 1 The ' 7. advenoides ' is not merely a little larger
than the type, but relatively a trifle more depressed ; its surface
is a good deal roughened and malleated ; its substance is per-
haps rather more solid ; and its colour is of a more or less pale,
but dull, yellowish-brown, with the bands for the most part con-
siderably broken-up and interrupted, giving a slightly tessel-
lated appearance to the whole. There is seldom anything of a
rosy tinge about this variety, not even around the peristome
(which is nearly always white).
S. hyaena, Lowe. The largest of all the phases of the H.
erubescens, some of the examples attaining a comparatively
gigantic stature (being ten lines across the widest part, and six
1 The H. advena, W. et B., is a more shining and unmalleated shell, but
with the transverse striae nevertheless much more distinctly and regularly
developed ; its apex is a little more obtuse, its aperture is a trifle more rounded
(there being no tendency to a keel), and its upper lip is not so much deflexed.
Its plan of coloration too, which involves often a faint plumbeous (or leaden)
tinge, is different.
108 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
high). It is the state which the shell assumes par excellence on.
the Southern Deserta (or Bugio), where it swarms ; but which
also makes its appearance at a spot called the Feijaa Grande,
towards the southern end of the Deserta Grande. Apart from
its increased bulk, it is a coarsely malleated form, rather globose
in outline, and of a pale yellowish-brown with the bands often a
good deal interrupted, or broken-up. Although generally free
from a rosy tinge (except now and then, indistinctly, about the
peristome), it is on the average of a just appreciably warmer
tint than the (somewhat smaller and less globose) '7. adven-
oides.' This aspect of the shell, which however has clearly no
claim for anything more than varietal separation, was described
by Mr. Lowe, in 1852, under the name H. hycena, as specifi-
cally distinct.
( Pomatia, Beck.)
Helix aspersa.
Helix aspersa, Mutt., Verm. Hist. ii. 59 (1774)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel i. 241 (1848)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 152 (1860)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 69 (1872)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 222 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; in hortis circa Funchal parcissime occu-
rens, nuper ex alienis introducta.
This common European Helix, which has established itself
in the Azorean Group and in the island of Palma at the Cana-
ries, and which has likewise been naturalized even at St. Helena,
occurs very sparingly in Madeira proper, namely in certain of
the gardens around Funchal, where it has been introduced,
within a comparatively few years, from more northern latitudes.
Although of course totally unconnected with the true Madeiran
fauna, it can scarcely be omitted from our catalogue, which
contains, of necessity, like most local lists, a -certain modicum
of species which were manifestly, and without doubt, originally,
but imported ones.
Helix subplicata.
Helix subplicata, Sow., Zool. Journ. i. 56. t. 3. f. 1 (1824)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 41. t. 5.
f. 4(1831)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 24 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 171 (1854)
Alb., Mai Mad. 52. 1. 14. f. 10-12 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 72 (1867)
Habitat ins. parvum ' Ilheo de Baixo,' juxta Portum
MADEIRAN GROUP. 109
Sanctum ; et recens et semifossilis. In Portii Sancto ipsissimo
semifossilis solum occurrit.
Although unmistakeably aboriginal, the H. subplicata be-
longs to the same subgeneric type as the common European H.
aspersa ; and next to the H. Lowei, Fer., it is the largest of
the Helices of the Madeiran archipelago. It is peculiar to Porto
Santo and the small adjacent islet known as the Ilheo de Baixo,
which latter indeed may be regarded as its present head-quar-
ters ; for although it is tolerably common in a subfossil condi-
tion in many of the calcareous deposits of the former (as, for
instance, at the Zimbral d'Areia, and on the Campo de Baixo),
it is only on the Ilheo de Baixo that it has hitherto been ob-
served in a recent (as well as subfossil) state, it having been
first detected there, alive, by myself and the late Kev. W. J.
Armitage, in the spring of 1848 (up to which date it had been
universally looked upon, though it was not so recorded by
PfeifFer, as extinct). J
The H. subplicata is perhaps, on the average, a trifle larger
than the common If. aspersa, Miill., with its spire more ele-
vated, its suture more impressed, and its whole contour more
globose ; but it is par excellence remarkable for its uniformly
pale olivaceous- or yellowish-brown surface, which is quite de-
void of markings or bands, and for the very coarse and rather
irregular oblique curved plicae with which it is roughened, the
nucleus alone (which is usually decorticated, and more or less
plumbeous) being comparatively free from sculpture. There is
no trace of an umbilicus, or perforation ; the shell is thin, and
opake (though brightly polished, and somewhat opaline, within
the large subcircular aperture ) ; there are more or less decided
indications of coarse granules on and between the ribs ; and the
basal whorl is broad and inflated, with the peristome acute and
but very slightly recurved.
( Helicomela, Lowe.)
Helix Bowdichiana.
Helix Bowdichiana, Fer., Hist. i. 225. t. 28 B. f. 5, 6
punctulata, 7, Pfeif., Mon. Hel. i. 194 (1848)
Vargasiana, Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 109 (1848)
Bowdichiana, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 172
(1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 83. t. 17. f. 16, 17
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 73 (1867)
1 Sowerby's original diagnosis of the species was consequently drawn-up
from a subfossilized, and almost colourless, example.
110 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat Maderam, et Portum Sanctum, semifossilis \ in
calcareis copiossissime occurrens.
The present Helix is one of the most abundant of the sub-
fossil species, both at Canipal in Madeira and throughout the
calcareous deposits of Porto Santo ; and (as in the case of the
H. Lowei, when contrasted with the portosanctana) there has
always been a question as to whether it represents anything
more than the former aspect of the present H. punctulata,
Sow. The same observations which I had occasion to make
under the H. Lowei will apply here, for I believe that the
problem is simply unsolvable, and that it must be decided (so
far as that is possible) by each naturalist for himself, in accord-
ance with the exact views which he may happen to entertain of
the breadth, and character, of specific variation.
I am content, for my own part, to cite the H. Bowdichiana
as distinct from the punctulata, first, because it has been
generally so acknowledged in the more recent monographs ;
secondly, because we have no certain intermediate links of
stature to connect the two (otherwise very similar) forms ; and,
thirdly, because in at any rate Madeira proper, where it abso-
lutely swarms in a subfossil condition, the H. punctulata does
not appear even to occur ; for although it is of course possible
that the H. Bowdichiana may have ceased to exist without
initiating a more modern depauperated substitute, yet there
seems no reason why it should have done so if the contrary be
assumed to have been so eminently the case in Porto Santo that
the H. punctulata is now quite as abundant (in that island) as
the Bowdichiana ever could have been while the era of the
subfossil forms was at its height. Moreover in Porto Santo
the two shells, during that particular epoch, lived side-by-side,
although the smaller one (or punctulata), which has become
absolutely universal, was then manifestly rare, whilst the larger
one (or Bowdichiana), which was then everywhere dominant,
has passed entirely away. But if it be replied to all this that
the H. Bowdichiana might properly die out in both islands,
and yet leave a depauperated progeny in only one of them, I
may further remark that on the Southern Deserta the ' depau-
perated progeny ' (so-called) occurs without the faintest trace of
its ever having possessed a more highly developed progenitor,
the H. punctulata, being rather common on that remote rock
(both in a recent and a subfossil condition), without there being
any indications in the muddy deposits of its surface that the
Bowdichiana had at any time an existence there. So that,
from whatever point of view we look at it, the two forms in
question would seem to have been originally distinct.
Apart from its more thickened and nearly colourless, pallid
MADEIRAN GROUP. Ill
surface (both of which may be chiefly due to the long process of
semifossilization to which it has been exposed), and apart also
from its comparatively gigantic stature, the H. Bowdichiana is
a trifle more inflated and globose than the punctulata, as well
as more coarsely sculptured ; its basal volution descends some-
what more abruptly in front, causing the aperture to be less
regularly and uniformly rounded (or more subsinuate) below
the insertion of the right margin ; and the peristome is more
incrassated, especially the lower, or columellary, portion of it,
which is conspicuously broader than in the H. punctulata.
Helix punctulata,
Helix punctulata, Sow., Zool. Journ. i. 56. t. 3. f. 2 (1824)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 52. t. 6.
f. 6 (1831)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. i. 194 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 172 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 50. t. 13. f. 17-19
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Holl. Mad. 73 (1867)
var. avellana, Lowe.
Helix punctulata, var. /:?., avellana, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc.
Loud. 172 (1854)
var. a. avellana, Paiva, 1. c. 74 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum (insulasque parvas adjacentes), et
Desertam Australem ; in illis vulgatissima. Semifossilis, et in
Portu Sancto et in Deserta Australi, parce reperitur.
I have already pointed out in what the H. punctulata,
Sow., differs from its nearly-allied but comparatively gigantic
analogue, the (extinct) H. Bowdichiana, Fer. In point of
mere colour the two forms, as we now view them, are of course
totally unlike; but that is simply without significance (as
regards the qucestio vexata of their specific identity, or other-
wise), the process of subfossilization to which the Bowdichiana
has been so long exposed having bleached it into a more or less
chalky or calcareous white.
The H. punctulata varies a good deal in its markings, and
(like so many of the Helices) it has now and then a pure,
whitish-yellow, unmaculated, albino state ; but, in a general
sense, it may be said to be of a deep, warm, reddish-brown hue,
with the central portion beneath more or less pale, and with a
narrow (often indistinct) medial band, which is lost sight of in
the suture of the penultimate volution (just above the aperture),
of the same paler tint; under which circumstances the shell
may be described as unifasciate. Occasionally however the
112 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
anterior portion also of the large basal whorl (immediately
below the suture) is diluted in colouring, being almost as pallid
as the umbilical region ; in which case the ultimate whorl may
be defined as bifasciate, two dark bands being shaped-out,
instead of a single central pale one. Apart from mere orna-
mentation, the H. punctulata is (like the Bowdichiana) glo-
bose and compact in contour, with its small chink-shaped
perforation very nearly closed over, and with its surface (which
is covered with irregular oblique lines, or slight plicae) studded
with asperated punctures, out of each of which, except in old
and worn examples, a minute bristle will be seen (when viewed
beneath a high magnifying power) to proceed.
As already mentioned, the H. punctulata is a most abun-
dant shell in Porto Santo (and the immediately adjacent islets),
where it is generally distributed, occurring beneath stones,
and often coating itself with a hard layer of the dry dusty soil ;
but in Madeira proper (where the closely-allied H. Bowdich-
iana swarms in the subfossiliferous deposits at Canipal) it does
not appear to occur, nor indeed are there any traces of its
having ever occurred there. On the Southern Deserta however
(where there are no indications of the extinct H. Bowdichiana)
it is far from uncommon ; and that it is not a recent intro-
duction on that remote rock (brought about by some accidental
means, as might perhaps be supposed, from Porto Santo) is
proved to a demonstration by the twofold fact that it is found
there in a subfossil condition (as well as recent), and that it
also assumes a slight local modification (unimportant in itself
except topographically) which is just sufficient to enable us to
recognize it as an insular race.
The examples referred to, from the Southern Deserta (or
Bugio), are on the average a little smaller than the Porto-
Santan ones, with their spire relatively a trifle more exserted or
raised, and with their surface, if anything, somewhat more
setose or hispid ; their substance, too, is very thin. This
slight insular phasis was defined by Mr. Lowe as the 'var. a.
avellana.'
( EuparypJia, Hartm.)
Helix pisana.
Helix pisana, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 60 (1774)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S, Trans, iv. 52 (1831)
., W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. 6 (1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 58 (1839)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 171 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 21. t. 3. f. 1-18 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 70 (1867)
MADEIEAN GROUP, 113
Helix pisana, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 28 (1872)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 222 (1876)
Habitat Maderam, et Portum Sanctum ; in arenis calcareis
juxta mare hinc inde abundans. Etiam in strata semifossilifero
prope Canical parcissime occurrere a Barone de Paiva dicitur ;
sed, nisi fallor, vix vere semifossilis (tantum antiqua emortua
decorticata) reperitur.
The common European H. pisana, Miill., which occurs
both in the Azorean and Canarian archipelagos (abounding also
in the latter, as well as at the Salvages, under two or three
additional aberrant phases), swarms in the sandy calcareous
district near Canifal in Madeira proper, as well as on the low
calcareous plains of Porto Santo; but it has not yet been
observed in the other islands of the Group. It is recorded by
the Baron Paiva to be found likewise (though rarely) in a sub-
fossil condition, both in Madeira and Porto Santo ; but, so far
as I am aware, it . has never yet occurred in a truly subfossil
state, and I strongly suspect that the Baron's specimens were
only bleached and decorticated ones, such as have often been
obtained by Mr. Lowe and myself, in both islands, and which
had all the prima facie appearance of being semifossilized,
though a closer inspection invariably proved them to be but
faded and worn examples densely filled-up with drifted sand.
The H. pisana goes through, in the Madeiran Group, the
usual amount of changes, both in colour and outline ; but on
the whole it is normal in its character, and has shaped out no
decided 'varieties' (properly so called), such as the geminata,
Mouss., and Grosseti, Tarnier, which manifest themselves at the
Canaries.
( XeropUla, Held.)
Helix caperata,
Helix caperata, Mont., Test. Brit. 430. pi. 11. f. 11 (1803)
striata, Drop., Hist. Nat des Moll. 106. pi. 6. f. 18,
19 (1805)
? lauta, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans. 53. t. 6. f . 9
(1831)
caperata, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 167 (1848)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, rariss. ; inter Helices varias in
Portu Sancto certissime collectas, duo specimina (vix adulta,
sed sine dubio cum H. caperata, Mont., congruentia), unum sc.
nuper sed alterum in 1863, detexi.
Two undoubted examples of this common Helix of more
northern latitudes have been detected by myself ( one of them
quite recently, and the other in 1863) amongst some miscel-
114 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
laneous, but unquestionably veritable, Porto-Santan shells
which were obtained by the Baron Paiva ; and I have no hesi-
tation, therefore, in admitting the species into the Madeiran
catalogue.
Important however as is the addition of the H. caperata to
the fauna of the Atlantic islands, it suggests a far more inte-
resting enquiry as to whether the unique H. lauta, Lowe,
which has baffled all subsequent observations for nearly fifty
years (and which Mr. Lowe, in his last enumeration of the
Madeiran Land-Mollusca, in 1854, struck out of the list as
having been introduced on insufficient evidence), may not prove
to be, after all, but a largely developed phasis of this variable
European Helix. The original type, which is now before me,
and which was given to Mr. Lowe by the late Gr. B. Sowerby as
having been found in Porto Santo by Mr. Bulwer, differs in
scarcely any respect (so far as I can perceive) from these
two examples (likewise Porto-Santan) of the H. caperata,
except that it is a little larger and rather more globose, the
ultimate volution being rounder, or more inflated and obtuse
(having no tendency whatever to be keeled), and therefore
more broadly developed. This peculiarity of its basal whorl
seems to me to be the only feature which could by any possi-
bility be laid hold of to separate the H. lauta ; for the shell is
not at all larger than occasional specimens of the caperata
from more northern localities [indeed it is not so large as the
more coarsely and less evenly striated race, with a slightly
wider umbilicus, which is abundant around Mogador, on the
opposite coast of Morocco, and which was enunciated by Mr.
Lowe as the 'caperata, var. /3. mogadorensis '], whilst its
sculpture is absolutely identical with that of the latter, and its
umbilicus (though certainly a trifle more cov^red-in) is but
very slightly ' smaller,' its ' pallid hue ' being probably the
mere result of Mr. Bulwer's unique example having been found
dead, bleached, and decolor ated (not ' decorticated ') on the dry
calcareous plains of Porto Santo.
Whether however this somewhat greater tumidity of the
ultimate volution, and the just appreciably diminished umbi-
licus, of the H. lauta are of sufficient importance to separate it
from the H. caperata, may still perhaps be open for considera-
tion ; though rny own belief is, that the species can scarcely be
regarded as having been founded upon more, in reality, than a
mere accidentally globose individual of the latter, a suppo-
sition which is rendered all the more probable, now that the
caperata in its normal condition has unexpectedly been brought
to light in the very island in which Mr. Bulwer was said to
have obtained the actual type on which the //. lauta was esta-
MADEIRAN GROUP. 115
blished. Perhaps future researches in Porto Santo, or on the
immediately adjacent islets, will reveal some local modification
of the caperata, in which this slightly increased bulk of the
basal whorl may constitute more or less a distinctive feature. 1
Helix arinillata.
Helix 'striata, Drap. ?' Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv.
53 (1831)
Lowei, Pot. et Mich, [nee Fer., 1835], Gal. des
Moll. 91 (1838)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 149 (1848)
armillata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. 113 (1852)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iii. 116 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 170 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 20. t. 2. f. 32-35 (1854)
eumseus, Lowe, Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. ; Zool. 198
(1860)
armillata, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 68 (1867)
Morelet, Journ. de Conch. 236 (1873)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 222 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; in aridis apricis inferioribus juxta Fun-
chal, hinc inde vulgaris.
I am extremely doubtful whether the present rather in-
significant little Helix is more in reality than a small and
perhaps slightly modified phasis of the common H. caperata,
Mont. ( = striata, Drap.), which is so widely spread throughout
the maritime regions of central and southern Europe ; and so
indeed it was at first registered, although in doubt, by Mr.
Lowe. Subsequently however he described it under the name
'armillata''; adding 6 H. striatce, Drap., affinis.'
I cannot however feel satisfied (and Mr. Watson, judging
from his remarks, would appear to be of the same opinion)
that it merits separation from the depauperated state of that
species, which is extremely common about Lisbon and Cintra,
and which in fact is generally to be met with wherever the
1 With regard to Mr. Lowe's after-rejection of the II. lauta from the Ma-
deiran list, I would refer to his observations at p. viii of the Appendix to the
reprint (in 1851, by Mr. Van Voorst) of his original papers ' Primitiae et
Novitise Faunas et Florae Maderse et Portus Sancti,' which were contained in
the fourth volume of the ' Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical
Society.' I cannot but think however that he was mistaken in supposing
that the H. lauta is more akin to the virgata, Mont., than it is to the caperata ;
and I also fail to perceive that its umbilicus is very decidedly ( smaller ' than
that of the latter, though it is certainly a little smaller, as well as just
appreciably more closed-over by the lamellated portion of the peristome
which adjoins the columella.
i 2
116 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
more typical (or larger) one occurs. Still, I will not attempt
to do more than record my belief thus far; but will only men-
tion that the H. armillata (as understood by Mr. Lowe) seems
to differ from the caperata proper, merely, in its smaller size
and altogether somewhat more depressed form, and in its umbi-
licus being relatively a trifle larger. Beyond these points
(which appear almost equally to characterize the ordinary
smaller phasis, as universally understood, of the H. caperata), I
can detect nothing even tending towards a specific difference.
The H. armillata is locally common in certain dry and
sunny spots, generally of a low altitude, around Funchal. It
was first discovered by Mr. Lowe, on Jan. 21, 1830, in a
garden near the Mount road (and it has lately been found by
Mr. J. Y. Johnson in almost the same spot) ; and it was after-
wards met with by Mr. Leacock (during September 1847) both
to the east and to the west of the town. Since which time,
however, it has been obtained in much greater numbers by
Mr. Leacock, the Baron Paiva, Mr. Watson, myself, and others
on and around the Pico da Cruz, as well as near the Gor-
gulho and elsewhere.
The H. armillata occurs likewise at the Azores, and it has
been recorded lately by Morelet from the Cape Verde archi-
pelago, where it is stated to have been found, by MM. Bouvier
and de Cessac, in S. Vicente. And since I myself possess it
from Mogador, on the coast of Morocco, it would appear to
have a tolerably wide geographical range. 1
( Plebeoula, Lowe.)
Helix vulgata.
Helix nitidiuscula, Lowe [nee Sow., 1824], Cambr. Phil.
S. Trans, iv. 52. t. 6. f. 6 (1831)
Pfeiff. [nee Sow.'], Mon. Hel. i. 196
(1848)
vulgata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
canicalensis, Id., ibid. (1852)
vulgata, var. a. trifasciata, et var. /3. canicalensis, Id.,
Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 173 (1854)
1 The H. ewmceus, Lowe (Proc. Linn. Soc. Land., Sect. Zool., 198 ; 1860),
described from examples taken at Mogador (and which seem to differ in no
respect from others which have been met with subsequently by Mr. T. Black-
more at Tangier), appears to me to be absolutely conspecific with the armil-
lata, the few characters alluded to in the diagnosis which are supposed to
be differential being (with the exception perhaps of the appreciably stronger
costae of the Morocco shell) scarcely more than imaginary. The If. Irus,
however, of Lowe, is totally distinct, approaching closely, except in sculpture,
to the H. apicina, Lam.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 117
Helix nitidiuscula (pars), Alb., Mai. Mad. 51. t. 14. f. 1-3
(1854)
vulgata, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 74 (1867)
var. ft. deserticola, Woll.
Helix vulgata, a. major, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 75
(1867)
var. ft. giramica, Lowe.
Helix nitidiuscula, ft. major, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 197
(1848)
giramica, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
vulgata, var. 7. giramica, Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
173 (1854)
nitidiuscula, var. ft., Alb., Mai. Mad. 51. t, 14. f. 7-9
(1854)
var. 8. pulchra, Paiva.
Helix vulgata, 8. pulchra, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 75
(1867)
var. s. saxipotens, Woll.
Helix vulgata, 8. pulchra (pars), Paiva, 1. c. 75 (1867)
Habitat Maderam et tres Desertas [a Portu Sancto solo
absens] ; a litore maris usque ad 3000' s.m. ascendens, vulgatis-
sima. In statu semifossili prope Canipal abundat, ubi H. cani-
calensem, Lowe, sequat ; necnon in summo Desertae Australis
(sub varietate minuta ' s. saxipotens, 9 mihi, occurens) re-
peritur.
This is perhaps the most abundant, and variable, of all the
Madeiran Helices, the H. polymorpha only excepted ; and it
appears to occur on every island of the Group except Porto
Santo and the adjacent rocks, where its place is taken by the
allied (but extremely distinct) H. nitidiuscula, Sow. In Ma-
deira proper and on the three Desertas it absolutely swarms,
assuming many aspects, however (in size, clothing, and colour),
according to the exact district in which it is found. In a sub-
fossil condition it exists in profusion both at Cani9al and on the
summit of the Southern Deserta, in the -former of which
localities it represents the H. canicalensis, Lowe (which seems
to me to have absolutely nothing to distinguish it, beyond its
thickened calcareous substance and bleached colourless surface,
from the usual type), whilst in the latter (where it is small and
depauperated, with a much reduced umbilicus) it answers to my
' var. s. saxipotens."*
In a general sense the H. vulgata may be described as a
rather highly coloured, fasciated species, less strictly opake
than the Porto-Santan H. nitidiuscula, and more or less evi-
dently clothed (when the specimens are fresh and unrubbed)
with short, remote, and excessively minute hairs, each of
118 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
which arises out of a small granule or asperated point; for,
although (like so many of the Helices) it has an occasional yel-
lowish-white albino state perfectly devoid of markings, its usual
aspect is a more or less banded one. When the fasciae are
three in number, rather narrow, and well defined, the shell may
be said to be in its normal condition ; and under this aspect it
is generally to be met with throughout the greater portion of
Madeira proper and on the two southern Desertas.
On the northern (or flat) Deserta, however, the H. vulgata
assumes a comparatively gigantic phasis ; the bands are broader
and more conspicuous (the third, or subsutural, one now-and-
then disappearing, or becoming merged into the second), and
the surface is more coarsely setose, the setae (however small,
and fragile in their nature) being thick and remarkably visible.
This corresponds with my ' var. /5. deserticola ; ' and it is sin-
gular that it should have been confounded by Mr. Lowe (and
subsequently by Dr. Albers) with the ' var. 7. giramicaj of Ma-
deira proper, which has next to be considered. In reality it is
(on the average) a still larger shell than even the ' 7. giramica ;'
and it is also somewhat less depressed, less shining, much more
setose, and with the umbilicus less open, and its bands are
usually three in number, being but seldom only two as in that
particular form.
The two previous states may be described as trifasciated
ones ; but there are three others, worth placing upon record,
which are bifasoiated. In the first of these (the ' 7. giramica '
of the present catalogue) the shell is large and rather depressed
(though perhaps not quite so large, on the average, as the 6 (B.
deserticola' from the Ilheo Chao), its surface is more shining
and bald, there being hardly any vestiges of minute bristles, its
umbilicus is appreciably wider, or more open, and its upper (or
subsutural) band is lost in the central one, the lower one also
being greatly increased in width. This conspicuously and
broadly bifasciated state is found for the most part about the
Cabo GKram, in the south-west of Madeira proper ; and it was
described, in 1852, as a distinct species, by Mr. Lowe, as the
H. giramica.
The next state which merits notice is a smaller and (on the
average) more beautifully ornamented one than any of the pre-
ceding three, and I have generally met with it in the north of
Madeira proper, as, for instance, near Sao Vicente, Seissal,
Ribeira da Janella, and Porto Moniz ; and it seems to corre-
spond with the ' var. pulchra ' of the Baron Paiva's Monograph
(mentioned as occurring around Sta. Anna), though he appears
to have confused or mixed it up with the very minute subfossil
aspect of the shell, with a reduced umbilicus, from the southern
MADEIRAN GROUP. 119
Deserta, the 6 s . saxipotens ' of this list. The present variety
(or ' S. pulchra,' Paiva) is smaller than any of the foregoing ones,
but not so small as the subfossil form from the Southern Deserta ;
and it is generally highly decorated, the ground-colour being
often of a comparatively clear yellowish tinge, with the two
darker bands broadly and abruptly defined. But, owing to the
incrustation of dirt with which it is the habit of the species,
more or less, to encase itself (and which perhaps is more appa-
rent in this particular variety than in the others), the brightness
of its ornamentation is not usually very apparent until the
shells have been well cleaned.
Lastly, in the muddy deposits on the top of the Southern
Deserta there is a very dwarfed subfossil form of the H. vulgata,
smaller than even the ' 8. pulchraj which I would cite as the
' var. s. saxipotens.' In addition to its comparatively diminu-
tive bulk (adult examples measuring from about 4 to 5 lines
across the broadest part), its umbilicus is relatively much more
reduced than in the other phases of the shell ; and, so far as I
can judge from white and practically colourless specimens, its
two bands are (or, rather, were) narrowed and line-like. Whe-
ther this still exists in a living condition I am unable to say ;
but as the Baron Paiva alludes to a small state of the H. vul-
gata as recent on the Bugio (though treating it as identical
with the 4 S. pulchra ' from the north of Madeira), it is not
unlikely that it may yet linger on.
Helix nitidiuscula.
Helix nitidiuscula, Sow., Zool. Journ. i. 57. t. 3. f. 4
(1824)
lurida, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 52. t. 6.
f. 5 (1831)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 197 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 174 (1854)
nitidiuscula, var. 7., Alb., Mai. Mad. 52. 1. 14. f. 4-6
(1854)
? Hartungi, Alb., I.e. 42. t. 10. f. 26-28 (1854)
lurida, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 75 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in calcareis et graminosis sub
lapidibus degens. In statu semifossili copiose reperitur.
This has generally been regarded as the Porto-Santan repre-
sentative of the common H. vulgata of Madeira proper and the
Desertas, and perhaps in reality it may be; nevertheless its
characters (not only of size and contour, but also of colour
and sculpture) are so unmistakeable and well-marked, that
I scarcely see how a mere supposition can be made use of
120 . TESTACEA ATLAXTICA.
to invalidate its specific claims, for, after all, it is not more
surprising that the H. vulgata, which is so abundant in the
other islands of the Group, should be absent from Porto Santo
than that the H. punctulata, which occurs in the Porto Santo
and the Desertas, should be wanting in Madeira. No doubt the
H. nitidiuscula belongs to the same geographical type as the
vulgata ; but it also makes an evident approach towards the
H. depauperata of the next section (Irus, Lowe), and, to me
at least, it seems altogether as rigidly defined, from a specific
point of view, as any Helix throughout the entire fauna.
As compared with the very variable H. vulgata, the niti-
diuscula may be described as being considerably smaller and
rather more lenticular or depressed (its greatest diameter being
from 4 to 5 lines, instead of from about 5 to 7-J, and the spire
being more obtuse, or less pointed, at the apex), and with its
surface not only appreciably more opake and free from the minute
setae which are generally more or less traceable in its ally, but
likewise very differently sculptured, the entire shell, except
beneath, being closely beset with extremely diminutive, elon-
gated granules, which are just sufficiently removed from each
other to shape-out interspaces which have somewhat the appear-
ance of reticulations. 1 And there is also a peculiarity about the
aperture which will never fail to distinguish the H. nitidiuscula
from every state, or variety, of the vulgata, namely the more
vertical prolongation of the axis into the colurnellary portion
of the peristome, giving a less rounded (or narrower and more
subquadrangular, or externally flattened) appearance to the
whole.
Although merging into each other by imperceptible grada-
tions, the H. nitidiuscula has in colour two extreme opposite
phases, one of them white and bleached (though at times with
a faint flesh -coloured tinge), and quite destitute of markings,
having much the appearance at first sight of being subfossilized ;
and the other (which must be regarded as the normal one) of a
more or less dirty lurid yellow, but clouded on its upper side
with two (rarely three) extremely obscure brownish bands. This
1 This was well defined by Mr. Lowe as ' confertim reticulato-granulata ; '
yet Dr. Albers (whose eyesight must clearly have been at fault) professed
himself unable to see it 1 ' cl. auctor,' says he, ' testam minutissime reticu-
lato-granulatam significat ; sub lente fortiori, tanien, nil nisi rudimenta
setularum, seque ac in forma typica, observavi.' No wonder, after this, that
he should treat the If. nitidiuscula as only a ' var. 7 ' of the vulgata ; and
more particularly so, since he gives us no reason to suppose that he had even
so much as observed the absolutely invariable character of the more vertical
direction of the columellary portion of the lower lip. With two such features
as these having escaped his notice, I am the more inclined to suspect that his
H. Hartungi (in the diagnosis of which no mention is made of anything but
striae on the surface) may be only the paler phasis of the //. nitidiuscula:
MADE1RAN GROUP. 121
latter phasis of the shell was the one described by Sowerby (in
1824) as his H. nitidiuscula, and by Mr. Lowe (in 1831) as
his H. lurida The former (or pallid) one I cannot help sus-
pecting may be the H. Hartungi of Albers ; though as I have
not been able to procure a type of the latter for examination, I
must necessarily speak with some amount of reserve.
In a subfossil condition the H. nitidiuscula is tolerably
common throughout many of the calcareous deposits of Porto
Santo. At the Zimbral d'Areia it was met with by Mr. Lowe
and myself (during May of 1855) in considerable profusion;
and I may add that the pallid variety of the shell was equally
abundant in a living state on the same actual spot. From their
general size and contour, semifossilized examples might some-
times be confounded prima facie with those of the H depau-
perata; but the peculiar conformation of their aperture
(resulting from the more vertical prolongation of the axis) will
always suffice, on a closer inspection, to separate them.
( Irus, Lowe.)
Helix laciniosa.
Helix laciniosa, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist, ix (1852)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iii. 151 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 174 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 33. t, 8. f. 16-19 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 56 (1867)
Habitat Desertam Borealem. et Desertam Grandem ; in ilia
praecipue abundans.
It is on the northern (or flat) Deserta that this curious little
Helix attains its maximum ; for although it is found likewise
towards the northern end of the Deserta Grande, it exists there
very sparingly, and with all the appearance of having been acci-
dentally introduced from the smaller island. On the latter,
however, although separated from the Deserta Grande by so
narrow a channel, it absolutely swarms, occuring in clusters,
beneath the stones. It was first detected there, during June of
1848, by Mr. Leacock ; and it has subsequently been taken, on
several occasions, by Mr. Lowe, myself, and others. 1
The H. laciniosa (the greatest diameter of which is only
1 I take no notice of the Baron Paiva's additional habitat for this extremely
local little species, the Ilheo de Ferro, off the NW. coast of Porto Santo
because I feel satisfied that it must have been cited on evidence which is not
trustworthy. The loose and unsatisfactory manner in which the Baron's ma-
terial was brought to him, by mere paid collectors, and his own extreme
inaccuracy (which I have often had occasion to deplore) in mixing up his
specimens from different islands, would fully account for an occasional mis-
take as regards his localities.
122 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
from about 4 to 4J lines) displays much the same type of
colouring as the broadly bifasciated state of the H. vulgata ;
nevertheless its two bands are usually very wide, and frequently
subconfluent, so as to cause nearly the whole upper surface
(except a few detached, transverse, irregular, somewhat line-like
but broken-up, white fragments, across the fasciae) to be dark
brown, the umbilical area alone showing a ground-hue of a
dusky yellowish- white. The character of its aperture, however,
which is comparatively circular, the peristome being raised and
continuous across the body-volution, throws it into a different
section from that species ; the entire shell is a little less globose
(or more lenticular) than the H. vulgata, the whorls are rather
prominent and subangular, and the whole surface is not only
roughly sculptured with very coarse and irregular transverse
curved subfluent costse, but more or less clothed, when the spe-
cimens are fresh and unrubbed, with small fragile membrane-
ous laciniae.
Helix depauperata.
Helix depauperata, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 51.
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 166 (1848)
5, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 174
(1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 32. t. 8. f. 9-12
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 57 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, insulasque parvas adjacentas ; et
recens et semifossilis, vulgaris.
This is one of the most general, and widely spread, of the
Helices of Porto Santo, to which island (and the immediately
adjacent rocks) it is peculiar, occurring abundantly both in a
recent and subfossil condition ; and it may be regarded perhaps
as the Porto-San tan representative of the H. squalida of
Madeira.
The H. depauperata is a rather insignificant Helix, either
of a uniformly pale brown or of a dingy brownish-white, rather
rounded (but not globose) in outline, with a distinct umbilicus,
and with its surface (which is opake) very minutely and deli-
cately granulated, but at the same time much roughened with
coarse transverse folds, which are so exceedingly irregular and
subconfluent as to cause the shell to appear well-nigh submal-
leate. Its aperture is not quite so continuous as in the H. lad-
niosa, nevertheless its upper and lower portions are joined
across the body volution by a corneous lamina so conspicuous as
to make it appear almost circular.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 123
Helix squalida.
Helix squalida, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfeiff., Man. Hel. iii. 133 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 174 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 33. t. 8. f. 13-15 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 58 (1867)
Habitat Maderam; ad rupes excelsas umbrosas, interdum
etiam maritimas, ssope in terra quasi sepulta, rarissima. In
statu semifossili ad Canipal abundat.
The H. squalida, although abundant in a subfossil condition
at Canipal, is one of the rarest of the recent species of Madeira
proper, to which island it seems to be peculiar. Nevertheless
in distant places along the northern coast (as, for instance,
between Eibeira da Janella and Porto Moniz, and near Sao
Vicente and Seissal) it has been met with, both by Mr. Lowe
and myself, in tolerable numbers, though more often dead and
decorticated, than living. I have likewise found it in the Kibeira
de Sta. Luzia, above Funchal ; and the Baron Paiva records it
at the Curral das Romeiras.' l
We may regard the H. squalida as representing in Madeira
proper the Porto-Santan H. depauperata. It is, however, a
little smaller than the latter, and with its spire more depressed
at the apex ; its volutions (which are equally opake) increase
more gradually (the ultimate and penultimate ones being nar-
rower, or less enlarged), its umbilicus is relatively wider and
more spiral or open, its colour generally is of a darker coffee-
brown, and the granulations of its entire surface (although
beautifully expressed) are both very much more minute and
more densely packed together. 2 The mode of life, too, of the
H. squalida, is different from that of the depauperata ; and it
has a singular habit (like the H. obtecta in Porto Santo, and
the H. latens in Madeira) of coating itself with a thick mass of
earth, or hardened mud, which often makes it difficult to
detect amongst the loose dry rubble, and fine vegetable mould,
1 The Baron Paiva cites the If. squalida as occuring also, at any rate in a
subfossil state, in Porto Santo ; but I think that we must obtain better evi-
dence than this before we regard the species as eatfra-Madeiran, for its
Porto-Santan analogue is clearly the H. depauperata, and (as I have already
mentioned) the Baron's material was so 'hastily and inaccurately brought to-
gether that his habitat-islands were often (to my own certain knowledge)
sadly mixed-up and confused.
2 Although nothing could possibly be more constant, and elegant, than
this well-defined sculpture of the H. squalida, which is quite appreciable
under an ordinarily powerful lens, Dr. Albers appeared quite as unable to see
it as he was that of the //. tiitidiuscula, for he absolutely described the
Mirface as ' egranulata ! '
124 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
mixed up with which it is so frequently found, at, and about,
the bases of the perpendicular rocks.
Helix Latinea.
Helix depauperata, var. ., Alb., Mai. Mad. 33 (1854)
Latinea, Paiva, Journ. de Conch, xiv. 341. pi. 11.
f. 7 (1866)
Id., Mon. Moll. Mad. 58 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, semifossilis ; in arena calcarea
vulgaris.
At first sight this species, which seems to occur only in a
subfossil state in Porto Santo (where it is extremely abundant
in many of the calcareous deposits), might be looked upon as a
variety either of the H. depauperata or of the obtecta^ to both
of which it is very closely allied ; nevertheless, after a careful
consideration of its distinctive characters, I do not quite see
how it can be referred to either of them, though, on the whole,
I think that it has more in common with the latter than with
the former. 1
Although agreeing with the H. obtecta in its larger size,
ruder sculpture, more circular aperture, and elevated, continu-
ous peristome, the H. Latinea is nevertheless totally unkeeled,
and possesses a still wider and more spirally open umbilicus, and
that too in combination with the regular spire (though it is
not quite so much elevated) and somewhat more numerous
whorls of the depauperata-) thus wanting entirely the anoma-
lously depressed, subconcave apex, but nevertheless deep suture
and prominent volutions, which form so striking a feature in
the spire of the H. obtecta.
On the other hand, when compared with the depauperata
(of which Dr. Albers has cited it as a 6 var. /S.'), the H. Latinea
is considerably larger and more depressed, its umbilicus is very
much wider, more spiral, and more open, and its aperture is
more decidedly rounded, the peristome being both more raised
and more continuous. Its general surface, too, is a little more
coarsely sculptured, though perhaps not quite so uneven as
that of the H. obtecta.
1 This was also the opinion of Mr. Lowe, to whom in March of 1856 I
forwarded an example which had been communicated to me by Mr. Leacock.
That single specimen (which was all that he had to judge from) Mr. Lowe
was inclined to regard as ' a curious monstrosity of the H, obtecta, of which it
possesses the large umbilicus, the more constricted aperture, and the coarser
sculpture, combined mith'the regular spire of the H. depauperata.'' But could
he have seen the shell in sufficient numbers, I feel sure that he would have
come to the conclusion that it is no mere 'monstrosity,' but as true and con-
stant in its characters as any of these immediately-allied species.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 125
( Spirorbula, Lowe.)
Helix obtecta.
Helix obtecta, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 47. t. 5.
f. 20 (1831)
Pfeiff, Mon. Hel. i. 188 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 175 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 34. t. 8. f. 20-22 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 60 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; et recens et semifossilis, prse-
sertim in aridis apricis calcareis, vulgatissima.
The H. obtecta, Lowe, is peculiar to Porto Santo and the
immediately adjacent rocks, where it is one of the most
abundant and universal of the Helices, occurring more espe-
cially in the driest and most calcareous spots ; and it is almost
equally common in a subfossil condition. On the summit of
the Ilheo de Baixo it swarms ; and from its habit of coating
itself with a hard covering (strongly cemented together) either
of earth or of calcareous sand, it has often a very remarkable
and misshapen appearance.
The flattened spire and almost concave apex of the H. ob-
tecta, the whorls of which are nevertheless raised and tumid,
with the suture deeply impressed, added to its rough, uneven
(though minutely and obsoletely granulated), and opake surface,
its dingy-brown hue, its rounded aperture and elevated, con-
tinuous peristome, and its appreciably keeled or subangulated
basal volution (which is also obscurely eroded, or subconcave,
immediately above the keel), will sufficiently distinguish it.
Helix latens,
Helix latens, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist, ix (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 115 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 175 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 34. t. 8. f. 23-26 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 59 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; inter detritus radicesque plantarum ad
basin rupium in humidis editoribus sylvaticis praecipue degens,
rarior.
Although diametrically opposed to it in the extreme thin-
ness and fragility of its substance (which, as regards texture, is
almost membranaceous), the present Helix may nevertheless be
regarded as the Madeiran representative of the H. obtecta of
Porto Santo. And indeed in their general outline and some-
what Planorbis like contour (the nucleus of both being so
126 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
much depressed, or sunken, as to seem well-nigh concave] , no
less than in their few and rapidly-increasing volutions, and
their singular habit of coating themselves over with an envelope
of hardened mud, the two species have undoubtedly a vast deal
in common. And yet they are completely, and utterly, distinct.
Apart from the thinness and flexibility of its composition, the
H. latens differs from the excessively solid and robust H. ob-
tecta in being smaller and (when denuded of its muddy covering)
of a more or less olivaceous or greenish-brown tinge, in its um-
bilicus being relatively a little narrower and less spiral, and in
its having a volution less. 1
In its mode of life the H. latens may be described as the
exact opposite of the H. obtecta ; for while the latter occurs in
the driest, sunniest, and most calcareous spots which even the
barren and exposed island of Porto Santo can furnish, the
present species is confined to the damp sylvan districts of
Madeira proper at intermediate and lofty elevations, where it
is usually to be met with amongst loose rubble, and coarse
vegetable detritus, on the ledges, and at the base of, the per-
pendicular rocks which form so marked a feature throughout
the wooded ravines. I first detected it, about thirty years ago,
in the Ribeira de Sta. Luzia, above Funchal ; and it has since
been obtained by Mr. Leacock, Mr. Lowe, Mr. Watson, Senhor
Moniz, the Baron Paiva, myself, and others, in somewhat
similar spots, in various parts of the island.
Helix paupercula.
Helix paupercula, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 47. t. 5.
f. 19 (1831)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 189 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 175 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 35. t. 8. f. 27-30 (1854)
Mouss., Schw. Denksch. xv. 135 (1857)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 61 (1867)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 60 (1872)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 222 (1876)
Habitat ins. omnes Maderenses [sc. Maderam, Portum
Sanctum, et tres Desertas] ; in aridis apricis inferioribus sub-
maritimis, hinc inde vulgatissima. Semifossilis in Poitu
1 Pfeiffer was certainly mistaken in describing the H. latens as pilose.
There is no trace of pilosity in any of the numerous specimens which I have
ever examined ; and indeed even if there had been, until the shells were
thoroughly cleaned (a most difficult operation with subjects so unusually
fragile and flexible), it would have been completely concealed from view. As
in most of these immediately allied forms, the surface is minutely and very
delicately (but perhaps somewhat unevenly) granulated.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 127
Sancto abundat, necnon minus copiose prope Canipal Maderae ;
atque in summo etiam Desertse Australis, semifossUis invenitur.
The singular little H. paupercula, which occurs also in the
Azorean and Canarian archipelagos, is locally abundant in the
Madeiran Group, though less general in Madeira proper than
elsewhere ; indeed in this latter island I am not aware that it
has been observed hitherto except on the Ponta de Sao Laurenpo
(where it was first detected by Mr. Lowe in 1827, and where it
has recently been found by Dr. Grrabham on the Ilheo de Fora)
and about Sta. Cruz and Canipo, though the Baron Paiva cites
it likewise from Porto Moniz. But in Porto Santo, as well as
on the immediately adjacent rocks, it swarms, ascending more-
over to a tolerable elevation ; and on the whole three Desertas
I have myself met with it, though it does not appear to be very
common on any of them.
In a general sense, however, the H. paupercula is emi-
nently a species which is found in low, rocky, and calcareous
places near the coast, where it often exists in company with
the H. pisana and lenticula, the Bulimus ventricosus, &c. ;
and it is easy, therefore, to understand how liable to accidental
transportation it might occasionally become, a consideration
which may perhaps account for its appearance in the equally
Portuguese islands of the Azores, which must have been long
subject to intercommunication with Madeira. At the Canaries
it has been observed only in Lauzarote, in the extreme east of
that archipelago, where it was first found by M. Hartung, and
afterwards by Mr. Lowe ; but it is not difficult to conceive how
some unsuspected method of dispersion may possibly have con-
veyed it even there, ordinary fishing-boats, and ballast, being
amongst the first means which suggest themselves. But, be
this as it may, in at all events the Madeiran Grroup the H.
paupercula appears manifestly to have been aboriginal. Mr.
Watson speaks of it as ' recently introduced ' at the Canaries,
but I am not aware that there is any positive evidence for that
conclusion.
In a subfossil condition the H. paupercula is rather plen-
tiful in Porto Santo, particularly at the Zimbral d'Areia and
(though less so) on the Campo de Baixo ; but in the Canical
deposits of Madeira proper it is decidedly scarce, and still rarer
in those on the summit of the Southern Deserta, where it was
nevertheless found by Mr. Lowe and myself, during June of
1855.
It is surprising to me that Mr. Watson (Journ. de Conch.
230; 1876) should have felt any doubt whatever concerning the
right of this curious little Helix to be regarded, when occurring
in the calcareous beds, as genuinely subfossilized ; for although
128 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
it is perfectly true that (like the H. pisana and lenticula) it
often exists in a living state on the selfsame ground where its
subfossil representatives are to be met with, and that therefore
occasional bleached examples might well be mistaken at first
sight for subfossilized ones, nevertheless out of all the shells
which I have myself ever obtained in a decidedly subfossil con-
dition there is certainly none which is less equivocal than the
H. paupercula. Although unquestionably scarce about Canical,
at the Zimbral d'Areia in Porto Santo I have gathered it in
absolute profusion, along with the numerous other species of
that prolific locality, and quite as much thickened and super-
ficially decomposed as any of them.
Like the H. obtecta and latens, this insignificant but solid
little Helix (which measures only about 2J lines across its
broadest part) has the habit of covering itself over with a
coating of hardly-cemented earth ; but when the outer envelope
has been removed it will be seen to be of either a reddish brown
or else of a pale cinereous-grey, with the surface opake and most
minutely and densely granulated all over, and with the trans-
verse lines of growth tolerably apparent. It is a flattened and
planorbiform shell, composed of about 4 whorls, the spire
being extremely depressed, indeed often a little concave (though
variable in that respect, for sometimes the nucleus is gradually
raised and prominent), and the base inflated and convex. Its
umbilicus is somewhat large, deep, and spiral ; and its aperture
(which is very suddenly, and a good deal, deflected) has a
powerful constriction immediately behind it (shaping-out an
annular, ridge-like projection), with the peristome thin, almost
circular, continuous, and raised.
( Placentula, Lowe.)
Helix compar.
Helix compar, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 48. t. 5.
f. 23 (1831)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 214 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 195 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 29. t. 7. f. 1-4 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 50 (1867)
Habitat Maderam; prsecipue in Pico do Eancho (juxta
promontorium Grirao), et circa Camara de Lobos, degens.
The closely allied Helices of this immediate type, although
by no means large, are more or less solid, flattened, and lenti-
cular (being slightly convex beneath), with a rather wide and
spiral umbilicus, and with a raised, circular, and continuous
peristome ; their surface is often strongly sculptured either with
MADEIRAN GROUP. 129
elevated ridges or with smaller and more densely packed costate
lines ; and they have usually a single narrow fascia (rarely
absent) both above and below the keel.
The H. compar is remarkable for the coarse and powerfully
raised, equidistant, whitish, oblique, transverse costse with
which it is furnished both on its upper and its under side, and
for its total freedom from all other sculpture, there being no
indication of intervening granules even towards the aperture.
It is intimately related to the H. maderensis, of which it has
occasionally been looked upon (perhaps without sufficient reason)
as an extreme development ; nevertheless, apart from the pecu-
liarities of its sculpture (which are so marked and conspicuous),
its basal volution is very decidedly less angulated or keeled, its
aperture is less suddenly deflected, its umbilicus is just appre-
ciably larger, and (although possessing the same single darker
band both above and below) its general colour is, on the average,
somewhat deeper and richer.
It is chiefly about the Cabo Grirao, the great south-western
promontory of Madeira proper, that the H. compar is found
(indeed I am not aware that it has been observed hitherto in
any other district), where it was first met with by Mr. Lowe,
during December of 1828, on the Pico do Rancho (a lower
offshoot, or semi-detached compartment, of the Cape Grirao) ;
and the Baron Paiva records its occurrence nearer to, and
around, the village of Camara de Lobos.
Helix taeniata.
Helix tseniata, W. et #., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. Syn. App.
224 (1833)
d'0r6., in W. et B. Hist. 63. t. 3. f. 18-20
(1839)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 189 (1848)
maderensis, major, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 195
(1854)
tseniata, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 57 (1872)
Habitat Maderam ; in collibus maritimis, prsecipue occi-
dentalibus et prsecipue versus Paul do Mar, sub lapidibus con-
gregans. [Etiam in ins. Canariensibus a cl. Webb occurrere
dicitur ; sed procul dubio ex exemplaribus Maderensibus, in
sarcinis Roccellce tinctorice lectis, descripta.]
It is rather surprising that so accurate an observer as Mr.
Lowe should have failed to perceive anything about the present
Helix except its larger size, to distinguish it from the common
H. maderensis, for its characters seem to me to render it
quite as worthy of specific separation as those of the H. compar
130 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
do, from the latter. Not only is the H. tceniata very much
larger, on the average, and more depressed* than the made-
rensis (the most highly developed examples measuring about
4-J- lines, instead of only about 3, across the widest part), but it
possesses an extra whorl (namely 8, instead of 7), its umbilicus
is appreciably wider and more spiral, its keel is considerably
more acute, and continued almost to the actual peristome, and
its volutions are extremely flattened, the basal one, moreover,
being granulated to a much greater distance from the aperture.
The H. t&niata would seem to occur principally about the
cliffs, and rocky maritime hills, in the vicinity of Paul do Mar,
in the west of Madeira proper, where it was taken by Mr.
Lowe, on various occasions, in considerable abundance ; but it
does not appear to have been known, at any rate as a definite
form, either by Dr. Albers or the Baron Paiva, who merely
remark (the latter, evidently, having copied from the former),
in their observations under the H. maderensis ' Variat insuper
spira elatiore conoidea, et fere ["omnino," according to the
Baron] plana.'
Neither does it appear to have been generally understood
that the present Helix (whether regarded as distinct from the
H. maderensis, or not) is, without any doubt, the H. tceniata,
W. et B., most unwarrantably admitted by Webb into the
Canarian fauna, with which it has clearly nothing to do. It
was originally detected, by Terver, along with the H. tiarella
(an equally characteristic Madeiran form), in some bags of
dried Orchil, the origin of which was even confessedly obscure ;
yet, so great was the desire of Mr. Webb to augment his very
meagre list that he seems, singularly enough, to have had no
scruple in quietly assuming both of these species, and that too
without so much as a fragment of evidence, to have come from
the Canaries ! thus importing an element of uncertainty into
the local catalogue which perhaps, however convinced we may
be of its injustice, can never be altogether eradicated. 1
1 That Webb really knew next to nothing about the proper habitats of
these various Orchil-species of M. Terver's, some of which he seems to have
appropriated so ingeniously to augment his Canarian fauna, is evident from
an old letter of his, in my possession, which was written to Mr. Lowe, and
which bears the date 'Paris, Aug. 26, 1833.' Speaking of his ' Synopsis,' which
then had been just published, he says : ' At the end of our Synopsis you will
find an appendix containing some shells found in the Orchilla at Lyons, by a
most indefatigable collector Mr. Terver. Out of all he found,~tw0-r/mvfc tire
yours from Madeira and Porto Santo : but where the rest come from I know
not." 1 And yet a certain number of these very species are still cited in Mono-
graphs, on Webb's aiitlwrity, as ' Canarian ! '
Considering too that Mousson was equally satisfied concerning the un-
satisfactory nature of the evidence for the original admission of the //.
taniita and tiarella into the Canarian list, and considering also that he was
fully aware that the latter at any rate is a distinctively Madeiran species, and
MADEIRAN GROUP. 131
Helix maderensis.
Helix maderensi, Wood, Ind. Test. Supp. t. 8. f. 84 (1828)
Lowe, Camb. Phii. S. Trans, iv. 48. t. 5.
f. 22 (1831)
Pfaff., Mon. Hel. i. 213 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 195' (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 29. t. 7. f. 5-10 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 51 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in aridis apricis submaritimis, a litore
maris usque ad 2000' s.m. copiose ascendens.
The present Helix may be regarded as the central one, or
type, of the little group of forms of this immediate pattern,
combining much the same sculpture as the tceniata, with the
smaller size, less depressed spire, and less carinated outline of
the compar. It is, however, distinctly, more keeled than the
latter, and its sculpture (as already mentioned) is quite dif-
ferent, its upper surface being merely crowded with closely-
set costate lines (instead of remote and elevated ridges), some
of which are rather larger and paler than the rest, with the
addition of a few coarse granules scattered sparingly towards
the aperture. Its umbilicus is relatively a trifle narrower than
that of either the compar or the tceniata.
The mere variations of colour, in this and the two preceding
species, are scarcely important enough to deserve notice, the
single narrow band with which they are ornamented, both above
and below the keel, being occasionally (though not often) so
increased in width as to be comparatively conspicuous, whilst at
other times, on the contrary, it is nearly, or even altogether,
absent. Specimens in this latter condition, which are fre-
quently smaller and less developed than the average, would
seem to have been mistaken by Albers (as is evident both from
that even the former belongs to a distinctively Madeiran type, it is much to
be regretted that he should not have rejected them in toto from his late
volume as forms (to say the least) of uncertain habitat, and such as ought
never to have been introduced into the Catalogue at all. Speaking of the
H. tceniata, he says : Cette espece n'a pas ete recueillie dans les Canaries,
mais a ete trouvee par M. Terver dans un ballot d'Orseille d'origine inconnue.
Sa forme rappelle tellement les especes de Madere, qu'il est bien plus pro-
bable qu'elle appartienne reelement a ce second groupe d'iles, oili se recolte
egalement ce lichen.' And of the tiarella he adds : < Cette espece se trouve
rirante et subfossile dans Madere, et il n'est guere probable, vu la difference
des deux faunes, qu'elle se retrouve dans les Canaries. Son origine en effet
est tout aussi douteux que celui de la tceniata, puisque, comme elle, la tiarella
ne s'est trouvee dans de 1'Orseille de source inconnue.' And he then observes :
' La patrie bien etablie de 1'une de ces deux especes donne la clef pour celle de
Vaiitre ;' so that, on his orvn shewing, as he acknowledged one of them to be
undoubtedly Madeiran, the other must have been Madeiran likewise. There-
fore why did he not eliminate them immediately ? instead of perpetuating,
by not doing so, a geographical error.
K 2
132 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
his habitat and figures) for the H. spirorbis, Lowe, which
appears really a good species. He cites them, very properly, as
a ' var. ft. minor ' of the H. maderensis, adding ' Varietas /3.
[which, however, he wrongly identifies with the H. spirorbis~\
in locis apricis siccissimis reperitiuy clearly not being aware
that the only region in Madeira proper in which the H. spir-
orbis has hitherto been observed is towards Feijaa d'Ovelha and
Paul do Mar (a distant and little-known locality which Dr.
Albers certainly never visited).
The H. maderensis seems to be confined (like the very
much rarer and more local H. compar and tceniata) to Madeira
proper, where it is one of the most abundant of the Helices ;
nevertheless, although so common, it is extremely circumscribed
in its distribution, it being well-nigh confined to the hot sea-
cliffs, and submaritime hills, which form the lower, and outer,
zone of the island. It occurs from the level of the sea to an
altitude of about 2,000 feet, often swarming in dry and semi-
cultivated grounds.
Helix spirorbis.
Helix spirorbis, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist, ix (1852)
maderensis, var. /., Pfeiff. [sec. Albers], Mon. Hel.
iii. 164 (1853)
spirorbis, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 195 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 52 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, et (sec. Paiva) Desertam Australem ; in
collibus aridis apricis submaritimis, praecipue juxta Feijaa
d'Ovelha sub lapidibus congregans.
This is the smallest of the H. maderensis group, and a form
which, in its more granulate, less banded surface, and somewhat
thinner substance, makes a manifest approach to the leptosticta
type ; though its relatively much larger umbilicus, its coarser
granulations, and the fact of its fasciae (however obscure) being
at any rate both more conspicuous than in that well-nigh uni-
colorous species (the under one, when present, being moreover
differently placed) will immediately remove it from the latter.
The present Helix is more intimately related to the H.
maderensis than it is to anything else, nevertheless I think that
Mr. Lowe was perfectly justified in separating it therefrom,
its smaller size and more obtuse spire, added to its slightly less
solid and more transparent texture, its appreciably wider um-
bilicus, its more convex volutions and more deeply impressed
suture (the former of which are only 6 in number, instead of 7),
and its different colour and sculpture, giving it a character
essentially its own. As regards colour indeed, the ordinary
fascino of the H. maderensis type are in the H. spirorbis occa-
MALEIEAN GROUP. 133
sionally so obscure as to be barely traceable ; though the whole
of the upper portion of the shell is more often suffused with a
perceptibly browner tint, which is only relieved by a few irre-
gular transverse distant whiter line-like dashes which mark the
positions of some of the larger costae. Then, its sculpture is
peculiar, the closely-set costate lines being finer than in the
maderensis, the smaller ones however having a tendency to be
broken-up into elongate granules, which give the entire upper
surface a rather coarsely granulated appearance. The under-
side, on the contrary, apart from the usual scattered granula-
tions towards the aperture, is nearly free from sculpture, it
being a trifle more smooth and shining than is generally the
case in its ally.
The only district in which I am aware that the H. spirorbis
has hitherto been observed is near Feijaa d'Ovelha and Paul do
Mar, in the west of Madeira proper, where it was obtained in
great profusion by Mr. Lowe, during April 1860, congregating
in clusters beneath large slabs of stone on the dry submaritime
hills, or cliffs, in the direction of the coast, though at an
elevation of, perhaps, 1,200 feet above the sea. The Baron
Paiva records its existence on the Southern Deserta also (or
Bugio), and I am inclined to think that this habitat may be
trusted ; though the species was not met with in that island
either by Mr. Leacock, Mr. Lowe, or myself. But, if true, the
fact is topographically important, implying, as it does, that,
of the four allied Helices of the H. maderensis type, the H.
spirorbis is the only one which has yet been detected beyond
the limits of Madeira proper. 1
Helix leptosticta.
Helix leptostica, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 49. t. 5.
f. 24 (1831)
Pfdff., Mon. Hel iii. 155 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 195 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 30. t. 7. f. 11-13 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad 52 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, et (sec. Paiva) Deserbam Australem ; in
collibus aridis maritimis orientalibus, prsesertim versus Cabo
Garajao, gaudens.
The H. leptosticta is about as large as, or a little larger
than, the H. maderensis ; but it differs from that species and
its immediate allies, essentially, in its less carinated (indeed
1 The exact spot, near Feijaa d'Ovelha, where Mr. Lowe met with the
77. sjrirorbis, is on the Lombo do Canario, below (or, rather, down) the Lom-
bada dos Marinheiros, beyond the Lombo Farrobo, towards the verge of the
sea-cliffs.
134 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
nearly uncarinated) form and smaller umbilicus, in its thinner
and more transparent substance, in its pale corneous, well-nigh
unicolorous, almost efasciate surface, and by its sculpture being
both finer and of a different kind, the oblique transverse lines
being comparatively indistinct, but the whole portion visible
from above densely crowded with minute granules. The under
region is likewise granulated, but much less evidently so ; and
it is also rather more shining. Its peristome, although con-
tinuous, is not quite so regularly rounded across the body-volu-
tion, nor is it so much raised ; and its basal whorl is not so
suddenly deflected in front.
As regards hue, this species is practically unicolorous, it
being of a light horny brown above, and rather paler beneath ;
nevertheless when carefully inspected, it will generally be seen
to have a narrow and most obscure obsolete band immediately
below the dorsal line (or the position of the keel). Indeed in
fresh and highly developed examples the faintest possible trace
of even an upper one is sometimes just distinguishable, but
so suffused and lost sight of as merely to infuscate that portion
of the surface with a rather more cloudy tint. At any rate the
species, despite its prima facie appearance, can hardly be de-
nned as perfectly ' efasciate.'
The H. leptosticta is eminently characteristic of the lofty
cliffs and dry maritime hills to the eastward of Funchal, in the
direction of the Cabo Garajao (or Brazen Head), where it is
rather abundant ; but I have not myself observed it in any
other district. It is recorded, however, by the Baron Paiva
from the Southern Deserta, a habitat which, although cer-
tainly requiring corroboration, is not altogether an improbable
one.
Helix micromphala.
Helix micromphala, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfoi/., Mon. Hel. iii. 151 (1854)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 195
(1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 30. t. 7. f. 14-16
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 53 (1867)
Habitat tres Desertas (sc. Borealem, Grandem, et Austra-
lem) ; vulgaris. Semifossilis in Deserta Australi reperitur.
This Helix is so closely allied to the H. leptosticta that,
had not the latter been recorded by the Baron Paiva from the
Bugio, it might almost have been looked upon as a highly-
developed Desertan modification of that species. It seems to
differ in being a little larger and less flattened, or more globose,
MADEIRAN GROUP. 135
in being altogether more solid and robust, and in its umbilicus
being relatively a trifle smaller. In addition too to its spire
being more exserted (or less obtuse), it possesses an extra whorl
(namely 7, instead of 6); the granulations of its upper portion
are slightly coarser and rougher ; its basal volution is more sud-
denly deflected in front ; and it is usually of a rather whiter tint
beneath, but of a somewhat deeper brown above, the region
towards the aperture, however, being gradually diluted in hue,
or subflavescent. Like the H. leptosticta, it will generally be
seen, when accurately inspected, to possess obscure traces of an
obsolete band immediately below the dorsal line (or the place
which, had it been carinated, would have been occupied by the
keel).
The H. micromphala is essentially a Desertan species, on
the whole three islands of which I have myself met with it. It
was first found by Mr. Leacock, in June 1848 ; and it has sub-
sequently been obtained by both Mr. Lowe and the Baron Paiva,
on various occasions. On the summit of the Southern Deserta
(or Bugio) it is not uncommon in a subfossil state.
Helix dealbata,
Helix dealbata, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 48. t. 5.
f. 21 (1831)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 166 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 196 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 31. t. 7. f. 25-28 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 54 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum (insulasque parvas adjacentes) ;
vulgaris.
The H. dealbata and fictilis are peculiar to Porto Santo
and the adjacent rocks ; and although, in a general sense, suffi-
ciently distinct inter se to be easily separated, intermediate
states (in outline, sculpture, and size) do nevertheless occur
which so far connect the two as to render it at times not quite
apparent to which of the forms they should be assigned. Still,
as they have been universally acknowledged hitherto, and are in
most instances at once recognisable, I will not do more than
record a passing doubt as to the possibility of their being in
reality but well-marked phases of a single type. 1
1 Even Mr. Lowe seems to have had the difficulty in the precise identifica-
tion of some of these occasional intermediate forms practically brought home
to him; for the 'var. /8. kevis ' of his original H. dealbata (in 1831) he subse-
quently treated (both in 1851 and 1852) as a var. .' of the fictilis. But two
years afterwards he referred it back again (vide 'Proc. Zool.' Soc. Lond.' 196;
1854) to the dealbata, with which, on further consideration, he appears to
have thought that it would, after all, be better associated.
136 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Both the H. dealbata and fictilis are solid, depressed, and
somewhat turbo-lenticular shells, with a small but distinct
umbilicus, and with their peristome continuous-, but neither
much raised nor much rounded across the body-volution. In
its normal state the dealbata is larger, less flattened, and more
solid than the fictilis, its sculpture is altogether rougher (the
transverse costate lines being coarser and the granules more
numerous), and its surface has usually a whitened and bleached
appearance, with only a faint trace (sometimes indeed none at
all) of an infra-carinal band, but with the aperture within, and
the peristome, more or less obscurely ochreous. In certain
examples, however, which can hardly be treated as representing
a definite ' variety,' the colour is darker, being of a slightly
yellowish- or plumbeous-brown ; and in others the granulations
are both fewer in number and well-nigh obsolete.
From the H. micromphala the dealbata may be known by
being larger, paler, more solid, and more depressed, by its sur-
face being more coarsely costate-striate but less roughly (and
less thickly) granulated, by its umbilicus being relatively a
trifle wider, by its basal volution being less suddenly deflected
in front, and by its aperture (which is more developed) being
ochreous internally.
The H. dealbata is most abundant in dry calcareous places
in Porto Santo ; and on the adjacent islet of the Ilheo de
Baixo it absolutely swarms ; but I am not aware that it has
been observed in a strictly subfossil state.
Helix fictilis.
Helix fictilis, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfeiff., Man. Hel. iii. 154 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 196 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 31. t. 7. f. 17-24 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 55 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum (insulasque parvas adjacentes) ;
hinc inde congregans. In statu semifossili invenitur, sed
multo rarius.
As already implied, the H. fictilis, which is abundant in
many districts of Porto Santo, and which occurs also (though
much more rarely) in a subfossil condition, is typically a
smaller and a flatter shell than the dealbata, its spire being
more depressed ; and it is also rather less solid and robust, not
quite so coarsely striated, and with only a few scattered
granules on each volution towards the suture ; and its ultimate
and penultimate whorls are more angulated, or less rounded
and inflated. The colour, too, is not quite the same, those
MADEIRAN GROUP. 187
examples which are not pale and bleached (and the pallid ones
are exceptional with the H. Jictilis) being of an irregular, or
clouded, plumbeous- and cinnamon-brown, gradually a little
diluted in hue towards the aperture, and whitish beneath, but
with an infra- and supra-carinal band tolerably conspicuous,
though often blended or confluent. The peristome, also, is less
decidedly ochreous than in the H. dealbata.
( Actinella, Lowe.)
Helix lentiginosa.
Helix lentiginosa, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 49. t. 5.
f. 25 (1831)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 164 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 180 (1854)
(pars), Alb., Mai. Mad. 38. t. 9. f. 17-20
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 32 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; sub foliis Sempervivorum aridis emor-
tuis, ad rupes (prsesertim maritimas) crescentium, vulgaris.
The H. lentiginosa is a depressed, rounded, sublenticular
little species (about 2^ lines across its broadest part), thin and
fragile in substance, with a distinct and open umbilicus, and
densely sculptured with coarse transverse costate lines, as well
as sparingly clothed with squamiform hairs, or hair-like lacinise.
Its surface is nearly opake and of a pale corneous brown, but
more or less blotched or marbled with a few irregular whitish
transverse patches and streaks; and its peristome, although
slightly interrupted across the body-volution, is expanded and a
good deal developed.
I am not aware that the present Helix has occurred beyond
the limits of Madeira proper ; for although it is recorded by the
Baron Paiva from the Southern Deserta, yet there is so much
doubt attaching to many of his various habitats (through the
fact of his material having simply been brought to him, at
intervals, by mere paid collectors sent out from Funchal, and
often inadvertently mixed up afterwards, even by himself, with
specimens from other localities) that I cannot but regard the
present one as somewhat/ dubious, or at any rate as requiring
further confirmation. But in Madeira proper the H. lentiginosa
is decidedly a common little species, and one which occurs
principally amongst the dead and dried-up leaves of the rosette-
like plants of Sempervivum which stud the faces of the rocks
both at low and intermediate altitudes. Along the line of
abrupt sea-cliffs, in the north of the island, from Sao Vicente
to Sta. Anna, it is more or less abundant, as also westward to
138 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Seissal, the Eibeira da Janella, and Porto Moniz ; and it like-
wise is found in the Kibeira de Sta. Luzia, the Curral dos
Romeiros, and elsewhere, on the southern side, above Funchal.
The nearest Canarian ally of the H. lentiginosa is the
H. torrefacta (wrongly regarded, as I cannot but think, by
Mousson, as a Patula), which was detected by myself and Mr.
Lowe on dry and exposed rocks in the extreme north of Lan-
zarote. That species however is a little larger, and much more
conspicuously ornamented with irregular white transverse mark-
ings ; its ground-colour is of a deeper reddish-brown above, but-
paler beneath ; its umbilicus is rather larger ; the upper and
lower margins of its peristome are more widely interrupted
across the body-volution ; and its entire surface is both differ-
ently sculptured and differently clothed, the transverse costate
lines being finer, closer, and more regular (although minutely
undulated), and crossed, or decussated, by infinitesimal spiral
striae, whilst the coarse lacinise of the H. lentiginosa are re-
placed by excessively diminutive and short squamiform bristles.
Helix stellaris.
Helix stellaris, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 123 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 180 (1854)
lentiginosa, var. /3., Alb., Mai. Mad. 38. t. 9. f. 21,
22 (1854)
stellaris, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 34 (1867)
Habitat Maderam; in aridis apricis subinferioribus, haud
longe ab urbe Funchalensi sitis, hinc inde sub lapidibus.
The present insignificant little Helix is closely allied to the
H. lentiginosa, of which indeed it was treated by Dr. Albers as
a ' var. 0. minor."* Nevertheless I am satisfied that it is per-
fectly distinct ; and it is surprising to me how a conchologist
like Albers should have come to the conclusion, that there was
nothing on which to separate it from that species except its
smaller size. ' Prseter magnitudinem,' says he, 4 non diversa a
forma typica ' ; whereas, apart from its greatly reduced dimen-
sions, it is appreciably flatter and more carinated than the
H. lentiginosa (its spire being less exserted), its umbilicus is
relatively larger, it has only 4-J (instead of 5J) volutions, its
aperture is rather more oblique and oval, and its transverse
costate lines are much less coarse and less evident, whilst, on
the contrary, its hair-like filaments, or lacinise, are proportion-
ately more developed, being enlarged about the region of the
keel (when the specimens are fresh and unrubbed) into ragged
whitish rays, giving the entire shell a somewhat star-like
MADEIRAN GROUP. 139
appearance. Its peristome, although narrowly interrupted, is
greatly expanded and recurved.
In its mode of life, too, the H. stellaris is altogether dif-
ferent from the lentiginosa ; for whilst the latter occurs almost
exclusively (as indeed I have already mentioned) under the
plants of Sevnpervivum which stud the faces of the rocks, both
along the abrupt sea-cliffs and in the ravines of an intermediate
elevation, the stellaris, on the other hand, resides beneath stones,
like the H. arcta, in dry and exposed places only slightly
removed above the level of the sea, where moreover it has the
curious habit of coating itself over with a covering of hardened
mud. Even Dr. Albers was not able to ignore in toto this
essential difference in their habitats, adding : ' Formse duae
non promiscue degunt ; major enim [i.e. the H. lentiginosa]
ab oppido Funchal versus orientem, ad promontorium Cabo
Garajao dictum, occurrit ; varietas pusilla autem [i.e. the
H. stellaris'] in cacumine tantum promontorii supra Praia
Formosa, ab oppido Funchal versus occidentem, collegitur
(1. c. p. 39). He might however have made the case very much
stronger.
The H. stellaris was first detected by myself, during April
1848, beneath stones, at the east end of the cliff, or basaltic
ledge, overlooking the Praia Bay, about three miles to the west-
ward of Funchal, a locality in which it was shortly afterwards
(namely on the 1st of May of the same year) taken by Mr.
Leacock. The Baron Paiva records it from other places within
the P^unchal district, such as the Pico da Cruz, the Feijaa dos
Asnos, the Kibeira de Sta. Luzia, and the Ribeira de Vasco Gil.
Helix arcta,
Helix arcta, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 42. t. 5. f. 7.
(183.)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 404 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 180 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 40. t. 10. f. 5-10 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 33 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, et ( sec. Paiva) Desertam Australem ; in
collibus aridis maritimis subinferioribus hinc inde copiose con-
gregans.
The H. arcta is one of the smallest of the Madeiran Helices
(the larger examples measuring only about a line and a half
across the broadest part) ; and it is one which is more par-
ticularly gregarious in dry submaritime places of a rather low
altitude. It abounds on the Cabo Grarajao (or Brazen Head),
as well as towards Canico and Sta. Cruz, and (in the west of
140 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
the island) at Feijaa d'Ovelha, and on sea-cliffs at the Ponta
de Pargo, in which last-mentioned locality it was first de-
tected by Mr. Lowe, during December of 1826.
In its more or less obliquely-mottled (or streaked) surface,
as well as in its rounded, depressed, sublenticular outline, the
H. arcta has much the prima facie appearance of the H. lenti-
ginosa ; nevertheless, both in its structure and mode of life, it
is essentially distinct from that species. Thus it is not only
smaller and natter, but altogether more thickened, solid, and
robust ; it has a volution less (namely 41, instead of 5) ; its
umbilicus, although open and conspicuous, is relatively a trifle
smaller and more punctiform ; and it is not only more coarsely
costate-striate, but nearly (if not indeed altogether) bald, or
free from every trace of minute hair-like lacinise. Its peristome
too is more continuous and incrassated, as well as more corneous,
whiter, and more recurved ; and (which is its most important
feature) it possesses a white, elongate, oblique callosity or tooth,
within the aperture on the ventral wall.
There is, however, a slightly smaller phasis of this shell (the
' var. (B. 'minor ' of Lowe) which is a little thinner in substance
and not quite so strongly costate, and in which the ventral tooth
is either almost or entirely obsolete. This was first met with
by myself, during January of 1849, on the ' Telegraph Hill' (or
Pico da Cruz), above the Eace Course, to the westward of Fun-
chal, particularly on the slope descending towards the Gror-
gulho; and the same form has been found subsequently at
Calheta.
The Baron Paiva records the occurrence of the H. arcta on
the Southern Deserta ; but whether this habitat may be trusted
I have no means of deciding. The Bugio, however, is not at all
an improbable locality for the species.
( Rimula, Lowe.)
Helix arcinella.
Helix fausta, /3. et 7., Lowe, Prim. ; Append, xiv. (1851)
arcinella, Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 181 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 35 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, semifossilis ; in stratu conchy lifero juxta
Canical, sat vulgaris.
This little Helix, which was regarded originally by Mr.
Lowe as merely a small state ( the ' var. y. minima ') of his H.
fausta, has been observed hitherto only in a subfossil condition
at Canial, where it is tolerably common. In general size and
proportions it has much the prima facie aspect of the smaller
examples of the //. arcta ; nevertheless it may be known readily
MADEIRAN GROUP. 141
from that species by being not only more globose both above
and below, with its umbilicus almost (or, more often, entirely)
closed up by the expanded lamina of the lower lip, but likewise
by its ventral plait being obsolete, and the aperture narrower
and very differently shaped, in fact somewhat semi-lunate, in-
stead of subcircular, with the peristome broadly interrupted
(instead of being sub-continuous) across the body-volution, and
the labra themselves nearly parallel.
I may observe that a single mutilated example which may
possibly belong to the H. arcinella was found by Mr. Lowe in
Porto Santo, namely at the Fonte d'Areia, in 1828; but as it
seems to me to differ a little from the Madeiran type, in being
somewhat more granulated below and with its ventral plait
more appreciably developed, I think it safer until further mate-
rial has been obtained not to record the H. arcinella as Porto-
Santan, seeing that it is not impossible that this broken
specimen may in reality prove to be the exponent of some closely
allied species, as yet un characterised.
Helix arridens.
Helix arridens, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 43. t 5.
f. 9 (1831)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 217 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 180 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 39. t. 9. f. 23-26 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 29 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in intermediis praecipue occurrens,
vulgaris.
The members of the section Rimula, which include the
present species, the preceding one, and the following three,- -
have their umbilicus either nearly or altogether closed over by
the outwardly expanded lamella of the lower lip ; and they are
all of them rather small in stature, and more or less clothed
(though it is impossible to assert this absolutely of the H. arci-
nella, which is known only in a subfossil and decorticated state)
with squamiform hairs, or hair-like lacinise.
The H. arridens is decidedly the commonest of this particu-
lar type, it being generally distributed over the intermediate
regions of Madeira proper, to which island it seems to be pecu-
liar. Like the H. lentiginosa it is often abundant under the
dried and brittle leaves of the Semperviva which stud the faces
of the rocks in the shady ravines ; but it is almost equally to be
found in other situations, as, for instance, about the roots of
plants, and amongst detritus, on the ledges of the rocks, and
beneath the dead and loosened bark of the old laurels. Under
142 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
such circumstances it may be met with in nearly all the ravines,
both in the north and south of the island; and, within what
may be called the Funchal district, it is frequently common in
the Eibeira de Sta. Luzia, as well as above the Mount, at the
Curral dos Romeiros, and x elsewhere.
Like its immediate allies, the H. arridens (which is about
2-i- lines across the broadest part) is rounded, but depressed and
sublenticular ; and it is also thin and subpellucid in substance,
of a pale yellowish horny-brown, and only obscurely streaked
(sometimes indeed not so at all) with irregular transverse mark-
ings, and with its surface opake, but clothed (when the speci-
mens are fresh and unrubbed) with pointed, but curved,
subtriangular, somewhat hook-shaped, hair-like laciniae. Its
basal volution is appreciably keeled ; and its aperture is much
flattened, or narrow and horizontal, the lower lip (the expanded
lamella of which more than half conceals the umbilical perfo-
ration) being produced in a comparatively straight, subhori-
zontal line, from the axis. The upper and lower lips are wide
apart at their insertion, but joined by a thin corneous plate
across the body-volution ; and the aperture is free from internal
teeth or callosities.
Helix capsella.
Helix capsella, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 181 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 30 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in apertis editioribus (ultra sylvaticis),
sub lapidibus, minus frequens.
This is one of the most obscure, and least satisfactorily de-
nned, of the Madeiran Helices ; and had it not been already
established by Mr. Lowe, I am not certain that I should have
ventured to treat it as more than a permanent variety of the
H. arridens. And yet it certainly will not altogether quadrate
with that species, either in configuration or habits ; and it is
about equally removed also from the H. fausta, with which in
general colouring and contour it has much in common. Indeed
it may perhaps be said to be about intermediate, in its features,
between the arridens and the fausta; though partaking rather
more, I think, of the characters of the former than of those
of the latter.
In mere size, as well as in its nearly closed-over umbilical
perforation, the H. capsella does not differ materially from the
arridens ; nevertheless it is a little less depressed than that species
(it being a trifle more convex both above and below), its keel is
not quite so pronounced, the upper and lower lips of its peri-
stome (the latter of which is not quite so straightly, and horizon-
tally, produced from the axis) are less evidently joined by a thin
MADEIRAN GROUP. 143
lamella, and its surface is darker and of a more reddish-brown
hue, as well as less densely studded with hair-like lacinise, but
with the costate lines somewhat coarser and more apparent.
From the H. fausta the capsella may be known by being a
trifle smaller and less globose (it being scarcely so convex as that
species, either above or below) by its keel being consequently less
decidedly rounded or obtuse, by its perforation not being wholly
closed-over by the reflexed margin of the peristome, and by its
aperture being a little less elongated and depressed, with the
lower lip free from any indication of an internal thickening or
corneous bi-sinuosity .
The H. capsella was detected by myself and the late Rev. W.
J. Armitage, during 1 848, beneath stones, in a little dried-up gul-
ley on the southern slopes (towards the summit) of the Pico da
Silva, about four miles from Funchal, up the Caminho do
Meio, at an elevation of perhaps 3,500 feet ; and I also met with
it, in 1849, on the hills above Machico. It is recorded by the
Baron Paiva, likewise, from the vicinity of Sta. Anna and S.
Jorge, in the north of the island.
Helix fausta.
T. imperforata, obtuse conoideo-discoidea, obsolete subcari-
nulata, subtus inflato-convexa, tenuiuscula, subopaca, plus minus
pubescens aut hispida, utrinque tenuiter et indistincte costulato-
striata, fusco-cornea sed parce et irregulariter substrigoso-mar-
morata ; anfr. 5-J 6 convexiusculis, ultimo antice subito deflexo
et constrictiusculo ; apertura depressa, angusta, lunata; peri-
stomate interrupto, albido, expanso, sed acuto, marginibus
lamina tenui junctis, basali versus insertionem late expanso ad-
presso, intus quasi in dentem abrupte desinente. Long, maj.
2^-3 ; alt. 2 lin.
Var. /9. robusta. Sensim major, ac paulo magis carinata,
quare subminus globosa.
Helix fausta, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 43. t. 5. f. 8
(1831)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 422 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 182 (1854)
Alb., Mai Mad. 39. t. 10. f. 1-4 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 31 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; ad rupes, vel submaritimas vel in casta-
netis sitas, versus insulae borealem. Rarissima. In statu semi-
fossili prope Cani^al invenitur.
The H. fausta and obserata differ from the capsella and
arridens, amongst other particulars, in having their umbilical
perforation entirely closed over, or sealed, by the expanded edge
of the lower lip ; and as they are species which might be some-
144 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
what apt to be confounded with each other, I have thought it
desirable to give an emended diagnosis of them both. The H.
fausta is more globose ( and, on the average, somewhat smaller)
than the obserata, as well as less keeled, its spire (although ob-
tuse) being more elevated ; its aperture is a trifle less narrowed
and horizontal, the columella being just perceptibly longer ; and
its surface is not only more hispid or pubescent (the H. obse-
rata being practically bald), but marked with very much finer
and more obsolete lines. It is also a little less solid in sub-
stance, and appreciably more opaque.
There is, however, a state of the shell, which I have enun-
ciated as the ' var. ft. robustaj which is distinctly larger and a
little more keeled, or less globose, thus making an approach
towards the ff. obserata ; nevertheless it is quite as thickly pu-
bescent as the typical one, and its sculpture is quite as fine.
In size, outline, and colouring, the H. fausta has much the
general appearance (at all events in its normal condition) of the
H. capsella. But it is a trifle larger than that species, and
more globose (being convexer both above and below), it pos-
sesses half a volution more, its perforation is altogether closed
over, instead of but partially so), its aperture is narrower and
more depressed, and there are more evident traces of a corneous
thickening, shaping out an obsolete tooth, within the lower
margin of the peristome.
The H. fausta occurs only in Madeira proper, where it is
one of the rarest of the Helices. It was first detected, during
October of 1829, by Mr. Lowe, who found a single example of it
under the dead leaves of a Sempervivum, on a dry rock, in the
chestnut-woods of the Boa Ventura (about two miles up the
ravine from the sea), on the western side of the Ribeira. For
twenty-six years this specimen remained unique ; but in the
summer of 1855 the species was again met with, though very
sparingly, by Mr. Lowe and myself, in the same spot in the Boa
Ventura in which he took his original type; and we also ob-
tained a few examples of it in the Ribeira de Sao Jorge, as well
as at the Passa d'Areia near Sao Vicente, and others (still fur-
ther to the westward) between the Ribeira da Janella and Porto
Moniz. The Baron Paiva records its occurrence, likewise, in
the Ribeira Funda, near Seissal.
In a subfossil condition, the H. fausta is tolerably common
near Canical.
Helix obserata.
T. imperforata, orbiculato-discoidea, lenticularis, distincte
carinata, subtus inflato-convexa, solidiuscula, subnitida, fere
(vel omnino) calva, utrinque grosse obtuse et subflexuose plica-
MADEIRAN GROUP. 145
tulo-striata (striis hinc inde con fluent ibus, ad basin radiantibus),
fusco-cornea sed parce et irregulariter sublentiginoso-marmorata ;
anfr. 5^6 ssepius depressiusculus, ultimo antice subito deflexo et
constrictiusculo ; apertura valde depressa, angusta, lunata, callo
ventrali obsolete (interdum nullo) coarctato, columella brevis-
sima ; peristomate interrupto, albido, expanse, sed acuto, margi-
nibus lamina tenui junctis, basali versus insertionem late expanso
adpresso,intusleviter sub-biplicato (rarlus subsimplici),plicis sinu
plus minus distincto separatis. Long* may* 3 ; alt. 2 lin.
Var. /3. bipartita. (semifossilis). Sensim minor, plica ex-
teriore dentiformi distinctiore, ab interiore (callum basalem ter-
minante) obsoletiore, sinu distincto separata.
Helix obserata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist, ix (1852)
Pfdff; Mon. Hd. iii. 169(1 853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond* 182 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 40. t. 10. f, 11-1 4 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 36 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in intermediis, et borealibus et austra-
libus, parce occurrens* Juxta Canipal semifossilis, sed in statu
minore ( = ' var. /3 bipartita,' mihi), reperitur.
The H. obserata is the most decidedly keeled of these imme-
diate species, as well as (proportionately) a trifle more flattened
above but more convex beneath ; and it is comparatively free
(often altogether so) from short hairs or bristles, but its surface is
more coarsely and distinctly ribbed. As in the H. fausta, its
perforation is completely closed over or sealed ; and the lower
margin of its peristome, although sometimes nearly simple, is
often distinctly thickened within into a corneous bi-sinuosity
(rather than a medial tooth-like plica), a structure which is
more particularly evident in the subfossil specimens from near
Canical, where this incrassabed inner process takes the form of two
tolerably conspicuous, though unequal, gibbosities (sometimes
the inner one preponderating) but more frequently the outer),
separated from each other by an excavation or sinus. This
latter phasis of the shell is rather smaller than the ordinary
recent one, and corresponds with the ' /&' of Mr. Lowe ; and
we may perhaps, therefore, further characterise it (as above)
as the ' var. /8. bipartita.'
The present Helix is both local and rather scarce, though
occasionally far from uncommon at intermediate elevations in
Madeira proper, more particularly in the interior and towards
the south of the island. It has been taken by Mr. Leacock
in the Vasco Gril ravine, and towards the Great Curral ; though
the Baron Paiva reports it also from the vicinity of Sta.
Anna, in the north, from whence I have likewise examined a
146 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
specimen (in the collection of Mr. Leacock). considerably reduced
in stature, which was met with, in 1858, by Mr. Rice. By
Senhor J. M. Moniz it was also found in the north of the island,
namely in the Ribeira de Sao Jorge.
( Hispidella, Lowe.)
Helix Armitageana.
Helix Armitageana, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 122 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 179
(1854)
Alb., Mai Mad. 19. t. 2. f. 28-31
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 27 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; sub lapidibus in graminosis, regiones
valde excelsas colens. Usque ad 6,000' s.m. ascendit.
This is a species which seems to be peculiar to the highest
elevations of Madeira proper, where it is decidedly both rare
and local, having been detected by myself and the late Rev.
W. J. Armitage, in January 1849, near the Ice House Peak
and the Pico dos Arrieros, at an altitude of about 5,500 feet
above the sea ; though a single young and (but for these later
ones) indeterminable example had been taken by Mr. Lowe, so
far back as March of 1827, on the slopes of the Pico Ruivo.
The H. Armitageana (which measures about 3 lines across
its broadest part) is extremely thin and brittle in its substance,
and semi-transparent, and (like the H. pavida at the Cana-
ries) it often coats it self over with an outer envelope of dirt ; its
umbilicus, although not large, is distinct and cylindrical ; its
peristome, although acute, is rather expanded and developed ;
and its surface, which is asperated all over (when the specimens
are fresh and unrubbed) with elongate-triangular file-like squa-
miform filaments (rather than hairs), is of a greenish- or
olivaceo-corneous hue, and there are generally obscure indica-
tions (at any rate on the basal whorl) of two narrow indistinct
(sometimes obsolete) browner bands.
We may regard the H. Armitageana as the Madeiran repre-
sentative of the H. pavida, Mouss., of TenerifTe and Palma,
with which, in its general features and mode of life, it has a
good deal in common. The Canarian shell, however, although
equally fragile and (when freed from its covering of dirt) sub-
pellucid, is smaller and altogether more insignificant, its spire
is more depressed, its umbilicus is relatively larger, its peristome
is less developed, its surface is minutely frosted with very short
infinitesimal lacinise-like bristles, and (in lieu of the two indis-
MADEIRAN GROUP. 147
tinct darker bands observable in the H. Armitageana) there are
more or less evident traces along the dorsal region (or place of
the keel) of a broken-up fragmentary paler fascia, formed of
irregular-yellowish-white blotches.
( Gonostoma, Held.)
Helix actinophora.
Helix actinophora, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 45.
t. 5. f. 14(1831)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 140 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 180 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 43 t. 11. f. 5-8 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 28 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, Desertam Grrandem, et Desertam Aus-
tralem ; in intermediis editioribusque haud infrequens. Semi-
fossilis prope Cani9al Maderse, necnon in summo Desertae Aus-
tralis (in hac sub forma minore, ' var. /3. descendens* aequante),
reperitur.
The H. actinophora is not uncommon at intermediate and
rather lofty elevations in Madeira proper ; and I took a single
example of it on the summit (a little beyond the central point)
of the Deserta Grande, as well as an abundance of others in a
subfossil condition on the Southern Deserta, from which island
it has since been received by the Baron Paiva in a living state
also. The subfossil specimens from the Bugio are a trifle
smaller than the Madeiran ones from Canipal, which are them-
selves smaller than the ordinary recent type ; and they have their
keel very acute, their umbilicus relatively a little narrower, and
their basal volution more deflexed at the aperture ; and I have
cited them in the present catalogue as representing a ' var. /3.
descendens. 9
In Madeira the present Helix is to be met with both in the
moist shady ravines, and amongst loose rubble and coarse vege-
table detritus on the ledges of the abrupt submaritime cliffs. I
have taken it abundantly in the Ribeira de Sta. Luzia, above
Funchal, and also at the Ribeiro Frio ; and it occurs likewise
near S. Antonio da Serra, Sta. Anna, and elsewhere.
In the H. actinophora (the larger examples of which mea-
sure from about 4 to 4^ lines across their broadest part) the
shell, although nearly opake, is thin in substance and well-nigh
subpellucid, and of a pale yellowish horny-brown, often with a
faint olivaceous tinge, but uniformly free from streaks and
markings. In general contour it is lenticular or depressed,
the basal volution being acutely keeled, but tumid and convex
beneath ; its umbilicus, although not large, is open and conspi-
L 2
148 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
cuous ; and its whorls (which are only 5 or 5^ in number) are
flattened on the spire (the nucleus of which is, nevertheless, rather
prominent), and very densely crowded with sharply defined, but
minute, transverse lines, which on the ultimate and penultimate
volutions are minutely sub-undulated, a certain number of
them, moreover, being irregularly raised (along a portion of
their length) into short lamelliform ridges (much resembling
those of a file), which last are developed on the underside and
about the region of the keel into longer hook-shaped hairs or
filaments, and generally enlarged along the keel (when the
specimens are fresh and unrubbed) into ray-like processes. The
margins of its' peristome are wide apart at their insertion, but
connected by a very thin corneous plate; and its basal whorl
descends but very slightly, and for only a very short distance,
in front.
( Caracollindy Beck.)
Helix lenticula.
Helix lenticula, Far., Tabl. Syst. 37. 154 (1821)
subtilis, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 45. t. 5.
f. 13 (1831)
lenticula, d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 66. t. 2. f. 10-12
(1839)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 211 (1848)
Lowe,Proc. ZooL Soc. Lond. 196 (1854)
,, Alb., Mai. Mad. 43. t. 11. f. 9-12 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 96 (1867)
Dohrn., Mai. Bldtt. xvi. 3 (1869)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 66 (1872)
., Watson, Journ. de Conch. 222 (1876)
Habitat Maderam, et Portum Sanctum ; in aridis apricis
inferioribus, prsecipue cultis, parce degens.
The common Mediterranean H. lenticula so easily recognized
by its flattened, strongly carinated form, its rather large and spiral
umbilicus, its bald, opake, finely striated surface, and its corneous-
brown hue occurs sparingly both in Madeira and Porto Santo
(in the latter of which it was first obtained by myself in 1849),
at low elevations and in more or less cultivated spots. In
Madeira proper it was originally detected, during May of 1827,
about the Piedade chapel (above the fossil-bed) on the Ponta de
Sao Lourenco, by Mr. Lowe, who likewise met with it, early
in the following year, at the Praia Bay. By myself and others
it has more often been taken around Funchal, where it is fre-
quently found about old walls, and beneath stones in dry places
amongst the Opuntia Tuna, or Prickly Pear. In the first
ravine (and on the adjoining cliffs) to the eastward of Funchal,
MADEIRAN GROUP. 149
on the Canipo road, and near the Lazaretto, it is sometimes
comparatively plentiful.
The H. lenticula is a species of a widely acquired range ;
and the nature of its habitat, within the cultivated districts, is
at once suggestive of a variety of methods by which it may
have been accidentally transported from one island, or country,
to another. It has established itself at the Azores, and I have
myself obtained it in the whole seven islands of the Canarian
archipelago ; and it was found by Dr. H. Dohrn in Sao Nicolao
of the Cape Verdes.
I am not aware that the H. lenticula has occurred hitherto,
at all events in the Madeiran * Group, in anything but a recent
state, the manifest indication, too, which it possesses, of its
having been originally naturalized, being against the hypothesis
that it was ever an associate of the various species of the sub-
fossil period ; and yet the Baron Paiva records it in a subfossil
condition from Porto Santo. I believe however it would be
found, on enquiry, that his specimens were merely bleached and
decorticated ones (such as I have often met with), filled up
with hardened sand, and drifted by the wind on to the calca-
reous beds in which the ordinary subfossil forms lie loose and
scattered over the surface, and not unfrequently intermingled
with others in a living state. And this is all the more probable,
through the Baron having likewise cited as subfossil, both from
the same island and Madeira, the H. pisana, Mull., which I
have every reason to believe does not exist truly semifossilized. 8
( Cheilotrema, Leach.)
Helix lapicida.
Helix lapicida, Linn., It. Oel. et Gotthl. 8 (1764)
Drap., Hist. Nat. 111. t. 7. f. 35-^37 (1805)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 370 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 197 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 97 (1872)
1 At the Canaries it is a little more questionable, I myself haying met
with it, as it seems to me truly sufossilized, in the sandy and well-nigh unin-
habited district of E,l Charco (beyond Maspalomas) in the extreme south of
Grand Canary. And Mousson cites a ' var. virilis, 1 from Fuerteventura, con-
cerning which he seems somewhat doubtful as to whether it belongs to the
present fauna or to one which has passed away ; though as he does not enter
it into his ultimate catalogue as subfossil, it would appear as if he had come
to the conclusion that the specimens (which were obtained by Fritsch) were
merely bleached and decorticated ones.
8 The Baron has, in point of fact, however unwittingly, settled this ques-
tion about the H. pisana, to at all events a certain extent, even himself ; for
after denning his so-called ' subf ossilized ' Portosantan phasis of the shell as
the ' a. alti&pira, semifossilis ' (thus implying it to be an exclusively subfossil
form), in the very next sentence he proceeds to describe the Animal ' !
150 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat Portum Sanctum, semifossilis ; exemplare unico in
arenis calcareis, A.D. 1849, a meipso, aliisque duobus a Barone
de Paiva, repertis.
A single example of the common European H. lapicida was
taken by myself, during 1849, in a subfossil state, in Porto
Santo ; and two more have since been obtained by the Baron
Paiva from the Zimbral d'Areia in the same island ; so that we
have no option but to admit this northern form, no traces of
which have as yet been discovered in a recent condition, into
the extinct fauna of the archipelago. The examples before me
are genuinely subfossilized, and were found under precisely
similar circumstances as the various other species, and indeed
associated with them ; and we cannot doubt, therefore, that the
H. lapicida was at a remote period living in Porto Santo.
Singular however as is the presence of this familiar European
Helix in the subfossil deposits of so isolated a locality, I am not
at all sure that there is any greater anomaly about it than what
is indicated by the appearance (equally unintelligible) of the
well-known H. caper ata, Mont., in a recent state, or of the
Balea perversa in the fissures of the basaltic rocks on the ex-
treme summit of the Pico de Facho, the highest mountain of
Porto Santo (where it was detected by myself during the same
year), and which, although it has since been retaken in the
identical spot and on an adjacent peak, has riot been observed
elsewhere throughout the whole of these Atlantic Groups
except at the Azores, where it is all but universal. Nor indeed
is it more extraordinary than the existence (if true) of the com-
mon European Patula rotundata, Mull., on the uninhabited
and nearly inaccessible rock, off the north-western coast, known
as the Ilheo da Fonte d'Areia. Such facts as these are of un-
usual geographical interest, to be accounted for if we are able
to do so, but absolutely unaltered if they cannot be made to
quadrate with any particular theories of our own.
With evidence thus incontrovertible, I cannot but feel sur-
prised that Mr. Watson (Journ. de Conch. 229; 1876) should
think it necessary to call in question the right of the H. lapicida
to be quoted amongst the indigenous species of Porto Santo.
For, in the first place, he is scarcely accurate in asserting that
its sole claims rest upon a single individual which was found by
myself at the Zimbral d'Areia ; seeing that two more were ob-
tained subsequently, from the same locality, by the Baron Paiva,
and in a precisely similar state of subfossilization. These
specimens are now in my possession ; and I can see no more
reason for doubting the genuineness of the H. lapicida as
Porto-Santan than of any other Helix of which only three
examples might happen hitherto to have been met with. Con-
MADEIRAN GROUP. 151
sidering the number, and great extent, of the Porto-Santan
conchyliferous deposits, not a tenth part' of which have as yet
been thoroughly explored, there is absolutely no ground what-
ever for concluding that these few examples, which have as yet
been brought to light, occupy a position in any degree different
from those of the other species with which they are associated,
or that they require to be accounted for by methods of trans-
mission, during the remote past, concerning which we can form
no kind of idea that rises above the merest speculation. " Mais
d'ou est venue,' says Mr. Watson, ' et quand est venue cette
coquille ? Une coquille morte, abandonnee par un oiseau,
meme a une epoque prehistorique, ne suffit pas pour faire placer
1'espece au nombre des formes indigenes.' For my own part I
cannot but think that no apology is required for the occurrence
of these three examples of the H. lapicida in the subfossiliferous
beds of Porto Santo ; and indeed I shall be much suprised if
some future explorer in the island does not exhume the species
in far greater abundance.
I may just mention that the Porto-Santan examples of the
H. lapicida have been examined with the greatest possible care
by Mr. Lowe, Mr. Watson, and myself, with all the desire (if it
were possible) to detect some peculiarity about them sufficient
to justify their separation as a distinct species, and that they
correspond in every particular with the more northern type. 1
( Callina, Lowe.)
Helix rotula.
Helix rotula, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 53. t. 6.
f. 10 (1801)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 216 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 183 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 28. t. 6. f. 16-18 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 82 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in montibus vulgaris. In arena
calcarea Helicifera hinc inde semifossilis parce reperitur.
The H. rotula (which measures about 6 lines across its
broadest part) is one of the commonest of the Helices of Porto
Santo, to which island it is peculiar. It may be known by its
solid substance, its depresso-conoidal, acutely-keeled form, its
small and nearly closed-up perforation, its rather numerous and
flattened volutions, and by its entire surface being sculptured
1 Mr. Lowe, in reference to this point, says : Din et sedulo scrutanti, ad
amussim cum exemplaribus Britannicis recentibus exemplar vel optime con-
servation fossile hoc pretiosissimum, mihi comparand! causa benignissime
commissum, omnino congruere compertum est.' (Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1854,
p. 107).
152 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
with transverse subconfluent lines, which are more or less inter-
rupted (or broken up) into elongated granules. Its colour is
reddish-brown above, and rather paler beneath, the umbilical
region and the portion of the basal whorl outside the aperture
being gradually more or less ochreous ; and there is a narrow
and generally obscure, medial fascia both above and below the
keel. The peristome is a good deal thickened internally, and
there is a more or less evident white callosity (sometimes obso-
lete) within the aperture on the ventral wall.
Like so many of the Helices, the H. rotula has occasionally a
well-nigh colourless, albino state ; and sometimes the volutions
are unnaturally extended or drawn-out, causing the keel (as it
were) to overhang the suture and to be conspicuous up the spire.
In a subfossil condition the H, rotula is decidedly rare,
nevertheless I have taken it in the calcareous deposits at the
ZimbraJ d'Areia,
( Caseolus, Lowe.)
Helix censors.
Helix consors, Lowe, Cambr. Phil, S, Trans, iv. 51. t. 6.
f. 3(1831)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 195 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 184 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 41. t. 10. f. 23-25 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 38 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in montibus vulgaris. Semi-
fossilis vulgat;ssima.
The H. consors is peculiar to Porto Santo, where it is one
of the commonest of the Helices, abounding, however, still
more in a subfossil than in a recent state. The subfossilized
specimens are, on the average, rather smaller than the recent
ones ; and they are consequently difficult at times, from their
colourless and decomposed condition, to distinguish from those
of the H. compacta, though in a general way they are pretty-
easily separated.
The whole of the members of this immediate type are solid
in substance ; and, although more or less strongly sculptured,
they are perfectly bald, having no tendency whatever to be
hispid or pilose ; and the H. consors, calculus, and compacta
are somewhat globose and compact in outline, altogether un-?
keeled, and with a very small and punctiform perforation,
which is a trifle further removed from the recurved margin of
the peristome in the last of those species than it is in the first
and second. The H. consors is, however, on the average, very
much the largest of the three (highly developed examples
MADEIRAN GROUP. 153
suring about 5 lines across the broadest part), and it is also
more inflated, particularly as regards the basal whorl (both
above and below), the upper and lower portions of its peristome
are more widely separated at their points of insertion, and its
ultimate volution is more suddenly deflected (so as to shape out
a more decided angle) in front.
Both in colour and sculpture, too, the H. consors differs
slightly from its immediate allies,- it being more dappled, or
variegated, above, with irregular transverse whitish fragmentary
markings on either a brownish or a yellowish-brown ground, as
well as more or less roughened with comparatively large and
elongated granules (formed by the partial breaking up of the
coarse costate lines), which however are liable at times to
become evanescent. Its minute umbilical perforation, also,
absolutely adjoins the thickened portion of the lower lip.
Helix calculus.
Helix calculus, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 184 (1854).
compacta, var. 0. Alb., Mai Mad, 41. t. 10. f. 19-22
(1854)
,, calculus, Paiva, Mon, Moll. Mad. 39 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, insulamque parvam adjacent em
' Ilheo de Cima' dictam ; hinc inde gregaria, sed minus fre-*
quens. Semifossilis rarissima.
Like the last one, the present species is peculiar to Porto
Santo, where however it is both somewhat scarce and exceed-
ingly local ; and I think that I have met with it more abun-f
dantly on the small adjacent rock known as the Ilheo de Cima
than anywhere else. It is, however, recorded by the Baron
Paiva from the Pico d'Anna Ferreira, and the Pico Branco. In
a subfossil condition it seems to be decidedly rare. 1
The H. calculus might well-nigh be looked upon as a large
and totally granulated phasis of the compacta ; nevertheless it
is in some respects intermediate between that species and the
consors, being considerably smaller than the latter, but a little
larger than the former. In its general aspect and its almost
unvariegated hue iu has certainly more in common with the
compacta than with the consors ; nevertheless it is both larger
and rather more inflated or globose than that species, its per-
foration is more after the exact pattern which obtains in the
1 The Baron Paiva cites the H. calculus in a subfossil condition from the
Southern Deserta ; but as I have no evidence for the accuracy of that habitat,
and so many of the Baron's localities (and identifications) are, to say the
least, doubtful, I must decline, until further and more reliable information
has been obtained, to regard the species as otherwise than exclusively Porto-i
San tan.
154 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
consors, its basal volution is less constricted at the aperture,
and the minute and sharply defined granules with which it is
everywhere beset (both above and below), and which constitute
its most peculiar feature, will still further tend to distinguish it.
Helix compacta,
Helix compacta, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Traits, iv. 50. t. 6.
f. 2 (1831)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 198 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 184 (1854)
(pars), Alb., Mai. Mad. 41. t. 10. f. 15-18
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 40 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, Portum Sanctum, et (sec. Paiva) Deser-
tam Australem ; in Portu Sancto vulgatissima, sed in Madera
promontorium ' Sao Lourenpo ' tantum colens. Semifossilis, et
in Madera et in Portu Sancto, abundat.
This is a little Helix which attains its maximum in Porto
Santo, in which island it is both general and abundant ; never-
theless it exists also on the Ponta de Sao Lourenco of Madeira
proper, the low rocky promontory which stretches out to the
eastward and which has many features in common not only
with Porto Santo but likewise with the Desertas, combining,
as it were, to a certain limited extent, the faunas of the three
compartments of the Group. The Baron Paiva cites, also, the
H. compacta from the Southern Deserta, which is not an
unlikely locality, though I have no means of testing its accuracy.
In a subfossil condition the H. compacta abounds throughout
the calcareous deposits of Porto Santo ; and it is likewise com-
mon at Canical, where some of the specimens (which represent
the ' var. /3. 'major 9 of Lowe) are of a slightly larger size and
possess more the characters (so far as one is able to judge from
examples which are both colourless and superficially decomposed;
of the H. consors.
Although variable in size and sculpture, the H. compacta
may be regarded normally as being a good deal roughened
above, both with costate lines and granules, but smoother and
comparatively unsculptured beneath, the lines being there
lighter and finer, and the granules obsolete. In the Madeiran
examples (i.e. from Point Sao Lourenpo) the striae and granules
are less coarse than in the ordinary Porto-Santan ones, and the
spire is just appreciably less depressed. These were considered
as typical by Mr. Lowe, by whom they were first detected,
about the Piedade and the fossil-bed, during April and May of
1827. The Porto-Santan ones however (which correspond with
MADEIRAN GROUP. 155
Mr. Lowe's 6 7. portosanctana') are a trifle more flattened, with
the granules larger, and the costate lines (or at any rate a por-
tion of them) stronger and more elevated. And there is, in
addition to these, a subfossil form (which appears to be now
extinct) in Porto Santo, in which the stature is very much
reduced, the surface is almost totally ungranulated (both above
and below), and the umbilicus is relatively a little more open.
This last-mentioned phasis is the ' 8. pusilla,' of Lowe.
Helix eommixta.
Helix eommixta, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 184 (1854)
abjecta, var. a., Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 42 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, prsecipue (nisi fallor) in ins.
parva adjacente ' Ilheo de Baixo ' dicta ; rarior. Semifossilis
copiose occurit, sed tan turn sub forma ' /3. pusilla J Lowe, qua3
forsan ad speciem distinctam melius pertinet.
At first sight this Helix might almost be mistaken for an
unusually depressed form of the H. abjecta, particularly the
' var. {3. candisata ' of that species ; nevertheless it will be seen
on examination to be totally distinct, being not only more
flattened or sublenticular, but with its umbilicus relatively
larger and more spiral, its sculpture altogether different, its
apex more obtuse, and its peristome more continuous, more
elevated, and more circular. Indeed its sculpture is exceedingly
peculiar, and unlike that of anything else with which we have here
to do, the surface (which is of a dirty or brownish white, prac-
tically well-nigh colourless, and remarkably opake) being nearly
free from transverse costate lines (though with a few distant,
irregular, obtuse, subconfluent transverse folds), but densely
crowded with most minute sand-like granules (very accurately
expressed by Mr. Lowe as c arenulato-granulosa '), which gives
it under a high magnifying power somewhat the appearance of
fine sealskin. The volutions of the H. eommixta are tumid, or
obtusely angular, and the basal one is rather wide and strongly
keeled, the keel being partially caused by a very slight
scooping-out, or obsolete erosion, both above and below.
The H. eommixta is essentially a Porto-Santan species, and
I am not aware that it has been observed hitherto (as above
typically defined) in anything but a recent state ; though even
the living examples have much the colourless, calcareous
appearance, at first sight, of being subfossilized. There is how-
ever a very minutely subfossilized form (coarsely and less
closely granulated both above and below, nearly unkeeled, and
greatly resembling in its more globose outline the most diminu-
tive phasis of the //. compacta) which Mr. Lowe regarded as a
156 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
6 var. /3. pusilla ' of this species ; though I am not at all satis-
fied that it would not be far more natural to treat it as distinct.
Still, as it appears to bear somewhat the same relation to the
normal H. commixta that the ' var. 8. pusilla ' of the H. com-
pacta does to that species, I am content to cite it as Mr. Lowe
has done, even whilst feeling extremely doubtful as to its real
specific identity with the commixta. In point of fact it would
be scarcely separable from the ' 8. pusilla ' of the H. compacta,
were it not that it is powerfully and conspicuously granulated
both above and below. Whether properly referred however to
the H. commixta or not, it is a form which is extremely abun-
dant in most of the calcareous deposits of Porto Santo.
So far as I can at present recollect (for I unfortunately
made no particular memorandum, at the time, of their exact
habitat), I believe that it was on the Ilheo de Baixo that my
specimens of the H. commixta were principally found. 1
Helix abjecta,
Helix abjecta, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 50. t. 6.
f. 1 (1831)
candisata, MenJce, in Pfeiff. Symb. iii. 70 (1846)
abjecta, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 188 (1848)
' Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond< 185 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 32. t. 8. f. 1-8 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 42 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, Portum Sanctum, Desertam Australem,
et (sec, Paiva) Desertam Grandem; in Portu Sancto solum
vulgatissima. Semifossilis in Portu Sancto copiosissime, sed in
Madera ad (sec. Paiva) Canipal rarissime, occurrit.
If the Baron Paiva's statement may be trusted, that he has
received it from the Deserta Grande, the H. abjecta (however
scarce beyond Porto Santo) will have been found in all the
islands of the Madeiran Group except the Northern Deserta (or
Ilheo Chao). Throughout Porto Santo, and on the immediately
adjacent rocks, it absolutely swarms ; but it is singular that
1 The Baron Paiva has wonderfully confused this by no means badly de-
nned Helix. In fact he evidently did not know it, practically ; though some
of his recorded characters were copied clearly from Mr. Lowe's diagnosis.
Thus he cites it as the depressed variety of the //. abjecta (which, as above
mentioned, it most decidedly is not} ; then he asserts it to be a subfossil form,
whereas the H. commixta is a living one and has not as yet been observed at
all (as typically denned) except in a recent state ; and he lastly adds that it
occurs likewise on the Southern Deserta, whereas the species from that island
is a scarcely altered phasis of the genuine H. abjecta ! In real truth, in its
general contour and rather widened (or, as it were, super-imposed} ultimate
volution, no less than in its more circular and raised peristome, the //. com-,
mixta makes a very manifest approach towards the Hystricella group.
MADEIRAN GRO UP. 157
nobody should have yet placed upon record its occurrence in
Madeira proper, though Mr. Lowe, at all events, was perfectly
well aware that it is far from uncommon near Porto Moniz on
the north-western coast of that island. This fact must conse-
quently have escaped his memory, when compiling (in 1852)
his last enumeration of the land-shells of the archipelago. On
the Southern Deserta I have myself met with it sparingly, and I
have seen a few other examples which had been obtained from
thence by the Baron Paiva, who, by the bye, has fallen into
the unaccountable error of citing it as existing in a subfossil
state only on that remote rock. 1
In a subfossil condition the H. abjecta is most abundant in
the calcareous deposits of Porto Santo ; and although I have
not myself met with it (subfossilized) except in that island, and
have no other evidence of its occurrence elsewhere, it is never-
theless recorded by the Baron Paiva to be found sparingly at
Canipal, which, considering its existence in a recent state on
the northern coast of Madeira proper, is far from unlikely.
The H. abjecta is an extremely thick and solid little shell,
globose-conical in outline, with an open and conspicuous
(though by no means large) perforation, and extremely rough
in sculpture, being coarsely granulated all over (though par-
ticularly above), and with strong, irregular, subconfluent,
transverse costate lines. Its peristome is white, expanded, con-
tinuous, and almost circular ; its colour is a brownish-white
(sometimes with a few paler radiating lines), passing into a
reddish brown ; and its volutions are tumid and' prominent,
though not exactly (at all events in the normal state) keeled.
There is, however, a phasis of the shell (corresponding with the
' /3. candisata ' of this catalogue) in which the form is rather
more flattened and the keel is a trifle more expressed ; but it
merges so gradually into the other that it can scarcely be looked
upon as a permanent ' variety ' (properly so called) ; and the
examples from the Southern Deserta (the ' 7. nesiotes ' of the
present list) are, on the average, a little smaller and less conical
than the ordinary Madeiran and Porto-Santan ones, somewhat
more evidently keeled, and not quite so roughly granulated.
Beyond these two forms (the second of which I should not have
1 I have no evidence that the If. abjecta has been observed in a subfossil
condition at all, hitherto, on the Southern Desert a, though it is extremely
probable that sooner or later it will be found there. For the Baron Paiva's
assertion that it is only subfossil on that island (' nee recens hodie inventa '),
whereas to my own knowledge he procured from thence a certain number of
living examples, added to the complete confusion of his ideas in regarding
the Porto-Santan H. commixta as conspecific with the South-Desertan H. ab-
jecta (the former of which he also misquotes as subfossilized !), renders his
evidence altogether contradictory and valueless.
158 TE8TACEA ATLANTICA.
noticed had it not been a local one, and neither of which are
very decidedly aberrant), I can see no advantage in creating
confusion by registering a number of varieties and ' subvarie-
ties ' (so-called) which are scarcely distinguishable from each
other, and which have been made to depend on the greater or
less elevation of the axis, and the greater or less development
of the granulations. I will just mention, however, that the
Madeiran examples (from Porto Moniz) have their spire just
appreciably more raised than even the most conical ones from
Porto Santo.
Helix sphaerula,
Helix subcallifera, Lowe, olim, in Hit.
sphaerula, Id., Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 185 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 82. t. 17. f. 8-10 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Mol. Mad. 43 (1867)
Habitat Maderam (semifossilis), eb Portum Sanctum (semi-
fossilis ac recens) ; rarissima.
Although the smaller and rather more globose phasis (which
is found only in a subfossil condition, and only in the Canipal
beds of Madeira proper) of this species has rather the prima
facie appearance of the H. compacta type, yet it will be seen on
inspection to be in reality very different, the larger one, which
occurs in a living state on the mountains of Porto Santo, so far
explaining the other (which is not only ' smaller ' but. from its
decomposed surface, practically more obscure) as to render it
evident that the H. sphcerula makes a most decided approach
in the direction of the H. cheiranthicola. This is particularly
observable, not only in its obtusely conical outline, elevated
spire, and rather flattened base, but likewise in the construction
of its aperture and peristome, and even (when the specimens
are not simply white, as is generally the case) in its law of
colouring, there being often faint traces of an obsolete fascia
encircling the umbilical area, which is never indicated in the
true and undoubted members of the section Caseolus.
Mr. Lowe having first enunciated this Helix from the
Cani9al form of it (which, as just mentioned, is smaller, rounder,
and exclusively subfossilized), we have no option but to treat
that particular state as the normal one. Nevertheless in speak-
ing of its characters we must needs do so from the Porto-San-
tan recent (larger) type, because the distinctive features of the
shell are alone readily appreciable in fresh and living examples.
It was during our visit to Porto Santo in May of 1855 that the
H. sphcerula was taken by Mr. Lowe and myself on the extreme
summit of the Pico Branco, adhering to the upper parts of
MADEIRAN GROUP. 159
various plants, especially the culms of Juncus maritimus ; and
although we found it in considerable profusion in that particular
spot, as well as along the commencement of the lofty precipitous
promontory immediately behind it, its area even there was
remarkably circumscribed, and I am not aware that it has sub-
sequently been met with in any other locality. The subfossilized
specimens of Porto Santo (which are extremely scarce, though
occurring at the Zimbral d'Areia) are a little smaller than these
living ones from the top of Pico Branco in the same island ; but
as they are nevertheless a trifle larger than the (equally subfos-
silized) Madeiran ones from Canical, we may perhaps adopt
Mr. Lowe's arrangement of them as, under the circumstances,
the most simple, namely ' a [normalis] fossilis, minor, sphaeru-
loidea, Maderce ; /3. fossilis, submajor, trochoidea, Portu
Sancto ; <y. recens, major, trochoidea, Portu SanctoS
Apart from its rounded-conical outline, elevated (though
apically obtuse) spire, and somewhat flattened base, to which I
have already called attention, the H. sphcerula may be further
known by its very minute umbilical perforation, which is par-
tially closed over by the prominently expanded lamina of the
lower lip at its insertion into the axis, by its tumid but unkeeled
volutions and deeply impressed suture, by its narrow and some-
what horizontal aperture, which has a more or less evident
transverse callosity within it on the ventral wall, by the upper
and lower divisions of its peristome being widely separated but
joined by a corneous plate ; and by its surface (the lines of which
are rather light, though extremely irregular and subconfluent)
being beset with large granules which are unequal and indis-
tinct (occasionally evanescent) on the upper side, but coarse and
arranged as in a file below. Judging from the recent examples
now before me, from Porto Santo, the H. sphcerula is usually
white and without markings, though often with a very faint
lilac or plumbeous tinge, the whole shell, which is thick and
solid, having a colourless, bleached, china-like appearance.
( Hystricella, Lowe.)
Helix echinoderma, n. sp.
T. trochiformis, subtus subplanulata perforata, undique
granulis magnis obtusis sat dense obsita ; spira elevata ; anfrac-
tibus convexis, subgibbosis, ultimo subtectiformi acute carinato
(carina simplici, solum antice gradatim obsolete subduplici) ;
umbilico punctiformi, aperto ; apertura subovali-rotundata, labris
continuis conjunctis, peristomate simplici, expanso, subrecurvo,
tenui, relevato. Long, axis 2^ tin. ; diam. 3^.
Obs.- //. echinulatce, Lowe, valde amnis, sed multo major
160 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
(sc. quasi maxima), et forsan ejus status antiquus, hodie
extinctus.
Habitat Portum Sanctum, sem^fossilis ; recens baud obser-
vata.
The above diagnosis has been compiled from a few subfossil
specimens which we obtained when in Porto Santo ; and with
the exception of their size being comparatively gigantic, they
appear to possess nearly all the characteristics of the H. echinu-
lata ; but since their stature is so monstrous as compared with
that of the latter (which is more constant than in almost any
Helix with I am acquainted), I cannot but suspect that they
must represent some large extinct species which stands in pre-
cisely the same relation to the echinulata as the subfossil H.
vermetiformis does to the bicarinata, or as the subfossil H.
Lowei and Bowdichiana do to the recent H. portosanctanci
and punctulata. At any rate, each of these forms occupies a
similar position with reference to its own particular analogue,
and as species they must either stand or fall together.
Helix echinulata,
Helix echinulata, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 57, t. 6.
f. 19 (1831)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. L 189 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 186 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 36. t. 9. f. 5-7 (1854)
bicarinata var., Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 45 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; sub lapidibus in montibus,
Vulgaris.
A roughened, or asperated, somewhat Trochiform little
Helix, which, together with the (prima facie almost similar)
H. bicarinata, is very abundant, beneath stones, on the moun-
tains of Porto Santo, and one which may readily be known,
apart from its small size and very coarsely tubercled (or well-
nigh sub-spinulose) surface, by its reddish-brown hue (which
however usually appears darker than it really is, on account of
the entire shell being more or less powdered with a rusty deposit
from the earth with which it is found in contact), by its sub-
conical upper- and flattened under-portions, and by its puncti-
form umbilicus and its circular aperture, the peristome of
which is continuous and appreciably elevated or raised. Its
volutions (which are convex, and seldom exactly banded) will be
seen, when cleaned, to have a few conspicuous darker clouds, or
suffused ill-defined dashes (rarely amounting to anything like a
band, and some of them longitudinally disposed) at irregular
intervals ; and the basal one is sharply keeled, with its compara-
MADEIRAN GROUP. 161
tively flattened under-region generally ornamented with one or
two (sometimes obsolete, and occasionally confluent) fasciae.
The H. echinulata, which is less abundant, on the whole,
than the bicarinata, is locally common on the mountains of
Porto Santo ; and, although not easy to separate at the time of
capture from its ally (an after-examination being absolutely
necessary for that purpose), I believe that it is more often on the
Pico Branco that we have met with it, than elsewhere.
The Baron Paiva records the H. echinulata in a subfossil
state ; but, although this is not by any means unlikely, I have no
evidence myself that it has yet been observed in any of the cal-
careous deposits ; though its comparatively gigantic analogue
(enunciated above as the H. echinoderma) is met with occa-
sionally, and it is not impossible therefore that that particular
form was regarded by the Baron as sufficiently identical with
the recent type.
Helix bicarinata.
Helix bicarinata, Sow., Zool. Journ. i. 58. t. 3. f. 7 (1825)
duplicata, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 58. t. 6.
f. 30(1831)
bicarinata, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. ii. 190 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 186 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 36. t. 9. f. 1-4 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 45 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; sub lapidibus vulgatissima. In
statu semifossili parce (sub forma ' var. /3. auctaj Woll.) re-
peritur.
So closely does the present little Helix resemble the H.
echinulata, that I am far from certain that it is more in reality
than a phasis of that species with a double keel ; and this is all
the more possible from the fact that a bi- and simply carinated
state are by no means uncommon in many Helices. Yet the
two forms are so readily separable (for I have never found a
single example, out of many hundreds I might almost say
thousands which I have inspected, which could be regarded as
strictly intermediate), that I prefer, inasmuch as they have
already been published under different names, to treat them as
distinct. The Baron Paiva, in his late Monograph, ias assumed
them to be conspecific, and it is quite open to any naturalist to
adopt that opinion if he pleases ; but since it is scarcely possible
that the qucestio vex-ata can ever be absolutely settled, I would
rather, for my own part, acknowledge them under the titles
which they have so long received, than run the risk of error in
a speculation which is perhaps unsolvable.
With these remarks I think it sufficient to add, that the H.
162 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
bicarinata is a more abundant species (or form) than the
echinulata, swarming beneath slabs of stone on most of the
mountain-slopes of Porto Santo, to which island it would seem
(like its immediate allies) to be confined. And so gregarious is
it in its mode of life, that I have frequently observed clusters of
it under a single block composed of absolutely hundreds of
closely-adhering individuals.
In a subfossil state, the H. bicarinata is decidedly rare ;
nevertheless I possess many specimens (collected by myself,
chiefly at the Zimbral d'Areia) which I have little doubt are
conspecific with it, though their slightly altered fades, from
the process of gradual decay to which they have been subjected,
renders their identification with the recent type at first sight
somewhat dubious. Thus, for instance, the keels of their
volutions appear more conspicuous (and the spaces between
them, in consequence, more eroded or scooped out) than is the
case in the living individuals, and the granulations of their
upper surface have in some instances been altogether worn
away. Still, there is no shell except the bicarinata to which
they can be referred ; and I feel satisfied that they represent
the quondam phases of that species, and that they thus far
therefore afford presumptive evidence that the H. vermeti-
formis (which they almost exactly resemble except as regards
their comparatively diminutive stature) cannot properly be
looked upon as a mere extinct state of the bicarinata.
There is however an appreciably larger form of this species
(cited in the present catalogue as the ' var. /3. aucta ') to which
the subfossil examples 'might perhaps be better referred, in
which the upper (or medial) keel is a trifle more horizontal and
prominent, and the shell is full 3 lines (instead of only about
2-|) across its broadest part which was found in Porto Santo
by Mr. Watson, and which I have received from him as the
6 recent state of the H. vermetiformis, Lowe.' I am inclined to
think, however, that it will be more safely regarded as a highly
developed race of the bicarinata 9 from which it differs in
scarcely any respect except in its slightly increased stature. It
is of course possible that even the subfossilized H. vermetiformis
may be in reality but a gigantic extinct phasis of the bicari-
nata ; but as it rests upon precisely similar evidence as that for
the retention of the H. echinoderma as separate from the
echinulata, or as the H. Bowdichiana and Lowei from the
punctulata and portosanctana (the 'pros' and 'cons' of which
have already been fully discussed), I have thought it desirable
to follow Mr. Lowe in treating it as specifically distinct ; and
this being the case, it will be sufficient to add that it (i. e. the
H. vermetiformis} recedes from the ' var. /3. aucta ' of the //.
MADE1RAN GROUP. 163
bicarinata in its very much larger size, and in its volutions
(the ultimate one of which is not quite so deflected at the
aperture) being 7 in number, instead of only 6 or 6^.
Helix vermetiformis.
Helix vermetiformis, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.186 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 47 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, in stratu conchylifero semifossilis
parce occurrens ; recens hodie non inventa.
The present Helix, which has been found hitherto only in a
subfossil state and only in Porto Santo (where it was first
detected by myself at the Zimbral d'Areia), belongs to the same
geographical type as these immediate forms, the H. bicarinata
being manifestly its nearest ally. Indeed it may be said to be
intermediate between that species and the ' a. pererosa ' of the
H. turricula, being very much larger than the former, with
its peristome even more developed (or raised above the body-
volution), and with its keel perhaps, if possible, still more
double throughout ; whilst from the latter (which occurs only on
the Ilheo de Cima) it recedes in its less elevated spire, its more
open umbilicus, and in its surface being very much more
coarsely and sparingly granulated. Of the two, however, it has
more in common, as it seems to me, with the H. bicarinata ;
and indeed, when closely inspected, its characters will be per-
ceived to differ so little except in degree from those of that
species that I cannot feel at all sure that the vermetiformis (as
now understood) represents more than some gigantic extinct
phasis of it. Nevertheless since I have no vestige of connecting
links between the two forms, and they would appear to stand in
precisely the same relation to each other as the subfossil H.
echinoderma does to the recent H. echinulata, or as the sub-
fossil H. Bowdichiana and Lowei do to their living analogues
the H. punctulata and portosanctana (which Mr. Lowe, and
all subsequent monographers, have held to be, in all probability,
distinct), I will not attempt to treat them as otherwise than
specifically separate.
The H. vermetiformis is not uncommon in the subfos-
siliferous beds of Porto Santo, at any rate in those towards the
south-eastern extremity of the island (in the direction of the
Ilheo de Cima). I have met with it both at the Zimbral
d'Areia, and in the muddy deposit of an exposed sea-cliff
(below the Pico dos Maparicos) to the eastward of the Villa.
Helix turricula,
Helix turricula, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 58. t. 6.
f. 21 (1831)
M 2
164 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Helix turricula, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel i. 190 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.'ISQ (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 37. t. 9. f. 11-13 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 47 (1867)
Habitat in insula parva ' Ilheo de Cima ' dicta, juxta Portum
Sanctum (nee alibi) ; sub lapidibus magnis congregans.
This is one of the most beautiful, and distinct, of all the
land-shells of the Madeiran archipelago ; and yet there is not a
single species which is more narrowly circumscribed (so far as
our united observations have hitherto shewn) as regards its area
of distribution, the little rocky islet known as the Ilheo de
Cima, at the south-eastern extremity of Porto Santo, being
apparently its only habitat. In that particular locality how-
ever it abounds, where it is to be met with (often in clusters)
beneath the large blocks of basalt which lie scattered on (more
especially) the western slopes. Under such circumstances it
has been taken in profusion by Mr. Lowe and myself, on various
occasions, as well as by Senhor Moniz and other naturalists ;
but I have never been able to detect any traces of it in a sub-
fossil state on the mainland, not even at the Zimbral d'Areia,
which is exactly opposite to (and but narrowly separated from)
the Ilheo de Cima, nor in the muddy accumulations of the
subfossiliferous sea-cliff (below the Pico dos Maparicos) to the
eastward of the Villa. Hence there is every reason to suspect
that it has never existed except on that small and nearly inac-
cessible island. Yet so intimate is its relationship with the
subfossil H. vermetiformis, which as already stated is par
excellence characteristic of the deposits in the direction of the
Ilheo de Cima, that it is impossible to resist the enquiry as to
whether it. might not in reality be some extreme development
of that quondam form, which has been gradually matured since
the Ilheo de Cima was permanently separated from the main-
land. This question however being merely a speculative one,
hardly concerns us here, for no amount of evidence can ever
succeed in raising it beyond the atmosphere of probability ; and
it may be sufficient therefore to add that the H. turricula in
even its most abbreviated phasis (under which guise alone it
bears a primd facie resemblance, in its shorter contour, more
prominent keels, and somewhat disproportionately widened
ultimate volution, to the vermetiformis) differs from its un-
questionably near ally in its much more elevated spire (and
that too when seen in its most reduced and exceptional con-
dition), in its entire surface being very much more finely and
closely granulated, and in its umbilicus (which is likewise more
concealed by the overhanging edge of the peristome) being less
MADEIRAN GROUP. 165
open. In its normal aspect, however, the H. turricula is
abundantly removed from even the vermetiformis.
As will be inferred from the above remarks, the affinities of
the H. turricula are, most unmistakeably, with the four pre-
ceding and two following species, its carinated volutions and
granulose, reddish-brown surface (the lower portion of which
has a tendency, when cleansed from the earthy dust with which
it is generally obscured, to be more or less indistinctly fasciated,
whilst the upper parts are usually marbled with a few irregular,
suffused, ill-defined, longitudinal, sometimes confluent blotches),
added to the smallness of its umbilicus, its circular aperture,
and its thin, elevated, continuous peristome, assigning it, with-
out the slightest doubt, to the little assemblage of Porto-
San tan forms to which Mr. Lowe applied the subgeneric title
of Hystricella. Yet as a species it is conspicuously distin-
guished from them all, its extremely elongate, turret-shaped
spire and numerous volutions (which have a keel, very largely
developed in the c a. pererosaj ! in the centre of each, causing
the basal volution to be strongly bicarinated), in conjunction
with the comparative fineness and closeness of its granulations,
giving it a character which it is difficult to mistake.
Helix Leacockiana, n. sp.
T. trochiformis, subtus planata perforata, undique granulis.
obtusis densissime obsita, pallide brunneo-subflavescens sed
fasciis (prsesertim subtus) nebulisque irregularibus (prsesertim
supra) rufo-brunneis hinc inde suffuse marmorata ; spira sat
elevata; anfractibus convexis, bicarinatis, ultimi (subtecti-
formis) carina exteriore acutissima valde exstanti, interiore
obtusa rotundata recedente rarius obsoleta; umbilico puncti-
formi ; apertura subovali-rotundata, labris continuis conjunctis,
peristomate simplici expanso subrecurvo tenui relevato. Long*
axis If lin. ; diam. 2.
Obs. Species H. bicarinatce, Sow., affinis, sed differt testa
multo minus grosse sed etiam subdensius granulata, granulis
minutioribus obtusioribus (nee spiniformibus), anfractu ultima
sensim latiore subtectiformi, sc. carina exteriore multo magis
1 This particular state, which would seem to have escaped the observation
of Mr. Lowe, passes imperceptibly into the other ; nevertheless since it is
remarkably different in its extreme (or exaggerated) condition, from what
Mr. Lowe described as the normal one, I think perhaps it may be desirable
to define it briefly as follows :
H. turricula, Lowe ; var. fr^pererosa. Plerumque obscurior, spira breviore,
anfractibus in medio multo grossius carinatis (carina altissima), ultimo sensim
latiore necnon ant ice obsolete subtortuoso, fere quasi superimposito, apertur
submajore.
1C6 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
exstanti acuta distincta, sed carina interiore magis obtuse
rotundata faciliusque recedente, interdum etiam obsoleta.
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in monte ' Pico d'Anna Ferreira '
dicto sat copiose reperta. Necnon in statu semifossili (cum
exemplaribus recentibus vix omnino congruens) parcissime oc-
currit.
This little Helix, which was obtained rather abundantly by
myself on the Pico d'Anna Ferreira in Porto Santo, and after-
wards by Mr. Lowe (who apparently did not recognise it as
specifically distinct), is closely allied to the bicarinata, Sow.,
and the echinulata, Lowe, to both of which it stands in much
the same relation as the H. commixta does to the abjecta.
And in the comparative fineness of its sculpture it makes like-
wise somewhat of an approach to the H. oxytropis, the four
species (namely echinulata, bicarinata, Leacockiana, and oxy-
tropis) constituting, in conjunction with the echinoderma,
vermetiformis, and turricula, a very natural assemblage.
In the fact of its volutions having an additional central keel
(which consequently appears to be doubled on the ultimate one)
the H. Leacockiana has more in common with the bicarinata
than it has with the echinulata ; nevertheless in the granula-
tions of its surface being both very much smaller and very
much less raised (as well as more densely packed together) it
recedes equally from them both. But its more appreciable
distinctive character consists in the peculiar shape of its volu-
tions, especially of the last one, which is more strictly tectiform
(or roof-shaped), as well as of a relatively somewhat wider
diameter, than in the cognate species, the edge, or outer keel,
being very much more prominent, whilst the inner one is more
completely and obtusely rounded-off, and therefore recedes more
from the former than is the case in the H. bicarinata. These
various little features are so conspicuous, when once seen, that
it is impossible to confound the H. Leacockiana with any of
these immediate forms ; and it appears to me to have far
greater claims for specific separation than the bicarinata has
from the echinulata ; and indeed I cannot but think that it is
removed from them both quite as much as the (very much
larger) oxytropis is, though in a different manner.
I possess two subfossil individuals, a trifle larger and some-
what less finely granulated than those now before me of the
H. Leacockiana, which I have little doubt (from their general
contour and proportions) represent the quondam analogue of
this species.
I have had great pleasure in naming the present little
Helix after my old friend T. S. Leacock, Esq., whose long
residence in Madeira, and whose continued and careful re-
MADEIRAN GROUP. 167
searches throughout the entire Group of islands, has con-
tributed so much to our store of knowledge, not merely of the
Land-Mollusca but in many other departments of Natural
Science.
Helix oxytropis.
Helix oxytropis, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 57. t. 6.
f. 18 (1831)
Pfeiff** Man. Hel. i. 190 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 186 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 37. t. 9. f. 8-10 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 46 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum; sub lapidibus in intermediis
degens. Semifossilis rariss. ; sed in statu majore (= /?. sub-
carinulata, mihi) paulo magis copiose reperitur.
As already stated, the H. oxytropis belongs to the same
geographical type as the six preceding species ; yet it is
thoroughly distinct from them all, never merging into any of
them, so far as I am aware, by even doubtful aberrations.
Although exceedingly similar in colouring (which is unmis-
takeably characteristic), and a good deal so in form and sculp-
ture, to its allies, it has the volutions (the basal one of which is
sharply and singly keeled) conspicuously more flattened,
causing the upper portion of the shell to be more strictly
conical or roof-shaped (though apically somewhat rounded and
obtuse). Its granulations, although coarse, are relatively much
less developed than those of the H. echinoderma, echinulata,
bicarinata, and vermetiformis, but rather more so than is the
case in the H. LeacocJdana and turricula.
The H. oxytropis, which is equally confined to Porto Santo
with its immediate allies, is less abundant than the echinulata
and bicarinata. Nevertheless it is common locally, occurring
beneath stones on the mountain-slopes ; and so far as my own
observations are concerned, it is more prevalent in the south-
eastern extremity of the island than elsewhere, particularly on
the two closely adjoining peaks opposite to the Ilheo de Cima,
known as the Pico de Baixo and the Pico dos Maparicos.
In a subfossil condition the H. oxytropis is found very
sparingly; indeed, so far as I have myself observed, I should
say that it was decidedly rare. There is, however, a larger
phasis of the shell with the spire relatively more elevated and
apically-acute, and with the volutions very obsoletely keeled in
the centre which I have taken on various occasions more
abundantly. Under this form, the shell has much the size and
prima facie aspect of certain states of the H. cheiranthicola ;
though, on a closer inspection, its more densely granulated
168 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
surface and smaller umbilicus, added to the sharper edge of its
ultimate volution and its more raised and continuous peri-
stome, will readily distinguish it from every phasis of that
variable species. Believing it far from unlikely, however, that
this particular subfossil Helix to which I am now calling
attention may be separated by some future monographer from
the oxytropis proper, I will briefly characterize it as follows :
H. OXYTROPIS, Lowe ; var. ft. subcarinulata. Major, spira
magis elevata, ad apicem paulo magis acuta, anfractibus in
medio obsolete subearinulato. Long, axis 2^ lin. ; diam. 3J.
( TurrtoeUa, Woll.)
Helix cheiranthicola.
Helix cheiranthicola, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 57.
t. 6. f. 17 (1831)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 212 (1 848)
Lowe,Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 187(1 854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 37. t. 9. f. 14-16
(1854)
(pars), Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 48
(1867)
var, mustelina, Lowe.
Helix mustelina, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 186 (1854)
cheiranthicola, /3. minor, Paiva, I. c. 49 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, insulamque parvam adjacentem
' Ilheo de Baixo ' dictam ; in montibus hinc jnde vulgaris, cau-
libus Cheiranthi arbusculce, Lowe, saepissime adherens. Semi-
fossilis, et in Campo de Baixo et in Ilheo de Baixo, parce
reperitur.
Owing doubtless to the great elevation of its spire, the H.
cheiranthicola was placed by Mr. Lowe and Dr. Albers (and, copy-
ing them, by the Baron Paiva) in the section Hystricella ; but
it seems to me to have quite as much in common (indeed even
more, in some respects) with the Discula type, and I think
therefore that we may safely regard it as exactly intermediate
between the two, though belonging absolutely to neither of
them. The Hystricella group is so wonderfully well denned
not only in the continuous, raised, circular peristome of its seve-
ral members, but likewise in its sculpture and the very great
peculiarity of its colouring that it seems a pity to admit into
it a species like the present one, which is so thoroughly different
in the generality of its features ; whilst, at the same time, the
H. cheiranthicola is too high and turret-shaped to be properly
referred to the section Discula.
The H. cheiranthicola occurs on certain of the loftier moun-
MADEIRAN GROUP. 169
tains of Porto Santo, particularly the Pico Branco, where it
absolutely swarms, towards the summit, within the crevices of
the rocks and upon the stems of shrubby plants, especially a
native wall-flower (the Cheiranthus arbuscula, Lowe). In a
subfossil condition it appears to be scarce, though I have met
with it sparingly on the Campo de Baixo and also on the Ilheo
de Baixo ; but I am not certain that it has been found on the
latter adjacent islet in a living state.
Apart from its elevated column and subconical contour, the
present Helix may be known by the tumidity of its volutions,
which are so prominent as to form a kind of obtuse keel (imme-
diately above the suture) which is usually traceable up the spire,
by its umbilicus, although not large, being open and deep, by
its surface being coarsely granulated both above and below (the
granules, however, being often sub-evanescent about the most
prominent part of the whorls), and by its peristome being con-
tinuous though not circular, the upper and lower lips being
joined at their insertion by a thick corneous callosity. The
shell is extremely solid in substance, or incrassated, and nor-
mally of a faintly plumbeous white with two narrow darker
bands beneath (one of which is sometimes absent), and another
above, just under (and adjoining) the suture, and continued
for a considerable distance up towards the apex. These three
bands are occasionally broken-up, or even well-nigh obsolete ;
but it is scarcely necessary to establish ' varieties ' and ' subva-
rieties ' (so-called) upon trifling fluctuations of mere colour.
There is, however, a distinct phasis of the shell, which was
detected by myself towards the northern coast of Porto Santo, in
the district known as ' Pedragal,' and towards the Pico Juliana,
which deserves notice, inasmuch as it is so permanently dif-
ferent from the typical one as to have been described by Mr.
Lowe as a separate species, under the name of H. mustelina. I
think there can be no question that the intermediate races
which occur connect it with the true cheiranthicola type ; never-
theless it is a little smaller than the latter and more uniformly
and roughly granulated all over, its volutions are flatter (or
much less tumid) and with hardly any indications of a keel, its
umbilicus is joined (though not exactly overlapped) by the more
angularly produced lamina of the lower lip, and its colour is
more dingy, the surface being less evidently fa sciated (though
sometimes with an obsolete medial band above), but crowded
with irregular brownish fragmentary markings.
170 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
( Discula, Lowe.)
Helix tetrica.
Helix tetrica, Paiva, in litt.
Loive, Ann. Nat. Hist. x. 95 (1862)
Pfei/., Mai. Bldtt. xi. 53 (1864)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 87. t. 1. f. 7 (1867)
Habitat Desertam Australem ; in prseruptis excelsis mariti-
mis rarissima, inter lichenes latitans. Semifossilis parce repe-
ritur.
This is one of the largest and most distinct members of the
Discula section (measuring about 7^ lines across its broadest
part), and one which seems to be quite unconnected, so far at
least as our present data would imply, with any of the numerous
varieties of the protean H. polymorpha. It was detected on
the Southern Deserta (or Bugio), ' amongst lichens on the sea-
cliffs, in the spring of 1861,' by a man who was sent out by the
Baron Paiva to collect for him on that remote rock ; and it ap-
pears to have been extremely scarce even there. It had however
been previously obtained in a subfossil condition by Mr. Lowe,
who met with a single example of it during our visit to that
island in June of 1855.
Apart from its larger size, solid substance, and flattened, dis-
coidal, lozenge-shaped form, the H. tetrica may be recognised
by its extremely wide, open, spiral umbilicus, its not very
strongly pronounced keel (which however is placed rather above
the dorsal line), and by the coarse and greatly elevated granules
with which it is everywhere uniformly asperated. In colour too
it is most peculiar, the fasciae (in at any rate the few examples
which I have had an opportunity of inspecting) being so broadly
developed as to cause nearly the entire surface, except the paler
and yellowish umbilical area, to be of a dark reddish coffee-
brown (which makes the white tubercles remarkably conspicu-
ous). Its aperture, which is of a dingy reddish-brown within,
has the peristome (though not perfectly circular) a good deal
elevated, the upper and lower portions of it being joined across
the body-volution by a thick corneous process.
Helix polymorpha.
Helix polymorpha, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 54
(1831)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 213 (1848)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 25 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 83 (1867)
Habitat ins. omnes Maderenses ; sub lapidibus, praecipue in
MADEIRAN GROUP. 171
collibus aridis apricis maritimis, congregans, et vix supra 1500'
s.ra. ascendens. Semifossilis, sub formis plurimis diversis,
hinc inde sed parce reperitur.
So numerous are the forms which are assumed by this pro-
tean Helix, in the various islands and districts of the Madeiran
Group, that the more salient ones would seem to demand,
each of them, an independent notice. And this is all the more
desirable since the major part were described by Mr. Lowe
(though not originally) as separate species, and it might still
perhaps be a question with certain monographers whether at any
rate one or two of those which I have thought it better to
treat as varieties might not be retained as distinct. My own
belief, however, is, that even more than those which are here
placed upon record will be found eventually (when the few
remaining localities which have not yet been fully explored shall
have been properly investigated) to increase the list of perma-
nent races, which, although merging into the immediately
allied ones by unmistakeable connective links, are neverthe-
less sufficiently denned within their own particular provinces
to be properly looked upon as ( local modifications,' in the
usually accepted sense of that term. Commencing with the
phases which are more roughly granulated than the rest, I
think that the following thirteen (which almost arrange them-
selves, as might naturally be anticipated in the case of mere
varieties, topographically) may perhaps be accepted as the ones
which should principally be noticed.
a. [normalis].
Helix polymorpha, a. irrasa, Lowe, I. c. 54. t. 6. f. 11 (1831)
a. Pfei/., Mai. Bldtt. 81 (1852)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 187 (1854)
var. a., Alb., I. c. 25. t. 5. f. 7-13 (1854)
Paiva, I. c. 83 (1867)
saccharata, Lowe, olim, in litt.
Habitat Maderam ; ad rupes maritimas versus orientem,
prsecipue in ins. parva ' Ilheo de Fora ' dicta, juxta promonto-
rium Sancti Lourentii, degens.
This is the most conical state which has hitherto been de-
tected of the present variable Helix ; and although Mr. Lowe
cited it in 1831 as but one variety out of many, he subsequently
(in 1854) adopted it as a distinct species, regarding it, par
excellence, as ' the H. polymorpha ' (properly so called) ; though
I think that it is much to be regretted that he should not have
adhered to his original (and, as it seems to me, far more correct)
treatment of it. Even in the elevation of its spire this roughly
172 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
granulated race is by no means constant, some examples being
much more trochiform than others ; whilst as regards colour, it
passes through a nearly endless number of changes, certain spe-
cimens being comparatively pale and unbanded, though by far the
greater number are very highly decorated, the fasciae being- so
enlarged as to cover most of the surface except a sutural line, the
region outside the aperture, and the central area beneath. The
umbilicus is tolerably large and spiral, and the keel is rather
sharply expressed.
This normal phasis (as we can scarcely help regarding it) of
the H. polymorpha occurs only in Madeira proper, and is emi-
nently characteristic of the eastern half of the Sao Lourenyo pro-
montory (itself in the extreme east of that island), attaining its
maximum on the detached insular termination of it known as the
Ilheo de Fora (where it has been taken in profusion by Mr, Lowe,
Mr. Watson, Dr. Grrabham, myself, and others). 1 The examples
from the actual Ponta de Sao Lourenpo have all their characters
rather less exaggerated than in those from the Ilheo de Fora,
thus showing a manifest tendency to merge into the other
coarsely granulated but less conical form (the ' /3. salebrosa ')
which occurs both to the north and south (i. e* towards Porto
da Cruz, and towards Machico) of that low rocky tongue of land,
and which indeed crops up even so far away as the Ponta de Pargo,
the north-western point of Madeira.
Common as it is towards the extremity of the Sao LourenO
promontory, I am not aware that this typical phasis of the H.
polymorpha has ever yet been observed in the subfossil deposits
(so near at hand) of Canipal.
ft. salebrosa, Lowe.
Helix polymorpha, y., Pfeiff., Mai. Blatt. 81 (1852)
senilis, Lowe [nee Morelet, 1851], Ann. Nat. Hist. ix.
116 (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 189 (1854)
polymorpha, var. 7., Alb., I. c. 26. t. 5. f. 16-18
(1854)
salebrosa, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. x. 95 [note] (1862)
polymorpha, var. /Q., Paiva, I. c. 84 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, et tres Desertas ; in aridis apricis mariti-
1 I may add that this shell has never been observed by at any rate either
Mr. Lowe or myself in the neighbourhood of the fossil-bed and the Piedade,
but always on the red Tufa soil nearer to the actual Point, where, during
the winter months, it may be found attached to the stems of plants and low
bushes (particularly of Sahola fruticosa), beyond (i.e. to the eastward) of the
arch-rock in Labra.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 173
mis hinc inde vulgatissima. Semifossilis ad Canical Maderaa
parcissime sed in summo Desertae Australis copiosius invenitur.
While the last (or normal) state of the H. polymorpha is
characteristic of a limited district in the extreme east of Madeira
proper, the present one makes its appearance in many parts of
the eastern and northern coast of the same island, extending like-
wise .to the Desertas, on the whole three of which it occurs,
though more particularly on the central or larger one. The Ma-
deiran examples however are not usually quite similar to those
of the Desertas, being, on the average, a little more sharply
keeled and more coarsely granulated ; and they are generally too
a trifle thinner (or less solid), and not so highly coloured : indeed
I possess a series of them from the Ponta de Pargo (perhaps
somewhat exceptional) which are nearly devoid of markings.
Although extremely variable in the elevation of its spire, the
' 0. salebrosa ' is considerably less conical than the (so-called)
type, it being altogether flatter and more lenticular; but the
Madeiran phasis of it is, I think, quite as strongly asperated as
the latter with powerful granules. The Desertan specimens are
usually less coarsely granulated, particularly above, and their
keel is a little more obtuse ; but both of these features are subject
to considerable variation. As for the mere development of the
bands (which are for the most part more conspicuous in the De-
sertan race than in that from Madeira), hardly two examples have
them precisely alike.
The ' /8. salebrosa ' (which is so common on the Desertas, par-
ticularly on the central island) was found by Mr. Lowe in Madeira
proper, namely on the Larana promontory below Porto da Cruz,
and at the Ponta de Pargo ; and it occurs likewise between Ma-
chico and Sta. Cruz. In a subfossil condition it is not uncommon
on the summit of the Southern Deserta, but extremely rare in the
calcareous deposits near Canical. 1
y.porompkala, Lowe.
Helix polymorpha, S.,P/eiff., Mai. Bldtt. 81 (1852)
poromphala, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 116 (1852)
senilis (pars), Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 189 (1854)
polymorpha, var. S., Alb., I. c. 26. t. 5. f. 19, 20 (1854)
var.. (subv. 1), Paiva, I. c. 84 (1867)
Habitat tres Desertas ; prsecipue in insulis Boreali et Australi
congregans. In Deserta Australi semifossilis quoque reperitur,
1 As regards the synonymy of this shell, I may add that the name 'senilis'
having been preoccupied by Morelet during the preceding year to that in
which it was employed by Mr. Lowe, it became necessary for the latter to
propose a fresh one, which he consequently did in 1862.
174 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
It is only on the Desertas that the present race of the H. poly-
morpha has been found ; and although it occurs on the whole
three of them, it is principally on the northern and southern
islands that it abounds, the ' /3. salebrosa ' being the dominant
form in the Deserta Grande. There is, however, very little differ-
ence between that modification and the present one, the much
smaller umbilicus of the ' 7. poromphala ' being its main distinc-
tive feature ; though it is likewise, on the average, a smaller shell
altogether, descending on the Bugio (where it was also found in a
subfossilised condition, by Mr. Lowe and myself, during June of
1855) to a comparatively diminutive stature, the most reduced
examples measuring only about four lines across their broadest
part.
S. Pitta?, Paiva.
Helix senilis, var. 7., pusilla, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
189 (1854)
Pittae, Paiva, Journ. de Conch, xiv. 340 t. 11. f. 5
(1866)
Id., Mon. Moll. Mad. 41. t. 1. f. 3 (1867)
polymorpha, /3. (subv. 2. minor), Id., ibid. 85 (1867)
' Pittse, Pfeiff., Mon. Ed. vii. 352 (1876)
Habitat Desertam Australem : prsesertim in statu semifossili
(an vere recens ?) occurrens.
This is the most minute form under which the H. polymor-
pha has hitherto been ascertained to exist, the examples measur-
ing only from about 3 to 3^ lines across their broadest part ; and it
is one which seems to be peculiar to the Southern Deserta, where
it was met with by Mr. Lowe and myself, during June of 1855,
and from whence it has subsequently been obtained by the Baron
Paiva. 1 But it was only subfossilized that we found it ; and I
have no evidence hitherto that it occurs in a living state, for it is
almost certain that the individual from which the Baron (I. c. 85)
professed to describe the ' animal ' was merely a small one of the
common ' 7. poromphala? This variety however seems to differ
in no respect (either as regards sculpture or relative proportions)
from the c 7. poromphala ' (though its worn and colourless con-
dition may give it at first sight a somewhat peculiar aspect) ex-
cept in its extremely reduced stature, and in its possessing only 6^-
1 The Baron therefore was not altogether accurate in adding, concerning
this particular variety, ' In Deserta Australi a meipso primum inventa ; ' for,
in the first place, it was found by Mr. Lowe and myself more than ten years
previously, and, in the second place,. it is well known that he never collected
on the Desert as at all, his material having simply been brought to him by
men, not always very trustworthy, whom he sent out from Funchal.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 175
volutions (instead of 7^-), and it is surprising to me how the Baron
Paiva could have so far confused its affinities as to have recorded
it not only (as above indicated) as a stunted phasis of the H. poly-
morpha, but likewise as a distinct species (under the name of H.
Pittce) of the Caseolus group ! Yet that this is certainly the case
I am able to vouch, having received types of his H. Pittce from
the Baron himself. It is also to be noted that in his diagnosis of
the H. Pittce he does not even allude to the fact that his types were
subfossilized (as is nevertheless clear, not only from those which
he transmitted to me, but also from his own remark ' Animal
hodie non observare licet '), but describes them as ' cinereo-plum-
bea ' (a very common tint for a bleached, subfossilized surface),
thus leaving the impression that the H. Pittce is characterized by
an eccentricity of hue which certainly does not belong to it.
f. Alleniana, Paiva.
Helix All enia,n&, Paiva, Journ.de Conch, xiv. 342. p. 11. f. 10
(1866)
Id., I.e. 86. t. 1. f. 4 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in collibus apricis submaritimis prope
Sta. Anna lecta.
This modification of the H. polymorpha was first taken by the
late Mr. Bewicke at Sta. Anna in the north of Madeira pro-
per, and it appears to have been met with subsequently by
Senhor J. M. Moniz ; but it is one of the few Helices which was
never obtained either by Mr. Lowe or myself. It is in some
respects intermediate between the ' /3. salebrosa ' and the ' f.
linctaj though differing from them both in its somewhat more
shining and lightly sculptured surface, and in its granules being
much more minute and elongated, and transversely arranged,
being formed by the breaking-up, or interruption, of the fine
transverse lines, and having more the appearance at first sight of
narrow abbreviated impressions than of granules.
The ' s. Alleniana ' (which is certainly not recognizable, as I
understand it, from the Baron Paiva's published figures) is a
flattened, lenticular shell, with the keel acutely expressed ; and
its underside is usually of a clear porcelain-white, with a narrow
reddish-brown band encircling the umbilical area, and another
broader one (sometimes two) towards the keel. Its upper side,
in the only fresh and perfect example which I possess for inspec-
tion, is irregularly mottled with dusky-white and reddish-brown,
the latter preponderating. Its umbilicus is much about the
same as in the average of the ' (B. salebrosaj but a trifle smaller
than in the ' . lincta ' ; but in the widely separated, almost un-
176 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
connected margins of its peristome it has more in common with
the latter than with the former. 1
f. lincta, Lowe.
Helix polymorpha, 0. depressiuscula, Lowe, I. c. 54. t. 6. f.
13(1831)
s. Pfeif., Mai. Bldtt. 81 (1852)
lincta, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 116 (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 189 (1854)
polymorpha, var. s.,Alb., I. c. 26. t. 5. f. 21-23 (1854)
var. 7., Paiva, I. c. 85 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in eollibus apricis maritimis hand longe
ab urbe Funchalensi, sc. ad et versus promontorium Garajao
dictum, copiossime sub lapidibus.
This is the common modification of the H. polymorpha on
the dry, sunny, maritime hills and cliffs to the eastward of Fun-
chal, towards, and around, the Cabo Grarajao (or Brazen Head).
It may be known by its keel being somewhat blunt or obtuse,
and its underside slightly shining and comparatively free from
sculpture, the lines being very light, and the granules nearly
evanescent. Its upper region however has the granules coarser,
though rather wide apart. In colour it is generally of a clear
yellowish-white beneath, with a distinct band encircling the um-
bilical area, and another, usually broken -up and more or less
fragmentary (sometime obsolete), between that and the keel ;
whilst above it is dappled, or dingily variegated, with whitish
and brownish irregular transverse markings, the region outside the
aperture (which has the margins of its peristome wide apart, and
scarcely connected across 'the body- volution by a thin corneous
lamina) being gradually paler.
i). arenicola, Lowe.
Helix polymorpha, 7. arenicola, Lowe, I. c. 54. t. 6. f. 13.
(1831)
f., Pfeiff., Mai. Bldtt. 81 (1852)
., lincta, var. /&. cinerea, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
190 (1854)
polymorpha, var. , Alb., 1. c. 26. t. 5. f. 24, 25 (1854)
var. 7. cinerea, Paiva, I. c. 85 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in aridis calcareis arenosis, praesertim
1 The Baron Paiva speaks of the 'e. Alleniana ' as subfossilized in the
Blbeira de Sao Jorge ; but I suspect that he must allude in reality to dead and
decorticated examples (of which I possess several from Sta. Anna), for I am
not aware that there is any strictly subfossil deposit in the S. Jorge ravine.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 177
ad basin montis Piedade, ad promontorium Sancti Lourentii,
vulgarisi
The 6 77. arenicota ' scarcely differs from the ' f. linctaj except
that it is, on the average, a little smaller, perhaps a trifle more
depressed, not quite so solid in substance, and altogether of a
paler, yellower, and less brightly variegated hue. It appears to
be confined to the region of the Fossil-bed and around the Pie-
dade, at the base of the Sao Lourenco promontory, in the east of
Madeira proper, where it is extremely common, beneath stones,
on the sandy calcareous soil above the sea-beach and up the ad-
joining slopes ; but, being a mere local race peculiar to that
immediate calcareous district (so exceptional in Madeira), I am
not aware that it has occurred elsewhere in the island.
6. Barbosce, Paiva.
Helix Barbosae, Paiva, Journ. de Conch. xiv 341.pl. 11.
f. 8 (1866)
Id., I.e. 90. t, 1. f. 6 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, aut potius ins* parvam adjacentem
' Ilheo da Fonte d'Areia ' dictam ; sat vulgaris.
The present Helix was obtained by the Baron Paiva, in 1864,
from the small and uninhabited rock off the north-western coast
of Porto Santo known as the Ilheo da Fonte d'Areia ; and it has
certainly no more right to be specifically separated from the
numerous modifications of the H. polymorpka than any of the
others (indeed not so much as several of them) ; yet the Baron
erects it along with two equally insignificant forms into (so-
called) c new species,' and that too whilst suppressing the H* pul-
vinata, discina, papilio, lincta, and senilis, of Lowe, which,
although (as I fully believe) mere varieties also, are neverthe-
less quite as worthy of distinction as these three of his own ;
whilst the fact that they had been already defined and pub-
lished, ought to have given them in reality a superior claim.
The ' 9. Barboece ' is a tolerably large and subconical shell,
the spire being a good deal elevated, with the volutions flattened,
and the keel rather acute ; its basal portion is somewhat in-
flated and pulvinate (or cushion-shaped), with the umbilicus
distinct and spiral ; its peristome is rather thin, with the upper
and lower margins but imperfectly connected by a thin corneous
lamina ; and its surface (which is finely granulate all over, and
has the transverse lines conspicuous above) is somewhat peculiar
in colouring, being darkly clouded on the upper side with irre-
gular brownish and reddish-brown markings, with the addition
of a more or less faint livid (or plumbeous) tinge or bloom, but
paler below in the centre, outside of which the fasciae are gene-
N
17& TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
rally fragmentary and sub-obsolete (being often only traceable
as a few detached, transverse, griseous, zigzag streaks and shape-
less blotches).
i. puhinata, Lowe.
Helix polymorpha, f. pulvinata, Lowe, L c. 56. t. 6. f. 16
(1831)
., Pfeiff., Mai Blatt. 81 (1852)
pulvinata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 116 (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 188 (1854)
polymorpha, var. ft. Alb., I. c. 26. t. 5. f. 14, 15
(1854)
cheiranthicola, a. pulvinata, Paiva, L c. 49 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, insulasque parvas adjacentes ; in
aridis apricis calcareis arenosis inferioribus praecipue et copiose
congregans. Semi/ossilis rarissima, sed ad Zimbral d'Areia parce
collegi.
In its somewhat cushion-shaped, basally inflated, ultimate vo-
lution and open umbilicus, as well as in its more or less conical
or elevated spire and its rather finely and thickly granulated
surface, the present race of the H. polymorpha has a good deal
in common with the last one ; nevertheless it is a trifle smaller
and less acutely keeled, its peristome is more continuous (the
upper and lower margins being joined by a much thicker corne-
ous process), its whorls are a little more tumid or convex, and its
colour is totally different, the entire shell being more or less
pale and (as it were) bleached in appearance, even the darkest
examples being seldom more than obscurely variegated above with
a few irregular, transverse, brownish markings. 1
The ' L. pulvinata ' is one of the most abundant Helices in
Porto Santo, to which island and the adjacent rocks it is peculiar,
occurring more particularly in the driest and most calcareous
spots of a low elevation. Thus it often swarms beneath stones in
the Eibeira de Cochim and about the sandy edges of the Campo
de Baixo, and indeed generally around the Villa; but it is
found likewise at a rather higher altitude. Like most of the
modifications, however, of the H. polymorpha, it is decidedly
rare in a subfossil condition ; though it was met with sparingly,
by Mr. Lowe and myself, at the Zimbral d'Areia and elsewhere.
1 By the Baron Paiva the present Helix is treated as a variety of the
H. clieiranthicola ; but it is difficult to understand on what single character
it can be separated from the Discula group, its rather elevated spire being
more than paralleled in the typical phasis of the H. polymorpha, and quite
equalled in the 'var. 6,
MADEIRAN GROUP. 179
K. papilio, Lowe.
Helix polymorpha, e. calcigena, Lowe, I. c. 56. t. 6. f. 15
(1831)
6., Pfeiff., Mai. Bldtt. 81 (1852)
papilio, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 116 (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool Soc. Land. 190 (1854)
polymorpha, var. *., Alb., I. c. 27. t. 6. f. 7-11 (1854)
testudinalis, a. minor, Paiva, I. c. 92 (1867)
Habitat ins. parvam juxta Portum Sanctum ' Ilheo de Baixo '
dictam ; in aridis calcareis vulgaris. Semifossilis quoque inve-
nitur.
This is so near to the ' X. discina ' that I should hardly have
noticed it as a separate race had it not been published by Mr.
Lowe as a distinct species. However it is not quite similar to
that modification (as typically denned), it being somewhat inter-
mediate between it and the ' i. pulvinata.' Thus it is a little
less sharply keeled than the former, and perhaps not quite so
flattened, its surface is altogether paler or less brightly variegated,
and its granulations are nearly obsolete below, where it has a
slightly shining or china-like appearance. And, as compared
with the latter (the ' i. pulvinata'), although not very different
from it in its somewhat pallid hue and but faintly dappled volu-
tions, it is a trifle more lenticular, or less conical, its keel is
rather more evident, and its upper portion is a little more finely
and densely granulated, whilst the lower one is comparatively
free from sculpture and even (as just mentioned) appreciably
shining. The peristome too is less continuous, the upper and
lower margins of it being wider apart, and almost unconnected
by a corneous plate.
The ' K. papilio ' is the phasis which the H. polymorpha
assumes on the dry calcareous island adjoining Porto Santo known
as the Ilheo de Baixo; and although occasional examples of
the ' X. discinaj found elsewhere, may at first sight be scarcely
separable from it, yet as typically defined it must be regarded as
characteristic of that particular locality. 1
X. discina, Lowe.
Helix polymorpha, rj., Pfei/., Mai. Bldtt. 81 (1852)
discina, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 117 (1852)
1 Although so near (as just stated) to the 'K. discina' as to be barely
separable from it, the Baron Paiva treats the present modification of the
//. polymorplia as a ' var. minor ' of the H. testudinalis, one of the largest
and most distinct members of the Discula section, and one which would seem
to be better separated than almost any other from these immediate forms.
Indeed it appears to me (as it did to Dr. Albers) to be sufficiently well denned
to merit specific isolation.
N 2
180 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Helix discina, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 190 (1854)
polymorpha, var. 77., Alb., I. c. 26. t. 6. f. 1-3 (1854)
var. 8., Paiva, I. c. 86 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, insulasque parvas adjacentes ; in
aridis apricis vulgatissima. Semifossilis multo rarius exstat.
The ' X. discina ' is one of the most abundant of all the
phases of the H. polymorpha, being universal in Porto Santo and
on most of the immediately adjacent rocks, I having myself met
with it on the Ilheo de Baixo, the Ilheo de Cima, and the Ilheo
de Ferro. It is a central form which is less easily denned than
the generality of others, partaking, as it does, of the features of
many of them ; but it may be described as, on the average, rather
flat and lenticular, with the keel sharply pronounced, and the
umbilicus (although not large) open and spiral. It is finely
granulated both above and below ; its whorls are usually de-
pressed, with the suture hardly at all sunken ; the margins of its
peristome are wide apart, and nearly unconnected by a corneous
lamina ; and its surface, although seldom very brightly coloured,
is either fasciate or efasciate below, and more or less obscurely
mottled above with darker and paler irregular transverse
markings.
Like most of the modifications of the H. polymorpha when
found at all in anything but a recent state, the present one is
undoubtedly scarce subfossilized. Nevertheless it has been met
with sparingly, by Mr. Lowe, myself, and others, on the Campo
de Baixo, as well as at the Zimbral d'Areia.
fji. Gomesiana, Paiva.
Helix Gromesiana, Paiva, Journ. de Conch, xiv. 340. pi. 11.
f. 6 (1866)
Id., 1. c. 89. t. 1. f. 5 (1867)
Habitat ins. parvas ' Ilheos de Nordeste ' dictas, juxta Portum
Sanctum; vulgaris.
The present modification of the H. polymorpha was obtained
by the Baron Paiva, in 1863, from the almost inaccessible rocks
off the north-eastern coast of Porto Santo known as the ' Ilheos
de Nordeste.' It differs but little from the 'X. discina 1 ; but
having been published by the Baron as a distinct species, it
must of necessity be noticed.
Judging from the types before me, the ' //,. Gomesiana ' is (on
the average) a trifle smaller than the ' X. discina^ and more
thickly granulated ; its keel is not quite so sharply expressed ;
its volutions are not quite so flattened ; its upper portion i s less
variegated, being more darkly and uniformly diffused with a
warm reddish-brown tint ; and its base is more decidedly Op a ke,
MADEIRAN GROUP. 181
with the umbilicus more contracted above, but broader and more
cylindrical within, its sides (much as in the var. attrita) being
more abruptly, or more suddenly and perpendicularly, scooped-
out.
v. attrita, Lowe.
Helix tectiformis, Wood [nee Sow., 1824], Suppl.t. 8. f. 83
(1828)
polymorpha, 8. attrita, Lowe, I. c. 55. t. 6. f. 14 (1831)
attrita, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 116 (1852)
Pfei/.,Mal. Bldtt. 89 (1852)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 188 (1854)
polymorpha. var. K., Alb. I. c. 27. t. 6. f. 12-15 (1854)
attrita, Paiva, I. c. 88 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in monte ' Pico d'Anna Ferreira '
dicta prsecipue occurrens. Semifossilis in Campo de Baixo
rarissime exstat.
Amongst the numerous phases of the H. polymorpha, the
present one (which is peculiar to Porto Santo) was selected by
Pfeiffer as specifically distinct ; and certainly the structure of its
umbilicus and aperture might well seem at first sight to give it
a greater claim for separation than some of the others. Yet I
am persuaded that it has no more right, in reality, to be thus
treated than any of the rest, its umbilicus (as regards the sin-
gularity of its form) merging so completely into the ordinary
shape which obtains in the ' \. discina ' and its allies that several
examples which are now before me might be assigned almost
equally to either modification ; whilst the thickening within its
somewhat more angular aperture is merely the same thing, only
a little more pronounced, as what we observe in several of the pre-
ceding aspects of the species. Indeed the umbilicus of the ' p.
Gomesiana,' although a trifle wider and more cylindrical, differs
very little indeed from that of the present variety, partaking
more of the attrita- than of the femia-pattern.
Apart from its contracted and abruptly, or suddenly, exca-
vated umbilicus (the result, in part, of the somewhat unnatu-
rally inflated base of its ultimate volution), the present shell is
extremely solid, acutely carinate, and lenticular, with its volutions
greatly flattened, and its surface rather powerfully granulate both
above and below. Its aperture (which is much incrassated
within) is rather angulated, or subtriangular, in outline, the
margins of its peristome being wide apart, and almost uncon-
nected by an intervening lamina. Its colour is much that of
the ' \. discina ' the surface being either fasciate or efasciate be-
neath, but obscurely marbled above with brownish and whitish
182 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
irregular transverse markings, though gradually and conspicuously
paler outside the aperture.
So far as my own experience is concerned, the present modi-
fication of the H. polymorpha is peculiar to the Pico d'Anna
Ferreira (and its immediate vicinity), a remarkably isolated
mountain of Porto Santo, to the south-west of the great central
mass ; and I may add that this is in exact accordance with the
equally repeated observations of Mr. Lowe, who first met with
it, on the Pico d'Anna Ferreira, in 1828; yet the Baron Paiva
cites it from two other mountains, as well as from the Ilheo de
Ferro. I can only add, however, that, as the Baron's material
was not collected by himself, and was consequently subject at
times to great inaccuracies as regards habitat, I must be per-
mitted to look with some amount of suspicion upon these addi-
tional localities for the ' var. v. attrita.' At any rate I have
myself paid considerable attention to the manner in which this
particular variety is (so to speak) concentrated on the Pico
d'Anna Ferreira, and have repeatedly observed that the exam-
ples which were obtained at a certain distance from the base
of the latter are gradually less and less pronounced in their
features, according to the length of the intervening area, until
they completely merge (as it has seemed to me) into the ordi-
nary ' \. discina,' the umbilicus especially (in such specimens)
being more or less intermediate between what obtains respectively
in the two types (as normally defined).
In a sub fossil condition the ' v. attrita ' has been taken
sparingly, both by Mr. Lowe and myself, on the Campo de
Baixo (which well-nigh abuts upon the base of the Pico
d'Anna Ferreira) ; but, like every other modification of the
H. polymorpha which occurs at all except in a recent state, it
is extremely scarce.
Helix tabellata.
Helix tabellata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 116 (1852)
Pfei/., Mai. Bldtt. 90 (1852)
Id., Mon. Hel. iii. 164 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 189 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 28. t. 6. f. 19-21 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 95 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in collibus aridis maritimis, prsecipue
ad promontorium ' G-arajao ' prope Funchal, sub lapidibus gre-
garia.
This is the smallest member of the Discula section which
has hitherto been found in the Madeiran archipelago, mea-
suring only about 3 lines across its broadest part ; for although
the most reduced examples of the ' var. poromphala ' of the
MADE1RAN GROUP- 183
H. polymorpha (described by the Baron Paiva as his * H. Pittce ')
descend to a still smaller stature, the ' var. poromphala ' does
nevertheless represent, on the average, a very much larger
and more robust shell than the present one. The H. tabellata
is also thinner, or less solid in substance, than most of these
immediate forms; and I think that its specific separation
from the various races of the H. polymorpha is fully war-
ranted by the general peculiarity of its structure. 1
In the extreme flatness of its upper portion (the spire,
which is composed of only six whorls, being perfectly tabuli-
form) and the inflation of its base, causing the keel to be
ante- medial as well as prominently and very sharply expressed,
the H. tabellata has a primd facie aspect essentially its own ;
and, although somewhat fragile in substance, it is nevertheless
strongly sculptured, it being much roughened with coarse irre-
gular subconfluent palish transverse lines, and besprinkled with
large palish granulations or tubercles. Its umbilicus is small,
but abruptly and perpendicularly scooped-out (much after the
fashion of the ' var. attrita ' and the ' var. Gomesiana ' of the
H. polymorpha) ; the margins of its peristome are wide apart and
well-nigh unconnected by an intervening lamina, the lower one
moreover being subflexuose and slightly recurved ; and in colour
it is of a dingy griseous- or yellowish-white, either uni- or bi-
fasciate (or even efasciate) below, but very obscurely mottled
above with brownish and paler transverse markings, the former
of which so greatly predominate as to cause the surface to seem
at first sight to be (apart from the tubercles and lines) almost
uniformly brown.
The H. tabellata^ which appears to be peculiar to the south
of Madeira proper, was first detected, I believe, by Mr. Leacock,
on the dry maritime slopes of the Cabo Grarajao, or Brazen Head ;
and it has subsequently been met with by Mr. Lowe, myself, and
others, in the same locality. The Baron Paiva records its occur-
rence also towards the Cabo Girao, to the westward of Funchal.
Helix testudinalis.
Helix testudinalis, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 117 (1852)
1 The Baron Paiva (evidently copying a somewhat hasty remark of Mr.
Lowe's) states that the H. tabellata is intimately related to the H. maderen-
sis, Wood I ; but it is difficult to conceive any two species more utterly re-
moved from each other in all their characters, the circular and elevated
peristome of the Placentula section being sufficient even of itself to distin-
guish its members from those of the Discula group. Although widely sepa-
rated from it specifically, perhaps the nearest ally of the H. tabellata^ both in
the structure of its umbilicus and the inflation of its under-parts, is the
Porto- Sant an ' var. attrita, ' of the H. polymorpha ; but it has likewise a good
deal in common with the U. argonautula, W. et B., of the Canarian archipelago.
184 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Helix testudinalis, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 161 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 191 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 25. t. 5. f. 4-^-6 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 91 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in saxosis intermedus versus oram
borealem, prsecipue in regione Pedragal dicta, sub lapidibus.
Semifossilis in Campo de Baixo parcissime occurrit.
The H. testudinalis (which measures about 8-J lines across
its broadest part) is the largest number of the Discula section
which has hitherto been brought to light in either the Madeiran
or Canarian Groups ; and it seems to be peculiar to a certain
limited district, known as the Pedragal, in the north of Porto
Santo, where it was first detected by myself and the late Rev.
W. J. Armitage, particularly on the promontory called the Ponta
de Guilherme, in 1 848, and where it was again met with by
Mr. Lowe and myself on the 21st of April 1855. In a subfossil
condition it is extremely scarce, though to be found occasionally
on the Campo de Baixo.
Apart from its large size and open spiral umbilicus, the
present species (which is slightly shining and subpellucid, and
coloured somewhat after the manner of tortoiseshell ) may be
known by its flattened lozenge-shaped outline (the nucleus how-
ever of the spire being a little' papilliform or prominent), by its
keel being rather obtuse, and by its granules and transverse
lines being (particularly on the underside, where the former are
nearly evanescent) both fine and ininute, Its peristome, which
is recurved and internally white, has the margins wide apart and
merely connected by the thinnest possible intervening lamina ;
and its basal portion is of a clouded, or unequal, yellowish-
corneous hue, with a broad castaneous band encircling the
umbilical area, and the fragments of a second (obsolete) one
towards the keel ; whilst above, it is of a pale olivaceous brown
freckled with a few irregular cinereous transverse markings, and
ornamented with a more or less evident narrow castaneous medial
fascia which is usually traceable up the spire, an arrangement
of colouring which gives the volutions, at first sight, a very ob-
soletely subcarinated appearance about their central or dorsal
line. The ultimate whorl, which is deflected a good deal in
front, is more or Jess brightly ochreous outside the aperture.
( Tectula, Lowe.)
Helix Lyelliana.
Helix Lyelliana, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 117 (1852)
Pfei/., Mon, Hel. iii, 161 (1853;
MADEIRAN GROUP. 185
Helix Lyelliana, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 191 (1854)
Bulwerii, /?., Alb., Mai. Mad. 24. t. 4. f. 19-22 (1854)
Lyelliana, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 93 (1867)
Habitat Desertam Grandem ; in promontorio alto graminoso
occidental! <Pedragal' (aut, sec. Paiva, 'Ponta dos Castan-
heiros') dicto, sat vulgaris sub lapidibus. 'Var. /3. gigas' ad
Feijaa Grande invenitur.
A rather large and sharply keeled Helix which has been
found hitherto only on the Deserta Grande, where it was first
detected by myself and the late Bev. W. J. Armitage during
January of 1849, and where, in company with Mr. Lowe, I
again met with it in June 1855. We obtained it only on the
lofty western promontory known, I believe, as the ' Pedragal '
(but cited by the Baron Paiva as the Ponta dos Castanheiros),
where it was tolerably common on the open grassy slopes
beneath stones ; but there is a larger phasis of the shell (the
' var. /3. gigas ' of this catalogue) which was collected for us at
the time in an almost inaccessible spot further to the south, on
the eastern side of the island, called the Feijaa Grande. The
Baron Paiva, after speaking of its habitat, remarks briefly ' sub-
fossilis rarior ;' but as there is no record hitherto of a subfos-
siliferous deposit on the Central Deserta, there is a rashness
about this short observation which inclines me to suspect that
the Baron was not sufficiently accurate in his data, and that he
probably mistook some examples which were old, bleached, and
decorticated for semifossilized ones.
In their general aspect and colouring the Desertan H.
Lyelliana and the Porto-Santan H. Albersii and Bulwerii have
a good deal in common ; but I think that they are nevertheless
quite as well separated inter se, by a number of small but
constant and readily appreciable characters, as could reasonably
be expected with species which belong to the same topographical
assemblage, and which are naturally therefore allied ; and I
consequently do not agree with Dr. Albers, who professed to see
nothing about them to indicate more than races of a single type.
Of course it is quite possible to take that view; but those who
adopt it are at least bound to be consistent with their own
principles, and to apply the same synthetic treatment (which
Albers certainly has not done) to a host of other forms which
are similarly circumstanced, and the non-recognition of which
would create incalculable confusion, and render all our specific
limits a matter of mere speculation and caprice. It is true
that this method of dealing with closely related forms is at
times unmistakeably forced upon us ; but I will only add, that
the case in question is by no means analogous to that of the
numerous modifications of the H. polymorpha, most of which
186 TEST ACE A ATLANTICA.
are manifestly connected by intermediate grades, and which
belong to a type which is essentially a variable one. But no
such links have as yet been discovered between the H. Lyel-
liana, Albersii and Bulwerii (the second and third of which
moreover are associated in the same actual area, and are conse-
quently subjected to the same local influences) ; and I do not
see, therefore, that we have any right to proceed upon a mere
hypothesis (such as we practically decline to apply in so many
other instances of a similar nature) and to treat them as other-
wise than specifically distinct.
The H. Lyelliana (which measures about 7^ lines across its
broadest part) is a lenticular and strongly carinated shell, the
keel being just traceable, in the form of a slightly elevated
thread-like sutural line, up the column ; its umbilicus is rather
small but spiral; and, with the exception of a few minute
granules immediately below the keel, the surface is altogether
ungranulated. In colour it is of a pale whitish-yellow beneath,
the umbilical area being encircled by a dark castaneous band,
between which and the keel there is generally a second one (the
two however being sometimes confluent, and occasionally more
or less obsolete) ; whilst above, it is of an unequal castaneous
brown, mottled with a few irregular transverse yellowish lines
and markings (with an obscure narrow castaneous medial
fascia), and gradually paler outside the aperture, where there
is often also a clear rosy or orange tinge.
We may regard the H. Lyelliana as representing in the
Deserta Grande the Porto-Santan H. Albersii. It is, however,
on the average, a trifle smaller and more solid than that species ;
its umbilicus is narrower, and more closed-up internally ; its
surface has the transverse lines much coarser, but is free from
granulations except immediately beneath the keel; the latter is
not quite so prominent and tectiform ; its aperture is a little
more deflected in front; its base is rather more convex; its
keel is traceable as a minute thread-like line up the spire ; and
its colour is altogether clearer, brighter, and more variegated,
with the darker bands more abruptly and strongly expressed.
The ' var. /3. gigas ' of this species is not only considerably
larger (measuring nearly 9 lines across its broadest part),
but it has its keel a little more acute and prominent, though
not so traceable (or thread-like) up the spire ; its aperture is
not quite so deflexed in front ; and its volutions are 9 in
number, instead of only 8.
Helix Albersii.
Helix Albersii, Lowe, Ann. Nat Hist. ix. 117 (1852)
Bulwerii, ., Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 161 (1853)
MADEIEAN GROUP. 187
Helix Albersii, Lowe, Proc. ZooL Soc. Loud. 192 (1854)
Bulwerii, 7., Alb., Mai. Mad. 24. t. 4. f. 16-18 (1854)
Bulweriana, a., Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 95 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in montibus vulgaris, una cum
H. Bulwerii saepe degens.
Although they have been generally much confused inter se,
the present Helix and the H. Bulwerii, which live in company
on the mountains of Porto Santo, are nevertheless very readily
separated when once their diagnostic features are fairly grasped ;
and as the latter (out of many hundred examples which I have
inspected) appear practically quite invariable, I scarcely see
how we can refuse to accept the conclusions arrived at by
Mr. Lowe in regarding the two as specifically distinct. At any
rate, as he has published them, and has defined their characters
with great precision, I will not undertake to suppress as a
species either the one form or the other ; and more particularly
so, since my own experience inclines me to think that they are
as easily recognizable as any two members of a topographical
assemblage can be which are closely allied.
The H. Albersii is, on the average, a little smaller and paler
in colouring than the H. Bulwerii, its under-region (which is
more convex) being of a clearer yellowish- or olivaceous-brown,
whilst the upper one is not so dark, more evidently unifasciate,
and gradually ochreous outside the aperture ; its umbilicus is a
little less cylindrical; its keel is not quite so prominent or
tectiform; its spire is not so cupola-shaped, or obtuse; its
surface is somewhat less densely granulate; and its aperture,
which is less angulate in the middle and has the upper margin
of the peristome more curved, is appreciably deflected (instead
of being quite horizontal) in front. The entire shell, too, is a
trifle more solid, or less fragile. Its distinctions from the De-
sertan H. Lyelliana have already been pointed out.
It is chiefly on the higher mountain-slopes of Porto Santo
that the H. Albersii and Bulwerii are to be met with ; and
although they are pretty general at a tolerable altitude, I have
usually observed them in greater profusion on the ascent of the
Pico do Facho than elsewhere, a district in which they were
obtained in large numbers by Mr. Lowe and myself during
April and May of 1855.
Helix Bulwerii.
Helix Bulwerii, Wood, Suppl. t. 8. f. 82 (1828)
Bulveriana, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 44. t. 5.
f. 11 (1831)
Bulweriana, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel i. 208 (1848)
188 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Helix Bulwerii, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 161 (1853)
Bulveriana, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 192 (1854)
Bulwerii, Alb., Mai. Mad. 24. t. 4. f. 12-15 (1854)
Bulweriana (pars), Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 94 (1867 )
rota, Lowe, olim, in litt.
Habitat Portum Sanctum; in montibus una cum specie
prsecedenti degens. Semifossilis parcissime collegi.
As already mentioned, the H. Bulwerii is essentially a
Porto- Santan species, occurring on the mountain-slopes of a
rather high elevation, often in company with the H. Albersii.
In a subfossil condition it is extremely scarce, though I have
taken it out of the sandy, or muddy, deposit of a sea-cliff below
the Pico dos Maparicos, to the westward of the Villa.
The H. Bulwerii (the specific title of which appears to have
fc^en unwarrantably altered by Mr. Lowe, in 1831, into ' Bul-
veriana''} is, on the average, a trifle larger than the H. Albersii;
and it is also a little less solid in substance, and of a darker
hue, it being browner, or more castaneous, both above and
below, though the whorls have their single medial band obsolete,
and the ultimate one (which is more strongly and acutely cari-
nated, and not deflected in front) is free from the pale ochreous
tinge, or dilution, behind the aperture. Its spire is more
rounded and obtuse at the apex, or dome-shaped, the volutions
being even still flatter and in a more continuous curve, an
arrangement which causes the keel to be more downwardly
inclined, and more tectiform or produced. Its entire surface
is a little more densely and evidently granulated ; its base is
somewhat flatter, with the umbilicus just perceptibly deeper
and more cylindrical ; and its aperture, which is more angulated
in the middle, has the upper margin of the peristome straighter,
or less inwardly curved.
Like the H. rotula, and indeed like so many of the Helices,
particularly in Porto Santo, the H. Bulwerii has an occasional
somewhat greenish-white, almost colourless, albino state ; but
as the same tendency to decoloration exists in so large a number
of the species, I can scarcely regard that peculiar (and, as it
were, accidental) condition as representing a distinct ' variety,'
- properly so called.
Helix tectiformis.
Helix tectiformis, Sow,, Zool. Journ. i. 57. t, 3. f. 6 (1824)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 45, t. 5.
f. 12 (1831)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 208 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 192 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 22. t. 4. f. 4-6 (154)
MADE1RAN GROUP. 189
Helix tectiformis, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 99 (1867)
var. {3. [fasciata], cingenda* Woll.
Helix tectiformis, subvar. 2., Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
192 (1854)
8., Paiva, 1. c. 100 (1 867)
var. 7. [subfasciata], suffuse^ Woll.
Helix tectiformis, subvar. 3., Loive, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
192 (1854)
j3., Alb., I.e. 23. t. 4. f. 7, 8 (1854)
B. (pars), Paiva, I. c. 100 (1867)
var. . [submajor, sublenticularis, semifossilis, extincta], Ludo-
vici, Alb.
Helix Ludovici, Alb., Mai. Bldtt. 187 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 642 (1853)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 23. t. 4. f. 9-11 (1854)
tectiformis, a., Paiva, I. c. 100 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, insulamque parvam adjacent em
' Ilheo de Baixo ' dictam ; in aridis calcareis vulgaris. Semi-
fossilis (prsesertim in statu ' 8. Ludovici ') copiosissime in-
venitur.
The H. tectiformis, which is peculiar to Porto Santo and
the adjoining islets, is one of the most singular, though at the
same time most variable, land-shells of the Madeiran archi-
pelago ; and common as it is on the low calcareous slopes and
dry sandy plains of that island, as well as on the adjacent rock
of the Ilheo de Baixo, it appears to have been even more
abundant still at a former period, it being one of the uni-
versal species in all the subfossiliferous deposits. On the Campo
de Baixo and at the Zimbral d'Areia it swarms in a subfossil
condition (particularly under a slightly larger and more lenti-
cular aspect which was described by Dr. Albers, under the title
of H 9 Ludovici, as specifically distinct), where it would seem
to take the place of the equally anomalous H. delphinula of
Madeira proper, which is almost as plentiful in the beds near
Cani^al as the H. tectiformis is in those of Porto Santo.
In its normal state the present Helix (which measures from
about 7 to 8 lines across its broadest part) is so completely
white, bleached, and colourless that it sometimes is not easy to
tell at first sight whether the examples are living or subfossi-
lized. But it is liable occasionally to be tinged with a livid-
or leaden-brown hue, the result of two (generally indistinct)
fasciae below, and one above. When these bands are tolerably
denned, the individuals represent the c var. /3. cingenda ' of this
catalogue ; but when they are suffused (the basal ones being
entirely confluent), so as to obscure the greater part of the
surface, the ' var. 7. suffusa ' is indicated.
190 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
In its obtuse, cupola^ or dome-shaped upper portion, and its
downwardly-produced tectiform keel, as well as in its ultimate
volution having no tendency to be deflected at the aperture, the
present shell has very much in common with the H. Bulwerii.
Nevertheless it is (on the average) a trifle smaller than that
species, its roof-like keel is broader and even still more ex-
pressed, its umbilicus is a little more suddenly and perpendicu-
larly scooped-out, its granulations (particularly beneath) are,
although extremely variable, very much coarser, and its colour
is altogether different, it being either of a bleached calcareous
white, or else (though much more rarely) more or less suffused
with a pale livid brown. Its granulations, although so incon-
stant as regards their size and development, have a curious ten-
dency (at any rate at the base) to be split-up, each of them,
into several compartments, by minute intersecting lines, so
that in examples where they are largely expressed and elongated,
each one has somewhat the appearance of a bundle, or fascicle,
of smaller ones placed side by side (like the closed-up club of a
Coleopterous Lamellicorn antenna).
The ' var. S.' of the present enumeration, which was enun-
ciated by Dr. Albers, under the name of H. Ludovici, as
specifically distinct, is merely a rather larger and more flattened
(or lenticular) phasis of the shell, with generally a more open
umbilicus, which appears (so far at least as I have been able to
ascertain) to have died out; for although it possesses several
small features of its own which will suffice usually to separate
it at first sight from the ordinary type, it nevertheless merges
so gradually and completely into the latter that I am satisfied
it cannot be upheld as more than a modification, or race, which
may formerly perhaps have represented the normal aspect of
the species. In its most exaggerated state (under which cir-
cumstances it measures about 9 lines across its broadest part) it
is not only somewhat larger and more depressed than the one
which is now so abundant, but it has its keel a trifle less roof-
like or pronounced, and its basal region appreciably more
inflated or convex. The volutions, too, of its somewhat less
cupola-shaped spire are not quite so decidedly flattened, having
a tendency to be a little gibbose or convex behind the suture ;
but many of the examples now before me possess these various
characters so doubtfully that it is impossible to decide whether
they pertain to the ' 8. Ludovici ' or not.
( Craspedaria, Lowe.)
Helix delphinula,
' Delphinula sulcata, Lam. ? ' Bowdich, Exc. in Mad. 1 40.
f. 33. a, b. (1825)
MADEIRAN GROUP. 191
Helix Delphinula, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 64
[note] (1831)
Id., Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 193 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 80. t. 17. f. 1, 2
(1854)
Pawa, Mon. Moll. Mad. 66 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, semifossilis ; in arenis calcareis juxta
Canipal vulgaris, hodie recens hactenus baud observata.
Of all the subfossil Helices of tbe archipelago, the some-
what large and singular H. delphinula (which measures from
about 9 to 1 1 lines across its broadest part, and which is pecu-
liar to the calcareous deposits near Canical) is by far the most
remarkable one which has not yet been discovered in a recent
condition. It is not unlikely however that more careful re-
searches in some of the less-known ravines towards the north-
east of the island may still establish it as a member of the
present fauna, just as the equally wonderful //. delphinuloides,
which had escaped the united observations of so many natu-
ralists through more than half a century, was detected so lately
as in 1860, by Mr. Lowe, at the edges of the new Levada which
has opened-out a previously unexplored district in the Bibeira
do Fayal. That it must have been once extremely common is
evident from the great abundance in which it now exists in the
sandy, subfossiliferous beds near Canipal, where it may be
said, perhaps, to take the place in Madeira proper of the
nevertheless very dissimilar (though in some respects analo-
gous) H. tectiformis of Porto Santo.
From only subfossil specimens it is not easy to say what the
exact colour of the H. delphinula may have been when in a
living state; but judging from the analogy of the H. tecti-
formis, as well as of the H. delphinuloides and of the various
other members of the section Coronaria, we may be well-nigh
certain that it was either a calcareous-white or nearly so. But,
apart from all considerations of hue, the H. delphinula (which
has something in common with the H. turcica, Chemn., from
Morocco) may be known by its somewhat lenticular outline,
but nevertheless cu>oa-shaped, extremely obtuse spire ; by its
horizontally-expanded, more or less foliaceous, tectiform keel
(which is traceable up the majority of the whorls, overlapping
the suture like a narrow plate); and by its enormous but abruptly
scooped-out umbilicus, which is not only spirally visible to the
extreme apex, but has its sides coarsely sculptured with con-
centric spiral costse (decussated by irregular, undulating, lighter
transverse ones) similar to those which roughen the entire
inferior surface (except the lamina-like keel) of the basal volu-
192 TESTACEA ATLANT1CA.
tion. Its aperture, which is suddenly and greatly deflected, is
most peculiar, being externally angulated at the keel, and
produced into a sharp beak-shaped process, whilst the peristome
is much developed and continuous, being considerably raised
above (or, rather, as it were, hung down below) the ultimate
whorl, with the basal margin conspicuously reflexed. The
sculpture of the upper portion of the shell is very much finer
and lighter; but there are evident traces (in the specimens
which are better preserved) of minute spiral ridges, crossed by
exceedingly indistinct, irregular, and still finer transverse lines,
though other examples have a more coarse and malleated ap-
pearance.
The 'var. B. planospira' is merely a little larger and
flatter than the ordinary type (the spire being less elevated),
with the umbilicus somewhat more gradually (or less perpen-
dicularly) scooped-out, and with the sculpture on the upper
side rather finer.
( Coronaria, Lowe.)
Helix delphinuloides.
Helix delphinuloides, Lowe, Ann. Nat. ffist. vi. 44. pi. 3.
f. 1-3 (I860)
Pf&ff; Mai. Bldtt. xi. 54. t. 2.
f. 14-16 (1864)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 67. t. 1.
f. 1 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in Eibeira do Fayal, ad alt. circa 4000'
s.m., ad terram inter gramina et herbas latitans, a Eevdo. E. T.
Lowe, A.D. 1860, copiose reperta.
This is not only one of the most anomalous of the Madeiran
Helices, but by far the most remarkable one which has been
brought to light of late years, it having been discovered, by
Mr. Lowe, so recently as in 1860. It was at an elevation of
about 4000 feet, in the Eibeira do Fayal, that Mr. Lowe met
with it, and moreover in considerable abundance, ' on the sur-
face of the somewhat moist, loose, friable, black vegetable
mould, amongst tufts of grasses, ferns, &c., on a steep, dry,
sunny bank clothed with shrubs of Vaccinium and Heath, and
mixed with a few scattered trees of Laurus, at the foot of per-
pendicular crags, along the new Levada called the Levada da
Fajaa dos Vinhaticos.'
The H. delphinuloides (which measures about 8 lines across
its broadest part) is almost exactly intermediate between Mr.
Lowe's sections Craspedaria and Coronaria, so that it might
with nearly equal propriety be assigned to either of them ; yet
although its very much larger size than any of the members
MADE1RAN GROUP. K3
hitherto detected of the latter -, in combination with its enormous
umbilicus, might seem to render it desirable to refer it to the
former, I nevertheless believe that its true affinities are with the
Coronaria group. At the same time it has very much in com-
mon, also, with the remarkable H. delphinula (the onl} r expo-
nent hitherto detected of the section Craspedaria) ; and it is
singular that while that species abounds in a subfossil condition
near Canical, and has not yet been discovered anywhere alive,
there are, on the other hand, no traces whatever of the H. del-
phinuloides occurring subfossilized.
The present extraordinary shell is rather thin and fragile in
substance, extremely roughened, perfectly opake, and of a
uniform dull pale-brownish flesh-colour varying into a chalky
white. It is flattened, rounded, and planorbiforrn, with its
spire greatly depressed, its umbilicus excessively wide and open
(being visible spirally to the very apex), with its aperture much
deflected, and with its peristome acute, broadly developed, con-
tinuous, circular, elevated, and considerably recurved ; and
although there is a raised dorsal ridge, which is very conspi-
cuous on the basal volution, it has no angular keel (properly so
called).
The sculpture of this curious Helix is very complicated, and
not easily to be described : but the upper edge of each whorl is
roughened with a series of short, equidistant, transverse ribs,
radiating from the suture and extending about a third of the
distance across : beneath which there are a few spiral costae
(crossed, or cancellated, by a few finer, remote transverse ones
which are a prolongation of the abbreviated basal ribs), which
however do not usually fill-up the entire remaining space, but
which leave the posterior zone of each volution more or less free
and concave. On the ultimate whorl these spiral costas, above
the dorsal line, are for the most part only about two in number,
the hinder one being the more prominent and constituting a
kind of medial thread-like keel ; whilst beneath, the spiral ribs
are not only more numerous, but become narrower and more
elevated as they approach the umbilicus, the sides of which
they completely crowd, as in the H. delphinula. Like the
upper series, these lower spiral ridges are crossed, or decussated,
by smaller radiating transverse ones ; and, in addition to all
this, there are more or less evident indications on the upper
side (at any rate on the basal whorl) of some very oblique and
irregular waved lines or subconfluent impressions.
Helix coronata,
Helix coronata, Desh., in Per. Hist. i. 71. t. 69. k. f. 1-4.
juliformis, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
194 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Helix coronata, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iii. 146 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 194 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 35. t. 8. f. 31-34 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 65 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, et (sec. Paiva) ins. parvam adja-
centem 'Ilheo de Cima;' recens a meipso in cacumine extreme
orientali 'Pico de Baixo' dicto, A.D. 1848, detecta. Semifossilis
ubique (in Portu Sancto) copiosissime reperitur.
Although not differing much from them in breadth, the
H. coronata (which measures scarcely 3 lines across its widest
part) is the smallest of the six members of the section Coro-
naria which have hitherto been detected ; and although it is
a most abundant species in nearly every subfossiliferous deposit
of Porto Santo (to which island, and the Ilheo de Cima, it is
peculiar), it was not until 1848 that it was ascertained to
belong to the present fauna, it having been found by myself,
during that year, in a living state, on the north-east side of the
extreme summit of the eastern- peak (opposite to the Ilheo de
Cima) known as the Pico de Baixo. I obtained it, in that
particular spot, in profusion, beneath slabs of stone and at a
considerable depth underground, the specimens adhering to-
gether in clusters ; and the Baron Paiva states that examples
were sent to him in 1863, as having come from the Ilheo de
Cima, which, topographically considered, is a sufficiently pro-
bable habitat. 1
The H. coronata is a rounded, flattened, sublenticular little
shell, solid in substance, but nevertheless (when in a living
state) rather shining (which is peculiar for the present section)
aid subhyaline', it is also strongly though sparingly sculptured
(or embossed), and either of a very pale whitish horny-brown or
else of an undiluted clear white. Its umbilicus is rather large
and spiral ; its aperture (which is constricted behind, and very
suddenly deflexed) is small, sinuate, distorted, and subtrian-
gular, the base of the triangle, or outer lip, being armed
internally with a thick, powerful, obtuse tooth ; and its peri-
stome is acute and continuous, and a good deal developed.
1 Although I have admitted the Ilheo de Cima, on the authority of the
Baron Paiva, as a locality for this species, I really cannot, without further
and better evidence, cite its occurrence, as he has done, in the subfossiliferous
deposits of Madeira proper, for no other naturalist has reported it beyond
the limits of Porto Santo, and the extreme inaccuracy as regards habitat of
the Baron's material, which was almost invariably brought to him by paid
collectors sent out from Funchal, and which was sometimes (as I have proved
to a demonstration) indiscriminately mixed up afterwards even by himself,
renders it more than likely that some of his Porto- Santan examples had be-
come accidentally transposed (as was so often the case in other instances)
into his Madeiran boxes. At any rate I feel that it is better to omit it from
the Madeiran list than run the risk of perpetuating what might possibly be,
and probably is, a serious topographical blunder.
MADE1RAN GROUP. 195
The sculpture of the H. coronata, although sufficiently ela-
borate, is somewhat less complex than that of either the //. del-
phinuloides or of the following four species. The keel, however,
is perhaps more pronounced than in any of them, consisting
as it does, of a single, prominent, compressed, thread-like line,
simple (or undentate) ; but there is a series of large, greatly
raised, subconfluent nodules (or, in reality, oblique, centrally-
elevated ribs), forming a kind of chain, in the middle of each
volution on the upper side, which gradually becomes evanes-
cent as it approaches the nucleus, occasioning the anterior
and posterior zones of each whorl to be as it were sunk (along
with the suture) into a groove, aud causing the keel of the
ultimate volution to be more shaped-out and prominent than it
would otherwise have been. 1 These abbreviated, tubercle-
shaped ribs are continued on the under side (i.e. beneath the
keel), in the form of waved or undulating concentric ridges, up
to the umbilicus, and even within it ; and between them very
minute spiral superficial lines (or line-like markings) can just
be traced beneath a high magnifying power, as though to
proclaim its affinity with the other, immediately allied forms.
Helix coronula.
Helix coronula, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Eel. iii. 146 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool Soc. Lond. 194 (1854)
., Alb., Mai. Mad. 81. t. 17. f. 5-7 (1854)
(pars), Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 63 (1867)
Habitat Desertam Australem, semifossilis ; recens hactenus
haud inventa.
The H. coronula was, I believe, first detected by Mr.
Leacock, in a subfossil condition, on the extreme summit of the
Southern Deserta (or Bugio), a locality in which it was sub-
sequently met with, in abundance, by Mr. Lowe and myself, in
June of 1855 ; and it has since been obtained from the same
spot by the Baron Paiva. It is wrongly said by the 'latter to
have been found by Senhor J. M. Moniz, in a recent state, on
the Deserta Grande, the species which was discovered by
Moniz being in reality altogether distinct. 2
1 The somewliat angular termination behind of this central chain-like pro-
jection of the lower whorls, which (by creating a depression, or groove, be-
neath it) causes the true keel to be strongly shaped-out, was mistaken by
Mr. Lowe (both in the present species and in the //. coronula') for a second or
' upper ' keel ; but a very slight examination will shew that it has, in reality,
nothing to do with the keel (properly so called) at all.
2 Apart from his mistake concerning the H. Grabhami (pointed out below),
the Baron Paiva has strangely mixed up not only the characters but also thd
o 2
196 TESTACEA ATLANT1CA.
The H. coronula (which is a little larger than the coronata,
Desh., measuring fully 3 lines, or a trifle more, across its
broadest part) is a round, depressed, and somewhat lozenge-
shaped shell, the anterior half of each volution, although sculp-
tured with coarse abbreviated radiating ribs, being horizontally
flattened. This horizontality of the anterior zone of each whorl
causes the line of transverse radiating ribs (which are abruptly
terminated behind) to shape out a kind of medial dentate keel
which is traceable up the spire, and which is very prominent on
the basal volution. Nevertheless it is not the true keel, which
latter is represented by a string-like, irregularly-dentate dorsal
line beloiv this great central ridge-like prominence, and which
is visible well-nigh up to the nucleus, in the shape of a jagged
or lacerated narrow lamella almost overlapping the suture. The
umbilicus of the H. coronula is wide, open, and spiral ; and
the entire basal region (including the umbilical wall) is most
beautifully and sharply sculptured with large spiral costse,
which are crossed, or decussated, by less elevated transverse
radiating ones. The aperture (which is constricted behind) is
considerably larger and less triangular than that of the Porto-
Santan H. coronata, and (as in the H. Grabhami, Moniziana,
and tiarella) destitute of an internal tooth.
Helix Grabhami, n. sp.
T. fulvo-lactea, latissime et perspective umbilicata, sub-
depresso-trochiformis, solidula, opaca, bicarinata, subtus spira-
liter costata et obsoletius transversim decussata ; spira subcon-
vexa ; anfractibus 7-7-J, antice costis magnis obtusissimis trans-
versis remotis radiantibus subalbidis, a sutura usque ad (aut
ultra) medium continuatis et ibidem abrupte terminatis (cari-
nam superiorem undulatam exstantem efficientibus), elegant-
issime instructis, carina propria distincta, sed vix dentata aut
lacerata, fere ad nucleum (ad suturam applicata) conspicua ;
umbilico magno, aperto, pervio, profundo ; apertura angulatim
habitats ot this Helix and his nearly allied one taken (in a living condition)
in the east of Madeira proper, and which he described ultimately under the
name of H. Moniziana. This latter was regarded by Mr. Lowe (evidently
without much consideration) as the recent state of the South- Desertan sub-
fossil H. coronula, and as such it was published by him in 1862 ; and it is
evident that the Baron wrote his diagnosis of the caronula (or had it written
for him) on the strength of this conclusion of Mr. Lowe, for his ' var. a.
minor ... ad excelsos montes septentrionales insulse Maderag, rarissima, ad
herbarum radices fere sepulta,' although wrong in its diagnostic details, is
only explicable on that hypothesis. Finding afterwards however that the
Madeiran shell was not really conspecific with the Desertan one, he seems to
have described it under the title of H. Moniziana, but at the same time to
have omitted to strike out of his original diagnosis the Madeiran habitat.
Thus a degree of confusion has been created unnecessarily which is altogether
quite unpardonable.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 197
subrotundata, postice constricta, peristomate relevato, soluto,
continue, expanse, acuto. Diam. maj. 4 ; alt. 2 tin.
Helix coronula (pars), Paiva [nee Lowe], Mon. Moll. Mad.
63(1863).
Habitat Desertam Grrandem ; ad rupes inter lichenes, ver-^
BUS borealem insulae, a cl. J. M. Moniz reperta. Species ele-
gantissima, distincta, et in honorem amici M. Grrabham, M.D.,
in ins. Maderae longe lateque Celebris, ob gratias mihi oblatas,
citata.
This new and very interesting exponent of the Coronaria-
section is due to the researches of Senhor J. M. Moniz, who
detected many examples of it (amongst lichen growing upon
the rocks) towards the northern end of the Deserta Grande ;
and it was wrongly cited by the Baron Paiva as identical with
the subfossil H. coronula, Lowe, of the Southern Deserta (or
Bugio). So long indeed as the other members of this curious
assemblage are to be regarded as specifically distinct from each
other (and they have, all, an abundance of characters by which
they may easily be recognized), it would be the height of
inconsistency to single out any one of them as a local phasis or
variety, whilst acknowledging the claims of the rest to be
treated as species ; and, in point of fact, if the H. Grabhami is
to be looked upon as a modification of some cognate form,
there is quite as much reason for assigning it to the H. tiarella
of Madeira proper as there is to the South-Desertan H. GOTO-
nula, for, both in outline and sculpture, it is as nearly as
possible midway between the two. I am satisfied therefore
that they must, all of them, be either accepted as species, or
else as insular modifications of a single plastic type ; and I
imagine that there are few monographers, if indeed any, who
would be prepared to endorse the latter somewhat wild (and, as
it seems to me, utterly untenable) hypothesis.
By the Baron Paiva a vast amount of unnecessary confusion
has been created by the rash manner in which he has mixed up
the features and habitats of these immediately-allied Helices ;
for not only has he registered the one which we are now dis-
cussing as coincident with the (apparently extinct) H. coronula
of the Southern Deserta, but he seems also to have recorded
originally the species from the south-east of Madeira proper
which he subsequently described under the title of H. Moni-
ziana as a small variety of the coronula (from which however
it is totally distinct). But, bad as it is, this unfortunately is
not all ; for, having treated it as such in his original manu-
script, he nevertheless omitted to strike it out as a variety of
the coronula after that he had made up his mind that it was a
198 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
separate species and had enunciated it accordingly ! The
consequence of which is, that the H. Moniziana figures in his
monograph both as a distinct species and as a variety of the
H. coronula!
As regards the shell, however, from the Great Deserta, with
which alone we are now concerned, I may add that it is, on the
average, larger than the subfossil H. coronula of the southern
island (indeed it is the largest, with the exception of the com-
paratively gigantic H. delphinuloides, of the six representatives
of the Corona,ria-group which have hitherto been brought to
light), with its spire very much more conical (or less flattened),
and its umbilicus even wider still (or more open). Moreover it
has from 7 to 7^ whorls (instead of only from 5 to 6) ; the
anterior zone of each volution (which is embossed by the
coarse, broad, abbreviated, radiating, transverse, whitish ribs) is
more tilted, as in the H. tiarella, or very much less horizontal ;
and its true keel (below the extra, medial one, formed by the
abrupt termination of the wide ridge-like prominences), which
is traceable up the spire and well-nigh overlaps the suture, is
conspicuously less lacerated or dentate.
Feeling confident that it cannot properly be assigned to the
subfossilized H. coronula of the Bugio, any more than it can to
the H. tiarella or the H. Moniziana (both of which are recent,
and occur in Madeira proper), I have had much pleasure in
dedicating the Great-Desertan shell to my friend Dr. Grabham
of Funchal, whose well-known attainments in so many
branches of physical science have rendered his name a house-
hold word amongst the numerous class of visitors who have
formed, at intervals, a temporary home, during the past fifteen
or sixteen years, in the central island of the Group.
Helix Moniziana.
Helix coronula [recens], Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. (August)
(1862)
a. minor, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 64
(1867)
Moniziana, Id., L c. 64. t. 2. f, 1 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; prope Canipo et Gaula, ad orientem
insulse, A.D. 1862, parcissime detecta.
This is a species which was found in the vicinity of Gaula
and Canipo, in the south-east of Madeira proper, by a collector
who was employed by the Baron Paiva, in 1862, and which was
referred to by Mr. Lowe, in the ' Ann. of Nat. Hist.' for August
of that same year, as a recent state of the Southern-Desertan
(subfossilized) H. coromda. In this, however, Mr, Lowe was
MADEIRAN GROUP. ]99
manifestly mistaken ; for a single glance at the two species,
placed side by side, will shew an abundance of characters by
which they may be at once separated from each other, for, in
point of fact, this Canico shell is about midway between the
South-Desert an H. coronula and the (very dissimilar) H. tiar-
ella of Madeira proper. Yet, unless I am much mistaken, the
Baron Paiva (as mentioned in the preceding foot-note) had his
diagnosis of the South-Desertan shell drawn out (probably after
Mr. Lowe's report in 1862), with the addition of a 'var. a.
minor ' for a Madeiran. form of it (which was clearly intended,
although inaccurate as to its details, for this particular one from
the neighbourhood of Canico and Graula) ; but, finding after-
ivards that the latter was specifically distinct, he enunciated it
(in 1867) as the ' H. MonizianaJ unfortunately, however,
omitting (as it seems to me) to erase the ' var. a.' from the
other and previous description ! But that this ' var. a. minor '
of his H. coronula is one and the same thing with his after-
defined H. Moniziana is I think well-nigh certain ; and indeed
his mere habitats would tend, even of themselves, to imply as
much, the former one being ' ad excelsos montes septentrio-
nales insulse Maderce, rarissima, ad herbarum radices fere
sepulta ; ' whilst the latter is * rara sub lapidum acervis, in solo
humido fere sepulta prope vicos insulae Maderce Cameo et
Gaula.' !
As just stated, the H. Moniziana is about midway between
the South-Desertan H. coronula and the Madeiran H. tiarella,
though at the same time perfectly distinct from both of them ;
in which respect it is analogous to the 6rrea-Desertan H. Grab-
hami, which is equally intermediate between those two species,
and yet altogether distinct from the Moniziana. In its com-
paratively wide and open umbilicus, as well as in the peculiar
character of its (nevertheless much more feebly indicated) basal
sculpture, it partakes of the former (i.e., of the coronula);
whilst in the shape and details of its upper portion (though the
spire is much less elevated, and the sculpture is much less coarse,
than that of the H. tiarella) it has more in common with the
latter. It is however a rather thinner shell than either of them ;
and its surface is of a uniform, dull, opake, griseous-white,
instead of being slightly variegated as in the H. tiarella.
1 As though to make matters even still more complicated, the Baron Paiva,
after speaking of his H, Moniziana (which was found by the collector whom
he sent out to work for him), adds ' Primus anno 1864 inveni ; ' yet, by his
own acknowledgement on the preceding page, he had already transmitted it
to Mr. Lowe in 1862 ! So that I am compelled to arrive at the conclusion
that his statements, diagnoses, and habitats are so untrustworthy and confused
that little reliance can be placed upon them, and that we must consequently
proceed on independent evidence (which, fortunately, in this instance,
happens to be accessible).
200 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
The H. Moniziana, has the anterior zone of its whorls less
horizontal than in the H. coronula, but somewhat less oblique
(or tilted) than in the tiarella ; and the abbreviated ribs, which
radiate from the suture over that anterior zone (particularly on
the ultimate volution, for on the penultimate one they are
nearly obsolete), are much less elevated than in the former, and
a little less so than in the latter. The string-like keel is tole-
rably raised, and irregularly subdentate ; and as there are no
spiral lines immediately beneath it, it is more isolated, and
therefore more conspicuous (even whilst less prominent) than in
the H. coronula.
Helix tiarella.
Helix tiarella, W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. Syn. 316
(1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 62. t. 1. f. 26-28
(1831)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. i. 191 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 194 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 81. t. 17. f. 3, 4 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 62 (1867)
Mouse., Faun. Mai. des Can. 58 (1872)
Habitat Maderam ; ad rupes prseruptas maritimas, prsecipue
borealem versus insulae, hinc inde degens. Semifossilis prope
Canipal copiosissime occurrit.
The H. tiarella, which seems to be peculiar to Madeira proper,
was until 1855 supposed to be extinct, it being extremely
abundant, in a subfossilized state, in the calcareous beds near
Canipal ; but during July of that year it was first detected in a
recent condition by myself, and afterwards by Mr. Lowe, along
the sea-cliff road between the mouth of the Eibeira de Janella
and Porto Moniz, where we succeeded ultimately in obtaining
about forty examples. It would appear however to be pretty
general along the whole line of the northern coast ; for later on in
the summer we again met with it between Seissal and Sao
Vicente, as well as at the Passa d'Areia (to the eastward of the
Sao Vicente ravine), where we secured at least 1 20 specimens,
not only in the loose rubble at the sides of the road (where many
of them were dead), but also sticking (alive) on to the bare rocks,
and, in a similar situation, at the Entrorza Pass, between
Ponta Delgada and Sta. Anna. 1
1 This eminently Madeiran shell was described originally by Webb as
Canarian, on the strength of some specimens which had been obtained, along
with others of the H. tceniata (an equally distinctive Madeiran form), by
M. Terver, of Lyons, from a bag of dried Orchil, the precise origin of which
was confessedly unknown ! But there can be no doubt whatever that it was from
Madeira, and not the Canaries, that the consignment of Poccella had been
MADEIRAN GROUP. 201
In outline the H. tiarella differs from all the other
members of the Coronaria and Craspedaria sections in the
fact of the cupola-shaped, apically-obtuse spire being very much
'more raised ; and it is also less decidedly colourless than any of
them, for, although often (when in even a living state) scarcely
more than of a dull chalky-white, it has far more frequently a
more or less brownish tinge, the ribs and other prominences being
paler, which gives the entire surface a very beautiful and em-
bossed appearance. The short radiating ribs on the anterior
zone of its ultimate and penultimate volutions are exceedingly
conspicuous, whilst the posterior zone has the spiral costse ex-
tremely coarse, broken-up, irregular, subconfluent, and frag-
mentary, a peculiarity of sculpture which obtains equally on
the basal portion of the shell, where there are also scarcely any
traces (except at the entrance of the actual umbilicus) of the
radiating transverse lines which are more or less evident in the
allied species. Its umbilicus, too, is almost (in part) overhung
by the largely expanded edge of the circular and much raised
peristome, which is not the case in any of the preceding mem-
bers of the group.
( Lemnistiay Lowe.)
Helix Michaudi.
Helix Michaudi, Desk., in Encycl. Meth. ii. 263 (1830)
bicolor, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 58. t. 6.
f. 22 (1831)
Michaudi, Pfeiff., Man. Hel. i. 157 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 170 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 21. t. 2. f. 36-38 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 69 (1867)
sent, and that the species has no kind of claim to be regarded as even extra-
Madeiran. Under these circumstances it is much to be regretted (as indeed
I have already mentioned at p. 131 of this volume) that Mousson should have
admitted it, as well as the H. tceniata, into his late monograph of the Cana-
rian Land-Mollusca ; for to perpetuate, however unintentionally, a glaring
geographical error (even though qualified by remarks as to the uncertainty of
the habitat) seems to me to be scarcely counterbalanced by the adding of two
additional species to augment a local list. My own belief is, that the ff.
tiarella does not occur beyond the limits of the central island even in the
Madeiran archipelago ; and I look therefore with unbounded suspicion on the
Baron Paiva's brief remark 'rarissima ad Zimbral d'Areia in Portosancto
insula,' because no other naturalist has yet observed it in the Porto-Santan
deposits, and the repeated visits of Mr. Lowe and myself (extending to four
and five weeks at a time) to that island, during which the examination of the
calcareous beds was one of our primary objects, never revealed so much as a
vestige of this species which is so abundant in Madeira proper ; whilst, at the
same time, the extreme looseness, as regards habitat, of the Baron's material
(which was seldom, if ever, collected by himself) I have had occasion more
than once to touch upon.
202 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in montibus excelsioribus, vel
inter lichenes in rupium fissuris vel plantis adhaerens, vulgaris.
This brightly fasciated and elegant little Helix appears to
be peculiar to Porto Santo, 1 where it is common on most of the
higher peaks (particularly towards their summits), occurring
principally among lichen, or adhering to the stems of plants,
within the fissures, and upon the ledges, of the rocks. In such
situations it has been met with abundantly, by Mr. Lowe,
myself, and others, on the Pico do Facho, the Pico do Castello,
the Pico Juliana, the Pico Branco, the Pico d'Anna Ferreira, &c. ;
from several of which it has subsequently been received by the
Baron Paiva.
The H. Michaudi is a solid and rather globosely-conical, or
sub-trochiform, little species ; and its surface (which is shining,
and somewhat distinctly striated with the irregular, oblique,
transverse lines of growth) is more or less white, but beautifully
ornamented with dark purplish-brown bands or fasciae, two of
which are on the (slightly flattened) underside of the shell, and
become gradually lost sight of within the aperture, whilst a third
one is placed above the (obtuse and ill-defined) keel, running
along the centre of the volutions, uninterruptedly, to nearly the
apex. Its perforation is extremely minute, and almost entirely
concealed by the reflexed columellary edge of the peristome.
Helix calva.
Helix calva, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 49. t. 5. f. 26
(1831)
Pfeif., Mon. Ed. i. 289 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 183 (1854)v
Alb., Mai. Mad. 42. t. 11. f. 1-4 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 37 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; sub lapidibus in graminosis montosis
excelsioribus degens. Semifossilis ad Caniyal copiose reperitur.
The situation of the present Helix, in a natural arrangement,
is rather difficult to point out. In some respects it has a little
in common with the bifrons, Lowe,and the stephanophora,Desh. ;
yet its minute and almost concealed umbilicus, in conjunction
with its margined peristome, will of themselves remove it from
the section Janulus, and indeed, as it seems to me, from the
whole of the Patulas. By Mr. Lowe it was placed alongside the
H. obserata, in his section Rimula, but I scarcely think that
even that position is a more suitable one ; and on the whole I
am inclined to the Leminiscias as not altogether incapable o
1 The If. Michaudi is stated by Deshayes to occur in Teneriffe ; but that i s
clearly an error.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 203
receiving it, and more especially so since the recently discov-
ered H. galeata,, which is but just separable from the calva,
has a very marked analogy, in its general proportions and obtuse
helmet-shaped (or somewhat cupola-like) outline, with the Cana-
rian H. lemniscata ; whilst the H. calva itself has some remote
points of contact, both in habits and in structure, with the
H. Michaudi, Desh., and perhaps with even (though this is
more doubtful) the H. monilifera, W. et B. Still, the well-
nigh unornamented surface and thicker substance, added to the
minute spiral lines, of both the calva and galeata, isolate them,
to a certain extent, from -these immediate forms.
Apart from its spiral lines above mentioned (which, however,
although of considerable significance, are nevertheless so minute
as to be appreciable only beneath a high magnifying power), and
its small and nearly concealed umbilicus, the H. calva may be
further known by its almost uniform pale-brown, or yellowish-
corneous, hue (the two fasciae, although occasionally conspicuous
on the basal whorl, being for the most part obsolete) ; and by its
upper region being nearly opake and sculptured with coarse and
irregular, but oblique and curved, costse, whilst beneath it is more
shining and less roughened.
The H. calva is confined exclusively to Madeira proper, where
it is locally abundant, for the most part beneath stones on the
grassy mountain slopes of a high elevation, ascending from about
2,500 feet above the sea to the summits of the peaks. It is also
extremely common in a subfossil state at Canical (in company
with various Helices and Pupce), having doubtless been washed
down to that comparatively low region, at some remote period,
from the neighbouring heights, under conditions, and influences,
of the surrounding country, which were totally different from
those which now obtain.
Helix galeata.
Helix calva, 7. galeata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. (1862)
galeata, Pfeiff., Mai. Bldtt., March. (1864)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 37. t. 1. f. 2 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; a Baron e Castello de Paiva in Bibeira
do Fayal, prsecipue ad .radices Pteridis aquilince adhserens,
A.D. 1861, sat copiose reperta.
The H. galeata was detected by the Baron Paiva in Madeira
proper, in 1861 ; and Mr. Lowe, in his notice of it in the ' Ann.
of Nat. Hist.' for the following year, arrived at the conclusion
that it is only an extremely developed and obtusely-conical, or
beehive-shaped, modification of the H. calva, -imagining that
it might be connected, or nearly so, with the type, by certain
204 TESTACEA ATLANT1CA.
subfossil exponents of the species which are abundant at Cani9al.
I must confess, however, that I have not myself been able to do
this ; nor can I see why the numerous and well-marked characters
which it possesses should not merit for it a true specific claim,
for they appear to me to be far more important than at any rate a
vast number which Mr. Lowe had himself for many years recog-
nized, as sufficient for a similar purpose, in various other groups
of the Helicidce. And I may likewise add, that it is the opinion
of Dr. Pfeiffer that the species is distinct.
Compared with the H. calva, the galeata is very much more
elevated, or obtusely conical, the spire (which is composed of
about 9 volutions, instead of only from 6-J- to 7) being raised
into a sort of dome- or cupola-shaped mass ; its under portion is
appreciably brighter, or more polished ; its whorls (in addition
to being more numerous and rather less convex) have the basal
one longer and more rounded or swollen, as well as more deflexed
at the aperture ; and its peristome is altogether a little more
recurved and thickened.
The H. galeata was taken abundantly in the Eibeira do
Fayal, during the spring of 1861, by a man who was employed
by the Baron Paiva to collect for him in that remote and little-
known ravine. They were found along the edge of the new
* Levada da Fajaa dos Vinhaticos,' near to the place where
Mr. Lowe had previously discovered the rare and most singular
H. delphinuloides.
Genus 8. BTJLIMUS, Scopoli.
( Cochlicella, Risso.)
Bulimus ventricosus.
Bulimus ventricosus, Drap., Tabl. de Moll. 68 (1801)
Id., Hist. Nat. 78. t. 4. f. 31-33 (1805)
Helix ventrosa, Fer. 9 Prodr. 377. t. 52 (1807)
Bulimus ventrosus, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 62
(1831)
Helix acuta, W. et B., Ann. des Sc.Nat. 28. Syn. 317 (1833)
Bulimus ventrosus, Alb., Mai. Mad., 54. t. 14. f. 18, 19
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 103 (1867)
Helix ventricosa, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 46 ^1872)
Bulimus ventricosus, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 222 (1876)
Habitat Maderam, Portum Sanctum, et (sec. B. de Paiva)
etiam Desertam Australem ; hinc inde sub lapidibus, prsecipue
ad muros necnon in cultis.
The B. ventricosus of southern Europe and northern Africa,
MADEIRAN GROUP. 205
and which has established itself in the Azorean, Canarian, and
Cape Verde Groups, is common both in Madeira and Porto
Santo, principally at a low elevation, and within the cultivated
districts. It often congregates in dry places about old walls,
and beneath stones amongst the plants of Opuntia Tuna,
or 6 Prickly Pear.' It is stated by the Baron Paiva to occur
also on the Southern Deserta, or Bugio ; and although it is far
from unlikely that this may be the case, yet, since the Baron's
material was seldom obtained by himself, but was brought to
him by paid collectors (upon whom it was often difficult to de-
pend), I feel that that particular habitat must be accepted with
some degree of caution.
In Madeira the B. ventricosus is more particularly plentiful
in certain spots around Funchal, and here and there on the Sao
Louren90 promontory ; and in Porto Santo it was met with by
Mr. Lowe and myself near the Villa (especially in the Ribeira
de Cochim), as well as (in 1855) on the road to Camaxa, and
about an old wall (near the Zimbral d'Areia) at the southern
base of the Pico de Concelho. 1
1 I may just call attention in this particular place to an elongate,
narrow, conical, white JBwlimus (of the Subulina section), three examples of
which were met with (dead) many years ago, by the late Mr. Bewicke, ' in an
old bone,' in the garden of 'the Deanery,' near Funchal. There can be no
doubt that the species is not a native of the Madeiran archipelago, and I
think it is almost equally certain that it has not become even naturalized ;
nevertheless since it may possibly be found to have established itself in some
of the cultivated grounds in the hotter parts of the town, perhaps it ought
not to be passed over altogether in this catalogue, even though I have not
sufficient evidence to permit me to acknowledge it as an actual member of the
fauna. When examining these specimens, two years ago, with the aid of
Pfeiffer's Monograph, I came to the conclusion that (even if not absolutely
identical with it) they were more nearly related to the SulniMna striatella,
Rang (a species which occurs in Princes Island, and on various points of the
west coast of Africa) than to anything else ; and it is therefore satisfactory
that Mr. Watson, to whom I have lately entrusted one of them for comparison
with the types in the British Museum, has arrived, quite independently, at
precisely the same result, adding Your specimen in form and sculpture
exactly resembles an unnamed one, in the British Museum, which appears to
be a variety of the striatella, Rang.' And Mr. Watson further remarks (which
is important, as tending to throw some light upon the occurrence of this shell
at Madeira) ' Judging from memory, it is precisely like a specimen which was
found, a few years ago, in Funchal, by Senhor J. M. Moniz, amongst some
plants which had been sent to him from the island of St. Thomas in the
Gulph of Guinea ; and which he gave to me.' Mr. Watson, however, very
wisely, was careful not to turn it loose ; and it consequently * died, on the
passage to England.' But this trivial circumstance, although not accounting
for Mr. Bewicke 's examples, may perhaps afford some possible explanation of
tlio fact, if it should be ascertained hereafter that the Subulina striatella has
succeeded in establishing itself at Madeira.
Although its narrow, elongate-conical outline, and its white and densely,
sharpty, regularly costate-striated surface, in conjunction with its numerous
and convex volutions (the ultimate one of which is furnished with an obscure
transverse line or keel immediately above its rather small aperture), will
sufficiently distinguish the S. striatella, should it a^ain occur, I will never-
206 TEST ACE A ATLANTICA.
Genus 9. STENOGYRA, Shuttl.
Stenogyra decollata.
Helix decollata, Linn., Syst. Nat. (ed. 10) 773 (1758)
Bulimus decollatus, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. 8. Trans, iv. 62
(1831)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 199 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 54. t. 14. f. 16-17
(1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 196
(1860)
Paiva, M on. Moll. Mad. 102 (1867)
Stenogyra decollata, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 120
(1872)
Bulimus decollatus, Morel., Journ. de Conch, xiii. 238
(1873)
Watson, Ibid. 222 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; sub lapidibus in aridis apricis prope
Funchal hfnc inde lecta. Forsan e Lusitania olim translata.
The widely spread 8. decollata, which is well-nigh universal
in Mediterranean latitudes, and which occurs also in the Azorean,
Canarian, and Cape-Verde archipelagos, has established itself in
a few spots of a rather low altitude around Funchal, where it
may perhaps have been accidentally naturalized, at some period
(not very remote) since the colonization of the island, from
south-western Europe. I have taken it abundantly in a small
gulley on the arid slopes of the Pico da Cruz, leading down
theless just add the following diagnosis, in order to render it the more easily
recognizable.
Subulina striatella.
T. angustula, subulato-turrita, albida, vix nitidiuscula, argute et con-
fertissime longitudinaliter costulato-striata ; spira longissima, regulari, elon-
gate turrita", apice obtusiuscula ; anfractibus 8-9^, convexiusculis, sutura
valde impress^, ultimo (^ longitudinis paulo excedente) mox supra aperturam
parvam plus minus evidenter angulato-carinato ; columelM brevi, arcuatii,
basi abrupte terminata ; peristomate simplici, acuto. Long. tin. circa 7 ; ap&rt.
vix 2.
Helix striatella, Pang, Ann. des Sc. Nat. 24. 38. t. 3. f. 7
Stenogyra (Subulina) striatella, Dim., Mai. Blatt. xiii. 127 (1866)
Achatina striatella, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel vi. 236 (1868)
Habitat Maderam (certe introducta) ; tria specimina (emortua, subdecor-
ticata) in horta quadam juxta Funchal olim invenit Dom. Bewicke.
I may just add that, singularly enough, the S. striatella was obtained by
Mr. Lowe in Teneriffe, under circumstances almost precisely similar to those
under which it was found by Mr. Bewicke at Madeira, namely (dead) from
amongst some refuse in Mr. Hamilton's garden at Sta. Cruz. The oblique
truncation of the columella is a little wider in the Madeiran specimens than
it is in those from Teneriffe.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 207
towards the Gorgulho, a locality in which it was first found,
many years ago, by Mr. Lowe, and where it has subsequently
been met with by Mr. Leacock, the Rev. R. B. Watson, Senhor
J. M. Moniz, and others.
Genus 10. PUPA, Drap.
( Truncatellina, Lowe.)
Pupa linearis.
Pupa linearis, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 207 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 119 (1867)
minutissima, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 223 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; in stratu conchylifero ad Canical semi-
fossilis haud infrequens ; recens hodie non detecta.
The excessively minute size of this little Pupa (the smallest
of the Madeiran species with the exception of the P. saxicola,
and one which has been found hitherto only in a subfossil state),
added to its parallel outline, rather tumid, distinctly striated
volutions, and its small and perfectly edentate mouth, will suffi-
ciently characterize it. Like most of the Pupa? it has a longer
and a shorter state, some examples appearing to possess a volu-
tion more than the others. It is said to be closely allied to the
European P. minutissima, Hartm., indeed Mr. Watson regards
it as identical with that species ; but it is, I think, more parti-
cularly interesting from the fact that it so nearly resembles a
diminutive member of the genus from the Cape Verde archipe-
lago, described by Dr. H. Dohrn as the P. molecula, that until
I had compared the two very accurately I felt almost satisfied
that they were conspecific. Indeed even now I am far from
convinced that they may not be in reality but geographical
phases of a single type; nevertheless since the P. linearis
seems to be, on the average, a trifle smaller than its representa-
tive from the Cape Verdes, with its volutions perhaps not quite
so convex, its suture appreciably more horizontal (or less
oblique), and its aperture relatively less developed, I will not
venture to treat them as otherwise than distinct.
The P. linearis is not uncommon in the calcareous, subfos-
siliferous deposits near Cani9al ; but it has not yet been observed
in those either of Porto Santo or the Southern Deserta.
Pupa microspora.
Pupa microspora, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 275 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 532 (1853)
208 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Pupa microspora, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 207 (1854)
Alb., Mai Mad. 61 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 197. t. 5. f. 1
(1860)
edentula var., Paiva, Man. Moll. Mad. 119 (1867)
microspora, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 124 (1872)
edentula, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 223 (1876)
Habitat Maderam editiorem sylvaticain ; ad frondes filicum
humidas hinc inde congregans.
A small, short, ventricose, somewhat turbinate or rounded-
conical, posteriorly truncate species, of a pale-brown hue and
thin in substance, and one which has all the appearance (in
seemingly adult examples) of being immature. Its volutions
are tumid, and very densely and minutely striate ; and its aper-
ture, which is short (being a little wider than long), is perfectly
edentate, with the peristome acute (as though young and
unformed) instead of being thickened. It is very closely related
to the European P. edentula, Drap., of which it may possibly
represent a geographical state ; nevertheless it is, not only (on
the average) a trifle smaller, and relatively somewhat shorter
and very pyramidal, but likewise less shining, and much more
coarsely sculptured with exceedingly oblique hair-like striae, and
its ultimate whorl is proportionately a trifle more abbreviated.
The P. microspora, which occurs also in the Azorean and
Canarian archipelagos, is eminently indigenous in Madeira
proper, inhabiting the higher altitudes, where it is found
attached to the fronds of various ferns in moist cloudy spots
within the wooded regions. In such situations it was taken
abundantly by myself and subsequently by Mr. Lowe, at the
Lombarda das Vacas ; and I have likewise met with it at the
Fanal, the Montado dos Peceguiros, S. Antonio da Serra, and in
numerous other elevated districts.
( Paluditiella, Lowe.)
Pupa limnaeana,
Pupa limnseana, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 206 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 117 (1867)
Habitat Maderam editiorem ; inter muscos in truncis lau-
rorum, necnon inter frondes filicum, in humidis sylvaticis degens,
rarissima.
The rather broad, inflated, rounded-ovate, or somewhat glo-
bose, Limncvus- (or, rather, Paludina-) like form of this
remarkable Pupa, in conjunction with its few and ventricose
volutions (which are densely but very finely striated), its pale,
MADEIRAN GROUP. 209
yellowish-cinereous hue (often becoming whiter towards the
more or less decorticated apex), its comparatively thin, fragile
substance, and its perfectly edentate aperture and unthickened
lip, will at once separate it from its allies. According to Mr.
Lowe it has much in common with the European P. dilucida
(Ziegl.), Rosm. (f. 326); but it is nevertheless one of the most
truly and unmistakeably indigenous of the Madeiran Pupce,
occurring sparingly on the trunks of laurels, as well as amongst
the fronds of moist ferns, in the damp sylvan districts of an
intermediate and lofty elevation. I have met with it at S. An-
tonio da Serra, and the Lombarda das Vacas ; and it has also
been taken in the Ribeiro Frio, and the Boa Ventura.
( Gastrodon, Lowe.)
Pupa fanalensis.
Pupa fanalensis, Loive, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 208 (1854)
umbilicata var., Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 121 (1867)
debilis, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 124 (1872)
anconostoma (pars), Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. viii. 370
(1876)
Habitat Maderam ; ad truncos laurorum, necnon in frondibus
filicum humidis, in sylvaticis editioribus occurrens.
It is possible that this may be only a depauperated state of
the c var. (3. anconostoma ' of the P. umbilicata, which the
latter has gradually assumed through having found its way into
the higher regions ; nevertheless I believe it to be truly distinct,
since it not only possesses certain unmistakeable features of its
own, but its mode of life is completely and essentially different.
Thus, while the P. umbilicata (as represented in these islands
by the ' var. /#. anconostoma ') is emphatically an inhabitant of
the dry and cultivated districts, abounding more and more as
we descend to the level of the sea, the P. fanalensis, on the
contrary, has all the appearance of being ultra-indigenous, and
seems to be peculiar to nearly the highest altitudes where it
occurs amongst moss and lichen on the trunks of the laurels, as
well as adhering to the fronds of ferns (in company with the P.
limnceana and microspord), in damp sylvan spots. It was met
with in profusion, by Mr. Lowe and myself, during July 1855,
at the Cruzinhas and the Fanal, in the mountains of Madeira
proper, by examining the trees immediately outside our tents ;
and I have likewise found it at, along with the P. cheilogona,
the Lombarda das Vacas.
I may add also that I took the P. fanalensis in the islands
of Teneriffe and Palm a, of the Canarian archipelago, under cir-
p
210 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
cumstances precisely similar to those at Madeira, namely from
amongst lichen on the trunks of trees in the lofty wood of Las
Mercedas, as well as in the damp sylvan region above Taganana,
and near Ycod-el-Alto, of the former ; and at a high elevation
in the Barranco da Agua, and on the ascent of the Cumbre
above Buenavista, of the latter. My Canarian examples were
overhauled with great care by Mousson, who agreed with me in
regarding them as the exponents of a Pupa which is certainly
distinct from Mr. Lowe's P. anconostoma ; but as I had not at
that time identified them with the Madeiran P. fanalensis, he
enunciated the species afresh, in his recent Monograph, under
the name of P. debilis, adding, as a subsequent remark, ' Les
differences constantes de cette forme d'avec la P. anconostoma,
Lowe, me semblent en justifier la separation. La P. debilis,
dont j'ai compare un bon nombre d'individus est toujours plus
petite, plus fragile, oviforme et non cylindracee ; le dernier tour
pres de la rime n'est pas comprime, mais arrondi ; 1'ouverture
est relativement plus largement arrondie, et pourvue d'un peri-
stome a peine reflechi ; la paroi ne presente qu'une faible dent
qui souvent manque entierement. Les deux especes sont a peu
pres dans le meme rapport que le P. Semproni, Charp,, a Yum-
bilicata, Drap.'
After a very accurate comparison, I have no doubt concern-
ing the specific identity of Mousson's Canarian species with the
Madeiran one, both of which moreover pass through the same
amount of, rather considerable, variation.
Judging from my own observations, and from the numerous
types which are now before me, the P. fanalensis may be said
to differ from the var. ft. anconostoma of the P. umbilicata in
being on the average very much smaller and more globose, or
ventricose ; in its substance being thinner, and its surface more
white and decorticated (much as in the P. limnceana) ; in the
number of its volutions being usually one less ; in its aperture
being generally a little shorter and rounder ; and in the obsolete
indications of a rudimentary plait on the columella which are
for the most part just traceable in its ally being quite absent.
Pupa umbilicata,
Pupa umbilicata, Drap., Tabl. des Moll. 58 (1801)
Helix anconostoma, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 62.
t. 6. f. 30(1831)
Pupa anconostoma, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 314 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 208 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 61. t. 15. f. 19-22
(1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 198 (1860)
MADEIRAN GROUP. 211
Pupa uinbilicata, Drouet, Faun. A cor. 165 (1861)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 1 20 (1867)
anconostoma, Mouse., Faun. Mai. des Can. 123 (1872)
umbilicata, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 223 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; in statu typico (i.e. Europseo) a Revdo.
R. B. Watson solum, ad Jardim da Serra, detecta. Sed status
aberrans (sc. P. anconostoma, Lowe, in ins. Maderensibus
Canariensibusque typicus), plica ventrali minore necnon peri-
stomate paululum minus expanso, ubique in inferioribus subin-
ferioribusque (prgesertim cultis) abundat ; atque etiam in ins.
Desertis parce occurrit.
After a careful comparison of the P. anconostoma, so uni-
versal throughout the lower regions of Madeira proper, with
examples of the European P. umbilicata, Drap., collected in
many countries widely separated from each other (as, for
instance, Portugal, England, Spain, and Sicily), I have come to
the conclusion that it cannot be regarded as more than a very
slightly altered phasis, or geographical variety, of the latter
in which the ventral plait is (on the average) rather smaller or
less developed (and therefore usually more completely discon-
nected with the angle of the lip ), and the peristome not quite so
broad. All the other characters which have been alluded to, as
distinctive, in the various published diagnoses of the P. an-
conostoma, seem to me to be purely imaginary (as, for instance,
the smaller size, more cylindrical outline, and less tumid volu-
tions, referred to by Mousson, and the different shape of the
aperture recorded by the Baron Paiva) ; whilst even the ventral
tooth itself is subject to very great inconstancy, it being much
larger in some of the examples now before me than it is in
others, in which case it is joined by almost as evident a callo-
sity with the angle of the lip as in the ordinary ones from more
northern latitudes. Amongst some specimens which were taken
by Mr. Lowe at Fayal, in the Azores, the two states are inter-
mingled, and pass imperceptibly into each other; but those
from the Canarian archipelago correspond better with the ordi-
nary Madeiran ones, both the tooth and the peristome being
less strongly developed.
As expressed by this slightly altered form (which I would
consequently quote as the ' var. /?. anconostoma '), the P. um-
bilicata may be said to be the universal Pupa at low and inter-
mediate altitudes in Madeira proper, abounding about the walls
and cultivated grounds, and seldom ascending to higher than
about 2500 feet above the sea ; and it is not unlikely that it
may owe its presence there to accidental introduction at some
(not very remote) period since the colonization of the islands.
At any rate, apart from the suggestiveness of its distribution,
p 2
212 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
no traces of it have yet been met with, so far as I am aware, in
any of the subfossiliferous deposits. Although so abundant
however in Madeira proper, it is remarkable that there is no
record of it hitherto from Porto Santo (where, nevertheless, in
all probability it must ' exist) ; but its occurrence on the
Desertas is just indicated (I think, beyond a doubt), a single
example having been collected by Mr. Lowe's servant on the
Deserta Grande c a little below the house;' and indeed I have
lately detected three more in a box from the Baron Paiva, pur-
porting to have come from that same island. And I may further
add that the Baron mentions its occurrence on the Southern
Deserta likewise.
It is -but quite recently however (indeed only since 1866)
that the P. umbilicata in its strictly normal (or European)
aspect has been observed at Madeira, several examples having
been met with by the Eev. E. B. Watson at the Jardim da
Serra ; and this fact might seem at first sight to contradict the
assumption that the anconostoma is but a geographical phasis
of it, had we not the most positive evidence that land shells are
from time to time imported accidentally into the island, along
with consignments of plants, from more northern latitudes. I
feel satisfied that the contingency just referred to must be the
true explanation of the appearance at the Jardim da Serra of
the P. umbilicata in its ordinary, unaltered state ; for it is
well known that the late English consul at Madeira, Mr.
Veitch, took unusual pains to introduce plants from Eng-
land into his garden at the Jardim ; and the only remarkable
circumstance, at any rate to my mind, is, that a greater number
of Terrestrial Mollusks should not have found their way into the
island through so favourable a medium of transmission. I
think, therefore, that the existence of the P. umbilicata at Ma-
deira in both its typical and aberrant phases need not in any
degree predispose us to conclude that the latter (which appears
to me moreover to merge completely into the former) is specifi-
cally distinct.
The P. umbilicata (which occurs also in the Azorean and
Canarian Groups, and even at St. Helena) may readily be known
by its pale reddish-brown, shining, frequently subpellucid sur-
face, its more or less elongate-ovate outline, its somewhat tumid
volutions, and by the single (and in the ' var. ft. anconostoma '
not always very conspicuous) ventral plait of its aperture which
nearly adjoins the angle of its rather broadly but flatly margined
lip. Moreover when closely inspected it will generally be found
to possess very faint indications of an obsolete plait, or thicken-
ing, on the columella, which however is often (as in the
Madeiran form) so rudimentary as to be barely traceable.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 213
( Scarabclla, Lowe.)
Pupa cassida.
Helix cassida, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 64 (1831)
Pupa cassida, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 344 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 212 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 68. t. 16. f. 7, 8 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 135 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in humidis editioribus sylvaticis rarissime
degens. Semifossilis juxta Canipal abundat.
The comparatively large size of this magnificent Pupa,
added to its very solid substance and obese, ovoid form (it being
inflated in the middle and acute both before and behind), its
flattened, strongly sulcate-striated volutions (which are normally
of a reddish-brown, but prettily marked with irregular whitish
longitudinal dashes or subconfluent streaks), and the seven thick
but unequally developed plaits of its broadly and whitely mar-
gined corneous auriform aperture, will abundantly distinguish it
from everything else with which we have here to do.
Until within a comparatively recent period the P. cassida,
although abounding in the subfossiliferous beds at Canipal,
was considered of the utmost rarity as a member of the
present fauna ; but it was nevertheless met with in tolerable
profusion by myself and the late Eev. W. J. Armitage, during
March 1849, at the extreme head of the Eibeira de Sta. Luzia,
in the south of Madeira proper (in the exact spot where the
original and then unique example was taken by Mr. Lowe, on
April 13th, 1830), namely, amongst vegetable detritus, on the
steep buttress, or bank, immediately to the right of the water-
fall, and which constitutes the base of the lofty perpendicular
rocks ; and it has subsequently been obtained by Mr. Leacock,
the Eev. E. B. Watson, and others, in the same locality. It
occurs however likewise in the north of the island, having been
taken by the late Mr. Bewicke in the Eibeira de Sao Jorge ; so
that in all probability it will be found to be pretty generally
distributed in the damp sylvan ravines of intermediate altitudes.
( Zdostyla, Lowe.)
Pupa cheilogona.
Helix cheilogona, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 63
(1831)
Pupa cheilogona Pfr., Mon. Hel. ii. 327 (1 848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Hoc. Lond. 208 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad 63. t. 15. f. 23, 24 (1854)
Paiva. Mon. Moll. Mad. 122 ( 1867)
214 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat Maderam editiorem sylvaticam ; in frondibus filicum
humidis prsecipue occurrens.
The rather large side, and conical, subtriangular outline of
the P. cheilogona which is much pointed towards the apex,
and a good deal widened towards the base, and has the mouth
considerably (and obliquely) produced downwards added to its
flattened volutions, its pale-brown, obscurely banded, not very
shining surface, its sinuated outer lip (on which the tooth is
nevertheless exceedingly obtuse and ill-expressed, causing
the ' sinus ' to be wide and open), and the large size of its
exterior ventral and its lower columellary plaits (the former
of which is far removed from, and totally disconnected with,
the angle of the peristome), will serve to distinguish it. Its
inner ventral plait is also very conspicuous, although much
smaller than the outer one ; but the upper columellary and the
second palatial ones seem to be obsolete.
The P. cheilogona (regarded formerly by Mr. Lowe as ex-
tremely rare) is one of the most unmistakably indigenous of the
Madeiran Pupce, and one which occurs only in the damp sylvan
districts (principally towards the north of the island) at a high
elevation. I have taken it abundantly at the Lombarda das
Vacas, the Montado dos Pecegueiros, &c., adhering to the fronds
of various ferns, such as the Woodwardia radicans, the Pteris
arguta, Vahl., and the Allantodia axillaris, E. Br. ; and Mr.
Lowe also obtained it from the same localities, during our en-
campments there in the summer of 1855.
Pupa vincta.
Pupa vincta, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 208 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 63, t. 15. f. 25, 26 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 123 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, prsesertim borealem ; ad rupes irriguas
aquosas, inter Marchantiam polymorpham, L., hinc inde
congregans.
In the number and proportions of the plaits (the exterior
ventral one of which is very large, and usually quite uncon-
nected by a corneous callosity, or sphincter, with the angle of
the lip) the present Pupa is much on the same pattern as the
P. cheilogona ; and it is, on the average, the largest, with the
exception of the P. cassida, of the Madeiran members of the
genus. It is, however, relatively, a more apically-obtuse (or
less pointed) species than the P. cheilogona ; its surface is more
shining and less appreciably striated posteriorly, as also usually
of a more olivaceous (or yellowish-green) tinge and with the
MADEIRAN GROUP. 215
darker bands more frequently developed ; and its aperture is
proportionately a trifle wider, or not so narrowly and obliquely
produced. It has likewise a remarkable tendency to have its
apex white and decorticated, sometimes to such an extent that
the nucleus becomes abortive and partially destroyed, under
which circumstances the shell has naturally a more tumid or
ventricose appearance. Like many of the Pupce it seems to
have a larger and a smaller state, the representatives of the
latter being generally more acute at their extremity than those
of the former.
The P. vincta, which is confined to damp spots in Madeira
proper, appears, like the P. cheilogona, to be found more parti-
cularly in the north of the island. Yet its habits are not the same
as those of that species ; for, whilst the cheilogona is to be met
with, almost invariably, adhering to the fronds of ferns at a
high elevation, the vincta, on the contrary, infests the dripping
masses of Marchantia polymorpha which pad the rocks at a
low altitude. Indeed, so far as my own experience is concerned,
it may be said to occur especially on the level of the shore ;
though in all probability it will be found to ascend to a certain
slight elevation. It was obtained in great profusion by Mr.
Lowe and myself, during June 1850 and August 1855, at the
edges of the first waterfall from Sao Vicente, along the beach
road to Seisal ; and Mr. Lowe captured it in a similar situation
at the Passa d'Areia, on the other (or eastern) side of the Sao
Vicente ravine. Several boxes of it have also been communi-
cated by the Baron Paiva (containing generally a large admix-
ture of the P. Loweana, Woll., regarded erroneously by him as
P. concinna, Lowe), and which / believe were obtained from
the lower regions of the Ribeira do Inferno, and those of the
Boa Ventura.
Pupa irrigua.
Pupa irrigua, Lowe, Ann. Nat Hist. ix. (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 208 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 63. t. 15. f. 27/28 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 124 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, prsecipue australem ; inter gramina (Des-
champsia argentea, Lowe) ad rupes irriguas aquosas, hinc inde
vulgaris.
Like the last two species, the P. irrigua is rather a large
Pupa; but it is more strictly oblong (or less widened poste-
riorly, and therefore less ovate) than either of them. Its volu-
tions are somewhat flattened, and therefore the suture is not
greatly impressed ; in colour it is of a pale yellowish, or olive-
brown (occasionally with indistinct bands) ; and its spire
216 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
is often whitish and decorticated ; but its aperture (which is less
outwardly, or more downwardly, produced than is the case in its
immediate allies) contains the characters which will more quickly
discriminate the species, the five plaits, especially the outer
ventral one (which is sinuate, and united to the angle of the lip
by a thick corneous rim or sphincter), being very largely deve-
loped, even the upper one of the columella (although smaller
than the lower) being exceedingly conspicuous. The tooth of
the labrum (which is a good deal nipped-in at that particular
point) is rather thick and internally prominent, almost closing
up (the result, however, partly, of the flexuosity of the first
ventral plait) the ' sinus respirationis.'
The P. irrigua, although locally abundant, appears on the
whole to be somewhat scarce, occurring more, however, so far
as has hitherto been observed, in the south of Madeira, than the
north. It inhabits the muddy and Marchantia-padded deposits
of the damp, trickling rocks, in the shady ravines of intermediate
altitudes, adhering likewise to the wiry roots of the coarse grasses
which hang loosely in the constant drip of such localities. It
was taken in great profusion by Mr. Lowe and myself, on various
occasions, on the perpendicular face of lofty rocks on the right
(or eastern) side of the Ribeira de Sta. Luzia, about two-thirds
of the entire distance up, and therefore about one-third below
the waterfall. Judging also from the Baron Paiva's material,
he seems to have obtained it sparingly from the north of the
island, a few examples being mixed up with his large batches
of the P. Loweana and the P. vincta.
Pupa deformis.
Pupa Wollastoni, Lowe [nee Paiva, 1866], Ann. Nat.
Hist. 81 (1867)
Paiva [nee Id., 1866], Mon. Moll.
Mad. 128 (1867)
Habitat Maderam borealem, semel lecta ; a Bar one Castello
de Paiva communicata.
I am extremely sorry to be compelled to change the name
of this remarkable Pupa, which was enunciated by Mr. Lowe
in 1867 as the ' P. Wollastoni ; ' but that title having been pre-
occupied by the Baron Paiva in the previous year for a subfos-
sil species from Canipal, justice requires that the latter should
take the precedence. It is true that the Baron, in his late
Monograph, suppressed his previously-published name, in con-
sideration of Mr. Lowe having subsequently selected the same,
proposing, instead, for his ' P. Wollastoni^ the trivial one of
canicalensis. But I can only add that in reality he had not
MADEIRAN GROUP. 217
the power to do this, the universally acknowledged law of
priority being unbending in its operation.
The P. deformis (= P. Wollastoni, Lowe) was described
from a unique example which was obtained by the Baron
Paiva from the north of Madeira (he believes from the Ribeira
do Inferno), and which was detected by myself amongst a large
batch of the P. Loweana and vincta which he had transmitted
to me for examination. At first sight it might almost be re-
garded as a mis-shapen, or irregularly developed, monstrosity of
the P. Loweana ; nevertheless if it be a truly normal represen-
tative of its kind (concerning which I cannot but have some
misgivings), it is thoroughly distinct from everything else which
has hitherto been brought to light. Thus its short, thick,
squarish, barrel-shaped form, and solid, rather coarsely striate
surface, added to the unnaturally abrupt (and somewhat oblique)
contraction of the spire beyond the second or third volutions
(where it forms an obtuse, decorticated umbo), which latter rise
up, each of them, into ' a blunt keel or ridge behind the deeply
impressed subcanaliculated suture,' give it a character essen-
tially its own. Still, I think that further material is absolutely
necessary before it will be quite safe to regard the species (from
the unique and curiously developed specimen which has been
taken as the type) as correctly defined. 1
Pupa Loweana, n. sp.
P. oblongo-ovata, sat dense striatula, subnitens, obscure
fusco-umbrina (ssepius versus apicem plus minus albido-decorti-
cata), interdum obscure fasciata; anfractibus convexiusculis,
sutura impressa ; apertura auriformi, ringente, angulis rotun-
datisj 5-plicata, sc. plicis 2 (exteriore majore) ventralibus, 2
(inferiore majore)columellaribus,et 1 palatali, ventrali exteriore
columellarique inferiore magnis subaBqualibus, columellari supe-
riore palatalique minoribus immersis subinconspicuis ; labro
subincrassato reflexiusculo, denticulo ad sinum distincto intus
prominulo, sinu (i.e. inter angulum plicamque ventralem)
sphinctere crasso corneo cincto. Long. lin. lf-2.
Var. ft. transiens. Vix minor, subfortius subremotiusque
striata ; testa plerumque subpallidior ac paulo minus solida
(interdum etiam subpellucida, conspicue pallidula), necnon evi-
1 In the < Zoological Kecord ' for 1867 the P. deformis (i.e. P. Wollastoni,
Lowe) is assumed (vide p. 574) to belong to the group Alvearella ; but this
certainly is not the case, Lowe's Alvearella having been expressly established
to contain the strongly costate little forms which he described under the
names abbreviata and gibba. Its affinities are unquestionably with the P.
Loweana, Woll., and the iwigua, both of which fall into the section Liostyla,
Lowe (which, however, is perhaps hardly separable from CharadroUa, Albers).
218 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
dentius fasciata, plica columellari superiore saepius submagis
distincta.
Pupa concinna, Paiva [nee Lowe, 1852], Mon. Moll. Mad.
127 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, prgesertim borealem ; a Barone Castello
de Paiva copiose communicata.
The present large, well-defined, and normally somewhat dark
Pupa, which was obtained abundantly by the Baron Paiva from
the north of Madeira (I believe principally from the Boa Ven-
tura and the Eibeira do Inferno), appears to have been con-
founded latterly with the P. concinna, Lowe, from which
nevertheless it is totally distinct. Indeed Mr. Lowe himself
(evidently however from a mere superficial glance, and without
actual comparison) fell into the error of identifying it with the
latter species (which he had previously described with great
accuracy) ; and it was therefore wrongly referred to the con-
cinna by the Baron Paiva in his recent monograph. In reality
it is larger and relatively broader than the P. concinna, as well
as more ovate (or more widened posteriorly) and less closely
striated ; its aperture is larger and more open, with the angle
of the lip and the exterior ventral plait (instead of being dis-
connected) united by a coarse and elevated corneous sphincter
or rim, and with the lateral tooth proportionately rather less
internally-thickened (or prominent), and therefore less completely
closing-in the c sinus respirationis.'
From its being invariably mixed-up, in the Baron Paiva's
boxes, with the P. vincta, I conclude that in habits the P.
Loweana is similar to that species, and that it was taken in the
muddy drip of Marchantia-ipadded rocks at a comparatively low
elevation ; in which respect I may remark that it differs mate-
rially from the P. concinna, which is found in the higher
altitudes, adhering to the broken sticks and small stones near
the rocky, trickling streams.
The ' var. /3. transiens, 1 which is on the average a trifle
smaller, less solid, and of a paler hue (indeed occasional
examples are quite pallid), may perhaps prove to be specifically
distinct ; though I suspect that it is a mere local race of what I
have regarded as the type. It was communicated by the Baron
Paiva, but I have no note as to its precise locality.
Pupa cassidula.
Pupa cassidula, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 212 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 68. t. 16. f. 9-10 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 136 (1867)
MADEIRAN GROUP. 219
Habitat Maderam ; in humidis editioribus, rarissima.
The P. cassidula is a Pupa which appears to be extremely
rare, and one which is perhaps less satisfactorily defined than
any of the others. Nevertheless my examples, which are from
the collection of Mr. Lowe, and which were taken by myself and
the late Kev. W. J. Armitage at a rather high elevation (amongst
vegetable detritus) at the base of lofty, perpendicular rocks in
the Kibeira de Sta. Luzia, in the south of Madeira proper, a
locality in which it has subsequently been met with by Mr.
Watson, have I think sufficient peculiarity about them to
establish the species as distinct from its allies ; though I must
confess that I should be glad to see a large number, and in a
more highly coloured condition, in order to test the accuracy of
the diagnosis.
The true affinities of the P. cassidula are, I imagine, with
the P. Loweana, particularly with what I have defined as the
4 var. /3. transiens ; ' but it is paler, and a little more coarsely
striated ; and the lateral denticle of its outer lip is somewhat
more prominent internally, causing the sinus (which is appre-
ciably smaller) to be less open, or more narrowly closed-in
behind.
Pupa concinna.
Pupa concinna, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfeiff., M on. Hel. in. 544 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 212 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 65. t. 16. f. 11-12 (1854)
Habitat Maderam editiorem sylvaticam ; in aquosis raris-
sima.
The P. concinna, which was well defined by Mr. Lowe in
his original diagnosis, appears (as already stated) to have been
confounded latterly, both by himself and others, with the larger
and more ovate species which I have just enunciated under the
name of P. Loweana. In reality however it is smaller and
much more oblong (or less widened posteriorly) than the latter,
and therefore in proportion a little more obtuse at the apex ;
its surface is a trifle more coarsely and closely striated ; and its
aperture has the first ventral plait not only more oblique, so as
to close-in more completely (in conjunction with the relatively
somewhat larger lateral denticle) the sinus, but likewise totally
unconnected by a corneous sphincter with the angle of the lip.
The habits also of the P. concinna appear to be different
from those of the P. Loweana ; for whilst the latter haunts the
dripping masses of Marchantia polymorpha which mat the
rocks at a low elevation, the P. concinna occurs, on the con-
trary, in almost the highest altitudes, where it is to be met
220 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
with adhering to the broken sticks and small stones near the
minute trickling streams, as well as beneath damp moss. Under
such circumstances it was first taken by myself, and subsequently
by Mr. Lowe, on the 18th of July 1850, at the extreme head of
the Eibeira de Joao Delgada ; and it was afterwards found by
Mr. Lowe on the north side of the Pico Casado at the head of
the Boa Ventura.
In outline and size the P. concinna is in reality more
nearly related to the P. laurinea ; nevertheless it is darker, as
well as more densely and coarsely striated, than that species,
and its two ventral plaits are more flexuose and oblique, or less
vertical (causing the sinus to be even still more closed in), the
external one being also more completely unconnected by even a
rudimentary callosity with the angle of the lip.
Pupa laurinea.
Pupa laurinea, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. iii. (1853)
Lowe, Proc. 'Zool. Soc.^ Lond. 209 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 64. t, 15. f. 31, 32 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 126 (1867)
Habitat Maderam sylvaticam ; ad truncos Laurorum, inter
muscos, degens. In statu semifossili juxta Cam^al reperitur.
The P. laurinea is in some respects intermediate between
the concinna and sphinctostoma. Indeed in its rather short,
obtuse, cylindric-oval form and general size and proportions it
almost coincides with the former; nevertheless it is a little
wider (relatively), and more obese, than the concinna, as also
less distinctly striate, and (on the average) a trifle more shining
and brightly coloured, it being usually of a more or less clear
olivaceo-yellowish brown and appreciably (often indeed con-
spicuously) banded. Moreover its ' sinus ' is rather less de-
cidedly closed-in behind (the result principally of the first
ventral plait being more vertical in its direction, or less oblique),
whilst anteriorly it is nearly always bounded by a more or less
developed (though occasionally thin) corneous sphincter, be-
tween the ventral plait and the angle of the lip. Indeed this
sphincter not unfrequently assumes the shape of a nearly se-
parated tuberculiform process, or transverse plait-like tooth ;
and in a very few (exceptional) instances I have remarked it to
be even obsolete.
From the exceedingly variable P. sphinctostoma the lau-
rinea differs mainly in its shorter, obtuser, and relatively
broader form, and in its colour being of a clearer olivaceous
brown, with the volutions (which are rather more striate) appre-
MADEIRAN GROUP. 221
ciably banded. Its aperture too is not exactly similar, the
sphincter, which joins the first ventral plait with the angle of
the lip, being less thickened and differently shaped ; whilst the
palatial plaits, which are so strongly developed (although deeply
immersed) in the P. sphinctostoma, seem in the laurinea to be
reduced (from three) to one, the upper and lower ones being
apparently obsolete.
From the P. Loweana the laurinea may be known by being,
inter alia, rather paler and more shining (or less appreciably
striate), and also more decidedly banded : its outline too is
more oval (or less ovate), not being so much widened posteriorly ;
its aperture is more produced downwards (instead of outwards) ;
and the sphincter which connects the angle of the lip with the
first ventral plait is usually very much less thickened or de-
veloped.
The P. laurinea occurs chiefly about the trunks of old
laurels in the sylvan districts of intermediate altitudes. It has
been taken by Mr. Lowe (and also more sparingly, by myself
and others) in various places, such as the Eibeiro Frio, S. An-
tonio, da Serra, and the Boa Ventura. In a subfossil state, it is
not very uncommon at Canipal.
Pupa Wollastoni.
Pupa Wollastoni, Paiva, Crosse, Journ. de Conch. (Oct.
1866)
canicalensis, Id., Mon. Moll. Mad. 131 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, in stratu conchylifero ad Canipal semi-
fossilis lecta ; recens hodie non observata.
As already implied under the P. deformis, the present Pupa
was enunciated by the Baron Paiva in October 1866 as the P.
Wollastoni a name which he suppressed (in his Monograph)
during the following year, in favour of a newly -suggested one
(P. canicalensis), the title 6 Wollastoni'' having been inadvert-
ently selected by Mr. Lowe for another member of the same genus
after the publication of his (the Baron Paiva's) diagnosis in
Crosse's Journ. de Conchyliologie. I need here therefore only
repeat, that I have no option but to restore for the subfossil
species from Canipal the name originally proposed for it by the
Baron, the latter in reality not having the poiver to violate
the acknowledged law of priority, which requires absolutely that
a title once given, unless afterwards found to be either pre-occu-
pied or utterly inappropriate, cannot under any circumstances be
changed. I have therefore, in this instance, adhered to the name
which was first given by the Baron Paiva, and have proposed a
new one for the P. Wollastoni of Lowe.
222 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
The Pupa now under consideration, which has been ob-
served hitherto only in a subfossil state at Caniyal, was cited by
Mr. Lowe as the P. fusca ; but although its affinities are un-
questionably, to a certain extent, with that species, I feel satis-
fied that the two are not specifically identical, for not only is
the P. Wollastoni considerably smaller than (and perhaps not
quite so coarsely and thickly striated, at any rate posteriorly, as)
the fusca, but it entirely wants the tumid volutions which are
so eminently characteristic of that species ; and the lateral den-
ticle of its lip is less developed or internally prominent. Added
to which, the number of its whorls appears generally (as it seems
to me) to be one less.
But, in point of fact, the P. Wollastoni seems to be far
nearer, unless indeed I am much mistaken, to what I would
regard as the typical state (namely the ' fi. arborea ') of the P.
sphinctostoma, of which it might almost be looked upon as a
small, or depauperated, race. Nevertheless it differs from the
latter in its comparatively diminutive size, and somewhat ob-
tuser apex ; in its body-volution being nearly free from any
indications of sculpture, whilst the succeeding ones are, on the
contrary, more coarsely striate ; and in its lateral denticle being
less developed.
Pupa sphinctostoma,
Helix sphinctostoma, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 63
(1831)
Pupa sphinctostoma, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 335 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 209
(1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 64. t. 15. f. 29-30
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 124 (1867)
Habitat Maderarn ; vel (var. a. rupestris) sub foliis emor-
tuis Sempervivi tabulceformis, Haw., in rupibus maritimis cre-
scentis, vel (var. /3. arborea) inter muscos atque sub cortice
laxo in truncis Laurorum, latens.
The P. sphinctostoma is perhaps the most difficult and in-
constant of all the Maderan Pupce, and yet certainly it is one
of the most truly indigenous ones, occurring in various situa-
tions, and at diverse altitudes, throughout Madeira proper, to
which island it seems to be peculiar. In a general sense it may
be said to assume two opposite phases, which might well be re-
garded as specifically distinct did they not pass into each other
by almost imperceptible gradations. In the former of these
(the ' var. a. rupestrisj Lowe) the outline is less parallel, or
more attenuated towards the apex, the consistency is much
MADEIRAN GROUP. 223
harder or more solid, the colour is darker, and the volutions are
very much more coarsely ribbed or striate ; added to which the
angle of the lip is more produced outwards into an ear-shaped
process, and the plaits (the lower columellary one of which is
usually more oblique, or less horizontal, in its direction) are
rather more developed. This particular state seems to attain
its maximum at a comparatively low elevation, and to occur
principally (often in company with the P. fused and recto)
about the roots and dead leaves of the Sempervivum tobulce-
forme, and a few other plants, which stud the faces of the more
or less dry and exposed rocks. Under such circumstances it
frequently abounds in the north of the island, and indeed in
many other districts, especially towards the coast.
The second state (which is the ' var. /3. arboreaj Lowe) is
characterized by the shell being altogether thinner, paler, more
parallel, and much less coarsely striated ; the angle of the lip is
less outwardly-prominent, and the lower plait of its columella
is for the most part more horizontal (or less oblique). This is
eminently the form of a somewhat higher altitude, and one
which obtains more particularly within the sylvan regions
where its habits are mainly arboreal and subcortical. It
abounds, under this aspect, at the Ribeiro Frio, at S. Antonio
da Serra, in the Ribeira de Santa Luzia, and indeed throughout
the wooded districts generally.
I am far from satisfied that these two normally opposite
states (namely the ' a. rupestris and the ' yS. arborea ') may not
in reality be specifically distinct; nevertheless since there is
certainly an intermediate form which appears more or less (in
colour, outline, and sculpture) to connect them, and since it
was the opinion of Mr. Lowe that they are but different aspects
of a single, plastic species, I will not attempt to treat them as
separate, deeming it sufficient, for all practical purposes, to
have called attention to the fact that the phases in question
(whether specific ones or not) are to be noted, as being in the
main easy to recognize.
Under all circumstances the P. sphinctostoma is remark-
able for its numerous and largely developed plaits, and for the
extremely thickened corneous sphincter which unites the first
ventral one with the angle of the lip ; and it is likewise (except
in its aberrant, strongly-striated state) a linear, or cylindrical
species.
Pupa Isevigata.
Pupa Isevigata, Loiue, Ann. Nat. Hist, ix (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 544 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 210 (1854)
224 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Pupa laevigata, Alb., Mai. Mad. 65 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 125 (1867)
Habitat Maderam australem; in Rib. de Santa Luzia a
meipso detecta.
It is possible that this Pupa may represent but a rather
large and aberrant, or even depauperated, state of the P.
sphinctostoma, in which the plaits are reduced and the outline
of the mouth is modified ; nevertheless I do not think that it
would be at all safe to treat it as such. It seems to differ from
the P. sphinctostoma, not only in being on the average some-
what larger or more elongate, as well as a little more tapering
towards its apex and more appreciably striated (at any rate
more so than the normal phasis of that species, though not so
much so as the ' var. a. rupestris ' which I cannot but think
may prove eventually to be distinct), but likewise in its aper-
ture being much more rounded (or less produced-outwards) at
the angle of the lip, and with the tooth which bounds the
' sinus,' as well as all the plaits, much less developed. Indeed
so far as the latter are concerned, the outer ventral one (which
is unconnected with the angle by a corneous sphincter, or rim)
is alone elongate and conspicuous, and even it is shorter,
thinner, and more oblique than is generally the case in the
various states of the P. sphinctostoma, the upper columellary
and the upper and lower palatial ones being apparently obsolete ;
whilst even the interior ventral, the lower columellary and the
central palatial ones are small, inconspicuous, and deeply
immersed.
The only locality, so far as I am aware, in which the P.
Icevigata has hitherto been observed is towards the head of the
Ribeira de Santa Luzia, in the south of Madeira proper,
where I have often met with it sparingly, in company with the
large and pallid variety of the Clausilia crispa, beneath the
dead and loosened bark of old laurel-trunks.
Pupa recta,
Pupa recta, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. iii. 543 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 210 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 65. t. 15. f. 33-36 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 129 (1867)
Habitat Maderam; sub foliis aridis emortuis Sempervivi
tabulceformis ad rupes maritimas, necnon interdum in rupiurn
fissuris, hinc inde vulgaris.
The elongate, parallel, cylindric form, and dark-brown
(though obscurely banded), subopake, and densely (but very
MADEIRAN GROUP. 225
minutely, obsoletely, and obliquely) striated surface of this
large Pupa, added to its somewhat flattened volutions, and its
rather open, laterally-rounded aperture, which has the whole
five plaits except the first ventral one remote and immersed,
and the lateral denticle but very slightly thickened or developed
(causing the sinus to be rather wide and unclosed behind), and
the first ventral plait connected with the angle of the lip by a
corneous sphincter, will sufficiently separate it from its allies.
The P. recta is a species which occurs almost exclusively, so
far as I am aware, around the roots and amongst the dried leaves
of the masses of the Sempervivum tabulceforme which stud
the faces of the rocks, particularly towards the coast, in various
districts of Madeira proper, though for the most part at a
rather low elevation, and in the north of the island. In sucli
situations it often abounds, in company with the P. fusca and
the ' var. a. rupestris ' of the P. sphinctostoma, on the sea-cliffs
below Sao Vicente and towards the Eibeira da Janella, and
indeed along the whole range of the northern shore.
Pupa macilenta.
Pupa macilenta, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
recta, var. ., Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 543 (1853)
macilenta, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 210 (1854)
recta, var. ., Alb., Mai. Mad. 66 (1854)
recta, var. a., Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 129 (1867)
Habitat Desertam Grandem ; in rupium fissuris hinc inde
congregans. (In Madera propria vix, nisi fallor, adhuc detecta.)
Perhaps the present Pupa may be but a depauperated and
less highly coloured state of the P. recta peculiar to the Deserta
Grande, and as such it was originally regarded in doubt by
Mr. Lowe ; nevertheless it differs from that species in being
somewhat smaller, paler, thinner, and just appreciably more
distinctly striate, in its ultimate volution being a trifle shorter,
and in its two palatial plaits being greatly reduced in dimen-
sions, the lower one indeed being obsolete, and even the upper
one considerably narrower and more abbreviated. The denticle
of its outer lip, also, is a little more apparent.
Although stated by Mr. Lowe to have occurred likewise,
though sparingly, in Madeira proper (it having been found
there, according to him, by Mr. Leacock and myself), I cannot
now recal any satisfactory evidence of its existence except on
the Deserta Grande, where two dead specimens were first taken
by Mr. Leacock in June 1 848 ; and where it was afterwards met
with in profusion by myself and the late Eev. W. J. Armitage,
on the 20th of January 1849, as also by Mr. Lowe and myself
Q
226 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
in May 1850 and June 1855, within crevices and hollows of the
red volcanic soil on the great western promontory of that island
known as the ' Pedragal ' from whence it has likewise been
obtained, more recently, by the Baron Paiva. 1
( Craticula, Lowe.)
Pupa fusca,
Pupa fusca, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist, ix (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 558 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 211 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 66. t. 15. f. 37, 38 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 130 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, prsesertim borealem ; sub foliis Semper-
vivi tabulceformis, Haw., ad rupes submaritimas crescentis,
hinc inde abundans.
Although, like many of the Pupce, with a smaller and rather
less parallel state, the P. fusca is, like the recta and macilenta,
a cylindrical species. It is however (although occasional large
examples approach those of the latter) smaller on the average
than either of them, its volutions are much more tumid, or
less flattened, its colour is darker, and its surface (although not
exactly costate) is very much more coarsely, and a trifle less
obliquely, striated. As regards its mouth, the lip is (as in the
P. recta) rounded externally, and not sinuate, or nipped-in, at
the denticle (which last, although not large and thick, is very
sharply defined, and internally prominent) ; the angle is united
with the first ventral plait by an incrassated corneous sphincter ;
and of the six plaits which are more or less developed, the
inner ventral, the lower columellary, and the upper palatial
ones are subequal, whilst the upper columellary and the lower
palatial ones are rudimentary and often almost obsolete.
The habits of the P. fusca are precisely those of the recta,
it being found beneath the dried leaves of the rounded masses
of the Sempervivum tabulceforme which stud the faces of the
rocks in various parts (particularly towards the north and west)
of Madeira proper, frequently swarming in such situations
along the whole line of coast below Sao Vicente, Eibeira da
Janella, and Porto Moniz, as well as near Feijaa d'Ovelha and
Ponta de Pargo.
1 I may add that several examples of an elongate, cylindrical Pupa were
collected by Mr. Lowe and myself on the ascent from the landing-place at the
extreme soutliern end of the Ilheo de Baixo, off Porto Santo, which we con-
cluded at the time to belong to the P. macilenta, and which Mr. Lowe even
cited as such. A recent comparison however of these specimens has shewn
me that they are altogether distinct, and pertain in reality to a new and
powerfully costate species, of the essentially Porto-Santan type, which I have
described below as the P. relevata.
MADEIEAN GROUP. 2V7
Pupa millegrana.
Pupa millegrana, Loive, Ann. Nat. Hist, ix (1852)
Pfw/F; M . Hel. iii. 558 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 211 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 66. 1. 15. f. 39, 40 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Molt. Mad. 132 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, Desertam Grandem, et Desertam aus-
tralem (' Bugio ') ; sub lapidibus aridis, necnon in rupium
fissuris submaritimarum, sese occultans. In stratu conchylifero
Canicalensi Maderse semifossilis reperitur.
With the exception of the P. saxicola and linearis, this is
the smallest of the Madeiran Pupce ; and in its dark-brown
colour, linear outline, and tumid volutions, its prima facie
aspect is precisely that of what might be supposed to be a very
diminutive P. fusca. Apart however from its excessively
minute size, it will be found on inspection to be relatively more
coarsely, and not so closely, costate-striate ; its volutions appear
to be not quite so numerous ; whereas its plaits are rather more
so, or at any rate more developed. These latter are seven in
number, namely 2 ventral (which may be almost said to be
subequal), 2 columellary (the upper one of which is incon-
spicuous), and 3 palatial (the central one being large), and
which seem almost to fill up the inner cavity of the mouth.
The P. millegrana occurs principally under stones and
within the hollows of scoriae in dry and exposed places of a
rather low elevation towards the coast. It has been found in
the south of Madeira proper, and on the two Southern Desertas.
On the Deserta Grande it was first taken by Mr. Leacock, in
June 1 848, and subsequently by myself and the late Eev. W. J.
Armitage in January 1849, as well as by Mr. Lowe and myself
during May 1850 and June 1855. And a single example was
met with by Mr. Lowe, at the last-mentioned date, on the
Southern Deserta (or ' Bugio ').
In a subfossil state, the P. millegrana is tolerably abundant
near Canipal ; but I am not aware that it has yet been observed
in the muddy deposits on the summit of the Southern Deserta.
Pupa corneocostata, n. sp.
P. relevatce affinis, sed paulo minor, minus elongata, et
subremotius costata ; umbilico conspicue latiore ; anfractibus
plerumque paulo magis evidenter subfasciatis (rarius omnino
concoloribus), anfr. ultimo sensim subbreviore ; peristomate
lato corneo subreflexo sed minus continuato (i. e. inter columel-
lam et plicam ventralem exteriorem subinterrupto) necnon con-
spicue minus exstanti aut minus relevato ; apertura mngis
Q 2
228 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
sinuata auriformi (aut minus subrotundata) atque 7- (nee
sub. 4-) plicata, sc. plica columellari superiore (tamen minuta)
baud omnino obsoleta, necnon Ima et 3tia palatalibus paruin
distinctis sed immersis. Long. lin. 1J vix 2.
Var. /3. resticula. Paulo minus elongata ; peristomate inter
columellam et plicam ventralem exteriorem magis corneo, in-
srassato.
Pupa ferrariae pars, Paiva [nee Lowe], Mon. Moll. Mad.
132 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; bine inde in rupium fissuris
submaritimarum congregans. Ad ' Cabepo da Malbada,' in
parte insulaB occidentali, sec. Barone Castello de Paiva, prse-
cipue abundat. In stratu conchylifero, semifossilis, parce
occurrit.
The present Pupa migbt almost be regarded at first sight
as a smaller or less elongated form of the P. relevata; and
although I am by no means certain that this may not in reality
be the case, I nevertheless think that it possesses features of
sufficient importance to be treated as specifically distinct.
Thus, in addition to its being shorter than (though at the
same time quite as linear, or parallel, as) the P. relevata, it
differs in its umbilicus being wider, or more open, and in its
aperture being more ear-shaped or upwardly-sinuate, with the
peristome not only less prominent (or less raised above the
body-volution) but also less continuous, it being sub-inter-
rupted between the columella and the outer ventral plait. Its
colour too is of a less uniform cinereous-brown, the volutions,
although sometimes equally concolorous, having a tendency in
highly-coloured examples to be more or less obscurely fasciated ;
and the plaits themselves, although deeply immersed, are a
little more developed, the upper columellary one, although
minute, being quite traceable, whilst the first and third pala-
tial ones are likewise comparatively conspicuous ; thus causing
the mouth to be better defined as 7- (than 4-) plicate.
The <var. /3. resticula 1 is in some respects intermediate
between the P. corneocostata and the relevata, its larger size
and more developed peristome making a decided approach to
what are the main features of the latter; nevertheless the
ultimate volution is appreciably shorter, and the aperture
(although with a thickened peristome between the outer ventral
plait and the columella) is both less raised and differently
shaped.
Many examples of the P. corneocostata were obtained from
Porto Santo a few years ago by the Baron Paiva, and were for-
warded by him both to Mr. Lowe and to myself as the 'P.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 229
ferraria ' from which, nevertheless they are totally distinct.
I wrote expressly to the Baron at the time, in order to find out
the exact spot in which they were collected ; and in a letter now
before me, dated Dec. 1st, 1864, he says : ' Je peux vous assurer
avec toute certitude que la Pupa que vous demandez a ete
prise en abondance dans un seul endroit du Porto Sancto,
que les naturels du pays appellent " Cabeco da Malhada," qui
est situe dans 1'extremite occidentale de Porto Sancto, vis-a-vis
de mheo de Baixo.' From which it would appear that its
habitat is not very remote from that (namely the Ilheo de
Baixo) in which its near ally, the P. relevata, was met with by
Mr. Lowe and myself.
In a subfossil state, the P. corneocostata occurs sparingly in
the calcareous deposits of the island, it having been found,
both by Mr. Lowe and myself, I believe at the Zimbral d'Areia.
Pupa relevata, n. sp.
P. elongata, parallela, cylindrica, solida, opaca, brunnea
(obsolete subcanescens), argute costata; anfractibus 7-8 con-
vexis ; apertura subrotundata, peristomate corneo protenso aut
relevato (i.e. complete aut undique continuato, et ultra anfr.
ult. exstante, quasi collo brevi separate), 4-plicata, plicis
brevibus et (exteriore ventrali paululum excepta) valde im-
mersis inconspicuis, sc. 2 ventralibus, 1 columellari, et 1 (media)
palatali ; columellari 2da superiore nulla, palatalibusque 1 ma
et 3tia minutis, rudimentalibus, fere obsoletis ; ventrali interna
parva, profunde immersa; labro extus vix sinuato, denticulo
minutissimo interno et fere obsolete, sinu indistincto. Long.
Un. lf-2.
Habitat ins. de Baixo, juxta Portum Sanctum ; a Revdo. E.
T. Lowe et meipso in rupium fissuris submaritimarum lecta.
The elongate, linear, cylindric form of this large and solid
Pupa, added to its opake reddish-brown surface (which is
generally a little whitened, or as it were powdered, with a sort
of calcareous deposit), its rather tumid and powerfully costate
volutions, and (above all) the peculiar construction of its aper-
ture the peristome of which is much developed and con-
tinuous, standing-out from the body-volution by almost an
appreciable neck will sufficiently distinguish it from its allies.
Its plaits are short and very deeply immersed, the first ventral
one being alone conspicuous: of those on the columella the
upper one is entirely absent, and even the lower one abbreviated
and remote ; whilst of the palatial three, the upper and lower
ones are small and rudimentary.
The P. relevata was detected by Mr. Lowe and myself,
230 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
within crevices of the exposed weather-beaten rocks at the
extreme southern point of the Ilheo de Baixo, off Porto Santo,
when ascending from the landing-place to the higher parts of
that calcareous island. And I have lately examined a few
specimens which were obtained by the Baron Paiva; and
although I have no note of their precise habitat, I think it is
more than probable that they likewise came from the Ilheo de
Baixo.
Pupa ferraria.
P. elongata, parallela, cylindrica, subopaca, laete rufo- aut
subnigrescenti-brunnea, dense et argute costulata, paulo minus
dura ; anfractibus convexis, vel concoloribus vel laete fasciatis ;
apertura magna, rotundato-auriformi, 4-plicata, sc. 2 ventrali
(exteriore tenui, lamelliformi, obliqua, flexuosa, interiore parva
brevi et profunde immersa) 1 columellari (superiore nulla). et 1
palatali (Ima et 3tia nullis); peristomate angusto, tenui, acuti-
usculo, labro extus rotundato (nee sinuato), denticulo obsolete,
sinu indistincto aperto. Long. lin. circa If.
Pupa ferraria, 1 Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 211 (1854)
pars, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 132 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in monte ' Pico d'Anna Ferreira '
dicto praBcipue, in rupium fissuris, latitans. Mense Decembri
ineunte A.D. 1848 a meipso detecta.
I have thought it desirable to give a fresh diagnosis of the
P. ferraria, in order to point out in what it differs from its im-
mediate allies ; for until accurately examined it might easily be
confounded (as indeed it evidently was by the Baron Paiva) with
at all events the P. corneocostata. There can be no question
however that it is truly distinct from that species, although
doubtless belonging to the same geographical assemblage, for
it is not only (on the average) a trifle larger and relatively
broader and more elongate, as well as less solid (or more thin in
texture), but its costse are likewise somewhat less coarse and
more closely set together, and its aperture is proportionately a
little larger and more rounded-oi^wards at the lip, the peri-
stome moreover being not only acuter and less developed, but
more completely and widely interrupted between the outer ven-
tral plait and the columella. The callosity also between that
plait (which is itself thinner or more lamelliform) and the angle
1 Although there was already a Pupa (from northern Italy) which was
published by Porro, in 1848, as the P. Ferrari (vide Mai. Com. 57. t. i. f. 4)
I nevertheless have not deemed it necessary to propose a fresh name for this
Porto-Santan species, seeing that the two titles (however near orthographi-
cally) are not absolutely identical.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 231
of the lip is considerably less thickened, being occasionally even
sub-obsolete ; the inner ventral plait is still smaller, it being very
short and deeply immersed ; and the upper one on the colu-
mella, as well as the first and third palatial ones, appear to be
absent.
The P. ferraria is locally abundant on the mountains of
Porto Santo, particularly in the western division of the island,
where it was first detected by myself, on the 7th of December,
1848, within the crevices of the exposed weather-beaten rocks
of the Pico d'Anna Ferreira. I subsequently obtained it in the
same locality during April 1849 ; and it was met with by Mr.
Lowe and myself (the former having also found it on the Pico
d'Espigao) in May of 1855.
The localities given for the P. ferraria by the Baron Paiva,
in his late monograph, are not to be trusted, seeing that he
confounded it with the P. corneocostata (from the Cabepo da
Malhada) and the P. relevata (from the Ilheo de Baixo). I
have little doubt therefore that the ' Ilheo de Baixo ' and the
6 Ilheo de Ferro,' which are cited by him (in addition to the Pico
d'Anna Ferreira) for its habitat, pertain in reality to those
two species.
Pupa degenerata, n. sp.
P. subconico-cylindrica (sc. apicem versus obsolete subatten-
ata), opaca, pallide brunnea, remote sed argute et oblique cos-
tata ; anfractibus convexis, valde tumidulis, interdum obsolete
subfasciatis ; apertura parva, rotundata, distincte 1- (indistincte
4-)plicata, sc. 2 ventralibus (etiam exteriore parva brevi, inte-
riore minuta valde immersa inconspicua), 1 columellari parva
profunde immersa (superiore nulla), et 1 palatali immersa sub-
obsoleta ; peristomate subcompleto (i. e. inter plicam ventralem
exteriorem et columellam tenuiter continuato) ; labro extus
rotundato, denticulo obsolete, sinu aperto indistincto. Long,
lin. 1-1^.
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; exemplaribus quatuor (cum P.
monticolce var. @. commixtis) a Barone Castello de Paiva com-
municatis.
The four examples from which the above diagnosis has been
compiled, and which were mixed up with some specimens of the
' var. /3. pumilio ' of the P. monticola which were obtained by
the Baron Paiva from Porto Santo, I at first thought might repre-
sent some degenerated state of the latter, in which the aperture
was reduced in dimensions and unusually rounded, and the plaits
almost obsolete ; nevertheless since they display a number of
other peculiarities, and moreover appear to stand in exactly the
same relation to that species as the P. Icevigata does, in Ma-
232 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
deira proper, to the P. sphinctostoma, it seems impossible not
to acknowledge them as truly and specifically distinct.
Judging therefore from the material now before me, the P.
degenerata may be said to differ from its immediate allies, and
more particularly from the P. monticola, in being less strictly
cylindrical (it having a decided, though not very conspicuous,
tendency to be slightly and gradually attenuated towards the
apex), in its volutions (which are exceedingly tumid) having
their costae very coarse, remote, and oblique, and in its aperture
being extremely small and rounded, with the plaits so unusually
diminished in size as to be almost obsolete. Indeed even the
outer ventral one is very short and small ; whilst the only other
three which are traceable (namely the inner ventral one, the
lower one on the columella, and the middle palatial one) are
greatly reduced, inconspicuous, and deeply immersed.
Pupa monticola.
Helix monticola, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 63. t. 6.
f. 33 (1831)
Pupa monticola, Pfeiff., Mon. Eel. ii. 335 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 212 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 67. t. 16. f. 3, 4 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 133 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; status typicus prsecipue in cacu-
minibus montium, sed ' var. /3. pumilio ' in rupium fissuris in
locis minus elevatis plerumque congregat.
This little costate Pupa is locally abundant in the fissures,
and on the ledges, of the rocks in Porto Santo, to which island
it seems to be peculiar, occurring both amongst small stones
and vegetable detritus at a high elevation (like the P. calathis-
cus), and likewise in exposed spots of a comparatively low alti-
tude. In the former case it is, on the average, a trifle larger
and paler, with the ultimate volution just appreciably more
developed, the costse a little more flexuose and remote, and the
upper palatial plait not quite so strongly expressed ; and as this
is the particular state which was originally described by Mr.
Lowe, it must perhaps be regarded as the normal one. Under
this phasis the species occurs sparingly, often in company with
the P. calathiscus, on the summits of the Pico de Facho, the
Pico Branco, &c. Nevertheless, so far as my own observations
are concerned, it is far more abundant in certain exposed, wea-
ther-beaten spots but slightly raised above the sea-level ; and in
such situations the shell is usually a trifle smaller, darker, and
more solid, with its costse a little less sinuate and more closely
set together, and with its ultimate volution and aperture just
MADEIRAN GROUP. 233
appreciably less developed, the third palatial plait, on the con-
trary, being more so, and distinctly longer.
The latter of the two states just alluded to I would define as
the var. /3. pumilio ; and were it not that I appear to possess
examples which constitute a complete passage into the other, I
might have been inclined to regard it as specifically distinct
from (however intimately allied to) the normal P. monticola.
But, as it is, I think there can be no doubt that the forms in
question are but slightly differing races of a single species,
assumed respectively in the higher and the lower districts.
The 'var. /8. pumilio' was taken in profusion by Mr. Lowe
and myself, on the 10th of May 1855, within crevices of the ex-
posed rocks, at a low elevation, on the northern coast of Porto
Santo, namely in the abrupt and almost inaccessible region
behind (and below) the Pico Branco, facing the Ilheos de Nor-
deste ; and several examples of it are also now before me, which
were obtained from Porto Santo by the Baron Paiva, but I have
no memorandum of the precise locality in which they were
found. This particular phasis of the P. monticola may be enun-
ciated thus : Var. /8. pumilio. Curtula, obtuse cylindrica, sub-
opaca, rufo-brunnea, dense costulata ; anfractibus convexis,
tumidulis, interdum fasciatis; apertura parvula, rotundato-
auriformi, distincte 6- (indistincte 7-) plicata, sc. 2 ventrali
(exteriore obliqua flexuosa, interiore minore immersa sed parum
magna), 1 columellari (superiore subobsoleta), et 3 palatalibus
(remotis, sed elongatis conspicuis); peristomate incompleto (sc.
inter plicam ventralem exteriorem et columellamlate interrupt*)),
labro extus subrotundato (vix sinuato), denticulo obsolete, sinu
parum distincto. Long. lin. 1 1J.
Occasional large examples of this particular variety of the
P. monticola might at first sight be almost mistaken for abnor-
mally small ones of the P. corneocostata ; nevertheless the fact
of their peristome being completely interrupted between the
outer ventral plait and the columella will, apart from other mi-
nute characters, generally serve at once to separate them from
the latter.
The P. monticola is stated by the Baron Paiva (Mon. Moll.
Mad. p. 134) to occur in a subfossil state at the Zimbral d'Areia ;
and although it is far from unlikely that this may be the case,
I feel that further evidence is necessary before his assertion can
be accepted ; for, in the first place, the Baron does not appear
to have even known the P. monticola properly (as is evident
from his doubts concerning its true distinctness from the P.
millegrana, a species with which it has almost nothing in com-
mon), whilst his confusion of the P. corneocostata with the P.
ferraria leads me to suspect that the former of those two spe-
234 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
cies is the subfossil one (at the Zimbral d'Areia) to which he
alludes.
Pupa calathiscus.
Helix calathiscus, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 64. t. 6.
f. 34 (1831)
Pupa calathiscus, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 244 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 212 (1824)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 68. t. 16. f. 5, 6 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 134 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; ad cacumina montium in rupium
fissuris latitans. Semifossilis hinc inde haud infrequens.
The comparatively large, and beautiful, P. calathiscus
(although belonging to the same solid, and strongly costate,
geographical type as the P. monticola and corneocostata, which
are equally Porto-Santan) may be known from its allies not
only by its greater bulk and more oval form, but likewise by the
ribs of its extremely ventricose and appreciably banded volu-
tions being still coarser, as well as more curved and remote ;
and by its aperture having the lip a good deal developed and
often subpellucid, and the three palatial plaits subconfluent,
the lower one being almost lost, or absorbed, in the general cal-
losity, whilst the middle one is elongated backwards into a
subtriangular process, and the upper one is appreciable but
short, being abruptly terminated internally, as well as
suffused into the (sometimes obsolete) lateral denticle. The
upper plait of the columella appears to be absent ; the inner
ventral one is small and immersed ; and the outer ventral
one is connected with the angle of the lip by a thick cor-
neous rim, which occasionally takes the shape (as in the Ma-
deiran P. laurinea) of a sub-isolated tubercle.
The P. calathiscus, which is apparently peculiar to Porto
Santo, has much the same habits as the P. monticola (in its
normal state), occurring more particularly on the ledges, and
within the crevices, of the rocks at a high elevation. Under
such circumstances it is tolerably common, amongst vegetable
detritus, on the summits of the Pico de Facho, the Pico
Branco, &c. ; but I have never observed it at a decidedly low
altitude.
In a subfossil state the P. calathiscus is not generally
abundant ; nevertheless at the Zimbral d'Areia it was met
with by Mr. Lowe and myself in tolerable profusion. The
subfossil examples are a little smaller than the recent ones.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 235
( Alvearella, Lowe.)
Pupa abbreviata,
Pupa abbreviata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 213 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 84 (1 854)
Paiva, Man. Moll. Mad. 137 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; recens rarissime. In stratu conchyli-
fero ad Canipal magis frequenter, tamen parce, semifossilis
occurrit.
The present small Pupa, which appears to be almost unique
in a recent state, may be known by its short, broad, obtuse,
cylindric-oblong form, and by its rather closely but coarsely
costate surface ; and with the exception of the P. gibba it is
the only one of the strongly ribbed species which has the outer
lip externally sinuate, the denticle powerfully developed, and
the volutions (the basal one of which is, as in the P. gibba,
unusually short) not tumid. Its costse are oblique and slightly
flexuose ; its first ventral plait (which is united to the angle of
the lip by a thick corneous sphincter) is oblique and prominent,
the inner one is deeply immersed, and the upper one of its
(likewise very oblique) columella seems to be absent.
The P. abbreviata, in a subfossil condition, is not very
uncommon in the calcareous deposits near Canipal (where I be-
lieve it was first detected by myself ) ; but it has not been
observed, in the similar subfossiliferous beds, out of Madeira
proper.
Pupa gibba.
Pupa gibba, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. iii. 552 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 213 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 69 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 136 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; et recens et semifossilis rarissima.
This solid little Pupa is a trifle smaller, and still more
shortened or obtusely cylindric, than even the P. abbreviata,
its outline being almost subquadrate ; and its volutions are more
decidedly flattened, as well as more powerfully but more spar-
ingly costate. In the obliquity of its columella and plaits
(and therefore in the shape of its mouth), as well as in its
sinuated lip and its strongly developed, or internally prominent,
denticle, it is much the same as that species ; nevertheless its
two ventral plaits are very different from those of the P. abbre-
viata, the outer one (which although rather close at its origin
to the angle of the lip, is nevertheless almost unconnected with
236 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
it) being exceedingly prominent, but suddenly truncated, or
almost emarginate, internally ; whilst even the inner one is
likewise unusually prominent and developed, it being thicker
and less immersed (in proportion to the size of the shell) than
in any Pupa which I have hitherto examined.
The P. gibba seems, in a recent condition, to be of the
utmost rarity ; indeed the only two examples, so far as I am
aware, which have as yet been detected were found by myself,
amongst loose vegetable detritus, at the base of the lofty per-
pendicular rocks towards the head of the Eibeira de Sta. Luzia,
in the south of Madeira proper. But although thus scarce in a
living state, it is not so particularly rare in the subfossiliferous
beds at Canial ; though its minute size is apt to render it
somewhat liable to escape observation.
( Mastula, Lowe.)
Pupa lamellosa.
Pupa lamellosa, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. (1852)
Pfei/., Mon. Ed. iii. 556 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 214 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 66 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 138 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; recens semifossilisqae rarissima.
The P. lamellosa, although short, small, and strongly cos-
tate, belongs to a totally different type from any of the preceding
species, its abbreviated, turbinate form (the apex being unusually
truncated or immersed), and less hardened texture, added to
the tendency of its very oblique and widely separated ribs to be
occasionally somewhat foleaceo-dilated in the centre (as though
slightly and obsoletely spinulose) and the shortness of its aper-
ture (which is rather wider than long, with the lip acute, and
exteriorly rounded or unsinuate), giving it a character which it
is impossible to mistake. Its three basal volutions are extremely
tumid ; and its outer ventral plait (which is totally unconnected
by a callous sphincter with the angle of the lip) is exceedingly
lamelliform and obliquely curved, whilst the inner ventral one
(like the palatial ones and the upper one on the columella) is
obsolete, the lower columellary one, however, being tolerably
developed. The c sinus ' is hardly at all expressed.
The P. lamellosa is one of the rarest of the Pupce, and has
been observed hitherto only in the south of Madeira proper at
intermediate elevations. It has been taken sparingly by Mr.
Leacock in the Vasco Gil ravine, where I have myself also met
with it, as likewise in the Kibeira de Sta. Luzia.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 237
Jn a subfossil state the P. lamellosa occurs, though very
rarely, in the calcareous beds near Canical.
( Staurodon, Lowe.)
Pupa saxicola.
Pupa saxicola et seminulum, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix.
(1852)
P/ei/., Mon. Hel. iii. 559 (1853)
et seminulum, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
214 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 62. t. 16.
f. 13, 14(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad., 139
(1867)
Habitat Maderam : sub lapidibus in aridis saxosis submari-
timis hinc inde vulgaris. In statu semifossili juxta Canical
parce occurrit.
Well distinguished from all the other members of the genus
here enumerated by its extremely minute size (it being the
smallest of the Madeiran Pupae), by the paucity of its subven-
tricose volutions (in which respect it agrees with the P. fana-
lensis), by its outline being somewhat obesely oblong, or almost
equally attenuated before and behind, by its surface being sub-
opake and very densely and delicately striated, and by its aper-
ture being rather small and a good deal rounded, the ' sinus '
and labial tooth being obsolete. Its plaits too are somewhat
peculiar, the outer ventral one forming a small but prominent
tubercle nearly adjoining the angle of the lip, whilst the four
inner ones are large but deeply immersed.
The P. saxicola occurs beneath stones and scoriae in dry
rocky spots, of a low elevation, in the south of Madeira proper,
and was first taken by myself, during April 1848, at the Praia
Bay, to the westward of Funchal (where it was also met with by
Mr. Leacock on the 1st of May of the same year), under loose
pieces of basalt, at the top of the cliff, at the eastern end ; and
it has likewise been found, according to the Baron Paiva,
at the Feijaa dos Asnos and the Cabo Girao.
The P. seminulum, Lowe, which was detected by Mr. Lea-
cock at the Cabo Grarajao, or Brazen Head, does not appear to
me to differ specifically, in any single particular, from the pre-
sent species.
In a subfossil condition the P. saxicola is not uncommon in
calcareous deposits near Canical.
238 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Grenus 11. CLATJSILIA, Drap.
Clausilia crispa.
Helix crispa, Loiue, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 65. t. 6. f. 36
(1831)
Clausilia crispa, Pfeif., Mon. Hel. ii. 484 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 215 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 70. t. 16. f. 17-19 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 142 (1867)
Habitat Maderam sylvaticam ; in intermediis, prsecipue ad
truncos et sub cortice laurorum arido laxo, degens. In statu
semifossili, ad Canipal, parce occurrit, ibidem varietatem
majorem (= var. decolorata, mihi), sed paulo grossius costulata,
simulans.
The large and beautiful Clausilia crispa (so remarkable,
inter alia, for the fine costse of its entire surface being densely
crowded together, and on the basal volutions very minutely un-
dulating) is confined to Madeira proper, where it occurs princi-
pally beneath the loosened bark of old laurels within the damp
sylvan districts of intermediate altitudes ; and it is surprising
to me that Mr. Lowe, in spite of his almost unparalleled accu-
racy, should have failed to record (even whilst possessing an
abundance of material from which to judge) that it puts on two
very opposite phases, which might well nigh have been treated
as specifically distinct did they not merge into each other by
intermediate gradations. The form which he described under
the name of G. crispa (and which must therefore be accepted
as the typical one) is the smaller of them, and is of a more or
less dark brown but elegantly marbled with irregular yellowish-
white cloudy dashes and smaller longitudinal streaks (the latter
of which are many of them subconfluent) ; whilst the other
(which I would define as the ' var. ft. decolorata ') is consider-
ably larger, of a more or less pale yellowish-brown, or brownish-
white (and therefore concolorous, or free from pallid blotches
and streaks), and with the peristome not only a little more
deltoid in outline, but likewise broader and more outwardly
flattened or developed. This latter state, which I have met
with commonly on the trunks of old laurels at S. Antonio da
Serra, as well as in the Eibeira de Sta. Luzia and elsewhere, I
would enunciate briefly as follows :
CLAUSILIA CRISPA, var. ft. decolorata. Major, plus minus
obscure fulvescenti-albida, concolor (nee marmorata), costulis
undique paululum magis elevatis, apertura vix magis deltiformi,
peristomate latiore aut magis expanso. Long. 6-8 lin. ; diam.
maj. 2.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 239
The C. crispa occurs also, though sparingly, at Canipal, in
a subfossil condition ; but all the examples which I have yet
inspected pertain to the larger form, just described as the 6 var.
/3. decolor uta ;' yet the majority of them differ from their
recent analogues in being a trifle more coarsely and not quite so
closely sculptured, the so-called ' striae ' in some examples
amounting to appreciably separated, well-defined costse. In
spite however of the latter peculiarity (a character which is
eminently unstable in the Madeiran Clausilias), I cannot detect
anything about them to warrant their isolation as even a decided
6 variety.'
Clausilia deltostoma.
Helix deltostoma, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 65. t. 6.
f. 37 (1831)
Clausilia deltostoma, Pfei/., Mon. Hd. ii. 410 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 215
(1854)
et Lowei, Alb., Mai. Mad. 71. t. 16.
f. 23-25 (1854)
obesiuscula, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist.xii. 339 (1863)
deltostoma, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 142 (1867)
Habitat ins. omnes Maderenses ; sub lapidibus vulgatissima.
In statu semifossili parce occurrit in Portu Sancto, necnon in
ins. Deserta Australi.
This is the universal Clausilia throughout the whole
Madeiran archipelago, and one which is so eminently variable,
both in solidity and in the number and development of its
costse, that were it not for the intermediate links which most
assuredly connect them, it would be almost impossible to believe
that the two extremes of form (when viewed per se) could be
conspecific with each other. It would appear however to be
singularly dependent, not only upon the nature of the soil, and
district, in which it occurs, but likewise upon the elevation of
the latter, the examples from low and arid regions towards the
coast being more solid in substance, and with their ridges more
coarsely matured (particularly when, as in Porto Santo, the
area of distribution is for the most part a calcareous one), than
those which have been collected in higher and damper locali-
ties further removed from the sea. Indeed it is not often that
the C. deltostoma ascends at all above the altitude of about
2500 feet ; and even the individuals from the upper limits of
that range are usually smaller and thinner than the others, as
well as more glossy and less coarsely (and more closely) sculp-
tured, and frequently too of a paler tint. It was the race which
240 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
is characterized by these peculiarities that Mr. Lowe defined as
the ' 8. depauperata. 1 The C. deltostoma is also very unstable,
like certain of the Pupce, in the exact number of its volutions ;
and in the ' 8. depauperata ' the latter are nearly always slightly
less numerous, and therefore (as a consequence) relatively some-
what enlarged and lengthened.
It is however in the lower and submaritime tracts that the
present Clausilia attains its maximum, where it is extremely
abundant beneath stones, and even within the crevices of the
walls in cultivated spots. Throughout Madeira proper and on
the three Desertas the specimens from such situations (although
more or less variable inter se) constitute, as a whole, the typical
ones ; and to these Mr. Lowe applied the additional distinctive
name of ' 8. crebristriataS They are on the average larger and
more solid than those which constitute the ' S. depauperata^
with generally an extra whorl and the spire a trifle more at-
tenuated or drawn-out ; and their surface is for the most part
appreciably more opake, while the costse are not only less
densely packed together but likewise somewhat more raised.
But the examples from the eminently dry and calcareous
island of Porto Santo have the characters of the normal (or
last-mentioned) state (as it were) unduly exaggerated, the
shell being, if possible, even more solid still, with the ridges
monstrously developed (those of them which are the most ele-
vated being, as a general rule, reduced in number, so as often
to appear exceedingly remote). This Porto-San tan race repre-
sents the ' a. raricosta ' of Lowe ; and it is in some instances so
distinct from the typical one (which abounds in Madeira and on
the Desertas), not merely in its greatly enlarged costse but in
the tumidity of its volutions, that it was proposed by Dr. Al-
bers as a separate species- under the title of 4 C. Lowei? That
it is no more however than an insular modification, peculiar to
Porto Santo and the small adjacent islets, there cannot I
imagine be any question. And, so far as its. distribution is con-
cerned, I may add en passant that I have myself met with it
on the Ilheo de Cima and the Ilheo de Baixo ; whilst from the
Ilheo de Ferro it was obtained by the Baron Paiva, as well as
from the Ilheos de Nordeste the ashy-purplish tint of the
examples from which induced him to apply to them the varietal
name of ' purpurinaS
There is however one more phasis of this protean Clausilia
which stands out from the less important varieties as worthy of
notice, and which at first sight appears so peculiar that Mr.
Lowe in (1863) described it, under the name of C. obesiuscula,
as specifically distinct. This particular form was obtained by
Senhor J. M. Moniz near the Levada Debaixo, not far from
MADEIRAN GROUP. 241
Can 190, in the south-east of Madeira proper, from beneatli the
dead leaves of Sempervivum glandulosum, Ait., which im-
plies a modus vivendi resembling, apparently, that of the C.
exigua. The more obtuse, fusiform outline, and greater obesity,
of the shell, the whorls of which are slightly diminished in num-
ber, and consequently somewhat elongated and enlarged, added
to its surface being less opake and its costae both closer and less
elevated, give it such a different aspect, when viewed alongside
(for instance) the ' status a. raricosta ' from Porto Santo, that
it is difficult to believe that it can be conspecifia with that very
solid and powerfully ribbed modification of the C. deltostoma.
Yet Mr. Lowe, even whilst publishing it provisionally as new,
recorded his doubts as to whether it would prove in reality to be
more than ' a mere local form or variety of the extremely poly-
morphous common Madeiran C. deltostoma, adding that it
approached so nearly to his ' status &. depauperata ' of that
species that it seemed to be almost connected (through the
latter) with the ordinary type. And indeed there can be little
doubt, I think, that it is connected, the ' 8. depauperata '
possessing the same peculiarity of volutions, surface, and sculp-
ture, as the obesiuscula, from which it mainly differs in its
smaller size, its rather less thickened outline, and its more
pallid, unspeckled hue. Therefore it seems to me that we
must be content, despite its essentially different aspect from
the opposite extreme of the species, to regard the obesiusculd as
representing only another, but remarkable, phasis of the mar-
vellously plastic G. deltostoma.
In a subfossil state the C. deltostoma occurs sparingly in
Porto Santo (where I have met with it at the Zimbral d'Areia),
and on the Southern Deserta ; but I am not aware that it has
yet been observed in Madeira proper.
Clausilia exigua,
Helix exigua, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 66. t. 6.
f. 39 (1831)
Clausilia exigua, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 485 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 216 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad 71. t. 16. f. 20-22 (1854)
., Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 144 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; sub foliis Sempervivi aridis emortuis
ad rupes submaritimas crescentibus prsecipue latitans.
This little Clausilia has much the outline, fewer volutions,
and thinner substance, of the ' status S. depauperata 'of the
last species ; nevertheless it is still smaller and somewhat more
upically-obtuse, its whorls are a trifle more convex, its costse are
242 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
more closely set together and more flexuose, its surface is more
opake, and its colour is of a uniform dark brown. Its mode
of life too is not the same, it being found almost exclu-
sively under the dead leaves of the Semperviva which stud the
faces of the rocks in Madeira proper at low and intermediate
altitudes ; though it is now and then to be met with (as at
Canical), sparingly, even beneath stones. In this peculiarity of
its habitat it would seem, it is true, to have something in com-
mon with the ' status 7. obesiuscula ' of the C. deltostoma ;
nevertheless the latter is exceptional, as regards its modus vi-
vendi, for that species, the C. deltostoma (in its numerous
phases) being nearly always found adhering to stones, whether
about houses and walls, or in dry and exposed spots near the
coast.
Genus 12. BALEA, Pridx.
Balea perversa,
Turbo perversus, Linn., Fna. Suec. No. 2172 (1761)
Balea perversa, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 387 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. ZooL Soc. Loud. 215 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 69. t. 16. f. 15, 16 (1854)
Morel, Hist. Nat. des Acor. 206 (1860)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 140 (1867)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 223 (1876)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in summo ipsissimo mentis
' Pico de Facho ' dicti, a meipso, tempore vernali 1 848, in ru-
pium fissuris basalticarum, parce lecta.
The common European B. perversa was detected by myself,
during the spring of 1848, in Porto Santo, namely within fis-
sures of the exposed, basaltic, almost inaccessible, weather-beaten
rocks on the northern (and very precipitous) side of the extreme
summit of the Pico de Facho (about 1665 feet above the sea) ;
a locality in which I again met with it in April 1859. And it
has subsequently been obtained by the Baron Paiva, though
very sparingly, from the same spot, which, so far as I am
aware, represents its only ascertained habitat throughout the
Madeiran, Canarian, and Cape Verde archipelagos. 1 It appears
however to exist rather abundantly in the Azores.
1 The Baron Paiva states that it occurs also on the summit of the Pico
Branco ; but as his Porto-Santan material was not obtained by himself, I
think that that particular habitat (although by no means an improbable one)
requires further corroboration.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 243
Genus 13. ACHATINA, Lamarck.
( Acicula, Kisso.)
Achatina aoicula.
Buccinium acicula, Mutt., Verm. Hist. ii. 150 (1774)
Helix acicula, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 59 (1831)
Achatina acicula, Pfeiff., Mon. Eel. ii. 274 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 201 (1854)
Glandina acicula, Alb., Mai. Mad. 59. t. 15. f. 17, 18
(1854)
Csecilianella nyctelia, Bourg., Rev. et Mag. Zool. 430
(1856)
Achatina acicula, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 114 (1867)
Cionella acicula, Mouse., Faun. Mai. des Can. 135 (1872)
Achatina acicula, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 223 (1876)
Habitat Maderam, Portum Sanctum, Desertam Grandem,
et Desertam Australem ; sub lapidibus in herbidis humidius-
culis (saepius parum inferioribus), hinc inde congregans.
The European and north- African A. acicula (which I met
with also towards the western coast of Palma in the Canarian
archipelago) is not uncommon in Madeira proper, where it
occurs beneath stones in rather moist and grassy places, parti-
cularly at a somewhat low elevation and in the vicinity of the
coast. I likewise found it very sparingly on the Deserta Grande,
and it appears to have been obtained from the Southern Deserta
by the Baron Paiva. In Porto Santo it was not taken either by
Mr. Lowe or myself ; but it is recorded from thence, as well as
from one of the adjacent islets, by Mr. Watson.
The extremely narrow, acicular, but conical form of this
little Achatina, added to its fragile, subpellucid substance, its
pale, whitish, almost colourless, and glossy surface, its produced
spire, very oblique suture and elongate penultimate volution,
its short, arcuated, and basally truncate columella, its thin,
acute peristome, and the complete freedom of its aperture from
callosities and plaits, will suffice to distinguish it from every
other member of the group with which we are concerned.
I have re-examined the Madeiran specimens of this Acha-
tina with the greatest care, and I cannot see that they differ in
any respect from the ordinary European ones, or from those
which were taken by myself in Palma of the Canarian archi-
pelago ; and I have no hesitation therefore in treating the
A. nyctelia, of Bouguignat, as absolutely identical with the
acicula.
R 2
244 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Aehatina eulima.
T. linearis, angustissime cylindracea, gracillima, interdum
obsoletissime arcuatim subcurvata aut eccentrica, polita, hya-
lina, albida ; spira elongata, subconico-cylindrica, apice obtuso,
sutura obliquissima et distincte marginata ; anfractibus 6 J,
planis, etiam intermediis elongatis ; apertura (spira multo
breviore) subovata, antice acuminata, postice latiusciile arcuato-
rotundata, pariete ventral! in medio uniplicato (plica trans-
versa, intrante, distincta") ; peristomate simplici, acuto, margi-
nibus lamina crassiuscula junctis, dextro rotundato, in basalem
et columellarem regulariter curvatim (nee angulatim) continue ;
columella curvata et haud contorta, postice non abrupte trun-
cata, sc. in marginem basalem gradatim et facile mergente.
Long. tin. 2^-3 ; lat. may. f .
Aehatina eulima, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 210 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 115 (1867)
Pfeiff., Mon. Eel. vi. 243 (1868)
Habitat Maderam, et Portum Sanctum, rarissime ; in ilia
recens, sed in hac semifossilis, a meipso detecta.
Obs. Ab A. adcula, Mull., valde distincta ; differt testa
longiore, angustiore, magis lineari, ac magis cylindrica, inter-
dum obsolete etiam subcurvate excentrica; anfractibus inter-
mediis longioribus magisque plano-cylindricis, apicali semiglo-
boso-obtusulo, sutura obliquissima ; apertura subbreviore et
postice latiore, sc. ibidem magis exstante rotundata ; pariete
ventrali plica media instructo ; necnon columella ipsa omnino
simplici (haud postice abrupte terminata), in marginem basalem
gradatim et facile coeunte.
This most little remarkable little Aehatina has hitherto
been known only from a subfossilized example, in a fractured
condition (its apex having been accidentally destroyed), which
was found by myself, many years ago, at the Zimbral d'Areia,
in Porto Santo ; and, although I have had no opportunity of
observing the animal, its manifest relationship with the A. aci-
cula (even though differing from it, in some measure, structu-
rally) justifies me, nevertheless, in treating it as a true Aeha-
tina (of the Acicula section), rather than as a Lovea.
The original type of the A. eulima, which was described by
Lowe in 1854, is now in the University Museum at Oxford,
and I have consequently not been able to compare it with the
examples (in a recent state) which were taken by myself in
Madeira proper, and which are at the present moment before
me; nevertheless the diagnostic features of the species are so
well-marked, and peculiar, that I think it is impossible to err
in identifying the Madeiran individuals with the subfossilized
MADEIRAN GROUP. 245
Porto-Santan one, even though the latter is, so far as I can
recollect, a trifle more curved, or eccentric, in its general con-
tour than those from which the above (emended) diagnosis has
been compiled.
The most important feature which separates the A. eulima
from the acicula consists in the presence of a conspicuous
medial plait on its ventral paries ; but it has other character-
istics also which combine to separate it from that species. Thus
it is not only longer, more cylindric, and proportionately still
slenderer, with a tendency to be obsoletely bent (as in the
marine genus Eulima), but its whorls (particularly the inter-
mediate ones) are altogether more lengthened-out and flattened ;
and its aperture is relatively a little shorter, as well as broader
(and more rounded) posteriorly, the basal margin being more
obtusely arcuate, and merging almost without an intervening
angle into the columella, which is narrowed gradually (and is
not abruptly truncated) behind. The suture is exceedingly
oblique, and its surface is of a hyaline white.
Not suspecting them to be otherwise than rather narrow
and elongated individuals of the acicula, I unfortunately made
no note as to the exact spot where my specimens of the
A. eulima were met with in Madeira proper ; but they were
certainly obtained by myself, and in all probability within the
Funchal district. The species however is manifestly rare, for I
find only four of them, out of nearly 90 examples of the
A. acicula which I have just overhauled.
( CocUicopa, Fer.)
Achatina lubrica.
Helix lubrica, Mutt., Verm. Hist. ii. 104 (1774)
Glandina lubrica, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 197 (1860)
subcylindrica, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 164 (1861)
Achatina lubrica, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 223 (1876)
var. /9. maderensis, Lowe.
Helix lubrica, var., Lowe, Camb. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 61.
t. 6. f. 29 (1831)
. Achatina lubrica, 7., Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 273 (1848)
Bulimus maderensis, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 119 (1852)
Achatina maderensis, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iii. 504 (1853)
? ? 55 Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 199
(1854)
Glandina maderensis, Alb., Mai. Mad. 55. t. 14. f. 20 21
(1854)
Achatina maderensis, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 104 (1867)
Habitat Macleram; sub lapidibus in inferioribus inter-
246 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
mediisque, prgesertim cultis, late diffusa. Forsan ex Europa
introducta.
It is only recently that the strictly typical form of this
common and widely spread European Achatina has been found
in Madeira, the Kev. E. B. Watson having collected several
examples of it, during the summer of 1866, in the garden of
the late English Consul, Mr. Veitch, at the Jardim da Serra,
more than 2000 feet above the sea. The specimens which have
been obtained elsewhere (and the species is well-nigh universal
within the cultivated districts) are rather smaller and narrower
(or less ventricose) than the ordinary ones of more northern
latitudes, and relatively somewhat longer, the volutions being
appreciably less convex, and the penultimate one perhaps a
trifle less abbreviated ; but I do not think that they can be
regarded as representing more than a slight and unimportant
geographical phasis of the European type, an opinion which has
been expressed also by Mr. Watson and others. Indeed even
Mr. Lowe himself treated them as such originally, though he
subsequently registered them, under the trivial name of made-
rensis, as distinct from the lubrica.
The species, which has doubtless been introduced into
Madeira, would appear to have established itself equally in the
Azorean archipelago, where the examples are said to be pre-
cisely similar to the ordinary European ones ; and it is likewise
quoted by Morelet (Journ. de Conch, xiii. 242 ; 1873), though
he does not mention upon what authority, as having been found
in the Cape Verdes.
Genus 14. LOVEA, Watson.
This is a genus which has lately been established by the
Eev. K. B. Watson (vide Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.' 677; 1875)
to contain the truly indigenous species in the Madeiran archi-
pelago which have hitherto been cited as Achatinas ; and it
would seem, from Mr. Watson's remarks, to possess just about a
similar claim for generic separation as Arion does from Limax
or as Nanina does from Helix. Its main distinctive feature
consists in the highly significant fact that the tail of the
animal, which is obliquely lopped-off at the tip, is furnished
with a mucous gland on the angle which is formed by the
truncation, at a short distance behind the extreme apex. And,
as a further peculiarity, ' the mantle,' adds Mr. Watson, ' ex-
tends beyond the edge of the aperture all round. It is thinly
spread over the outside of the shell, and extends like a tongue
backwards behind the posterior corner of the aperture.' All the
members of the genus have the shell highly polished, 'its
MADEIRAN GROUP. 247
brilliant lustre being obviously connected with the perpetual
movement upon it of the mantle, and especially of its posterior
prolongation (a movement eminently characteristic, likewise, of
Nanina)'
The precise species which were examined by Mr. Watson
are the melampoides, tornatellina, triticea, and oryza\ and,
through the kindness of Senhor J. M. Moniz, I have since been
enabled to forward to him living examples of what we have
hitherto regarded as the folliculus , Gron., but which Mr. Wat-
son (believing that the caudal gland could not possibly have
been overlooked in the widely distributed Gastropod which is
known on the continent by that name) has lately re-described
under the title of ' Lovea Wollastoni.' Into this particular
question I will not now enter (my own conviction, nevertheless,
being that the Madeiran and Mediterranean shells do not differ
specifically from each other, and that the important structure
upon which the genus Lovea is based has simply, in the case of
the folliculus, Gron., escaped the observation of European natu-
ralists) ; but, be the nomenclature what it may, there can at
any rate be no question that the subterminal gland is just as
conspicuous in the 'folliculus' (whether rightly or wrongly so
called) of Madeira as it is in the few species which were over-
hauled originally by Mr. Watson, and that consequently it is a
true and veritable exponent of his genus Lovea. As no less
than Jive of these immediately allied forms have therefore been
ascertained to possess the peculiarity to which attention has
just been drawn, we shall perhaps be warranted in assuming it
for the remainder, at all events until it has been actually
proved that it does not exist. 1
Two species however which were examined by Mr. Watson
seemed to be destitute of the structure to which I have above
referred, and they must consequently be excluded from the
genus as denned by him. These are the common European
A. acicula and lubrica, enumerated above, which are mere
importations into Madeira, and belong apparently to a different
type.
( Ferussacia, Bisso.)
Lovea folliculus.
Helix folliculus, Gronov., Zoophyl. fasc. 3. 296. t. 19. f. 15,
16 (1781)
Achatina folliculus Pfeiff., Mon. HeL ii. 283 (1848)
1 As for the Canarian species, they are too nearly related to the dis-
tinctively Madeiran ones, and to the folliculus, not to be admitted (by pre-
sumption) into the same genus ; but I would wish, nevertheless, to state that
their animals have yet to be examined.
248 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Achatina folliculus, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 200
(1854)
Glandina folliculus, Alb., Mai. Mad. 57. t. 15. f. 3, 4
(1854)
Achatina folliculus, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 106 (1867)
Lovea Wollastoni, Watson, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 334 (1877)
Habitat Maderam australem ; sub lapidibus in aridis apricis
inferioribns, praecipue inter dumeta Opuntice Tunw, Dill., haud
infrequens.
The Achatina folliculus of Mediterranean latitudes ( a
species which occurs more particularly in south-western Europe
and the north of Africa) is not uncommon at low elevations,
around Funchal, in Madeira proper, where it was first detected
by Mr. Leacock, and where it is far from unlikely that it may have
become naturalized from Portugal. It is found chiefly, beneath
stones, in hot and rocky situations, near the coast, amongst
plants of the Opuntia Tuna (or 'Prickly Pear'), as, for
instance, above the Lazaretto, and slightly further to the east-
ward in the direction of the Brazen Head; but I have also
met with it to the west of Funchal, towards the Gorgulho,
within the crevices of the friable soil (especially after showers)
in the early spring ; and it is recorded likewise from the hill
immediately above the last-mentioned district, namely the Pico
da Cruz, as well as from the Pico de Sao Joao.
In its rather large size and pale yellowish-corneous hue the
L. folliculus has somewhat the primd facie aspect of the tor-
natellina; nevertheless its obtuser and more oblong (or per-
haps fusiform) outline, in conjunction with its more oblique
suture, its almost simple columella 1 and its totally different
aperture, which is very much shorter and is not produced back-
wards (or acuminated obliquely) along the body- volution, will
at once distinguish it- not merely from that species, but like-
wise from the whole five exponents of the particular section
(Amphorella, Lowe) to which the L. tornatellina belongs.
The L. folliculus is stated by Webb and Berthelot to be
found also in the Canaries ; but this, according to Mousson,
appears to have been a mistake, the species which was pro-
bably referred to by them being distinct, and described by the
latter (Faun. Mai. des Can., 129) under the trivial name of
' Reissi.' I am exceedingly doubtful however whether the
Reissi (or indeed whether the equally allied L. Vescoi, Bourg.,
from Malta) is anything more, in reality, than a slight geogra-
phical phasis of the L. folliculus. , 2
1 The Madeiran examples have the columella nearly simple ; but there is
said by Mr. Lowe to be a rather more evident callosity in those from Portugal.
2 Judging from some examples, in a living state, whieh I observed when
MADEIRAN GROUP. 249
Lovea Leacockiana.
Achatina Leacociana, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 119 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 511 (1853)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 205
(1854)
Glandina Leacociana, Alb., Mai. Mad, 57 (1854)
Achatina Leacociana, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 105 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; sub lapidibus, prsesertim in humidius-
culis inferioribus, rarissima.
I cannot agree with Mr. Lowe that the present shell has a
stronger affinity with the Porto-Santan L. ovuliformis than it
has with his common Achatina maderensis (i.e. lubrica, Mull.)
of Madeira proper, though its rather small size and its ex-
tremely thin substance and subhyaline surface are points in
which it makes an evident approach to the former ; for in the
slight (though certainly very slight) tumidity of its volutions,
as well as in its general outline and its perfectly edentate
mouth, it is most unquestionably more in accordance with the
latter. There can however be no possibility of actually con-
founding it with the A. lubrica, its smaller size, rather nar-
rower outline, and even still more transparent substance, added
to its somewhat less blunted apex, its more elongate and more
laterally-straightened aperture, its more acute (or less thickened)
peristome, and the fact of its columella being dilated into a
posteriorly-truncate process, being abundantly sufficient to dis-
tinguish it from that species.
The L. Leacockiana occurs sparingly in Madeira proper, at
rather low and intermediate elevations, and was first detected
by T. S. Leacock, Esq., in the Eibeira de Joao Gnomes, above
Funchal, and subsequently by the Eev. K. B. Watson, near,
I believe, to the Levada da Senhora do Bom Successo; and
there are examples of it in Mr. Lowe's collection which would
appear to have been found in the north of the island, in the
vicinity of Porto Moniz.
The Baron Paiva records a larger state of this species from
the Ponta de Sao Lourenco, in the extreme east of Madeira ;
but as I have not seen a type of the particular form to which
he alludes, I cannot vouch for its being strictly conspecific with
the L. Leacockiana. Possibly indeed it may be identical with
the one which I have enunciated below as the L. iridescens,
in Madeira, the animal of the L. folliculus (including the pedal disk) is of
pale clear greenish-yellow, with the tentacles (and less so the neck) of a
slatey-grey. It is carinated behind, wrinkled with oblique lines on either
side, and has the subapical prominence or gland very distinguishable when
the creature is in certain positions, though less easy to be traced when the
body is much straightened out.
250 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
and which I obtained from the (likewise eastern) region be-
tween Sta. Cruz and Canipo, but which differs from the Lea-
cockiana by being (inter alia) rather larger and less fragile, as
well as by its apex being more pointed, by its penultimate
volutions being relatively shorter and more flattened, by its
columella (although less posteriorly-dilated) being more flexuose,
and by its entire surface being appreciably iridescent.
( Fusillus, Lowe.)
Lovea gracilis.
Helix gracilis, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 61. t. 6.
f. 28 (1831)
Achatina gracilis, Pfeiff., Man. Hel. ii. 284 (1848)
7. vitrea, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
200(1854)
Glandina gracilis, Alb., Mai. Mad. 56. t. 14. f. 24, 25 (1854)
Achatina gracilis, /3. vitrea, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 107
(1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum (hinc inde in montibus vulgaris),
necnon Desertam Grrandem Desertamque Australem (rarissima).
The L. gracilis was considered by Mr. Lowe to include
three well-marked phases, namely the ' var. vitrea ' (which is
small, thin, extremely glossy and hyaline, and which, from its
being the state which was originally described and figured by
him as the ' Achatina gracilis," 1 must be regarded as the typical
one 1 ) ; the 'var. subula' (which is larger and more elongate,
thicker in substance, less shining in surface, less transparent,
and somewhat yellower in hue) ; and the * var. terebella ' (which
is altogether larger still, and more ventricose and convex, and
has its aperture a trifle longer, wider, and more outwardly-
rounded and developed). But, after much consideration, I arn
inclined to think that it will be more natural to regard at any
rate the ' var. vitrea ' as specifically distinct, in which case it
alone will represent Mr. Lowe's Achatina gracilis. And this
is all the more desirable, inasmuch as that particular form is
not merely Porto-San tan (like the subula and terebella), but
one which occurs likewise on the Desertas, it having been
taken on the Deserta Grande by myself, and obtained from
the Southern Deserta by the Baron Paiva.
As thus limited, therefore, the L. gracilis may be known by
its small size and somewhat slender outline, by its extremel)
1 Although this is mentioned expressly by Mr. Lowe in his ' Synopsis
Diagnostica,' I am likewise able to corroborate it from my own observation,
inasmuch as I possess the two original examples from which his figure (in
the ' Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society') was taken.
' MADEIRAN GROUP. 25
thin, almost colourless, and transparent substance, and by its
rather wide (or expanded) but nevertheless simple (or basally
untruncate) arcuated columella. Although it has been found
sparingly (as just stated) on the two Southern Desertas, it is a
species which is more particularly characteristic of Porto
Santo, where I have met with it in profusion, beneath stones,
on the exposed mountain ridge which connects the Pico de
Facho with the Pico do Castello. Mr. Lowe's original examples,
however, were from the Pico Branco.
Lovea terebella.
Achatina terebella, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 120 (1852)
gracilis, a. terebella, et /3. subula, Lowe, Proc. Zool.
Soc. Lond. 200 (1854)
Glandina terebella, Alb., Mai. Mad. 56. 1. 14. f. 22, 23 (1854)
Achatina gracilis, a. subula, et 7. terebella, Paiva, Mon. Moll.
Mad. 107, 108 (1867)
Lowei, Id., Ibid. 108 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, a. subula prsecipue in insulis
par vis adjacentibus 'Ilheo de Cima' et ' Ilheo de Baixo' dictis;
sed /3 (normalis) in montibus excelsioribus Portus Sancti proprii,
prsesertim in Pico Branco occurrens. In arena calcarea, semi-
fossilis, parcissime invenitur.
As already stated, the present Lovea, which seems to branch
off into two tolerably distinct forms, was regarded by Mr. Lowe
as conspecific with his Achatina gracilis ; but I think it will
be more natural to treat it (as indeed Dr. Albers has done) as
separate from the latter. Indeed I am far from certain that
even the two phases into which it is supposed to develope would
not be isolated by some monographers ; though as they seem to
me almost to pass into each other, I will not attempt to dis-
associate them. The forms in question correspond with Mr.
Lowe's ' var. subula ' and ' var. terebella ' of his Achatina
gracilis; and I should have preferred to retain the first of
those names, as perhaps expressing the species (as now limited)
the more accurately, had not that title been already preoccupied
by an Achatina by Dr. Pfeiffer (Wiegm. Archiv. i. 352) in
1839, thirteen years before it was employed by Mr. Lowe.
Hence, since * terebella ' must of necessity be accepted as the
title, it follows that the particular shell to which Mr. Lowe
intended the latter to apply must be looked upon as the normal
aspect of the L. terebella as here understood.
The two forms into which the L. terebella separates itself
(although nearly, as it seems to me, if not indeed quite, merg-
ing into each other) may be defined as (1) a smaller one, which
252 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
is likewise relatively narrower and more acute, and with the lip
of the aperture less externally-rounded, the 6 var. subula' of
Lowe; and (2) another, which is appreciably larger and more
ventricose and convex, and with the outer lip more rounded
posteriorly (causing the aperture to be a trifle wider and alto-
gether more developed), which corresponds with the 'var.
terebella' of Lowe's Achatina gracilis. The first of these
phases I have taken abundantly on the islands adjoining Porto
Santo, known as the Ilheo de Cima and the Ilheo de Baixo, as
well as on the Pico de Baixo (of the mainland) exactly opposite
to the former ; whilst the second occurs at a higher altitude,
and has been found principally, so far as I can now recollect, on
the Pico Branco.
In a subfossil condition the L. terebella appears to be scarce,
and the few examples of it which I possess are somewhat inter-
mediate between the states above alluded to; though on the
whole I think that they agree better perhaps with the a. subula
than with the larger (or typical) form.
Were I to judge solely from six examples which are now
before me, and which were communicated by the Baron Paiva,
the 'Achatina Lowei' of the latter (recorded by him from the
Pico Branco in Porto Santo) is absolutely identical with the
common L. oryza., there being no difference in them what-
soever, so far as I can detect, on which to found even a
' variety.' Nevertheless I am so satisfied, from the Baron's
diagnosis, that the species to which he really alluded is the
larger (or normal) phasis of the L. terebella, that I have not the
slightest hesitation in referring his Achatina Lowei to that
particular form. Indeed his following diagnostic observation
expresses so exactly the precise points in which the L. terebella
differs from the oryza that I quote it verbatim: 'A. oryza?,
Lowe, quodammodo analoga; testa vero tenuiore, apertura
ampliore, pariete aperturali tuberculo destituta distinguitur.' l
Lovea oryza.
Helix triticea, @. edentula, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans.
iv. 61. t. 6. f. 26 (1831)
1 There is a ' var. 5. ventricosa ' of the L. gracilis which is recorded by the
Baron Paiva as having been taken by Mr. Watson on the Ilheo de Fora, at the
extremity (in Madeira proper) of the Ponta de Sao Lourenco, and which,
from its being placed by him in juxta-position with the terebella, ought here
to be noticed. Having no type for comparison, I am not able to satisfy my-
self concerning its affinities, and I deem it sufficient therefore to call atten-
tion to the fact, that either the L. terebella or some closely allied form ap-
pears to exist on the particular point of Madeira proper which is nearest to
the island of Porto Santo.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 253
Achatina Paroliniana (pars), W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28.
syn. 320 (1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 73
(1839)
triticea, /3. edentula, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 278
(1848)
oryza et tuberculata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix.
120(1852)
Tandoniana, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 293 (1852)
oryza et tuberculata, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
204 (1854)
Olandina oryza, Alb., Mai. Mad. 58. t. 15. f. 7-10 (1854)
Achatina triticea, var., Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 110 (1867)
Cionella Tandoniana, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 129
(1872)
Lovea oryza, Watson, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 680 (1875)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; sub lapidibus in montibus vul-
garis. Semifossilis in arena calcarea nine inde reperitur.
This and the L. triticea are the common Loveas of Porto
Santo, to which island they would seem to be peculiar ; but, of
the two, the L. oryza is perhaps rather the less abundant. In
size and general aspect, indeed, they are almost coincident,
except that the oryza is, on the average, of a paler hue, as well
as destitute of the strong medial ventral plait which is so con-
spicuous within the aperture of its ally ; a small and obsolete
tubercle being all that is ever apparent to represent the power-
fully developed plait of the L. triticea.
Yet the L. oryza appears to me to have, like so many of the
species, two tolerably well-defined states, which nevertheless
pass into each other by imperceptible gradations, namely a
larger and more ventricose one, which was treated by Mr. Lowe
(under the name of tuberculata) as specifically distinct, in
which the two rudimentary ventral callosities (i. e. the lon-
gitudinal upper one and the medial tubercle) are, together with
that on the columella, rather more expressed ; and a smaller
one, which is appreciably less convex, and which has the callo-
sities above referred to only just traceable. This phasis, last
mentioned, is the normal Achatina oryza of Lowe ; and it is
extremely abundant at most elevations in Porto Santo, often
swarming beneath large slabs of stone, particularly on the
mountain slopes of a somewhat high altitude.
In general size and aspect the L. oryza has a considerable
primd facie resemblance to the larger (or typical) form of the
terebella ; nevertheless on a closer inspection it is impossible to
confound it with that species, it being not only a trifle less
elongated, or more ventricose, with its aperture relatively some-
254 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
what shorter, but the entire shell is very much more solid and
robust, of a more decided yellowish-white (with no tendency to
be subtransparent), with its peristome thicker, and with the
two ventral callosities (which appear to be absent in the
L. terebella), although very slight and rudimentary, quite
traceable.
In a subfossil condition the L. oryza is tolerably common,
though less so than the triticea. It was met with subfossilized,
both by Mr. Lowe and myself, at the Zimbral d'Areia.
I have little doubt that this is the particular ' Achatina 9
which, through the unpardonable inaccuracy of Webb and the
after-confusion of d'Orbigny, has been allowed to figure in the
Canarian catalogue, for now so many years, and in conjunction
with the closely allied L. triticea, first as a portion of the
* A. Paroliniana, 9 W. et B. (from which it is specifically quite
distinct), and subsequently (i. e. since 1852) as the 'A. Tando-
niana, 9 Shuttl. There can be no question that Mr. Webb's
carelessness in introducing Madeiran species into his very
meagre Canarian list was well-nigh unprecedented. To say
nothing of Cape Verde forms which were equally pressed into
his service, I need only allude to such Helices as the H. tceniata
and tiarella, which are confined to the single island of Madeira
proper but which were cited by him as Canarian, in support of
this ; and, therefore, since I happen to be aware that during
1828 Webb collected with Mr. Lowe in Porto Santo, where
these two Loveas absolutely swarm (and to which they are
peculiar), I should be tolerably prepared, under the circum-
stances, not to feel greatly surprised if Webb should have so far
confused their habitats as to assign them a place in his Cana-
rian ' Synopsis ' on which he was shortly afterwards engaged.
This at least has long been an a priori conjecture of my own,
which I have been anxious to put to the test whensoever an
opportunity for sifting the evidence might arrive ; and it was
therefore quite in accordance with my preconceived idea that
on examining lately an original type of the 'A. Paroliniana 9
in the d'Orbignyan collection at the British Museum, I found
it to be absolutely and unmistakeably nothing but the L.
triticea, Lowe, of Porto Santo ! This therefore disposed at
once of Webb's 'A. Paroliniana ;' but there was still the
further question as to what the so-called 'edentate form' should
be referred, which was mixed-up with the 'A. Paroliniana 9
(i. e. the triticea), but of which the type, although said to be
in the British Museum, was nowhere to be found. Fortunately
the specimens in the cabinet of Moquin-Tandon (who was
the first person to discover that two distinct shells had been
confounded by Webb under the title of ' Paroliniana 9 ) are
MADEIRAN GROUP. 255
said to be labelled Pico Branco,' a fact which at once solves
the mystery ; for ' Pico Branco ' is evidently the very moun-
tain in Porto Santo where these two Loveas are found in
the greatest abundance, and associated ! I know of no
other ' Pico Branco ' throughout the whole of these Atlantic
archipelagos, and I have the most positive evidence that
Webb ascended Pico Branco many times, in 1828, in com-
pany with Mr. Lowe, for the express purpose of collecting
shells and plants. So that I have no more doubt that the
6 A. Tandoniana,' which Shuttleworth eliminated (in 1852)
from Webb's previously described 'A. Paroliniana^ is the
Porto-Santan L. oryza, Lowe, than I have that the A. Paro-
liniana proper is (as is proved to a demonstration by the
British-Museum type) the equally Porto-Santan L. triticea.
Lovea triticea.
Helix triticea, a. biplicata, Lowe, I. c. 61. t. 6. f. 25 (1831)
Achatina Paroliniana (pars), W. et B., I. c. Syn. 320 (1833)
Bulimus Parolinianus d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 73
(1839)
Achatina triticea, a. biplicata, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 278
(1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 205 (1854)
Glandina triticea, Alb., Mai. Mad. 57, t. 15. f. 5, 6 (1854)
Alsobia Paroliniana, Bourg., Amen. Mai. ii. 94 (1858)
Azeca Paroliniana, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iv. 646 (1859)
Achatina triticea (pars), Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 109 (1 867)
Azeca Paroliniana, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 128 (1872)
Lovea triticea, Watson, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 680 (1875)
Habitat Portum Sanctum; sub lapidibus, praesertim in
editioribus, una cum L. oryza degens, copiosissime occurrit. In
statu semifossili in calcareis invenitur.
This is the commonest of the Loveas of Porto Santo,
where it occurs beneath stones, often in great profusion, and
more or less associated with the L. oryza, on most of the
mountain slopes. I have already mentioned that it very
closely resembles the latter ; nevertheless there can be no pos-
sibility of confounding the two species, the strongly developed
medial ventral plait within the aperture of the L. triticea,
added to the fact that the callosity of its columella is likewise
appreciably increased, being of themselves quite sufficient to
distinguish it from its ally. It is also, perhaps, on the average,
just perceptibly smaller than the normal state of the oryza;
its colour is usually darker, or of a more corneous brown ; and
there seems to be no indication of the subvertical ventral
25G TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
callosity towards the angle of the outer lip which is always
faintly traceable in the smaller (or typical) aspect of that
species, and which is more conspicuously developed in the
larger one (or c /3. tuberculata ').
In a subfossil condition the L. triticea is more abundant
than the oryza, though perhaps nowhere exactly common. In
the calcareous deposits at the Zimbral d'Areia it was met with
in tolerable abundance by Mr. Lowe and myself, during our
encampment there in the spring of 1855.
I called attention under the L. oryza to the fact that
this common Porto-Santan Lovea is unquestionably the species
(as is proved to a demonstration by an original type which
is now in the British Museum) which Webb described as Ca-
narian under the name of ' Achatina ParolinianaJ from
examples which he had himself collected, in company with
Mr. Lowe, on Pico Branco, in 1 828 ! Considering that he was
engaged so shortly afterwards in the compilation of his Ca-
narian 'Synopsis,' it is simply disgraceful that an error so
gross, as regards habitat, could possibly have boen committed ;
but those who, like Mr. Lowe, were personally acquainted
with Webb, were well aware of his extreme inaccuracy not
merely on the question of localities, but also in the unneces-
sary mixing up of his various material ; and it was quite in
accordance, therefore, with this particular idiosyncrasy that he
should have pressed into his service (apparently to augment his
very meagre Canarian list) not only Madeiran forms, like the
present and preceding Loveas and such distinctive Helices as
the H. tceniata and tiarella, but others from even the Cape
Verdes ! In the instance now under consideration, however, he
fell into the additional mistake of not merely citing the species
as Canarian and giving no less than three separate islands as its
habitat (which all subsequent experience has shown to be false),
but also of mixing up with it a totally distinct form whicli I
have already shown can pertain to nothing else than the equally
Porto-Santan L. oryza, and which was subsequently eliminated
by Shuttleworth (in 1852) as the ' Achatina Tandoniana.' As
for d'Orbigny's share in all this unnecessary confusion, he unfor-
tunately made matters still worse by figuring a shell as his
6 Bulimus Parolinianus ' which could not by any possibility
be made to quadrate either with his own diagnosis or that of Mr.
Webb ! and which consequently has to be ignored altogether
as being not only valueless but even deceptive.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 257
( Amphorilla, Lowe.)
Lovea melampoides.
Helix melampoides, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 60.
t. 6. f. 24 (1831)
Achatina tornatellina, /3., Pfeiff. Mon. Hel. ii. 277 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 203
(1854)
Grlandina melampoides, Alb., Mai. Mad. 59. t. 15. f. 13, 14
(1854)
Achatina tornatellina, 7. maxima, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad.
112 (1867)
Lovea melampoides, Watson, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 679
(1875)
Habitat Portum Sanctum, aut potius in ins. parva adjacente
' Ilheo de Cima ' dicta ; sub lapidibus magnis vulgaris. In
statu semifossili etiam in Portu Sancto ipsissimo occurrit, sc.
in rupe quadam lutosa maritima, baud procul ab oppidulo, a
meipso lecta.
Tbe present species and four following ones may be known
from the rest of the Loveas here enumerated by (inter alia} the
peculiar conformation of their mouth, which is extremely
elongate, or acuminated backwards (and that, too, obliquely),
so as to shape out a narrow and very acute space for its hinder
region. And of the five more or less closely allied species which
have hitherto been brought to light, the L. melampoides is con-
spicuous for being much the largest and the most solid, the shell
being remarkably thick in substance.
At first sight indeed the L. melampoides might almost be
supposed to represent some gigantic and strongly developed
race of the L. tornatellina, but I think that it has too many
peculiarities of its own to render that conclusion a safe" one.
Thus, it not only differs in its bulk and solidity, but it is like-
wise a little less glossy, and less ventricose (or rounded) in out-
line, its aperture is wider (or more expanded outwards)
posteriorly, its colurnella is broader and less tortuous, its outer
lip is not quite so obliquely sloped-off, and the two rudimentary
ventral callosities which (although sometimes indistinct) are
always traceable in that species are apparently quite obsolete
or even altogether absent. Moreover the L. melampoides has
a tendency to merge occasionally into a very bcavitiful albino,
or snowy- white, state (which assumes almost the appearance
of china or marble), a peculiarity which is quite unknown
in the tornatellina. At any rate as I have seen nothing
approaching to a connective link between the L. melampo-
ides and the tornatellina, I do not understand on what prin-
258 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
ciple we have a right to treat the one as a mere development
of the other ; and, a fortiori, therefore, I cannot but think it
extremely rash that the Baron Paiva should have ventured to
record as conspecific (as it seems to me, without even a sem-
blance of evidence) the whole of the members of this section,
and that too whilst recognising the claims of the far more
intimately related forms around the Helix polymorpha, and
even himself proposing several of them as specifically distinct !
In its present area of distribution the L. melampoides is
marvellously circumscribed, the little island known as the
Ilheo de Cima, off the south-eastern extremity of Porto Santo,
being the only spot in which it has hitherto been observed ;
and there might have been some show, therefore, of plausi-
bility, in assuming it to be a local or insular modification of
the L. tornatellina, did it not exist in a subfossil condition on
the mainland likewise, thus proving to a demonstration that
its exaggerated features as now displayed (if we may be per-
mitted so to call them) are not due to any fancied influences
of isolation on a remote and almost inaccessible rock ; for I
have myself met with it in the muddy deposit of an exposed
sea-cliff (below the Pico dos Macaricos) to the eastward of the
villa, or town. Hence, since the L. tornatellina (so common in
Madeira proper, and less so on the Desertas) is found likewise
(though sparingly) in Porto Santo, I do not see how we can
escape the conclusion that the melampoides is truly distinct
from that species, and has no claim to be regarded as even a
Porto-Santan (and still less a more confined insular) modifi-
cation of it, or one either which has been gradually matured
since the close of the subfossil period. 1
Lovea tornatellina.
Helix tornatellina, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 59. t. 6.
f. 23 (1831)
1 The L. melampoides is said by the Baron Paiva (who, as just stated,
treated it as an enlarged phasis of the tornatellina) to occur likewise on the
Ilheo de Baixo and the Ilheo de Ferro, and sparingly on even the Deserta
Grande ; but I cannot but look with suspicion on these habitats, particularly
the last one, and all the more so because the Baron's material was collected
by various people, and brought to him at Funchal ; and to my own certain
knowledge a large number of the boxes of specimens which he transmitted
to me, from time to time, for examination, were wrongly labelled as regards
their localities, Madeiran, Desertan, and Porto-Santan forms (all of them
quite unmistakeable) being often mixed up indiscriminately. Until therefore
further evidence has been obtained, I shall look upon the L. melampoides as
still confined (in its recent state) to the Ilheo de Cima ; though, at the same
time, I think it far from unlikely that it may be met with also on the Ilheo
de Baixo.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 259
Achatinatornatellina(pars), Pfeif., Mon.Hel. ii. 277 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Land.
203(1854)
Grlandina tornatellina, Alb., Mai. Mad. 58. t. 15. f. 11, 12
(1854)
Achatina tornatellina (pars), Paw&, Mon. Moll. Mad. Ill
(1867)
Lovea tornatellina, Watson, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 680
(1875)
Habitat Maderam, vulgaris ; in Deserta Grrandi et Deserta
Australi, necnon in cacuminibus montiuni Portus Sancti, multo
rarior. In statu semifossili ad Canical, Maderse, sat copiose
reperitur.
This is the common Lovea in Madeira proper, where it is
well nigh universal ; and it occurs also, though much more
rarely, on the two Southern Desertas as well as on the summit
of the Pico Branco in Porto Santo ; and, like so many of the
members of the genus, it seems to present two or three
slightly different phases, which however merge into each other
by intermediate gradations. The first of these, a [major], is
found principally in the sylvan districts of a comparatively
high altitude in Madeira proper, and is typically rather
large, ventricose, and highly coloured, with the subvertical ven-
tral plait elongate and narrow, and the columella a good deal
(and abruptly) expanded at the base ; the second, /5. [minor],
which is also common in Madeira proper, but is more particu-
larly characteristic of the exposed submaritime cliffs, is, on the
average, smaller, and not quite so rounded, generally a trifle
paler in hue, with the subvertical ventral plait a little shorter
and more dentiform (or more abruptly terminated behind), and
with the columella not quite so broad ; whilst the third, 7. [in-
termedia], which is met with sparingly on the two Southern
Desertas and on the summit of the Pico Branco in Porto Santo,
is somewhat intermediate in stature between the ' a ' and ' /3,'
and has the subvertical ventral plait (although scarcely denti-
form as in the '/3.') distinctly expressed and rather further
removed from the angle of the lip, and the inner medial tubercle
not altogether obsolete, it being, although indistinct, quite
appreciable. These varieties, however, pass gradually into each
other, and are of too trifling importance to need separate sub-
specific titles.
Three examples of this very abundant Madeiran Lovea were
taken in Porto Santo, by the Eev. K. T. Lowe, in 1828,
namely on the summit of the Pico Branco ; and it has been
obtained sparingly from the two southern Desertas by the Baron
Paiva.
s 2
260 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
In a Bubfossil condition, the L. tornatellina is tolerably com-
mon at Canipal; but I am not aware that it has been ob-
served in the deposits of either Porto Santo or the Bugio.
Although regarded hitherto as quite peculiar to the Madei-
ran archipelago, I may just add that a single example of it, which
I have inspected with the greatest care, was met with by Mr.
Watson, a few years ago, in Grand Canary.
Lovea mitriformis.
Achatina mitriformis, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 120 (1852)
Azeca ? mitriformis, Pfeiff., Mon. Hd. iii. 522 (1853)
Achatina mitriformis, Lo^ve, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 203
(1854)
Glandina Alb., Mai. Mad. 59. t. 15. f. 15, 16
(1854)
Achatina tornatellina (pars), Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 112
(1867)
Habitat Maderam Desertasque tres (prsesertim has), vulga-
ris : in Portu Sancto rarissima, sc. semel tantum, in summo
monte ' Pico Branco ' dicto, adhuc lecta. In statu semifossiii
in ins. Deserta Australi invenitur.
It is far from impossible that this may be in reality but a
rather narrow and slightly elongated form of the L. tornatellina,
in which the subvertical ventral plait is more appreciably denti-
form ; and all the more so, since the examples of it in Madeira
proper have the latter less abruptly expressed than in those from
the Desertas and Porto Santo. Nevertheless since the shell has
undoubtedly a different outline and facies, and it was the opinion
of Mr. Lowe that it is not absolutely con specific with the torna-
tellina, I will not attempt (as the Baron Paiva has done) to
suppress it. Indeed the mere fact of its occurring on the whole
five islands of the Grroup, and often in company with the torna-
tellina, would supply a certain amount of at any rate presump-
tive evidence that it is at least no local phasis of that universal
species. But these abstract questions of ' species ' and ' variety '
are so difficult (indeed in many instances so impossible) to solve,
that where any given form is sufficiently well defined to be
easily recognisable, and it is not connected with its nearest ally
by decided intermediate links, I prefer for my own part (at
any rate in those instances where it has already been enunciated
and published) to accept it as specifically distinct.
With these remarks I may add that the L. mitriformis
is separable from the tornatellina, mainly, by its relatively
somewhat narrower and more elongate outline (the form being
less ventricose, the spire a trifle more produced, and the suture
MADEIRAN GROUP. 261
sensibly more oblique), and by the fact of the subvertical plait
of its aperture having a tendency to become more strictly tooth -
like (or abruptly terminated behind). It is true that the state
6 /3.' of the tornatellina has that callosity more dentiform than
the state ' a.,' and that it consequently makes an approach in
that respect to the mitriformis ; and it is equally certain that
the Madeiran individuals of the latter have the same plait more
narrow and linear than those from the other islands ; but I have
merely to remark that, in all instances, where one specific fea-
ture seems to fail, the others (as though to guard against con-
fusion) are expressed ; and I arrive therefore at the original
conclusion (which was adopted by Mr. Lowe) that the two shells
are more safely to be treated as specifically distinct.
In certain ravines of Madeira proper (as, for instance, the
Eibeira de Sta. Luzia) the L. mitriformis is tolerably abundant,
for the most part amongst the detritus on the ledges (and at
base) of the lofty perpendicular rocks ; and on the three Desertas
I have myself taken it, in common with Mr. Lowe and others,
in considerable profusion. In the examples from those islands
the subvertical plait is unusually prominent and tooth-like, and
the species may consequently be said to attain there its maxi-
mum,, or normal phasis. The individuals from the Flat De-
serta (or Ilheo Chao) are rather pallid in hue, whilst those from
the Southern island (or Bugio) are comparatively dark and
highly coloured.
In Porto Santo the L. mitriformis appears to be extremely
scarce. Indeed its existence there at all is vouched for by
merely a single dead example which was found by Mr. Lowe, in
1828, on the Pico Branco. That the latter however is truly
identical with the mitriformis (and not with the tornatellina)
I am able to assert (apart from the assurance of Mr. Lowe) by
actual observation, the example alluded to, in every respect
characteristic of the mitriformis, being now before me.
The L. mitriformis is common in a subfossil state on the
Southern Deserta, where I have myself met with it in the muddy
deposits on the extreme summit of that almost inaccessible
island ; but it has not, I believe, been observed in the calcareous
beds either of Madeira proper or Porto Santo.
Lovea producta,
Achatina producta, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 120 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 505 (1853)
55 Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 202
(1854)
Glandina producta, Alb., Mai. Mad. 60 (1854)
262 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Achatina tornatellina (pars), Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 113
(1867)
Habitat Desertam Australem; inter herbas lapidesque,
rarissima.
The present Lovea and the following one would fall strictly
under Lowe's section Hypselia, in which the outline is relatively
narrower and slenderer than in Amphorella, the substance
thinner and rather transparent, the suture more oblique, the
penultimate volution more elongated, and the aperture perfectly
free from callosities and plaits. Yet since the mouth and colu-
mella have the peculiar structure which is so characteristic of
Amphorella, I hardly think that the L. producta and iridescens
will require us to acknowledge a separate subgenus for their
reception. At the same time, with such manifest peculiarities
as those to which I have just called attention, I must protest
against the extreme rashness of the Baron Paiva in treating the
former of those species (for the latter one still remains to be
enunciated) as a mere variety of the L. tornatellina.
Indeed were it not for the structure of its aperture and
columella, the L. producta would have more in common with
the section Fusillus than it has with Amphorella, its narrowed
contour, oblique sutiire, and subpellucid surface, in conjunction
with its freedom from callosities and plaits, being more sugges-
tive of such species as the terebdla than of the mitriformis and
tornatellina.
So far as has been observed hitherto, the L. producta is
found only on the Southern Deserta (or Bugio), where it was
first detected by Mr. Leacock, and whence it has been obtained
subsequently by Mr. Lowe and myself, and more recently by the
Baron Paiva ; but we did not meet with it in the muddy, sub-
fossiliferous deposits on the summit of that island.
Lovea iridescens, n. sp.
T. angustula, cylindrico-subulata, fragilis, subpellucida, iri-
descenti-nitens, spira producta ; anfractibus subconvexiusculis,
sutura distincta obliqua ; apertura augusta, supra attenuata aut
retro oblique producta, omnino edentula ; peristomate tenui,
acuto, labro dextro rectiusculo ; columella abbreviate,, arcuata,
subtorta, subexpansa sed basi vix prominula. Long, vix 3 lin.
Habitat Maderam ; inter Canico et Sta. Cruz, ad EupTior-
biarum radices adherens, lecta.
The present Lovea, which appears to be quite distinct from
every member of the group which was described by Mr. Lowe,
belongs to exactly the same type as the South-Desertan L-
producta, its rather narrow, subulate outline, oblique suture,
MADE IRAN GROUP. 263
fragile consistency, and perfectly edentate, backwardly (and ob-
liquely) acuminated mouth being strongly suggestive of that
species. Nevertheless specifically it is quite distinct, its
smaller size, darker hue, and conspicuously iridescent surface, in
conjunction with its slightly shorter and more attenuated spire,
its rather less flattened volutions (the penultimate one of which
is not so elongate), its still thinner and more pellucid substance,
and the fact of its columella being less twisted and not so pro-
minent at the base, being more than enough to separate it im-
mediately from the L. producta.
My diagnosis of this Lovea is drawn out from eight examples
which I obtained in a rather singular manner. Whilst residing
at S. Antonio da Serra, in the spring of 1870, I sent down to
the dry, eastern district between Cameo and Sta. Cruz to pro-
cure some plants of the Euphorbia piscatoria, which were
consequently brought to me in considerable abundance ; and
adhering to the earth around their roots were several common
Madeiran Helices (such as the H. arcta and maderensis), and
intermingled with the latter were these individuals which seem
to me to represent a Lovea which is unquestionably new. It
is probable therefore that the species, when searched for in the
proper localities, may be found to be tolerably abundant.
( Cylichnidia, Lowe.)
Lovea ovuliformis.
Helix ovuliformis, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 61. t. 6.
f. 27 (1831)
Achatina ovuliformis, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. ii. 278 (1848)
Tornatellina ovuliformis, Id., Ibid. iii. 523 (1853)
Achatina ovuliformis, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 206
(1854)
Glandina ovuliformis, Alb., Mai. Mad. 56. t. 15. f. 1, 2
(1854)
Achatina ovuliformis, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 115 (1867)
Habitat Portum Sanctum ; in montibus excelsioribus hinc
inde vulgaris. In statu semifossili rarissima.
The L. ovuliformis, which is peculiar to Porto Santo
(where it occurs principally amongst loose soil and vegetable
detritus on the ledges, and within the crevices, of the rocks,
on the summits of the highest peaks), is remarkable for its
small size and oval, or obtuse and pupseform, outline, as well
a? for its thin, subpellucid substance, its short, curved, and
broadly expanded columella, and for the ventral wall of its
aperture being armed with a large, medial, prominent, trans-
264 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
verse plait. It has likewise a tendency (which seems to have
been overlooked by Mr. Lowe) to possess a corneous sphincter
across its ultimate volution, commencing near the angle of
the outer lip and merging (as in the case of the L. cylichna,
where however it is much more expressed), in an unbroken
curve, into the columella.
This callosity is usually very faint, and often (as in the
type from which Mr. Lowe's original diagnosis was compiled)
obsolete ; but it is sometimes exceedingly apparent, and occa-
sionally indeed so much developed that it shapes out at its com-
mencement (near to the angle of the lip) an abrupt and almost
dentiform subvertical process. Examples thus furnished might
well be supposed, at first sight, to belong to a separate species,
did they not pass into the opposite extreme of form by the closest
intermediate gradations. I would merely therefore record this
phasis of the shell as the 'var. j3. pseudopsis,' deeming it suf-
ficient to have called attention to the fact that it is connected
so intimately with the other that it seems to me quite impossible
to regard the two extremes as specifically distinct.
The L. ovuliformis occurs on most of the highest moun-
tains of Porto Santo ; but I think that I have myself usually
met with it more abundantly on the Pico de Facho than
elsewhere, which indeed was the locality in which Mr. Lowe's
original types were obtained. In a subfossil condition it is
decidedly scarce, but I have taken it sparingly at the Zimbral
d'Areia.
Lovea cylichna,
Achatina cylichna, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 119 (1852)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 206 (1854)
Glandina cylichna, Alb., Mai. Mad. 84. t. 17. f. 19, 20
(1854)
Achatina cylichna, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 116 (1866)
Habitat Maderam, hodie non observata ; in statu semifos-
sili ad Canical abundans.
This little Lovea, which has been found hitherto only in a
subfossil state at Canipal in Madeira proper, is certainly the
most remarkable of all the species here enumerated, and one
which in the development of the teeth and plaits of its aper-
ture, no less than in the obtuseness of its outline, makes
such a manifest approach to the Pupce that it might almost
seem to merit generic (and not merely sectional) separation,
did not the L. ovuliformis, which is more evidently on the
Lovea pattern, and which possesses a prominent ventral plait
(though, at the same time, no indication of palatial ones)
tend to connect it with the ordinary type.
MADEIRAN GROUP. 265
The L. cylichna is abundant in the calcareous deposits at
Canipal ; and it may be known from everything else with which
we have here to do, not merely by its minute size and blunt,
cylindric-oblong, pupceform outline, but more particularly by
the structure of its narrow, elongate, backwardly-acuminated
mouth, the ventral wall of which has a thick, corneous, sinu-
ated sphincter, or rim, commencing suddenly at a short distance
from the angle of the outer lip (where it shapes itself into an
abruptly terminated subvertical plait), and continuing in an
unbroken arch to the very extremity of the columella (where it
is sharply truncated so as to form a conspicuous angular pro-
jection), whilst in the centre of the same (ventral) region there
is a very prominent and powerfully developed transverse plait,
which occasionally almost touches the outer lip. But what is
more particularly anomalous (so far as I am aware) for a mem-
ber of the present genus, is the fact that (as in many of the
Pupce) there are three palatial plaits (in addition to the ven-
tral ones), namely one elongate, filiform, submedial, and deeply
immersed, and two minute ones (not always easily recognizable)
which are placed close together on the inner margin (but on
the upper portion) of the outer lip, opposite to the triangular
space which is shaped-out by the two ventral plaits. This
array of teeth and callosities give the aperture of this curious
little Lovea a very singular appearance.
Fam.5. AURICULID^E.
Genus 15. PEDIPES, Adans.
Pedipes afra.
Le Pietin, Pedipes, Adans. , Hist, du Seneg. 11. t. 1. f. 4
(1757)
Helix afra, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. pars 6 (1790)
Pedipes afra, Lowe, Zool. Journ. v. 296 (1835)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 218 (1854)
afer, Drouet, Faun. A$or. 169 (1861)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 153 (1867)
Habitat Maderam, vulgaris, sub lapidibus maris aestu
quotidie submersis.
The widely spread P. afra (which occurs in the Azorean
Group and is exceedingly common on the African shores, and
which was obtained by Mr. Lowe at Lisbon) abounds below the
high-water mark in Madeira proper, particularly towards the
north of the island ; and it lias been received also by the Baron
Paiva from the Salvages. It may readily be known by its con-
266 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
vex, Helix-shaped form, its solid consistency, its opake, pallid,
concolorous, yellowish-fulvescent surface (which is coarsely
sculptured with regular, but not very closely set, transverse, or
' spiral,' striae), and by the peculiar construction of its large,
wide, open, somewhat semicircular aperture, which is furnished
with an enormously developed, curved, elongate ventral plait,
or process, at a short distance from the angle of the lip, and
two smaller ones on the extremely broad, flattened, white, cor-
neous columella (the upper one, however, being larger than the
lower). Its outer lip is acute, but the lower half of it (or, more
properly, perhaps, the central region) has a gradually-thickened
callosity inside, which developes into a blunt medial tooth, and
a much less elevated, obscurer one immediately above, the
two being intimately connected by the incrassated inner space.
Genus 16. MELAMPTTS, Montf.
Melampus exiguus.
Melampus exiguus, Lowe, Zool. Journ, v. 291 (1835)
Auricula exigua, Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 218 (1854)
Melampus exiguus, Pfeiff., Mai. Bldtt. xiii. 133 (1866)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 150 (1867)
Habitat Maderam ; sub lapidibus juxta mare, prsecipue ad
litus boreale Promontorii ( Ponta de Sao Lourenpo ' dicti, necnon
prope Seissal, rarior, una cum Auricula cequali, Pedipede
afra, et Truncatella truncatuld degens.
The greatly abbreviated and broad (but apioally acute) spire
and elongate aperture of this little Melampus, which give the
shell (which is extremely variable in size) a rather turbinate or
coniform outline, added to its solid consistency, it pale yellowish-
brown hue (accompanied often by a rosy, or even lilac, tinge,
which is particularly appreciable in the examples from the
Salvages), the fine, sub-undulating transverse (or ' spiral ') striae
with which it is sculptured, its completely edentate outer-lip
(which however is furnished internally with a thickened longi-
tudinal callus, parallel to the margin, but vanishing before it
reaches the angle), its plicate columella, and its bi-plicate ven-
tral region (the upper of the two callosities being often minute,
and occasionally even obsolete) will suffice to distinguish it
from its few allied forms with which we have here to do.
The M. exiguus appears to be somewhat rare, and was first
detected by Mr. Lowe on the northern shore of the Ponta de
Sao Lourenpo in the east of Madeira proper, where it resides
beneath stones, in company with the Auricula cequalis, Pedipes
afra, and the Truncatella truncatula, below the high-water
MADEIRAN GROUP. 267
mark. And it was obtained by the Baron Paiva (who likewise
procured it from the Great Salvage), under a rather smaller
form, from the vicinity of Seissal.
Grenus 17. AURICULA, Lam.
After a careful examination of the Auriculas enumerated in
this volume, and a comparison of them with other species, it
seems to me that it is impossible to treat the two Sections under
one or the other of which they would usually be distributed
namely Marinula, King, and Alexia, Pfeiff. as in any sense
distinct from each other, the particular points which are sup-
posed, respectively, to separate them being not only in them-
selves extremely variable but often united with those which
characterize the opposite group. Thus the outer lip of the
aperture, which is denned as simple in the former but more or
less denticulated in the latter, is in the A. cequalis (which is an
undoubted Marinula] generally altogether unarmed, but never-
theless now and then thickened internally about the middle,
and sometimes to such a decided extent as to shape-out an ap-
preciable tooth, under which circumstances indeed examples
have been described as specifically distinct. Then, the solidity
of the shell, which is said to be less perfect in Alexia than in
Marinula, is often (as in the Alexia Paivana, Pfeiff.) quite as
great in the former as in the latter ; whilst the plaits of the
ventral paries are equally inconstant, as regards their number
and development, in both departments. Hence I shall not
attempt to regard the latter as having the slightest claim for
separation inter se, though I will add short diagnoses of the few
members of the genus with which we are here concerned in order
to render their specific details the more intelligible.
Auricula sequalis,
T. imperforata, fusiformi-ovata, solida, aut laevigata aut
basi lineis spiralibus plus minus obsolete impressa ; spira brevi-
uscula, conica, acuta, anfractibus 8 planis, sutura superficial! ;
apertura plicis 3 albidis instructa, sc. 2 (subsequalibus, aut po-
tius inferiore paululum majore, subparallelis) in pariete ventrali,
et 1 minore columellari spiraliter contorta ; peristomate recto,
acuto, marginibus callo tenuissimo politissimo junctis, columel-
lari reflexo dilatato albido. Long. lin. 4-5 ; diam. maj. 2-3.
a. rufocastanea, nitidiuscula.
?. [status normalis] plerumque paulo major, fulva, nitidi-
uscula.
[7. (insulis Salvages propria, et forsan A. Ferminii, Payr.,
268 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
sequans) albescens, sc. pallide albido-fulva aut flavo-cornea ; nec-
non sublongior, subgracilior, magis opaca, et plus minus erosa.]
S. (= A. Vulcani, Morel.) peristomatis margine dextro in
medio calloso, tuberculo plus minus distincte armato.
Melampus sequalis, Lowe, Zool. Journ. v. 288. t. 13. f. 1-5
(1835)
Auricula sequalis, Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 217 (1854)
Vulcani, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 207. t. 5.
f. 8 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 167 (1861)
Marinula sequalis, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 151 (1867)
Auricula Vulcani, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 135
(1872)
sequalis, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 220 (1876)
Habitat Maderse oras maritimas ; ad rupes sestu maris quo-
tidie submersas copiose adhserens.
This is the universal Auricula on the tide-washed rocks
of Madeira ; and it is a species, evidently, of a considerable geo-
graphical range, occurring likewise at the Azores, Salvages,
and Canaries ; and it was found by Mr. Lowe not only at Mo-
gador, on the opposite coast of Morocco, but also at Lisbon. It
is extremely inconstant in colour, being sometimes of a rich
chestnut-brown, at others (indeed generally) of a paler or more
fulvescent hue, in which case it is on the average a trifle
larger, and sometimes (var. 7. albescens) of a dirty yellowish-
horn or whitish-yellow, under which last-mentioned aspect it
swarms at the Salvages (from whence I have just overhauled no
less than 1,580 examples, not one of which offers any appre-
ciable divergence as regards either colour or the relative deve-
lopment of the two ventral and one columellary plaits). These
somewhat albino individuals however from the Salvages are
usually a trifle narrower and more elongated in outline, and their
surface is not only less polished, but is also (as in the A. Pai-
vana) more or less eroded or (as it were) eaten-out into small
holes or cavities ; nevertheless since the form passes impercep-
tibly into the normal one, I cannot detect anything about them
to warrant a suspicion that they represent more than a slight
topographical variety of the ordinary Madeiran type.
It is not only, however, in colour that the A. cequalis may
be said to be unstable ; for, however constant the two ventral
plaits may be, the outer lip of its aperture is liable to an
occasional thickening about the middle, a thickening which
is sometimes so strongly expressed as to shape out a conspicu-
ous tuberculiform callosity. Out of 1,584 specimens which I
have lately examined, only 36 have this tooth-like promi-
MADEIRAN GROUP. 269
nence largely developed, though in a vast number of others it
is more or less traceable in a rudimentary condition, thus
showing incontestably that the character cannot be made use
of for specific purposes. It is on this account that I have no
doubt whatsoever that Morelet's A. Vulcani, from the Azores
(and which he states is found also in the Canarian archipe-
lago), is but the modification of the A. cequalis in which this
labial thickening is distinctly expressed ; for he particularly
mentions that the only other feature in which it recedes from
the latter consists in the presence of impressed spiral striae
towards the base of the shell, a character which is so utterly
unimportant that I find it sometimes traceable and at others
wholly absent not only in normal individuals of the cequalis
but likewise in those in which the outer lip is armed with a
central denticle. Indeed the very excellent figure which he has
given, of the A. Vulcani, does of itself almost settle the ques-
tion. It is surprising to me that Mr. Lowe, in his original
description of the species should have failed to notice this ten-
dency for spiral striae ; but as I happen to be aware that many
of his earlier diagnoses were drawn out from a very limited
number of individuals, and also that in the majority of speci-
mens these more or less fragmentary impressed lines are totally
absent, the omission becomes at least explicable.
Auricula Watsoni, n. sp.
T. prsecedenti similis sed multo minor ac paulo minus ovata
(sc. magis fusiformis), sensim (saltern antice) subdistinctius
striatula, subopaca (rarius subnitida), et vix minus solida;
spira sensim exsertiore, acutiore, nucleolo plus minus eccen-
trico, anfractibus minus planatis foveolisque minutis in linea
spirali pone suturas (magis impressas) distinctius notatis ; aper-
tura postice minus anguste acuminata, plicis 3 albidis supe-
riore minuta tuberculiformi instructa ; peristomate recto, acuto,
margine dextro omnino simplici. Long. lin. 3 3J; diam.
maj. If 2.
a. [status normalis] subventricosa, inflata, laete castaneo-
fusca et plus minus distincte purpureo-tincta.
[/3. (insulis Salvages propria) scrobiculata. paulo angustior
aut minus inflata, ac plerumque sensim pallidior et vix (inter-
dum nullo modo) purpureo-tincta.]
Auricula myosotis, Watson [nee Drap."], Journ. de Conch.
220(1876)
Habitat Maderam ; in locis similibus ac prsecedens, sed
multo rarior.
This is a much smaller species than the A. cequalis, as well
270 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
as a little less ovate (or more strictly fusiform), and one which
occurs under a slightly different aspect both at Madeira and the
Salvages, the examples from the former (which I have treated
as the normal ones) being a trifle broader and more ventricose
than those from the latter, as well as (on the average) darker
in hue and with a much more decidedly purple tinge. In both
phases however the outer lip of the peristome is totally simple
(or unarmed), and the upper of the two ventral plaits is re-
duced greatly in dimensions, being more often represented
by a minute isolated tubercle. The entire shell is somewhat
less solid (at any rate when immature) than that of the
cequalis ; and it is usually subopake (though a few of the
comparatively pallid ones from the Salvages are often a little
shining), as well as rather more evidently striated (especially
in front), and with more appreciable traces of a series of small
impressions or pits arranged in a spiral line at a certain dis-
tance behind the suture. This last is more sunken (or less
superficial) than in the cequalis, the whorls are not quite so
flattened, and the apex of the spire is not only more acute but
very frequently tilted or eccentric.
From the Mediterranean A. myosotis, Drap., which it some-
what resembles (so far at least as I understand that species) in
the number and proportions of its plaits, it differs in being
smaller and relatively less elongated, as well as more solid and
more opake, in the volutions of its spire being a little shorter
and less convex, and in its aperture being narrower and less
largely developed.
I have named this Auricula after the Eev. E. B. Watson,
whose elaborate investigations on the Madeiran Mollusca, par-
ticularly the marine departments, have contributed so much to
our knowledge of the fauna, and to whom I am also indebted
for much valuable information concerning the Terrestrial
species.
Auricula gracilis.
T. fusiformis (sc. precedent! forma fere similis, sed minor et
vix subgracilior), sensim minus solida, subnitida, saepius cas-
taneo-fusca et plerumque subpurpureo-tincta ; apertura plicis
3-4 albidis (superiore ssepius obsoleta, secunda semper parva
subtuberculiformi, tertia magna intrante, et quarta columellari
contorta) instructs, ; peristomate recto, acuto, margine dextro
denticulis 1-5 intus armato (rariss. simplici). Long. lin. 2-J 3 ;
diam. maj. 1^-.
Melampus gracilis, Lowe, Zool. Journ. v. 288 (1835)
Auricula gracilis, Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 217 (1854)
MADEIRAN GROUP. 271
Auricula vespertina, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 210. t. o.
f. 9 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 169 (1861)
Alexia Loweana, Pfeiff., Mai. Bldtt. xiii. 145 (1866)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 154 (1867)
Auricula denticulata et Loweana, Watson, Journ. de Cone)
220 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; rupibus saxisque sestu maris quotidie
submersis adhserens. Rarior.
It is exceedingly probable that the present Auricula is
nothing more than a phasis of the European A. denticulata,
Montagu ; nevertheless as I cannot be quite sure of this, and it
is without doubt the species which was described by Mr. Lowe
under the name of Melampus gracilis, I have thought 'it safer
to retain the latter title until the question of its identity with
the denticulata shall have been fully established. I possess
Mr. Lowe's two original types of his M. gracilis (only one of
which, although fractured, is mature), and there cannot be the
slightest question whatsoever that they pertain to the species
which was published subsequently by Morelet (from Azorean
examples) under the name of Auricula vespertina, and by
PfeifTer (in 1866) under that of Alexia Loweana; so that
Pfeiffer was certainly mistaken when he conjectured (Mai.
Bldtt. xiii. 133), a conjecture which was unwittingly endorsed
by the Baron Paiva (Mon. Moll. Mad. 152) during the follow-
ing year, that the gracilis of Lowe was founded on a mere
individual variety of the cequalis. Indeed, apart from all other
considerations, its very much smaller size, and the fact of its
lower ventral tooth being considerably larger than the upper
one (the latter indeed being reduced to a me,re tubercle), ought
at once to have prevented any such conjecture ; but Mr. Lowe
himself was partly answerable for this, inasmuch as he sug-
gested (most strangely, as it seems to me) its possibility, and
even failed to notice the minute denticle within the outer lip of
one of his specimens, a structure which immediately removes
it (independently of its smaller size, less ovate outline, and the
proportions of its ventral plaits) from the cequalis, and affiliates
it with a form so nearly allied to the denticulata of Montagu
that it is open to consideration whether it does in reality differ
from it at all.
Although totally unconnected with the cequalis, the A.
gracilis has nevertheless much in common with the species
which I have described above under the name of A. Watsoni.
It may however be immediately recognized from the latter by
its rather smaller size, by its more or less denticulated outer lip
(the denticles, which are very rarely absent altogether, varying
272 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
from 1 to 4), and by its ventral paries being not un frequently
armed with an extra plait or tubercle, i. e. with three, instead
of two. Still, this additional callosity, last-mentioned, is more
often absent; and in that case, if the right margin of the
peristome should happen at the same time to be unprovided
with denticles, and the specimens to be large ones, the latter
would be difficult to distinguish, no doubt, from those of the
A. Watsoni; but as I have never yet observed this threefold
contingency to take place, there is no reason why we should
assume it to do so at all.
The A. gracilis occurs sparingly adhering to the tide-
washed rocks in Madeira proper, but it appears to be more
common in the north of the island than in the south. Mr.
Lowe's original examples, however, were found (dead), during
February of 1827, on the shore to the westward of Funchal.
By the Baron Paiva it has been obtained from Porto Moniz.
It is recorded by both Morelet and Drouet from Pico, in the
Azorean archipelago ; but I am not aware that it has been
observed hitherto at the Canaries.
Fam. 6. LIMNJEID^E.
Grenus 18. LIMNJEA, Drap.
[smtyt. Limneus.]
Limnsea truncatula.
Buccineum truncatulum, Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 130 (1774)
Limneus minutus, Drap., Hist. Nat. 53. t. 3. f. 5-7 (1805)
Limnseus truncatulus, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 218
(1854)
Limnsea truncatula, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 146 (1867)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 224 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; in aquis fluentibus et quietis, necnon ad
rupes aquosas, ubique vulgaris.
The common little European L. truncatula, Mull. ( = L.
minuta, Drap.), abounds in nearly all the streams and Levadas
of Madeira proper, but it has not yet been observed in any of
the other islands. It occurs independently of elevation, par-
ticularly within the douche of the waterfalls, and is very variable
in stature. The Madeiran specimens however are perhaps, on
the average, a trifle smaller than those on the more ordinary
northern type. We did not meet with it at the Canaries, nor
indeed is it recorded by Mousson from that archipelago ; but it
is nevertheless registered as Canarian by Mr. Watson
MADEIRAN GROUP. 273
Genus 19. PHYSA, Drap.
Physa acuta.
Physa acuta, Drap., Hist. Nat. 55. t. 3. f. 10, 11 (1805)
fontinalis, Paiva [nee Linn.~], Mon. Moll. Mad. 147
(1867)
acuta, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 224 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; in aquis juxta Furichal, plantis aquaticis
adhaerens. Certe ex Europa introducta.
A Physa, of extreme variability as regards size, which
appears to have been introduced during the last few years into
Madeira, occurring abundantly in the tanks and streams around
Funchal, not merely in the town itself, but also in the Eibeira
dos Soccoridos, the Ribeira de Goncalo Ayres, &c. ; but one which
seems to me to have been wrongly identified by the Baron Paiva
with the common European P. fontinalis, Linn. Mr. Lowe, how-
ever, in a paper which was published in the ' Annals of Natural
History' in 1862, says that 'in degree of ventricosity it is
intermediate between the P. acuta, Drap., and the more elon-
gated or slenderer Canarian shell so called by Webb.' This
latter has since been characterized by Mousson under the name
of ' P. tenerifce ;' though my own belief is that both it and the
Madeiran species are nothing more than very slight geogra-
phical phases of the common P. acuta.
Genus 20. PLANORBIS, Mull.
Planorbis glaber,
Planorbis glaber, Jeffr., Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. xvi. 387
laevis, Alder, Trans. Newcast. ii. 337
.glaber, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 149 (1867)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 224 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; ad fontes rivulosque circa Funchal.
Sine dubio introductus.
This little European Planorbis has (like the Physa acutu)
established itself, during the last few years, in the streams and
cisterns around Funchal, where it was first met with by Mr.
J. Y. Johnson in a tank in Dr. Lister's garden, and where it was
afterwards found (in the same spot) by the late Mr. E. Leacock.
Mr. Lowe, in adverting to some examples which had been sent
to him by the latter, remarks ('Ann. Nat. Hist.' for July 1860)
that they 'belong unquestionably to the P. glaber, Jeffr.
( = lcvvis, Alder); and (like the H. aspersa, Mull., in another
garden at Funchal) the species has been doubtless introduced
within the last few years from Portugal, where Dr. Bocage,
274 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Director of the Lisbon Museum, finds abundantly, in stagnant
water, tanks, &c., everywhere, a shell precisely identical. Ex-
amples from Cintra, kindly communicated by this able na-
turalist, perfectly agree with these Madeiran specimens, one of
which is remarkable for exhibiting faint traces of spiral striae
towards the peristome on the under (or lower and more concave)
side of the shell, invalidating thus far the specific difference,
which has been indeed already called in question (see ' Gray's
Man.,'' 260 ; though compare also ' Forbes & Hanley, Brit.
Moll.' 9 iv. 151) between the P. glaber, Jeffr., and the P. albus,
Genus 21. ANCYLTTS, Qeoffr.
Ancylus striatus.
Ancylus striatus, Quoy et Gaim., Voy. de I' Astral, iii. 207.
t. 58. f. 35-38 (1833)
W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. Syn. 323
(1833)
aduncus, Gould., Proc. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. 210
(1848)
fluviatilis, Lowe [vix Mull., 1774], Proc. Zool. Soc.
Lond. 218 (1854)
aduncus. Alb., Mai. Mad. 74. t. 16. f. 37, 38 (1854)
fluviatilis, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 148 (1867)
striatus, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 141 (1872)
fluviatilis, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 224 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; in aquis fluentibus (prascipue editiori-
bus) ubique vulgaris.
Whether this Ancylus, which is so abundant in the streams
of intermediate and lofty elevations throughout Madeira proper,
is more in reality than a geographical phasis (as indeed it was
regarded by Mr. Lowe) of the common European A. fluviatilis,
I am extremely doubtful ; nevertheless since it does certainly
differ somewhat, at any rate in sculpture, from the more
northern type, and it appears to me to be absolutely un distin-
guishable from the universal species of the Canarian archipelago
(which has been acknowledged by various monographers under
the name of striatus), I have no hesitation in citing it accord-
ingly, and that too even whilst admitting (as just implied)
that it may perhaps represent but a local modification of its
widely-spread European analogue.
Being extremely inconstant in stature, I cannot perceive
that this Madeiran Ancylus is larger (as was asserted by Mr.
Lowe, and after him by the Baron Paiva) than the ordinary
A. 'fluviatilis; but it is unquestionably a trifle more powerfully
MADEIRAN GROUP. 275
striate, and has the striae moreover (although sometimes, from
the worn and corroded state of the shell, difficult to examine)
appreciably further apart, a peculiarity which would seem to
be occasioned by the alternate ones having a tendency to become
more or less evanescent. But beyond this primd facie feature
(which is about equally expressed in the examples from the
Madeiras and the Canaries) I can detect no character of suffi-
cient constancy, or importance, to warrant its separation from
the latter ; though the specific identity of the Madeiran and
Canarian individuals is, I think (as, in point of fact, might
naturally have been anticipated), undeniable.
There is a smaller aspect of this shell, which was taken by
Mr. Lowe at the mouth of the Eibeira do Inferno, in the north
of the island, which appears at first sight to be so distinct that
it might almost represent an additional species. Nevertheless
since the A. striatus is eminently unstable as regards size, and
the examples before me (apart from their greatly reduced bulk)
seem merely to differ in having their surface less perceptibly
sculptured, I am content to cite them as the ' var. /3. depau-
peratus.'
Sectio II. OPERCULATA.
Fam.l. CYCLOPHOimXE.
Genus 1. CRASPEDOPOMA, Pfeiffer.
Craspedopoma lucidum,
Cyclostoma lucidum, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 66.
t. 6. f, 40 (183P
Pfeiff., Mon. Pneum. 51 (1852)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 216
(1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 72. t. 16. f. 29-31
(1854)
flavescens, et neritoides, Lowe, Ann.
Nat. Hist. vi. 114, 115 (1860)
Craspedopoma lucidum, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 156
(1867)
Habitat Maderam ; in declivibus sylvaticis intermediis
ubique vulgaris. In statu semifossili ad Canipal abundans;
necnon etiam in Portu Sancto atque in ins. Deserta Australi,
semifossile, parcissime reperitur.
This is the universal Cyclostomid of the Madeiran Group,
T 2
276 TEST ACE A AT LAN TIC A.
where it abounds throughout Madeira proper in sylvan spots of
an intermediate elevation, occurring on the ledges of the
rocks, and amongst loose friable soil and vegetable detritus, in
most of the damp ravines. It is extremely variable in hue (and
slightly so in sculpture, there being sometimes faint indica-
tions of obsolete spiral lines, in addition to the conspicuous but
unequal transverse ones), which ranges from a dark coffee-
brown, sparingly dashed with irregular patches of a pale straps
colour, into a greenish- or olivaceous-yellow, occasionally with a
leaden or even a decidedly blue tinge.
Amongst the many varieties of this inconstant Craspedo-
poma, two were singled out by Mr. Lowe, in 1860, as perhaps
specifically distinct, and were enunciated by him under the
names flavescens and neritoides. They seem to me, however,
to pass into the other states so completely that I cannot think
they possess the slightest claim to be separated as species, the
flavescens (in its extreme phasis) being merely a trifle smaller,
yellower, and thinner than the ordinary pallid type ; while the
neritoides (which is certainly a little more pronounced in its
peculiarities) has also a somewhat diminished stature, accom-
panied by a bluer surface, and a rather less rounded or ventricose
contour, the volutions being appreciably more flattened, and
the entire shell more compact and trochiform. But even this
latter aspect (namely the C. neritoides, Lowe) merges into the
other, unless I am much mistaken, by imperceptible gradations ;
so that I have no scruples in citing it as a mere variety,, in con-
junction with the flavescens (which can hardly be defined as
even a ' variety ' at all).
In a recent state the C. lucidum has not hitherto been ob-
served, so far as I am aware, out of Madeira proper (although
abounding in that island) ; but it occurs sparingly in a subfossil
condition both in Porto Santo and on the summit of the Southern
Deserta. In the former it was obtained by Mr. Lowe in the
calcareous deposits at the Fonte d'Areia, by myself at the Porto
dos Frades, and by the Baron Paiva on the Campo de Baixo ;
and I possess a single example of it from the Bugio. The
Porto-Santan specimens are rather small in stature, and might
pertain possibly to either the var. flavescens or the var. neri-
toides. In Madeira proper it is extremely common in the sub-
fossiliferous beds at Canipal.
Graspedopoma Monizianmn.
Cyclostoma Monizianum, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. vi. 116
(1860)
Craspedopoma Monizianum, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 158
(1867)
MADEIRAN GROUP. 277
Craspedopoma Monizianum, Pfeiff., Novitat. Conchol. iii.
447. pi. 98. f. 31 (1869)
Habitat Maderam ; in rupibus submaritimis occurrens, sed
rarius.
I think there can be no doubt that this Craspedopoma is
truly distinct from every phasis of the C. lucidum, from which
it differs in its uniformly rather smaller size, its subopake,
almost concolorous, dark coffee-brown hue (the apical region
however being usually a shade paler), by its more finely and
closely, but minutely subreticulate (or decussated) surface (the
transverse striae being reduced in dimensions, and set closer
together, while the spiral ones appear, under a high magnifying
power, to be more appreciably developed), and by its spire being
relatively somewhat more produced, with the volutions still
more tumid, and with the suture consequently even more deeply
impressed. Its aperture, too, andoperculum are proportionately
smaller ; the latter being likewise of a browner and paler, or
less reddish-chestnut, colour, and with the concentric ribs, or
circular costse, more numerous, more regular, and more
elevated.
The C. Monizianum occurs on the maritime and submari-
time declivities of Madeira proper, at only a moderate elevation
above the sea., and does not appear to enter the ' wooded dis-
tricts ' (properly so called). Its principal habitat is about the
Brazen Head and Canipo, in the south-east of the island, where
it has been met with by -Sr. J. M. Moniz, Mr. Lowe, Mr. Lea-
cock, myself, and others ; but there are likewise traces of it in
the northern regions also, a few examples having been found by
Mr. Leacock in 1861 and by Mr. Lowe in 1862 at the mouth of
the Ribeira do Inferno.
As to the Baron Paiva's assumption that the G. Monizianum
exists in Porto Santo, I think that we cannot endorse it
until further evidence has been obtained ; for the Baron's
material was not usually collected by himself, and there seems
nothing (so far as I can ascertain) to warrant that hypothesis.
Craspedopoma Lyonnetianum.
Cyclostoma Lyonnetianum, Lowe, Ann. Nat.* Hist. ix.
(1852)
Craspedopoma Lyonnetianum, Pfeiff., Mon. Pneum. 52
(1852)
Cyclostoma Lyonnetianum, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
217 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 73. t. 16.
f. 32-34 (1854)
278 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Cyclostoma Lyonnetianum, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. 117
(1860)
Craspedopoma Lyonnetianum, Paiva,Mon. Moll. Mad. 159
(1867)
Habitat Maderam; in umbrosis humidis sylvaticis inter-
mediis, hinc inde ad rupes irriguas, sat vulgaris.
This species and the following one are on a smaller and
more jTroc/ms-shaped type than the preceding two ; and their
basal volution is on a different pattern, it being not only more
distinctly keeled, but also somewhat unduly enlarged (or up-
wardly widened) towards the aperture, which gives that par-
ticular region a rather distorted appearance, causing the suture
to be upwardly curved, and diminishing the breadth at that
point of the penultimate whorl. This configuration of the basal
volution is carried out on a very much larger scale, and to an
exaggerated extent, in the Bulimus Lyonnetianus, Pallas, from
the Mauritius, a fact which suggested to Mr. Lowe the trivial
name of the first-discovered (but unfortunately the least charac-
teristic) of these two Madeiran Craspedopomas.
The G. Lyonnetianum is considerably smaller than the G.
Monizianum ; and it varies in hue from a dark uniform coffee-
brown (which would seem to be normal) into a yellowish sienna,
both states being occasionally blotched with patches and streaks
of a pale straw-colour. The spire is proportionately more
drawn-out or produced, the peculiar construction of the ultimate
whorl causing it sometimes to appear a little eccentric or tilted ;
and its sculpture is close and somewhat coarse, the minute spiral
subundulating lines being more appreciably developed than is
the case in either of the preceding species.
The present Craspedopoma, which is confined to the damp
wooded ravines of Madeira proper, was first detected by myself
towards the head of the Eibeira de Sta. Luzia, where it is
abundant, amongst loose friable soil and vegetable detritus, at
the base (and on the ledges) of the lofty perpendicular rocks, in
company often with the G.- lucidum and various Pupce ; and it
has been taken also in the Eibeira do Inferno, in the north of
the island, and likewise (according to the Baron Paiva) in the
Eibeiro Frio.
Mr. Lowe stated that the G. Lyonnetianum is common in a
subfossil condition at Canical ; but this was an error, the
Canical species being unmistakeably the C. trochoideum.
Craspedopoma trochoideum.
Cyclostoma trochoideum, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. 117 (1860)
Craspedopoma trochoideum, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 159
(1867)
'JJ.ADE1RAN GROUP. 279
Habitat Maderam borealem ; in humidis sylvaticis rarissi-
mum. Sed ad Canical in statu semifossili sat copiose invenitur.
As already implied, the present Craspedopoma is more
strictly Trochiform than the preceding one, its more conical
upper and more flattened under portions (shaping the ultimate
whorl into a much sharper keel), added to its altogether more
compact and flatter volutions and the peculiar distortion (to
which I have already alluded) about the aperture, giving it a
very singular appearance. Its colour too is exceedingly remark-
able, being either of a straw-yellow with slightly darker (but
irregular) spiral hair-like lines, or else of a dull coffee-brown
with the spiral lines of a paler tint. Its sculpture is coarser
than that of the G. Lyonnetiamim, the minute closely-set
spiral costse being more distinct.
The C. trochoideum is much rarer than its ally, being de-
cidedly a scarce species. So far as has been observed hitherto,
it is confined to the damp wooded ravines in the north of Ma-
deira proper (such as the Ribeira do Inferno, the Ribeira Funda,
the Ribeira de S. Jorge, and the Boa Ventura), where it has
been met with by Mr. Leacock, Sr. Moniz, and others. In the
subfossiliferous deposits, however, at Canical, it is comparatively
abundant (where it was inadvertently identified by Mr. Lowe
with the C. Lyonnetianum), a fact which would seem to imply
that it may formerly have been a dominant species in the
Madeiran fauna.
Pam. 2. TRUNCATELLID.E.
Genus 2. TRUNCATELLA, Risso.
Truncatella truncatula.
Cyclostoma truncatulum, Drap., Hist. Nat. des Moll. 40
t. 1. f. 28-31 (1805)
Truncatella truncatula, Lowe, Zool. Journ. v. 302. t. 13.
f. 13-18 (1835)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 217
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 162
(1867)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 220
(1876)
Habitat Maderam ; sub lapidibus sestu maris quotidie sub-
mersis, hinc inde una cum Pedipedibus, Auriculis, Melampi-
dibus(\u.Q occurrens.
The European T. truncatula (so remarkable for the apically
280 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
lopped-off, or decollated, spire of the adult shell) is not uncom-
mon below high-water mark in Madeira proper, beneath large
stones washed by the tide, where it was first detected by Mr.
Lowe on the northern shore of the Porjta de Sao Lourenpo. As
in higher latitudes, it assumes two tolerably distinct forms,
one of them (which appears in Madeira to be normal) having
the volutions powerfully ribbed with elevated costae, and the
other (ft. Icevigata) being more shining, and with the costse
more or less obsolete, the only place in which there are usually
conspicuous traces of them being towards the anterior margin
of each whorl. In other respects the T. truncatula is charac-
terized by its cylindrical outline but nevertheless tumid volu-
tions, as well as by its rather narrow aperture, its solid substance,
and its pallid hue.
In its strongly costate state the T. truncatula is somewhat
abundant in certain spots along the shores of Madeira proper ;
but the ' ft. Icevigata ' seems to be scarce, though it is cited by
the Baron Paiva as occurring at the Gorgulho near Funchal.
From the Great Salvage, however, the latter phasis was received
in considerable numbers by the Baron, whilst the former (or
ribbed) one was less common.
The young shells of the Truncatellce differ so curiously from
the adult ones, in their more conical outline and unbroken apex,
that they have occasionally been described not only as a distinct
species, but as pertaining to even another genus.
Trtmcatella Lowei.
Truncatella Lowei, ShuttL, Bern. Mitth. 146 (1852)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 147
(1872)
Habitat Maderam ; a Dom. Bewicke semel lecta.
A single example of this Truncatella (which occurs in the
Canarian archipelago, and which I myself met with at the
Salinas in the north of Lauzarote) was taken in Madeira by the
late Mr. Bewicke, and is now in my possession ; though I have
no memorandum as to its precise locality. I believe, however,
that it was found near Funchal. But I am far from satisfied
that the T. Lowei is more in reality than an extreme, and
almost unsculptured, phasis of the preceding species ; though at
the same time it differs from even the ' /3. Icevigata ' in being
almost totally free from sculpture, there being only the faintest
possible traces of a few little pits and abbreviated hair-like costse
on the front edge of the volutions. These latter, moreover, are
not quite so convex.
The Madeiran specimen now before me differs from the
MADEIRAN GROUP. 281
Canarian ones of the T. Lowei in being altogether a trifle
smaller and narrower ; but I have no means of judging whether
it is a normal one of its race.
Fam. 3. ASSIMINEID^E.
Grenus 3. ASSIMINEA, Leach.
Assiminea littorina,
Helix littorina, Del. Chiaje, Mem,. An. Nap. iii. 215.
Assiminia littorea, Paiva, Mon Moll. Mad. 163 (1867)
Assiminea littorina, Watson, Journ. des Conch. 220 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; sub lapidibus sestu maris quotidie sub-
mersis, hinc inde congregans.
This very diminutive Assiminea, which occurs also in more
northern latitudes, and which is easily recognizable by its com-
pact, globose-ovate, Paludina-like form, its solid substance,
almost unsculptured surface, pallid hue, and perfectly edentate
aperture, is locally abundant on the shores of Madeira proper,
where it was first detected by the Eev. E. B. Watson in 1865.
And it has been obtained also by the Baron Paiva from the
Great Salvage.
Fam. 4. HYDROBIIDJE.
Genus 4. HYDROBIA, Hartm.
Hydrobia similis.
Cyclostoma simile, Drap., Hist. Nat. 34. pi. 1. f. 15 (1805)
Rissoa anatina, Forb. et Hani., Hist. Brit. Moll. iii. 134
Hydrobia similis, Jeffr., Brit. Conch, i. 64
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 161 (1867)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 224 (1876)
Habitat Maderam ; in aquis quietis circa Funchal hinc inde
vulgaris.
The European H. similis (which I found also at Mogador
on the opposide coast of Morocco) occurs abundantly in the
rivers and tanks of Madeira proper, where it was detected in
1865 by the Rev. R. B. Watson, and where I have myself sub-
sequently met with it (near Funchal) in considerable profusion.
It bears at first sight so strong a resemblance to the Limnwa
truncatula that, before accurately examined, it might almost
be mistaken for that species ; nevertheless, apart from its modus
vivendi, which appears to be as much in brackish water as in
fresh, and the fact of its possessing an operculum, it will be
282
TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
seen, when closely inspected, to have many even prima facie
differences. Thus it is not only shorter (relatively) and more
ventricose than the L. truncatula, and with its surface (instead
of being slightly shining and densely crowded with minute
oblique striae) almost unsculptured and opake, but its aperture is
less elongate and more rounded, and has the peristome (instead
of being broadly interrupted) conspicuously continuous across
the body-volution.
MADEIRAN CATALOGUE.
Pto. Sto.
Mad.
N.Des.
Des.
S. Des.
LIMACIDJS.
Arion, Ferussac.
*
Limax, Linn.
ft
n
*
flavus, Linn
#
agrestis, Linn. ....
^
TESTACELLIDJE.
Testacella, Cuvier.
Maugei, Fer
*
haliotidea, Drap. . . . . .
*
VITRINIDJE.
Vitrina, Drap.
* ruivensis, Gould ....
#
marcida, Gould ....
4
H-
HELICIDJE.
Hyalina, Gh'ay.
(Lucilla, Lowe)
cellaria, Mull
*
ft
(Crystallus, Lowe)
* crystallina, Mull. r
*
*
( Vermetum* Woll.)
scintilla, Lowe . . ' *
ft
Patula, Held.
(lulus, Woll.)
deflorata, Lowe ....
*
(Janulus, Lowe)
* bifrons, Lowe ....
*
* stephanophora, Desh.
^
(Patulce norniales)
* calathoides (Paiva), Lowe . .
#
*
Gueriniana, Lowe ....
X-
>
ft
(Pyramidula, Fitz.)
* pygmsea, Drap. . . ...
* nlacida. Shuttl.
*
#
MADEIRAN GROUP.
283
MADEIRAN CATALOGUE (continued}.
Pto. Sto.
Mad.
N. Des.
Des.
S. Des.
(Acanthinula, Beck)
Helix, Linn.
(Vallonia, Bisso)
pulchella, Mull. ....
M
#
(Campylced) Beck)
n
portosanctana, Sow.
a.* [normalis] ....
n
ft. cimensis, Woll.
If
( CryptaxiS) Lowe)
Vulcania, Lowe
o. [normalis] ....
d
ft. desertae, Woll
#
leonina, Lowe
o. intermedia, Woll.
^
ft. [normalis] ....
M
* undata, Lowe ....
n
(Katostomciy Lowe)
* psammopJiora* Lowe
*
ph.lebopb.ora, Lowe
a.* [normalis] ....
g
ft. planata, Lowe ....
It
.,
5. * craticulata, Lowe .
^
(Iberus, Montf.)
Wollastoni, Lowe
o. subdubia, Woll.
^
ft. * [normalis] ....
^
forensis, Woll. .
%
(Mitra, Alb.)
* Webbiana, Lowe ....
*
(Leptaxis, Lowe)
* clirysomela, Pfeiff.
a. \normal\s\ ....
%
ft. (major) fluctuosa, Lowe
*
* membranacea, Lowe
n
* f urva, Lowe
Jl
erubescens, Lowe
o. portosancti, Woll.
*
ft. * [normalis] ....
^
M
7. advenoides, Paiva
g
If
5. hyaena, Lowe . . .
-
-
(Pomatia, Beck)
aspersa, Mull
_
* subplicata, Sow
*
(Ifelicomela, Lowe)
* BarvdicMana, Fer.
II
if
punctulata, Sow.
o. * [normalis] . . .
ft. * avellana, Lowe
If
(JBwpa/rypKd) Hartm.)
pisana, Miill
*
X-
(Xerophila, Held.)
caperata, Mont. .
armillata, Lowe ....
ff
284
TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
MADEIRAN CATALOGUE (continued}.
Pto.sto.
Mad.
N. Des.
Des.
S. Des.
(Plebecula, Lowe)
vulgata, Lowe
a. * [normalis] trifasciata, Lowe .
*
*
#
)8. (maxima) deserticola, Woll.
tt
7. (major) giramica, Lowe
#
5. (minor) pulchra, Paiva
*
. . * (minima) saxipotens, Woll.
*
nitidiuscula, Sow.
a. * [normalis] lurida, Lowe
*
0. * (pallida) ? Hartungi, Alb.
#
(Irus, Lowe)
laciniosa, Lowe ....
#
#
* depauperata, Lowe
x
* squalida, Lowe . . . ' .
*
* Latinea, Paiva
*
(Sjrirorbula, Lowe)
* obtecta, Lowe ....
^
latens, Lowe
*
* paupercula, Lowe ....
#
*
%
*
(Placentula, Lowe)
compar, Lowe
taeniata, W. et B
maderensis, Wood . . . .
spirorbis, Lowe ....
N
leptosticta, Lowe ....
#
* micromphala, Lowe
*
%
*
dealbata, Lowe ....
*
* fictilis, Lowe ....
*
(Aetinella, Lowe)
lentiginosa, Lowe ....
^
%
arcta, Lowe
a. [normalis] ....
56
*
ft. minor, Lowe ....
*
(Rimula, Lowe)
* arcinella, Lowe ....
*
arridens, Lowe
*
n
* f austa, Lowe
*
obserata, Lowe
a. [normalis] .
#
)8. (subminor) * Hpartita, Woll. .
*
(Hispidella, Lowe)
Armitageana, Lowe ....
*
(Gronostoma, Held.)
actinophora, Lowe
a. * [normalis] ....
*
*
)8. * descendens, Woll.
*
(Caracollina, Beck)
x
n
(Cheilotrema, Leach)
* lapicida, Linn
n
(Callina, Lowe)
* rotula, Lowe , r . ' V .
*
(Caseolus, Lowe)
censors, Lowe
o. * [normalis] . ' i
*
MADEIRAN GROUP.
285
MADEIRAN CATALOGUE (continued).
Pto. Sto.
Mad.
N. Des.
Des.
S. Des.
/3. * minor, Lowe ....
#
* calculus, Lowe ....
n
compacta, Lowe
a. * major, Lowe ....
^~
)8. * [normalis] ....
*
#
7. * portosanctana, Lowe
^e-
5. * pusilla, Lowe ....
#
commixta, Lowe
a. [normalis] ....
#
/3. * pusilla, Lowe
*
abject a, Lowe
a. * [normalis] ....
*
*
)8. * candisata, Menke ,
t
7. nesiotes, Woll
*
V
sphasrula, Lowe
a. * [normalis] ....
^
ft. * submajor, Lowe
4
7. major, Lowe ....
*
(Hystricella, Lowe)
* ccMnoderma, Woll.
*
echinulata, Lowe ....
*
bicarinata, Sow.
a. [normalis] ....
#
ft. * aucta, Woll
*
* vermetiformis, Lowe
*
turricula, Lowe
a. pererosa, Woll
#
ft. [normalis] ....
*
* Leacockiana, Woll.
*
oxytropis, Lowe
o. * [normalis] ....
*
ft. * subcarinulata, Woll.
^
(Turritella, Woll.)
cheiranthicola, Lowe
a. * [normalis] ....
#
j8. mustelina, Lowe
X-
(Eiecula, Lowe)
* tetrica, Paiva ....
n
polymorpha, Lowe
a. [normalis] . . ...
*
ft. * salebrosa, Lowe
*
*
#
*
7. * poromphala, Lowe .
tt
^
n
5. * Pittas, Paiva ....
II
e. Alleniana, Paiva
lincta, Lowe ....
*
17. arenicola, Lowe
*
6. Barbosae, Paiva . .
M-
i. * pulvinata, Lowe
^
K. * papilio, Lowe ....
*
A. * discina, Lowe
n
fj.. Gomesiana, Paiva
M
v. * attrita, Lowe | .
X-
tabellata, Lowe
y
* testudinalis, Lowe ' .
ii
(Tectwla, Lowe)
Lyelliana, Lowe
a. [normalis] - ,
*
286
TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
MADEIRAN CATALOGUE (continited).
Pto. Sto.
Mad.
N. Des.
Des.
S. Des.
)8. gigas, Woll. . ' , . .
n
Albersii, Lowe '.-.; . . .
#
* Bulwerii, Sow. . . .
*
tectiformis, Sow.
a. * [normalis] ....
*
/3. (fasciata) cingenda, Woll.
M
7. (subfasciata) suffusa, Woll.
K
5. * lAidovici, Alb.
n
(Craspedaria, Lowe)
* delphimtla, Lowe
a. [normaU*] . , ..
*
0. planospira, Paiva . ,1 . .
X-
(Coronaria, Lowe)
delphinuloides, Lowe . . "* .
n
K
* coronula, Lowe ....
#
Grabhami, Woll. . . . .
*
Moniziana, Paiva . . . .
%
* tiarella, W. et B
*
(Lemniscia, Lowe)
Michaudi, Desh. .
*
n
galeata (Paiva), Lowe
*
Bulimus, Scopoli.
(CocUicella, Risso)
ventricosus, Drap
*
n
#
Stenogyra, Sh.
decollata, Linn. ....
4
Pupa, Drap,
(Tmncatellina, Lowe)
* linearig) Lowe ....
*
microspora, Lowe ....
n
(Paludinella, Lowe
limnaeana, Lowe .
tt
(Gastrodon, Lowe)
f analensis, Lowe ....
#
umbilicata, Drap.
o. [normalis] ....
^J-
. anconostoma, Lowe .
^
*
(Scarabella, Lowe)
* cassida, Lowe ....
t
(lAostyla, Lowe)
cheilogona, Lowe ....
*
vincta, Lowe
*
n
deformis, Woll. ....
M
Loweana, Woll.
a. [normalis] . ; . ,
*
. transiens, Woll. , ;
^
cassidula, Lowe .
concinna, Lowe .
#
* laurinea, Lowe
*
* Wollastoni, Paiva .
*
sphinctostoma, Lowe
a. rupcstris, Lowe
R
)8. [normalis] arborea, Lowe
*
MADEIRAN GROUP.
287
MADEIRAN CATALOGUE- (continued).
Pto. sto.
Mad.
N. Des.
Des.
S. Des.
laevigata, Lowe ....
#
y
macilenta, Lowe . . . ' ... .
#
(Oratieula, Lowe)
-
f usca, Lowe . . . ...
#
* millegrana, Lowe . . . . . .'-
*
^
*
corneocostata, Woll.
a. * [normalis] . . . ..."
*
ft. resticula, Woll. . . -. .
*
relevata, Woll. . . . .
*
ferraria, Lowe ,
*
degenerata, Woll. ,
*
monticola, Lowe
o. [normalis] ....
n
ft. pumilio, Woll
#
* calathiscus, Lowe ....
*
(Alvearella, Lowe)
* abbreviata, Lowe ....
*
* gibba, Lowe
*
(Mattula, Lowe)
* lamellosa, Lowe . . . .
*
(Stattrodon, Lowe)
* saxicola, Lowe ....
*
Clausilia, Drop.
crispa, Lowe
o. [normalis] ....
ft. * decolorata, Woll. .
#
9
deltostoma, Lowe
a. * raricosta, Lowe
#
ft. * [normalis] ....
^5-
*
#
7. obesiuscula, Lowe
*
S. depauperata, Lowe
n
n
Balea, Pridx.
perversa, Linn. ....
*
Achatina, Lam.
(Aeieula, Kisso)
M
^.
^.
* eulima, Lowe . . ,
*
fc
1 (CochUcopa, Fer.)
lubrica, Miill.
o. [normalis] ....
*
/8. maderensis, Lowe
ff
Lovea, Watson.
(Ferussacia, Eisso)
folliculus, Gron. ....
Leacockiana, Lowe ....
#
(Fuftillus, Lowe)
gracilis, Lowe , ! v
*
K
x
terebella, Lowe
a. * (minor) subula, Lowe . .
*
ft. [normalis] . i. -,.;.'.
^
oryza, Lowe
o. * [normalis] ....
ft. (major) tubcrculata, Lowe
*
TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
MADEIRAN CATALOGUE (continued).
Pto. Sto.
Mad.
N. Des.
Des.
S. Des.
* triticea, Lowe ....
*
(A'mphorella, Lowe)
* melampoides, Lowe . , .
ft
tornatellina, Lowe
w
-
7. (intermedia) . . .-
K
ft
j,
mitriformis, Lowe
a. maderensis, Lowe . . .
^
ft. * [normalis] ....
H
ft
ft
*
producta, Lowe ....
iridescens, Woll. ....
t
*
(CylicJmidia, Lowe)
ovuliformis, Lowe
a. * [normalis] . " .
ft. pseudopsis, Woll. , , ' .
* cylichna, Lowe . . . v
*
ATTRICULIDJE,
Pedipes, Adans.
w
Melampus, Montf.
exiguus, Lowe
*
Auricula, Lam.
aaqualis, Lowe
o. rufocastanea, Woll. . . *
X
ft. (major) [normalis] .
ft
7. Vulcani, Morel.
*
Watsoni, Woll. : . " . ' . ' .
*
ft
Limnaea, Drop.
truncatula, Mull
ft
Physa, Drap.
ft
Planorbis, Guett.
glaber, Jeffr. . .
ft
Ancylus, Geoff r.
striatus, Q. et G
ft
o. [normalis] ....
*
ft. depauperatus, Woll.
ft
CYCLOPHORID.E.
Craspedopoma, Pfeiff.
lucidum, Lowe
a. * [normalis]
ft
ft
ft. flavescens, Lowe
7. neritoides, Lowe - ,. .
Monizianum, Lowe .
Lyonnetianum, Lowe
* trochoideum, Lowe
MADEIRAN GROUP.
MADEIKAN CATALOGUE (continued).
289
Pto. Sto.
Mad.
N. Des.
Des.
S. Des.
TRUNCATELLIDJ3.
Truncatella, Risso.
n
Lowei, Shuttl. , .
g
ASSIMINEIDJE.
Assiminea, Leach,
littorina, Dell. Chiaj.
M
HYDBOBIID-K.
Hydrobia, Hcvrtm.
similis, Drap. . . . . .
*
290 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
III. SALVAGES.
CONSIDERING that only a single species of the Terrestrial Mollusca,
and seven of the marine ones which are supposed to exist as
well in brackish water (where such is to be found) as in the
actual sea have hitherto been brought to light on these remote
and almost unapproachable rocks, it would appear at first
sight absurd to devote a separate Section to their consideration ;
yet since geographically the Salvages cannot be included within
either the Madeiran or the Canarian archipelagos, and it is
quite possible that other members of the Pulmonata may
eventually be found to occur on one or the other of the two
outlying islands which constitute this little oceanic assemblage
(for the minute third one is absolutely inaccessible, and there-
fore practically need not be taken into account), we may per-
haps be pardoned if we venture to recognize them as a small
but independent Group, intermediate both in situation and
productions between those which lie immediately to the north
and south of them. 1
It is to Mr. T. S. Leacock, of Funchal, that we are in-
debted for almost our first knowledge of the Natural History
of these distant rocks, a landing on both of them having been
effected by him during the spring of 1851 ; and since that
date small consignments of shells, insects, and plants have
been obtained, from time to time, by the Baron Paiva, chiefly
through the medium of the Portuguese fishing-boats which a,re
now and then freighted from Madeira for the purpose of ga-
thering orchil and barilla, with which most of the Atlantic
islands more or less abound. The late Mr. Mac Andrew in
1852, visited the Salvages in his yacht ; but as his purpose was
mainly to dredge for the marine species, he added nothing to
1 Although it does not come within my province in this volume to enter
into anything beyond the Gastropodous statistics, I may nevertheless just
add that the other members of the fauna, no less than the flora (as hitherto
ascertained), bear testimony to the strictly intermediate character of the
Salvages with respect to the Madeiras and Canaries, though at the same
time implying most unmistakably that they partake far more of the pecu-
liarities of the latter than of those of the former.
SALVAGES. 291
our information concerning the Terrestial fauna, even whilst
bringing away with him, like Mr. Leacock, from the southern
island, or < Great Piton,' the only Helix which has yet been de-
tected in the Group, namely that very remarkable variety of
the H. pisana which was subsequently described by Mr. Lowe
under the name of H. ustulata, and by Pfeiffer under that of
MacAndrewiana, but which in reality merges so completely
into the ordinary pisana-tjpe that it is quite impossible to
uphold it as specifically distinct. 1
The two uninhabited islands of which this intermediate
Group is made up (for, as just stated, the third one, or ' Little
Salvage,' which is said to be low and with an appreciable
amount of vegetation, must be dismissed as altogether and
hopelessly inaccessible) are the northern or larger one, known as
the ' Great Salvage,' and the southern or smaller one (separated
from the former by a channel of about eleven or twelve miles in
breadth), called the ' Great Piton.' The Great Salvage con-
tains the largest superficial area ; and the landing there, in
a certain cove, when the sea is tolerably calm, although more
or less dangerous, is by no means impracticable. But the Great
Piton (which, from a distance, appears like a gigantic ruin, or
castle, rising out of the ocean) seems to be the more interest-
ing, and was described by Mr. Leacock as a rocky cone covered
rather thickly with vegetation, and resting upon a sandy base.
I need scarcely mention that it is chiefly on this ' sandy base '
that the Helix pisana, with its most beautiful and character-
istic varieties, more particularly abounds ; and one can hardly
believe that the densely clothed cone, if carefully searched, would
not be found to harbour something equally curious in the way
of Terrestrial Mollusks. At any rate, judging from the analogy
of the Beetles, which, although Canarian in their affinities, are
nearly all of them peculiar, we may expect that this would be
the case ; though the opportunities for reaching spots which are
thus isolated, and difficult of access, must ever remain so ex-
tremely exceptional that it is impossible to look forward to a
thorough investigation of the Salvages as coming within the
range of even a remote probability.
1 I may just mention that a landing on the Great Salvage was attempted
by Mr. Gray and myself, on the 6th of January, 1858, when we were bound
for the Canaries in his yacht, the ' Miranda ' ; but the sea was running so
high at the time that no boat could have approached the cliffs nearer than
within a stone's throw without the utmost risk. Nevertheless we did our
best to accomplish what we so much desired, though the inhospitable aspect
of the rocks as we neared them made us anything but reluctant to pull back
again to the vessel and resume our voyage to Teneriffe.
202 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Sectio I. INOPERCULATA.
Earn. 1. HELICIDJ:.
Gentis 1. HELIX, Linne
( EupaTyplia, Hartm.)
1. Helix pisana.
Helix pisana [var.], Mull., Verm. Hist. ii. 60 (1774)
ustulata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ix. 114 (1852)
MacAndrewiana, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 625 (1853)
ustulata, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 171 (1854)
MacAndrewiana, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 71 (1867)
Habitat ins. Salvages ; in aridis calcariis, abundans.
The particular Helix which represents at the Salvages the
European H. pisana has so remarkable an aspect that it might
well be regarded, at first sight, as specifically distinct. And
indeed both Dr. Pfeiffer and Mr. Lowe have thus disposed
of it, the former under the name of H. MacAndrewiana,
and the latter under that of H. ustulata ; yet I am satisfied,
after a very careful consideration, that it does not possess fea-
tures of sufficient importance to warrant its being treated as
separate 4ts peculiarity of sculpture being in exact accordance
with that of the pisana, whilst even its coloration (beautiful
though it be) is not more singular than what obtains in certain of
the other permanent (but undoubted) varieties of the latter. In-
deed, apart from colour, we can merely define it as (on the
average) a little thinner and more globose than is usual in the
more northern type, its basal whorl being a trifle more inflated,
and therefore utterly free from every trace of a keel. But these
points, as well as its nearly closed-up perforation, are all paral-
leled in recognised states, and examples, of the pisana ; and
we have nothing, therefore, left for us to fall back upon but
its very remarkable hue ; whilst even this ceases to be dis-
tinctive when I mention that there are two well-marked phases
of the shell on the Salvages, one of which is pure white
with only the peristome rosy, and that this so closely resem-
bles the ordinary pallid one of the pisana that, after acciden-
tally mixing them together, I have experienced the greatest
difficulty in re-separating them in accordance with their respec-
tive habitats.
I have already mentioned, however, that the normal
aspect of this elegant Salvages shell is most extraordinary,
the examples which are not white being more or less suffused
SALVAGES. 293
with a pinkish, or lilac, tint, whilst the whorls (at any rate
from the dorsal line upwards) are for the most part densely
ornamented with narrow spiral bands of a browner hue ; though
with the nucleus itself prominent, and (like the peristome) more
decidedly rosy.
Fam 2. AURICULID^E.
G-enus 2. PEDIPES, Adans.
2. Pedipes afra.
Le Pietin, Pedipes, Adans., Hist, du Seneg. 11. t 1. f. 4
(1757)
Helix afra, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. part 6 (1790)
Pedipes afra, Lowe, Zool. Journ. v. 296 (1835)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Land. 218 (1854)
afer, Drouet, Faun. Acor. 169 (1861)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 153 (1867)
Habitat Salvagem Grandem ; sub lapidibus, sestu maris sub-
mersis, vulgaris.
The Pedipes afra, which is so common in the Madeiran
archipelago, and which occurs also at the Azores as well as on
the coast of Africa, is abundant on the sea-washed rocks at the
Great Salvage, from whence it has been obtained by the Baron
Paiva. The examples from the Salvages do not appear to differ
from those of Madeira.
Genus 3. MELAMPTTS, Montf.
3. Melampus exiguus.
Melampus exiguus, Lowe, Zool. Journ. v. 291 (1835)
Auricula exigua, Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 218 (1854)
Melampus exiguus, Pfeiff., Mai. Bldtt. xiii. 133 (1866)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 150 (1867)
Habitat Salvagem Grandem ; in locis similibus ac prsece-
dens, et una cum illo degens.
Examples of the Madeiran M. exiguus were obtained by
the Baron Paiva from the Great Salvage, where it appears to
occur, in company with the Pedipes afra, the ' var. 7. albes-
cens ' of the Auricula cequalis, the A. Watsoni, the Trunca-
tella truncatula, and the Assiminea littorina, on sea-washed
rocks. I can detect no difference between the Salvages speci-
mens and those from Madeira, except perhaps that the roseate,
or somewhat lilac, tint is, on the average, a little more strongly
expressed in them.
294 TESTACEA ATLANT1CA.
Genus 4. AURICULA, Lam.
4. Auricula sequalis.
Melampus aequalis, Lowe, Zool. Journ. v. 288. t. 13. f. 1-5
(1835)
Auricula aequalis, Id.,Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 217 (1854)
Vulcani, Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 207. t. 5.
f. 8 (1860)
Marinula sequalis, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 151 (1867)
Auricula Vulcani, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 135
(1872)
aequalis, Watson, Journ. de Conch. 220 (1876)
Habitat per oras maritimas insulae Majoris ; ad rupes sestu
maris quotidie submersas copiosissime adhserens.
The particular form which this common Auricula assumes
at the Salvages, and which may perhaps be identical with the
A. Ferminii, Payr., is slightly different from that which
is so abundant in the Madeiran archipelago ; and as I have
already characterised it (as the ' var. 7. albescens ') at p. 267 of
this volume, I need scarcely do so afresh. Suffice it to observe
that the A. cequalis is appreciably paler here than it is at the
Madeiras, as well as (relatively) a trifle longer, slenderer, and more
opake ; and its surface is, for the most part, a good deal eroded,
or eaten-into, much as in the A. Paivana. I have ex-
amined a perfect multitude of specimens, which were obtained
from the Great Salvage, and I find that these small differen-
tial features (however unimportant) are well-nigh invariable ;
but as one or two examples which are now before me, and
which were communicated by Mr. Watson, appear to be on
the ordinary Madeiran type, and a few out of my own assort-
ment are likewise connective, I am not able to register the ' var
7. albescens ' as the only phasis of the shell which is found on
these remote rocks. Still, it is quite evident that it is the prin-
cipal one, and that the rather darker and more ventricose form
is at the Salvages the rarer of the two.
The occasional thickening of the outer lip is about as often
traceable (however seldom) in the 'var. 7. albescens' as it is
in the ordinary type.
5. Auricula Watsoni.
Auricula myosotis, Watson [nee Drap.~], Journ. de Conch.
220 (1876)
Watsoni, Woll., vide ante, p. 269 huj. operis.
Habitat insulam Majorem ; una cum A. cequali commixta,
sed multo rarior.
SALVAGES. 295
This appears to be by far the rarest of the three Auriculas
which have been detected hitherto at the Salvages, the few
examples which I have seen having been partly received from
the Baron Paiva, and partly separated by myself from a mass
of the <var. 7. albescens' of the A. cequalis which had been
obtained by him from those islands. The species may readily
be known from the latter by being considerably smaller and
less elongate-ovate (or more strictly fusiform), and by the upper
one of its two ventral plaits being so far reduced in dimen-
sions as to assume the form for the most part, of a minute
and isolated tubercle. Its colour too is darker than that of the
cequalis (at any rate as represented at the Salvages), it
being of a pale reddish brown, with a more or less decided violet
tinge. So far as I have yet observed, its outer lip is wholly
unarmed, or free from denticles. I may just add, however, that
the examples of this shell from the Great Salvage (which I have
cited as reprenting a c var. /3. scrobiculata ') are not quite so
dark and purpurascent, on the average, as the Madeiran ones ;
and they are likewise a trifle slenderer in outline, and when
young more glossy in surface ; but in everything important the
two phases are undistinguishable.
Having given a diagnosis of the A. Watsoni in my notice of
it under the Madeiran Group, I need not do more than refer to
p. 269 of the present volume for any further particulars concern-
ing it,
6. Auricula Paivana.
T. ovato-fusiformis, solida, opaca (et plus minus erosa), cre-
taceo- aut (interdum) subflavo-albida ; spira breviuscula, conica,
anfractibus 5^-6 planis, ultimo elongato, sutura saepius lacerata ;
apertura elongata, plicis 2 instructa, sc. 1 magna intrante ven-
trali, vix supra columellam sita, et altera minore obliqua colu-
mellari ; peristomate recto, acuto, marginibus callo nitidiore
junctis, dextro simplici, columellari reflexo dilatato. Long,
lin. 2^-3^ ; diam. maj. vix 1^.
Alexia Paivana, Pfeiff., Mai. Bldtt. xiii. 146 (1866)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 155 (186 7)
Auricula bidentata et Paivana, Wats., Journ. de Conch.
220 (1876)
Habitat Salvages ; in ins. Maj ore ad rupes maritimas, vul-
garis. ^
This appears to be a most abundant Auricula on the tide-
washed rocks at the Salvages, from the larger island of which it
has been obtained in profusion by the Baron Paiva ; but I am
not aware that it has been observed hitherto in any of the
other archipelagos. I am extremely doubtful however whether
296 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
it represents more in reality than a slight geographical variety
of the European A. bidentata, Mont., with which indeed it has
been identified both by Dr. Fischer and Mr. Watson ; though
as Pfeiffer, who must have had good opportunities of being
acquainted with the latter, has enunciated it lately under the
name of Alexia Paivana, I will not do otherwise than treat
it as distinct.
The A, Paivana may easily be recognized, from the other
members of the genus which have been found in these various
Atlantic archipelagos by its extremely pallid colour (which is
usually white with a very faint yellowish tinge), and by its
having only a single plait (and that one large, and somewhat
inferior in position) on its ventral paries, the oblique colu-
rnellary one being the less enlarged of the two. It is rather
a small shell for an Auricula, and extremely solid ; its surface,
which is nearly opake, is a good deal eaten-into or eroded ;
its suture is more or less uneven, or lacerate ; its spire is
short, and composed of somewhat fewer whorls than in the
generality of the species ; its ultimate volution is slightly
elongated ; and the outer lip of its aperture is quite free from
denticulations.
Having given a diagnosis of the various Auriculas which
occur in the Madeiran and Canarian archipelagos, I have
thought it desirable to compile one for the A. Paivana like-
wise, in order to point out more readily in what particular
points it differs from the others.
Seetio II. OPERCULATA.
Fam.l. TRUNCATELLID^E.
Genus 1. TRTINCATELLA, Risso.
7. Truncatella truncatula.
Cyclostoma truncatulum, Drap. 9 Hist. Nat. dea Moll. 40. t. 1.
f. 28-31 (1805)
Truncatella truncatula, Lowe, Zool. Journ. v. 302. t. 13.
f. 13-18 (1835)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 217
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 162(1867)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 220
(1876)
Habitat Salvagem Grandem ; sub lapidibus per litora maris
congregans.
SALVAGES. 207
The European T. truncatula, which is locally abundant on the
tide-washed rocks in Madeira, has been obtained by the Baron
Paiva, both in its costate and comparatively unsculptured
phases, from the Great Salvage, where he records that it was
met with in tolerable numbers (and particularly under the form
to which I have already alluded, vide ante p. 280, as the
'/8. Iwvigata ' ) at the ' Furna de Nordeste.'
Fam. 2. ASSIMINEIDJE.
Grenus 2. ASSIMINEA, Leach.
8. Assiminea littorina.
Helix littorina, Delle Chiaje, Mem. Ann. s. Vert. Nap. iii.
215. t. 49. f. 36-38.
Rissoa littorea, F. et H., Hist. Brit. Moll. iii. 132.pl. 81,
f. 6, 7.
Assiminea littorina, Jeffr., Br. Conch, v. 101 (1869)
Watson, Journ. de Conch. 220 (1876)
Habitat insulam Majorem ; rupibus saxisque, aestu maris
quotidie submersis, adhserens.
As already stated at p. 281 of the present volume, this mi-
nute European Assiminea was obtained in abundance by the
Baron Paiva from the Great Salvage, where it would seem to
occur, much as it does at the Canaries, Madeira, and elsewhere,
adhering to the large masses of rock which are washed by the
tide. Its very diminutive bulk and rounded-ovate contour, ad-
ded to its nearly unsculptured surface, solid substance, pallid
hue, and perfectly edentate aperture, will suffice to distin-
guish it.
TEST ACE A ATLANTICA.
TV. CANAEIAN GROUP.
ALTHOUGH far less perfectly explored than the Madeiran Group,
the Canaries have had immeasurably more attention bestowed upon
them than either the Azores or Cape Verdes. Since the days of
Adanson, who touched there on his passage to Senegal, now
more than a century ago, they have been visited at intervals by
many naturalists, though often hurriedly and with but feeble
results ; and before the sojourn of MM. Webb and Berth elot,
whose ' Synopsis,' published in 1833, marks what may be termed
the first epoch in the Canarian fauna, the travellers Mauge and
Ledru, Quoy and Graimard had gathered a scanty contribution
towards the commencement of a local catalogue. Meagre and
inaccurate as was the enumeration of even Webb and Berth elot
(the forty-four species of which embraced a considerable number
which had nothing to do with the Canaries at all, having been
obtained from bags of dried orchil the precise origin of
which was confessedly unknown), it nevertheless formed a basis
on which future collectors were able to build ; and it was by
means of this, augmented by a few which he himself met with
during a short stay at the Canaries, on his voyage to the West
Indies, that M. d'Orbigny so far increased the list, in 1839, as
to make it include fifty-four species.
After the publication of d'Orbigny's catalogue, which con-
stituted an integral part of MM. Webb and Berthelot's ' His-
toire Naturelle,' no additions to the Grastropodous fauna seem to
have been brought to light for about thirteen years, when M.
Shuttleworth described, in the ' Berner Mittheilungen ' for 1852,
thirty new species which had been detected by Blauner ; sup-
plementing the number by eight others (now in the Museum at
Marseilles) from the collection of M. Terver, which however (as
having been gathered, like some of the previous ones which had
been given to Mr. Webb, from consignments of ' Dyers' moss,'
or orchil, the exact country of which was admitted to be uncer-
tain) possessed but doubtful claims to be treated as unquestion-
ably Canarian.
In 1856 eight additions were enumerated by Grrasset (Journ.
CANARIAN GROUP. 299
de Conch, v. 345), which had been discovered by himself and
M. de la Perraudiere in Teneriffe and Hierro ; and during the
following year Mousson contributed four others (Denksch. der
Allg. Schweiz. Gesellsch. fur die Naturwiss. xv. 132) from the
material which had been collected by Dr. Hartung in Lanzarote
and Fuerteventura.
In 1861 sixteen Helices were published as new (Ann. Nat.
Hist., 3rd ser. viii. 104) by Mr. Lowe, the result of his own
researches, in conjunction with those of myself, during two ex-
peditions to the Canaries (in 1858 and 1859), when we visited,
in Mr. Gray's yacht ' the Miranda,' the whole seven islands of
the Group ; and in 1864Morelet enunciated four others (Journ.
de Conch, xii. 16) as having been found in G-omera.
It remained yet, however, to elaborate these various contri-
butions to the Canarian catalogue into a systematic whole ; and
accordingly in 1872 Mousson issued his ' Eevision de la Faune
Malacologique des Canaries,' in which he brought together what
had previously been published, and embodied the result of cer-
tain fresh material which had come to hand, particularly that
of M. de Fritsch, a Professor of Geology at Frankfort, who had
spent eight months in the archipelago and had visited all the
islands. 1 To that of M. de Fritsch was added the material
which had been obtained in Teneriffe by Eeiss ; and as Mousson
possessed the advantage of a large number of the collections, to
which I have just called attention, having been entrusted to
him, he was in a position to give a trustworthy resume of what
had been done. Although I cannot but think that he has made
the species of his Monograph far too numerous, the ' 197 ' re-
quiring, according to my estimate, and that too in spite of no
less than twenty-one additions with which he was not ac-
quainted^ to be reduced by at least eight (in reality perhaps by
more), we are nevertheless greatly indebted to him for the
careful and conscientious manner in which he applied himself
to the difficult task of examining the extensive material (includ-
ing a considerable portion of my own) which was placed in his
hands ; and if, in the course of the present enumeration, I have
occasionally felt compelled to differ from the conclusions at
which he arrived, it is in many instances, simply, because,
having had fuller opportunities of observation in situ, somewhat
greater latitude for the general principle of insular variation has
been, to a certain extent, forced upon me.
1 Mousson says that sept des huit iles principales du groupe ' were
explored by de Fritsch ; but he must surely be aware that there are but seven
islands altogether which could be described, in any sense, as 'iles principales,'
the little rock of Lobos, in the Bocayna strait, having always been cited
as a portion of Fuerteventura, and Graciosa, Allegranza, and Clara being
mere detachments of Lanzarote.
300 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Although a certain number of mere titles have been altered,
in this catalogue, consequent on the shells which they represent
having hitherto been wrongly referred to them, and which might
leave the erroneous impression, at first sight, that the species
themselves (rather than their names) had been rejected, there
are nevertheless twelve species, usually registered as Canarian,
which I would expunge altogether from the list, as having been
accepted upon evidence which is totally insufficient ; and since
the majority of them were equally doubted by Mousson, it is
much to be regretted that he should have admitted any of them
into his ' Eevision,' which certainly ought not to have been
augmented by forms which are so manifestly extraneous. The
twelve to which I allude are as follows : (1) Vitrina fasciolata,
Fer. ; introduced by the older naturalists, probably through a
mere confusion in the habitat as originally reported, its Canarian
claims having been disputed by even Webb and Berthelot.
(2) Hyalina semicostula. Beck ; a species found in Portugal,
and said by Reeve (Conch. Icon. 879), but without proper evi-
dence, to occur in Grand Canary. (3) Helix advena, W. et B. ;
a Helix which is now thoroughly demonstrated to be peculiar
to the Cape Verde archipelago, having no connection what-
ever with the Canaries, and one which (like so many other
species which were admitted by Webb, absolutely without proof
as to their precise countries, into his Canarian fauna) would
seem to have been obtained originally from bags of dried orchil,
or Dyers' lichen, which had been shipped to Europe for sale.
(4) Helix marcida, Shuttl. ; founded on a unique specimen in
the Marseilles Museum, imperfect and (according to Mousson)
' dont 1'origine precise est inconnue; ' and in all probability there-
fore from the collection of M. Terver, by whom it must have been
found in the consignments of orchil to which I shall often be
compelled to allude as having been the occasion of so much un-
necessary error. (5) Helix melolontha, Shuttl. ; likewise
established on a single example in the Museum at Marseilles,
and from the cabinet of M. Terver, whose orchil-gathered ma-
terial has created an amount of confusion in the faunas of these
various Atlantic archipelagos which is simply deplorable.
(6) Helix tceniata, W. et B. ; an essentially Madeiran form,
absolutely peculiar to Madeira proper, and not permeating even
the other islands of that archipelago, and doubtless obtained by
Webb (through M. Terver, of Lyons) from casks of orchil, or
' Dyers' Moss.' (7) Helix tiarella, W. et B. ; likewise empha-
tically Madeiran, and thoroughly distinctive of that archipelago,
having unquestionably come into the hands of Webb (who had
no scruple in citing it as Canarian) along with the H. tccniata.
(8) Bulimus Terverianus, W. et B. ; a species belonging to
CANARIAN GROUP. 301
the fauna of Morocco (occurring around Mogador), and having
nothing whatever to do with that of the Canaries. (9) Steno-
gyra subdiaphana, King ; a species which is peculiar to the
Cape Verdes, and (like the last) having nothing whatever to do
with the Canaries ; and one indeed whose claims to be Canarian
were questioned by even Webb and Berthelot, and subsequently
by d'Orbigny. (10 and 11) Achatina Paroliniana, W. et B.,
and A. Tandoniana, Shuttl. ; founded on the Lovea triticea
and oryza, Lowe, collected by Webb on the mountains of Porto
Santo and erroneously regarded as Canarian. And (12) Poma-
tias Barthelemianum, Shuttl. ; established on a single
example in the Museum at Marseilles ' sans indication precise,'
according to Mousson, c de localite,' and doubtless from the col-
lection of M. Terver of Lyons, its citation as Canarian resting
upon evidence which is quite as untrustworthy as it is in the
case of so many other species which are in a similar predicament.
Although more or less called in question by Mousson, as to
their true Canarian claims, 10 out of the 12 species to
which I have just referred are nevertheless admitted practically
into his fauna, the only ones which are altogether cast out
being the Helix advena and the Bulimus Terverianus, W.
et B.
In addition however to these, there are at least fourteen
others, treated by Mousson as species, which I do not absolutely
reject but which I look upon as mere states, or phases, of cer-
tain proximate types, thus reducing his catalogue still further,
as regards extent. These fourteen are as follows : ( 1 ) Hyalina,
canarice, Mouss. ; scarcely distinguishable from the common
H. cellaria, Miill., of which it seems to me to be hardly even a
'variety.' (2, 3) Helix geminata, Mouss., and H. Grasseti
(Tarn.), Mouss. ; mere forms of the pisana, Miill., which are
manifestly connected by intermediate links with the ordinary
type. (4, 5) Helix canariensis (Shuttl.), Mouss., and H. herbi-
cola (Shuttl.), Mouss. ; slight modifications of the very incon-
stant H. lineata, Oliv. (6) Helix adoptata, Mouss. ; an
undoubted state (if distinguishable at all, as such) of the uni^
versal H. lancer ottensis, W. et B. (7) Helix pavida, Mouss. ;
identical with the H. nubigena, Lowe, but the mere name
nevertheless employed on account of the latter one having been
preoccupied. (8) Helix Bertheloti,er.i& somewhat larger
race, but merging completely into the other, of the H. hispidula,
Lam. (9) Helix nodosostriata, Mouss. ; a common and very
ordinary development of the H. mirandce, Lowe, from Gromera.
(10) Helix praiposita, Mouss. ; founded upon a single indivi-
dual which was taken by myself on the mountains of Grand
Canary, but which appears to me to be absolutely identical with
302 TEST ACE A AT LAN TIC A.
Shuttleworth's H. persimilis. (11) Bulimus roccellicola, W.
et B. ; certainly not distinct specifically from the B. variatus,
W. et B. (12) Cionella Webbi, d'Orb. ; identical, unquestion-
ably, with the Bulimus mysotis, W. et B. (13) Cyclostoma
adjunctum, Mouss. ; not separable specifically from the C.
canariense, d'Orb., of which it constitutes one of the many
insular races. And (14) Physa ventricosa, Mouss. ; a mere
phasis, I think, of the P. acuta, Drap.
The species which I have myself added to the Canarian
catalogue, but which are not included in Mousson's work
(though two of them, the Helix planaria and Bulimus pal-
mensis, are treated by him as ' vars.'), are the following twenty-
one: (1) Hyalina osoriensis, Woll. ; a strongly defined
member, from a high elevation in Grand Canary, of Mousson's
section ' Lyra,' yet certainly not belonging to the genus Patula
(as the closely allied circumsessa, Shuttl., was erroneously sup-
posed to be by him), but to Hyalina. (2) Patula garachi-
coensis, Woll. ; discovered by Mr. Lowe near Garachico in the
north of Teneriffe, and quite distinct from everything else which
has been acknowledged as Canarian. (3) Helix gibboso-basalis,
Woll. ; allied to the H. lactea, Mull., but, I believe, truly dis-
tinct: from the collection of M. Vargas, and found in the north
of Teneriffe. (4, 5) Helix vermiplicata, Woll., and H. grano-
malleata, Woll. ; two rather large Helices, of the Hemicycla
section, detected in Palma. (6) Helix nivarice, Woll. ; a
species, both recent and subfossilized, of the H. malleata type,
occurring in the north of Teneriffe. (7) Helix apicina, Lam. ;
two examples of which were lately met with in Teneriffe,
during the expedition of H.M.S. ' Challenger.' (8) Helix cris-
polanata, Woll. ; a remarkably pilose species, of the Gonostoma
section, from Palma. (9) Helix beata, Woll.; likewise of the
Gonostoma group, and from Fuerteventura, but nearly related to
the Teneriffan H. fortunata, Shuttl. (10) Helix planaria,
Lam. ; treated by Mousson and others as a Teneriffan state of
the H. afficta, Fer., of Palma, but which I believe to possess a
greater claim for specific separation than most of its immediate
allies. (11) Helix Gomerce, Woll,; detected both in a sub-
fossil and semi-recent condition in Gomera, and a good deal
akin to (though perfectly distinct from) the H. discobolus,
Shuttl., of that same island. (12) Helix Watsoniana, Woll. ;
a rather obscure little species, from Grand Canary and Tene-
riffe, of the Lemniscia group. (13-18) Six Bulimi, the B.
palmensis, osoriensis, chrysaloides, interpunctatus, Lowei,
and savinosa, of which the first is from Palma, the second,
third, and fourth are from Grand Canary, the fifth is from Tene-
riffe, and the last is from Gomera and Hierro. (19) Lovea
CANARIAN GROUP. 303
tornatellina, Lowe ; an ' Achatina ' which abounds in the Ma-
deiras, and a single example of which was met with by Mr.
Watson a few years ago in Grand Canary. (20) Limncea
truncatula, Mull. ; likewise common at Madeira, but found
by Mr. Watson in the Canarian archipelago. And (21) Assi-
minea littorina, Delle Chiaje ; a European, submarine species,
abundant at Madeira and the Salvages, which was obtained by
Mr. McAndrew in Teneriffe.
After making these various additions to, and deductions
from, the local catalogue as given by Mousson, it will be seen,
by a reference to the list at the close of the present Section,
that the true species (whether indigenous or introduced), so far
as I can understand them, which I should be inclined to
acknowledge as Canarian, amount to 189; and it is somewhat
remarkable that it should happen to be a little in advance of
the number which is indicated (namely 176) in the very much
more perfectly explored Madeiran Group. This fact however
must not be permitted to leave the impression that the Canaries
are better stocked as regards their Pulmoniferous Mollusks than
the Madeiras ; for it should be borne in mind that the former
are made up of seven large islands, the central one of which
rises to an altitude of more than 12,000 feet, whereas the latter
(the loftiest point of which is only 6,000) have but five islands,
or if we count (as is most natural) the rocks of the Desertas
as one, merely three. Hence the circumstances are very differ-
ent a priori, and 176 species at the Madeiras imply a very
much more redundant fauna than 189 do at the Canaries.
Added to which, the Madeiran catalogue embraces an immea-
surably larger proportion of extra forms which (on account of
their having been treated as only well-marked varieties rather
than as separate species) are altogether lost sight of in a mere
numerical enumeration, the ' species,' as technically and
rigidly understood by that term, being the only organisms
which it is the custom to register under distinct numbers in a
geographical catalogue. But although acknowledged as ' varie-
ties ' rather than as species, it does not necessarily follow that
some of them may not in reality tally better with what we
believe to be the latter, or at all events that they may not have
an equal importance with many of the forms at the Canaries
which (through the want perhaps of sufficient material from
which to judge) have been accepted unreservedly as species. So
that^from this point of view likewise (indeed I might almost
say a fortiori) the Madeiran catalogue can hardly fail to be
recognised as a much richer one than that of the Canaries,
numbering, when all the forms, as hitherto acknowledged, are
taken into account, no less than 246, against only 224 which
304 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
are indicated at the latter ; though, on the other hand, I am
willing to admit that the southern archipelago has been so
much less fully investigated than the more northern one that
some allowance must unquestionably be made on that account,
even whilst my own experience in them both would incline
me to believe that the Madeiras, in proportion to their superfi-
cial area, will be found, even eventually, to be far more com-
pletely gorged with aboriginal types (and types, I may add, of
a more isolated and peculiar character) than the Canaries.
It is indeed a rather puzzling fact, but one which is borne
out equally by the Coleopterous statistics, that, despite their
more southern position, the Canaries have nevertheless a far
more decided Mediterranean and north- African element about
them than what we observe in the Madeiran Group. Take, for
instance, the distinctively Canarian Helix lancer ottensis, which
"is found in the whole seven islands of the archipelago, but which
also ranges up the western coast of Morocco, or the no less
essentially Canarian H. argonautula, which has recently been
detected (under a scarcely altered phasis) further in the interior
on the opposite mainland ; or take the Helicideous department
Hemicycla, and the genera Parmacella, Leucochroa, and
Cyclostoma, which are not represented in even any of the other
archipelagos, but the first of which (replaced at the Madeiras,
Azores, and Cape Verdes by Leptaxis) numbers thirty-seven
members (indeed probably more), whilst the fourth, although
not numerous in species, has separate modifications for nearly
every island of the Canarian cluster. The genus Bulimus, too,
which has fully thirty exponents in the Canaries, is absolutely
unknown at the Madeiras except as embodied by the common
B. ventricosus, which has simply been introduced. Then, at
the Canaries, we meet with, also, none of the more anomalous
and isolated types such as the Helix delphinula, the members
of the sections Coronaria, Tectula, Hystricella, Helicomela,
Placentula, and Katostoma, and the Pupa cassida which are
so conspicuous in the Madeiran archipelago ; though, on the
other hand, it must be confessed that the European and other-
wise widely-spread genus Clausilia, which is universal at the
Madeiras, is without a representative not only at the Canaries,
but in every other island of the ' Atlantic province.'
Yet although the Canarian and Madeiran Groups are thus
conspicuously disconnected as regards their Gastropodous fauna
(only seven species, when the cosmopolitan and manifestly intro-
duced ones have been removed, being common to them both ] ),
1 These seven truly * Atlantic ' Gastropods which are common to the
Canaries and the Madeiras (after the merely naturalized and cosmopolitan
ones have been deducted) are as follows : the Patula i)landa, Shuttlw., and
CANARIAN GROUP. 305
I have nevertheless shown at p. 60 of this volume that indica-
tions are not wanting of certain well-marked types which do
nevertheless (even whilst represented by different species) per-
meate both archipelagos, and indeed more or less the whole of
them, giving an amount of individuality to the entire pro-
vincej through its several component portions, which it is
impossible not to recognize. Thus, to compare our present
cluster with that of the Madeiras, we see (even amongst the
forms which may be said to be ' characteristic ') the sections
Vermetum (of Hyalina\ Janulus (of Patula\ and Mitra,
Irus, Spirorbula and Discula (of Helix), as well as the genus
Lovea (allied to Achatina) and Craspedopoma (allied to Cy-
clostoma\ cropping up, under specifically distinct exponents,
in them both. And yet, in spite of this, I also called attention
to the circumstance that the unity of this whole Atlantic region^
so clearly shadowed forth, is nevertheless immeasurably over-
balanced by the marvellous isolation (the evidence for which is
even still more pronounced) of its several parts. But what
may be the exact bearing of all this upon the existing geogra-
phical phenomena I will not venture to suggest, the possible
breaking-up (at an exceedingly remote epoch) of a more or less
continuous land, which had been colonized along circuitous
ridges, now lost beneath the ocean but connecting one or the
other of its various portions, being but a single explanation out
of many, and entering into the province, whatsoever be its plausi*-
bility, of mere conjecture.
Had we only the Land-shells from which to judge, this unity
of the so-called ; Atlantic province,' although (I think), even
Helicologically quite unmistakeable, would perhaps have been
less positively insisted upon, in my present remarks, than it is ;
but with the Coleopterous statistics likewise before me, on
which to build up an independent judgment, I must plead
guilty to a very full appreciation of the few conchological facts
which would seem to bear on the ' individuality ' (as I have ven-
tured to express it) of the entire region. I do not, however,
feel it necessary to apologise for this slight a priori bias,
because, our sole object being to arrive at the truth, we ought
to be thankful, rather than otherwise, for any extraneous evi-
pusilla, Lowe ; the Helix paupercula, Lowe ; the Pupa microspora, Lowe ;
the B. anconostomaj of the P. umUlicata y Drap., and the P. fanalensis, Lowe,
and the Lovea tornatellina, Lowe. Mousson mentions that there are but
three species thus circumstanced, namely, the Helix paupercula, the Pupa
microspora, and the P. anconostoma ; but that arose principally from his not
having been aware (1) that the Patula servilis, Shuttlw., is identical with
ihepusilla, Lowe ; (2) that Lowe's 'pusilla. var. . sericinaj is Shuttle worth's
P. placida; and (3) that his own Pupa debilis is conspecific with the P.
fanaletisis of Lowe,
306 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
dence, which might serve as a guide towards the solution of a
problem which requires to be approached from many different
directions. But the general character of the beetles, no less
than that of the plants, even though often evinced by species
which are totally distinct, is so marvellously similar through-
out the whole of these sub-African archipelagos, that it is diffi-
cult not to acknowledge the latter as but detached portions
(however isolated inter se} of a single geographical system. The
more sedentary nature of the Pulmoniferous Gastropods, as com-
pared with the majority of the insects, would lead us beforehand
to suspect that the truly indigenous exponents of the former
(unconnected specially with the 'inhabited districts ') would be
found to be less dispersed, or more localized, than those of the
latter, as indeed is conspicuously the case even on tracts which
are still unbroken ; therefore we need hardly feel surprised that
what is thus strongly indicated in other departments of the
Natural History, should be expressed somewhat more feebly in
the Terrestrial Mollusks.
With the Cape Verde archipelago the Canaries, as regards
their Gastropods, seem practically to be altogether disunited,
three species out of the four which have been found in both
Groups (namely the Helix lenticula, the Bulimus ventricosus,
and the Stenogyra decollatd} having most likely been natural-
ized, and indeed the remaining one (the minute Patula pusilld)
perhaps falling under the same category. The Cape Verdes, in
point of fact, have a far closer connection with the Madeiras ;
for although it is true that the respective faunas have (so far as
has been observed hitherto) but six members in common, and
that there is an equal appearance of even these (with the
possible exception of the Patula pusilla) having been intro-
duced, nevertheless a marked coincidence exists between some
of the dominant types in the two archipelagos as, for instance,
the Leptaxis section of the genus Helix, which (although
present under species which are specifically dissimilar) would
tend, in some degree, to affiliate, as it were, the respective areas
of distribution. 1
Out of the 189 species which I would enumerate for the
Canarian archipelago, 13 have been found hitherto in a sub-
fossil state only ; and although this is no proof that they may
not occur recent likewise (for the majority of those which have
been met with in the conchyliferous deposits exist equally in a
living condition), they must nevertheless, of necessity, be re-
1 The six actual species which are common to the Cape Verdes and
Madeira are as follows : Patula pusilla, Lowe, Helix armillata, Lowe, and
lenticula, Fer., Bulimus ventricosus, Drap., Stenogyra decollata, Linn., and
Achatina lubrica, Mull.
CANARIAN GROUP. 307
garded as extinct until the contrary has been shewn by actual
observation. The 13 to which I allude are as follows :
Helix digna, Mouss. . . . Gomera
Moussoniana, Woll. (Adonis, Mouss.). Gromera
efferata, Mouss. .> . . . Gomera
gravida, Mouss. ..,.*.. '.: V ..... . Fuerteventura
desculpta, Mouss. .... Fuerteventura
semitecta, Mouss. . ,--:> - Gomera
merita, Mouss. . . . . Gomera
indiflferens, Mouss. . . . Hierro
rnultigranosa, Mouss. . . . Gomera
morata, Mouss. .... Fuerteventura
multipunctata, Mouss. . . . Fuerteventura
Bulimus indifTerens, Mouss. . . . Grand Canary
Pupa macrogyra, Mouss. . ^ * . Gomera.
In addition however to these 13 species which must be
looked upon practically (at any rate for the present) as having
passed away, it will be seen by a reference to the local cata-
logue given at the close of this Section that about 30 others,
out of the 189, have been collected also in a state which may
be regarded as more or less ' subfossilized ;' but, as mentioned
at p. 63 (when commenting on the extinct fauna of the Ma-
deiras), I place so little reliance upon these so-called ' subfossil'
individuals, many of which have often appeared to me to be
scarcely more than bleached and decorticated ones, that I shall
not attempt to draw any deductions concerning them. Indeed
until the several islands have been much more perfectly investi-
gated, I cannot but think that this would be both premature
and useless ; though as the nature of the beds (whether calca-
reous or muddy) in which the specimens are usually to be
procured are exactly analogous to those of the Madeiran archi-
pelago, we may be pretty certain that whatever conclusions can
be safely arrived at from Madeiran data (which have been
altogether more accurately accumulated) will apply equally, so
far as the geological aspects of the question are concerned, to
the other islands. I have therefore considered it sufficient, in
the present remarks, to call attention to the few forms which
have not yet been brought to light except subfossilized.
Although without much signification, in the very imperfect
state of our present knowledge concerning the conchy liferous
deposits in the Canarian Group, I have nevertheless in the topo-
graphical list at the close of this Section prefixed an asterisk (*)
to those species which have been found likewise in a more or
less subfossil condition ; and in those instances where the species
have been observed only subfossilized (under which circurn-
x 2
303 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
stances they must be looked upon practically as extinct) the
names have been printed, additionally, in italics.
Sectio I. INOPERCULATA.
Earn. 1. LIMACID.E.
Genus 1. UMAX, Linne.
Umax canariensis.
Limax antiquorum, Ledru [nee Fer., 1821], Voy. 1. 186
(1810)
canariensis, d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 47. t. 3. f. 1-3
(1839)
Bourguignat, Amen. Mai. 11 (1859)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 6 (1872)
Habitat Canariam Grandem, et TenerifFam (sec. d'Orbigny) ;
a DD. Webb et Berthelot lectus.
I have not seen this Limax ; but, judging from d'Orbigny's
diagnosis, its almost uncarinated body would perhaps tend to
place it near to the L. agrestis, L. It appears to have been
taken by MM. Webb and Berthelot in Grand Canary and
TenerifTe ; and d'Orbigny's diagnosis of it is as follows : ' Cor-
pore elongate, graciliter albo-griseo, nigro-maculato, supra ru-
goso-striato, antice brevi, postice elongatissimo conico sub-
acuminato ; pallio irregulariter rugoso ; carina subnulla, retro
solummodo signata.'
Limax polyptyelus.
Limax cinereus, Ledru [nee Mull., 1774], Voy. 1. 186 (1810)
carinata, d'Orb. [nee carinata, Leach, 1820], in W.
et B. Hist. 47. t. 3. f. 4-8 (1839)
polyptyelus, Bourguignat, Amen. Mai. 11 (1859)
Mouss.y Faun. Mai. des Can. 6 (1872)
Habitat Canariam Grandem, et Teneriffam ; hinc inde in
humidis.
This is an acutely carinated, somewhat compressed little
slug, which seems to have been found by MM. Webb and
Berthelot in damp places near Sta. Cruz in Teneriffe. It was
met with by myself in the upper part of the region of El Monte
in Grand Canary, close to the village of San Mateo ; but, sin-
gularly enough, my examples were in a dried state, picked
from off a white-washed wall, where the lime would appear to
CANARIAN GROUP. 309
have arrested their progress and caused them to adhere. M.
d'Orbigny's diagnosis of the species is as follows : ' Corpore
elevato, compresso, griseo-cseruleo, supra rugoso sulcato, pallio
oblongo rugoso medio-elevato ; carina elevata secante.'
According to Mousson, M. Mabille has recently proposed
(Rev. Zool. 143; 1868) a new genus, Lallemantia, for this
slug, the characters however of which would seem to be in-
sufficient.
Limax noctilucus,
Limax noctilucus (d'Orb), Fer., Hist. 1 1 . 70. t. 2. f. 8 (181 9)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 7
(1872)
Habitat 6 Teneriffam ' (sec. d'Orb. olim) ; sed species valde
dubia.
It is not without some hesitation that I admit this species
into the Canarian catalogue ; because M. d'Orbigny, on whose
authority it would seem to have been originally introduced (in
1819) into Ferussac's work, makes no allusion to it whatsoever
in his subsequent enumeration (in 1839) of the Mollusca of the
Canaries. It is highly probable therefore that he had some
actual reason for supposing that either the diagnosis or the
asserted habitat was inaccurate ; though if this was really the
case he ought to have stated plainly what the evidence was on
which it was allowed to appear in the ( Histoire Naturelle des
Mollusques.' Still, the fact remains that it is both described
and admirably figured in the latter magnificent publication,
and that nothing has yet been placed on record to call in
question its claims to be (as it professes) truly Teneriffan.
Yet the complete silence of M. d'Orbigny concerning it in his
after-list, and the circumstance that it was established pro-
fessedly on a unique example (said to have been taken beneath
dead leaves in the mountains of Teneriffe) are points, so far as
they go, to cast a decided suspicion on the species, whether as
regards its Canarian origin or the truthfulness of its diagnosis.
Moreover it is not said by whom the L. noctilucus was cap-
tured; for, as it was published in 1819, it clearly could not
have been by d'Orbigny himself, whose sojourn in the Cana-
rian archipelago did not take place until 1826.
The great distinctive feature of this slug, a feature which,
if true, would certainly entitle it, as Mousson has well observed,
to generic separation, consists in the fact of its being sup-
posed to possess a mucous disk on the hinder edge of its shield,
which has the power of emitting a strong phosphorescent light ;
but how far this character is absolutely to be depended upon, it
remains yet to be proved.
310 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A,
Fam. 2. TESTACELLID-E.
Genus 2. PLECTROPHORUS, Ferussac.
Plectrophorus Orbignii.
Plectrophorus Orbignii, Fer., Hist. 11. 87. t. 6. f. 7 (1819)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 7
(1872)
Habitat ' Teneriffam ' (sec. d'Orb. olim) ; sed mihi non
obvius.
The present slug demands exactly the same strain on our
credulity as the Limax noctilucus does, for, like that species,
it was both described and figured (in 1819) in Ferussac's ' His-
toire Naturelle des Mollusques,' as Teneriffan, on the authority
of M. d'Orbigny, who nevertheless made no sort of allusion to
it in his subsequent Canarian catalogue issued in 1839! We
are almost driven therefore to conclude that d'Orbigny must
have had some particular reason for refusing admission to it in
the portion of Webb and Berthelot's publication which he
undertook to compile; yet since he ignores the subject alto-
gether, and the diagnosis still remains uncommented upon, and
uncancelled, in the great work of Ferussac, I scarcely see how
we can exactly pass it over, even though the silence of M.
d'Orbigny may appear somewhat ominous as regards its true
Teneriffan claims.
The most salient character for which the P. Orbignii would
seem to be conspicuous (but which appears identical with the
main feature of the Testacellas) is the presence of a small
external Ancylus-like, crochet-shaped shell which is carried on
the hinder region of its body, at a short distance from the tip,
between which and the posterior edge of the shield there is a
rough dorsal band. The animal however is said distinctly to
possess a shield, which Testacella does not.
G-enus 3. TESTACELLA, Cuvier.
Testacella Maugei.
Testacella Maugei, Fer., Tabl. Syst. 26 (1821)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 40
(1831)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 163 (1854)
Morel., Hist. Nat. des Acor. 143 (1860)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 6 (1867)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 11 (1872)
Habitat Canariam Grandem, et Teneriffam ; in hortis cultis-
CANARIAN GROUP. 311
que inferioribus parce occurrens. In Canaria Grandi etiam
semifossilis, juxta Tafira, cepit Kevdus. R. B. Watson.
It was from Canarian examples that the T. Maugei was
originally described ; nevertheless the species does not appear
to be very abundant in the archipelago, nor am I aware that it
has been observed hitherto except in Grand Canary and Tene-
riffe. Indeed it is far from impossible that it may have been
naturalized in these islands ; though since an example which is
now before me, and which was met with by Mr. Watson near
Tafira in Grand Canary, is unmistakeably subfossilized, there is
at least presumptive evidence that it is truly indigenous. It is
found likewise in the Madeiran and Azorean archipelagos, as
well as in central and southern Europe and northern Africa.
The shell of the T. Maugei is rather thick, ancyliform, and
robust ; and externally it is opake and more or less eroded and
decorticated, of a pale yellowish-olivaceous hue, and with the
lines of growth irregular but conspicuous, a few of them,
which are usually more or less filled up with a brownish
deposit, being deeper and coarser than the rest. Internally,
however, it is whitish, shining, and pearly, reflecting sometimes
a faint opaline lustre ; and its aperture, which is enormous and
oblong, has its curvature a little interrupted by a slight sinuo-
sity, or emargination, at the upper angle of the outer lip.
The animal, which tapers anteriorly and is unprovided with
a shield, is of a livid-black, with the edge of the pedal disk (as
seen from above) of a pale salmon colour which shades-off
gradually, by means of a number of minute specks, into the
darker upper-surface. It is much roughened with irregular
grooves or coarse reticulations, and carries its limpet-like shell
(which covers the respiratory orifice) immediately above its
apical region.
Testacella haliotidea.
Testacella haliotidea, Drap., Tabl. des Moll. 99 (1801)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 40
(1831)
W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. syn.
(1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 49 (1839)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 163
(1854)
,. , Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 5 (1867)
Mouss.,Faun. Mai. des Can. 1 1 (1872)
Habitat ' Canariam Grandem ' (sec. Webb et Berthelot) ;
mihi non obvia.
According to Webb and Berthelot the European T. halio-
312 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
tidea occurs in Grand Canary; nevertheless, considering the
confusion which existed, at the time of the publication of their
catalogue, in the nomenclature of the Testacellas, and bearing
in mind also the extreme looseness of many of their determina-
tions, I cannot but agree with Mousson in doubting the pro-
priety of admitting this species, without further evidence, into
the fauna of the archipelago at all. Nevertheless since it
has occurred undoubtedly at Madeira (perhaps imported acci-
dentally from more northern latitudes), I will not absolutely
expunge it from the Canarian list.
Genus 4. PARMACELLA, Cuvier.
Parmacella calyculata.
Parmacella calyculata, Sow., Gen. of Shells, f. 103 (1823)
Cryptella canariensis, W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28 syn.
110 (1833)
ambigua, d'Orb. [nee Fer.~\, in W. et B. Hist. 50.
t. 1. f. 1-12 (1839)
Parmacella calyculata et auriculata, Mouss., 1. c. 8. t. 1.
. f. 1-3 (1872)
Habitat Lanzarotam et Fuerteventuram ; hinc inde in mon-
tibus haud infrequens.
After a very careful comparison of a long array of indi-
viduals of this Parmacella, collected by Mr. Lowe and myself
in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, I have come to the conclusion
that Webb and Berthelot were correct, as well as d'Orbigny, in
recognizing but a single species, found in those two eastern
islands of the Group, and consequently that Mousson's P. auri-
culata cannot be looked upon as more than, at the utmost,
a very slight and unimportant insular phasis, peculiar to
Fuerteventura, of the P.. calyculata. Indeed the few diag-
nostic characters which he gives (and he himself says of them
' sont a la verite faibles ') seem to me to be absolutely untrace-
able in the majority of the examples which are now before me,
all that can be said of the Fuerteventuran ones being that they
have their spatula, on the average, a trifle shorter and more
solid (or thickened) than is the case in those from Lanzarote,
the mere result in all probability of their having been matured
on a still drier and more calcareous soil. I will, however, so
far recognize their distinctions as to cite them as representing
a ' var. 0. auriculata. 9
This Parmacella, which we found more common in Lanza-
rote than in Fuerteventura, occurs, so far at least as my own
experience would imply, at a rather lofty elevation ; though it
CANARIAN GROUP. 313
is more usually to be met with, perhaps, dead than alive,
under which circumstances the specimens are often altogether
separated from (or devoid of) their spatula. It was originally
found by Webb in the Malpais (or ancient lava-current) of the
Montana de la Corona, in the north of Lanzarote ; and indeed
the greater number of our own examples were obtained at no
considerable distance from that particular spot, namely over-
looking the Salinas, and on the heights above Haria. It would
seem to have been collected also by Fritsch, in both islands.
Farmacella callosa.
Parmacella callosa, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 10 (1872)
Habitat Fuerteventuram ; a Dom. Fritsch semel tantum
lecta.
A single example of a Parmacella, which was found by
Fritsch in Fuerteventura, was employed by Mousson to indicate
a new species under the name of P. callosa ; nevertheless he
himself appears to have had grave doubts as to whether it
should be regarded in reality as more than an accidental, or
individual, variety, shewing an unusual amount of thickening,
the result of age, and a chance deterioration of its nucleus.
'Je considere,' says he, < cette espece, jusqu'a de nouvelles in-
formations, comme tres sujette a caution. Le nucleus differe
de ceux des Parmacelles, a moins de n'etre qu'accidentellement
depourvu de son test exterieur ; la spatule est remplie d'un
depot calcaire ; le bord droit s'insere directement sur le cote du
nucleus, le bord gauche forme a la base du nucleus un arc plus
releve et dilate que dans les deux autres especes [according to
me, only one]. Peut-etre toutefois ces differences n'indiquent
elles qu'un etat senile, modifie par la deterioration du nu-
cleus et par des exsudations insolites.'
Tarn. 3. VITBJNID^J.
Genus 5. VTTRINA, Draparnau 7 .
Vitrina Lamarckii.
Helicolimax Lamarckii, Fer., Prodr. 21 (1821)
Vitrina Lamarckii, Fer., Hist. ii. 69. t. 9. f. 9
Teneriffse, Quoy et Gaim., Voy. de VAstrol. ii. 142.
t. 13. f. 4-9 (1832)
Lamarckii, W. et J?., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. syn. 311
(1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 53 (1839)
314 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Vitrina Lamarckii, Pfeiff., Mon. Eel. ii. 506 (1848)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 12 (1872)
Lamarcki, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 19 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam, et (sec. Mousson) Palmam et Hierro ;
in sylvaticis intermediis humidis prsecipue degens.
This usually large Vitrina is the universal one throughout
the sylvan regions of Teneriffe ; but I am not positive that
I have myself observed it in any of the other islands of the
Group, though it is stated by Mousson to occur both in Palma
and Hierro. 1 In Teneriffe however it is tolerably general, at
intermediate and rather lofty altitudes, having been met with
by Mi'. Lowe and myself about the Vueltas above Taganana, at
the Agua Grarcia, near Ycod el Alto, and in many other spots.
As implied at p. 78 of this volume, the V. Lamarckii
would seem to take the place in (at all events) Teneriffe of the
V. nitida at Madeira ; and indeed there can be no doubt that
the two species have a good deal in common. Nevertheless I
feel assured that they are not absolutely identical ; from which
it follows, that if the Canarian one is to be accepted as the type
of Ferussac's Helicolimax Lamarckii (which appears to be
inevitable, inasmuch as it was recorded in the original diagnosis
as having come from Teneriffe), the Madeiran one (although
known hitherto, unfortunately, in Mr. Lowe's works, as the
* V. Lamarckii, Fer.') must be quoted by the next name (in the
order of priority) under which it was described ; and that title
is (as has already been shewn) the ' nitida,' of Gould.
Judging from a considerable series which I have inspected,
I should say that the V. Lamarckii, proper, is, on the average,
a rather larger and flatter shell than the Madeiran V. nitida,
with its aperture even relatively still more developed (or out-
wardly-produced, and elongated), and with its spire (which has
at least half a volution less) more depressed, and the left-hand
margin of its peristome, adjoining the columella, much more
broadly, and decidedly, membraneous. From which it will be
seen, that in some of its characters it would appear to make a
slight approach, at first sight, to the V. ruivensis of the Ma-
deiran archipelago, whilst in others (as just stated) it resembles
the nitida ; a circumstance which may perhaps account for
Mr. Lowe having regarded it, successively, as identical with
them both, referring it, under the title ' V. Teneriffce, Q. et
Gr.' to the former, and under that of ' V. Lamarckii, Fer.'
1 I say 'positive,' because the examples in my collection from Hierro
which were referred by Mousson to the V. Lamarckii appear to me to belong
most unmistakeably to the V. latebasis ; and I am not aware that there is any
other evidence for the existence of the V. Lamarckii in Hierro except that
which is supplied by my own material.
CANARIAN GROUP. 315
(which he did not seem to recognize was one and the same
thing with the Teneriffce) to the latter.
Vitrina canariensis.
Vitrina canariensis, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 12. pi. 1.
f. 10-12 (1872)
Pfei/-, Man. Hel. vii. 19 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam (? ), Palmam (?), et Hierro ; in locis
similibus ac prsecedens.
This is a smaller or more rounded, or globose, shell than the
V. Lamarckii, with the nucleus a little more prominent, or less
depressed, and the columellary border of the aperture furnished
with a narrower membrane. I met with it sparingly in Hierro ;
and although Mousson records it from both Teneriffe and
Palma, on the authority of specimens supposed to have been
taken by myself, I cannot but think that he has fallen into
some error as regards his habitats, for it seems to me that my
examples from at all events the latter of those two islands
belong in reality to the V. latebasis, whilst those from the
former are anything but typical ones. Mousson speaks of the
V. canariensis as the commonest, and most widely spread, of
all the Vitrinas in this archipelago (' la plus repandue de
toutes ') ; but certainly that is not in accordance with my own
experience.
Vitrina reticulata.
Vitrina reticulata, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 14. pi. 1.
f. 13-15 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 20 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam ; a cl. Eeiss parcissime reperta.
This is the only Canarian Vitrina which I have not myself
met with; and it is one which. I have had no opportunity of
inspecting. It seems to be the smallest of them all, extremely
rare, and observed hitherto merely in Teneriffe, in which island
it was found by Eeiss. The peculiarity of its sculpture would
appear to be its main distinctive feature : ' Cette sculpture,'
says Mousson, fi tres-rare dans les Vitrines, se compose de stries
d'accroissement fines, mais assez prononcees, et, sous une bonne
loupe, de fines lignes decurrentes, qui sur le contour sont
presque aigues, par contre plus faibles a la base, le long de la
suture et vers le bord exterieur de 1'ouverture.'
Vitrina latebasis.
Vitrina latebasis, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 13. pi. 1. f.
4-6 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 20 (1876)
316 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat Palmam, et Hierro ; in humidis sylvaticis editiori-
bus prsecipue gaudens.
The present Vitrina is, on the average, smaller, and a little
paler, than the V. Lamarckii, its spire is a trifle more de-
pressed, its aperture is relatively not quite so large, and its
lower lip is not so broadly and conspicuously membraneous.
But the character by which it seems to me to be the most
easily separated consists in the fact of its nucleus (or apical
volutions) being always more or less sculptured with (often very
conspicuous) radiating costse, which are strongly expressed in
the examples from Palma, though rather less so in those from
Hierro.
The V. latebasis would appear to stand in much the same
relation to the Lamarckii as the V. marcida, Gould (or media,
Lowe) does, in the Madeiran Group to the nitida, Gould (the
Lamarckii, Lowe, nee Fer,). Indeed, in their reduced stature
and somewhat paler hue, the V. latebasis and the Porto-Santan
V. marcida have a good deal in common ; nevertheless the
former is a little more decidedly flattened as regards its spire,
its lower lip is less broadly membraneous, and its apical volu-
tions are sculptured (as just mentioned) with radiating, and
often granulated, costse.
This Vitrina was met with by Fritsch in Palma, and by
Mr. Lowe and myself in that island and Hierro. I possess
indeed a few examples, taken in the wood of Las Mercedes in
Teneriffe, which, from their small size and pallid hue, might
well be supposed to belong to the V. latebasis ; but since I can
detect no traces of radiating costae about their (nevertheless
granulated) nucleus, I think perhaps it would scarcely be safe
to treat them as conspecific with those from Palma and Hierro.
My Palman examples are from the Barranco de Agua, the
Barranco de Galga, and the Barranco de Herradura, as well as
from Barlovento and about the Vueltas leading up to the Cumbre
above Buenavista ; whilst the Hierro ones are from the sylvan
district of El Golfo. 1
Vitrina Blauneri.
Vitrina Blauneri, ShuttL, Bern. Mitth. 138 (1852)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 14. pi. 1.
f. 7-9 (1872)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 20 (1876)
1 I possess two exceedingly young individuals of the V. latebasis, taken on
the Cumbre in Palma, which at first sight it somewhat puzzled me to identify.
They are so extremely minute as to consist only of the nucleus ; and as that
particular portion of the shell is sculptured (as just stated) with oblique
radiating costae, their prima facie appearance is very peculiar.
CANARIAN GROUP. 317
Habitat Canariam Grandem, Teneriffam, et Palmam ; bine
inde (praesertim in Can aria Grandi) sub lapidibus.
According to my own experience, this Vitrina is essentially
characteristic of Grand Canary, in which island it was taken by
Mr. Lowe and myself, not uncommonly, and more sparingly by
Mr. Watson. It is however recorded by Mousson to have been
obtained by Blauner (who met with a single example of it)
in Teneriffe, and by Fritsch in Palma.
Although in its size, form, and hue it bears a considerable
resemblance at first sight to the latebasis, the V. Blauneri is
nevertheless a very distinct species, its shell (which is muijh
depressed, though without any minute costse at the nucleus)
being a trifle more solid, and somewhat less transparent, than
in the other Vitrinas, with the aperture proportionally smaller,
and the lower lip of the peristome almost free from any
appearance of lateral membrane, but dilated at its insertion
into a small but appreciable lamella which covers the place of
the umbilicus, and which is continued (as a just perceptible
thickening) across the body-volution to the insertion of the
upper lip. In which last-mentioned characters it recedes, ac-
cording to Mousson, from the true Vitrinas, and makes a
slight approach towards the perforated Daudebardias. 1
Fam. 4. HELICIDJE.
Genus 6. HYALINA, Gray.
( Lyra, Mousson.)
Hyalina circumsessa.
Helix circumsessa, ShuttL, Bern. Mitth. 139 (1852)
Pfdff., Mon. Hel. iii. 102 (1853)
Patula circumsessa, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 26
(1872)
Helix circumsessa, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 173 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam et Palmam, prsecipue illam ; in sylva-
ticis intermediis vulgaris, sed quoque in locis etiam inferioribus
minus frequens.
1 I may just state that I reject altogether the V. fasciolata, Fer., from the
Canarian fauna, being founded (as it seems to me) on insufficient evidence as
regards its habitat. It belongs to a type totally distinct from anything
which has hitherto been observed in these Atlantic islands ; and there is
abundant reason for suspecting that the older naturalists who cited it as
Teneriffan fell into some error concerning the country from whence it had
been brought. * Cette espece,' says Mousson, ' fort remarquable par ses
fascies insolites, provient des premiers naturalistes, qui ont visite les Cana
ries et dont les indications de patrie ne sont pas tou jours certaines. Comme
aucun voyageur ne 1'a depuis retrouvee, il est permis de suivre 1'exemple de
MM. Webb et Berthelot et de douter de son existence dans les Canaries '
(?. c. 15.)
318 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Mousson treats this shell as a P alula, associating it (under
his section Lyra) with the Lanzarotan H. torrefacta, Lowe ;
but I cannot agree with him in either of these steps. For, in
the first place, the minute spiral lines on which he rightly lays
so much stress exist also, though very obscurely, in the H. lenis
of Shuttleworth, which is most unmistakeably (and by his own
admission) a Hyalina, and much more conspicuously in a new
species * which is so closely allied to the H. lenis that it is but
just separable from it; whilst the affinities of the H. torrefacta
are, in my opinion, with the Madeiran H. lentiginosa, Lowe,
a form which is far removed from the whole of these imme-
diate groups. Both Shuttleworth and Mousson, indeed, would
appear to have completely overlooked in the H. lenis the
existence of these "spiral lines" on which the latter has
founded his section Lyra, and which, although usually very
difficult to detect, I find to be quite appreciable (but often
fragmentary) in about one specimen in every twenty ; whilst (as
just mentioned) in an intimately related form which was taken
by Mr. Lowe at Osorio, on the mountains of Grand Canary (and
which I at first imagined might represent but an insular
phasis of the one from Palma and Hierro), the spiral lines are
as strongly developed as in the H. circumsessa. Hence I think
there can be no question that the circumsessa, osoriensis, and
lenis are intimately bound together by the very peculiar and
significant character to which I have just called attention ; and
since there cannot be the slightest doubt that the second and
third of these are true Hyalinas (being in point of fact, very
manifestly akin to the common H. cellaria, Mull.), it follows
that the circumsessa must be regarded as a Hyalina likewise,
and not as a Patula.
The H. circumsessa is, on the average, a trifle smaller and
darker than the H. osoriensis, its spire is a little more de-
pressed, the basal volution is (relatively) not quite so broadly
developed, its umbilicus is appreciably wider (or more open),
and its minute spiral lines are rather more numerous, or set
closer together. It is an essentially characteristic species in
Teneriffe, which appears to be its chief habitat ; indeed it was
not met with by either Mr. Lowe or myself in any of the other
islands, though it is recorded to have been taken by both
Blauner and Fritsch in Palma. In Teneriffe however it is
abundant throughout the sylvan districts of an intermediate
altitude, where we obtained it at the Agua Garcia, at Las
Mercedes, in the wooded region above Taganana, and even
(though more sparingly), at a lower elevation, around both
Garachico and Sta. Cruz.
1 The If. osoricnsis, Woll., enunciated below.
CANARIAN GROUP. 319
Hyalina osoriensis, n. sp.
T. subro tun data, depressiuscula, subopaca, pallide albido-
ochracea; anfranctibus 5-6 convexiusculis, sutura impressa,
costulis obliquis curvatis subinsequalibus subconfluentibus sat
distincte sculpturatis, necnon lineolis spiralibus subtilissimis
subcrenulatis (subtus subevanescentibus, atque in speciminibus
junioribus ac bene conservatis minutissime subciliato-fimbriatis)
parce vel remote instructis ; umbilico magno, profundo. Diam.
maj. 4-41 H n .
Habitat Canariam Grandem ; in sylvis editioribus ad Osorio,
Aprili 24, 1858, a Kevdo. E. T. Lowe satis copiose reperta.
Several examples of this Hyalina were taken by Mr. Lowe
(on the 24th of April, 1858) in the woods on the Pico do
Osorio, in Grand Canary, during our visit to that remote and
elevated spot ; and they have so much the appearance at first
sight of the paler individuals of the H. lenis (from Palma and
Hierro) that they might well nigh be confounded with that
species, were it not for the minute spiral subcrenulated lines
with which its whorls (when viewed beneath a powerful lens) are
seen to be conspicuously though sparingly sculptured, and which
in young and unrubbed shells have a curious tendency to be
fringed with most diminutive filaments or hair-like scales. In
most other respects the H. osoriensis appears to me to be
nearly undistinguishable from the H. lenis, except perhaps
that it is even still less shining (its under-portion no less than
the upper, being almost free from gloss), and that its transverse
plicae are not quite so coarse.
From the H. circumsessa the present species differs in its
rather larger size and its less flattened spire, as well as in its
ultimate volution being altogether more broadly developed and
in its umbilicus being proportionately not quite so open. Its
colour, too, is appreciably paler ; and its spiral lines are
further apart, and therefore not quite so numerous.
The great interest, however, which attaches itself to this
Hyalina consists (as I have already stated) in the light which
it incidentally throws upon the affinities of the H. circumsessa,
which Mousson has regarded as entering into a section of the
genus Patula. I had always felt convinced that the latter
belonged in reality to the Hyalina group ; but now that the
minute ' spiral lines ' which so eminently characterise the
circumsessa are found to exist (however feebly) in the H. lenis
likewise, and to be strongly developed in a closely related form
from Grand Canary, both of which are unmistakeable Hyalinas,
and indeed but barely removed from the ordinary cellaria-tjpe,
there can be no longer any question that the affinities of the
circumsessa are with Hyalina, and not with Patula.
320 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Hyalina lenis.
Zonites lenis, ShuttL, Bern. Mitth. 138 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 86 (1853)
Hyalina lenis, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 16. pi. 1. f. 19
21 (1872)
Helix lenis, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 145 (1876)
Habitat Palmam et Hierro ; in sylvaticis editioribus degens.
The present truly indigenous Hyalina has been observed
hitherto only in Palma and Hierro, where it occurs in damp
sylvan spots of an intermediate and lofty altitude. It was taken
by Mr. Lowe and myself in the Barranco de Gralga, the Barranco
de Agua, and at El Monte above Barlovento, as well as by the
edges of the Vueltas leading up to the Cumbre above Buenavista,
of the former, and in the wooded district of El Grolfo, on the
western slopes of the latter.
The H. lenis is generally of a clear olivaceous brown ; but
it has likewise a paler (though scarcely perhaps an ' albino ')
state, of a somewhat greenish white. It is, on the average,
nearly as large as the H. cellaria, from which, however, it
differs (apart from colour) in its being less shining, particularly
on the upper-side, and more strongly sculptured (the entire
surface being densely covered with oblique, curved, subconfluent
hair-like transverse lines, or costse), as well as in its spire
being rather less depressed and its umbilicus a little larger.
Its ultimate volution is a good deal developed, but scarcely
more so (I think) than in the H. cellaria, and certainly not
more so than in the Grand-Canarian examples of the latter. As
I have already stated under the H. circumsessa, it is not
difficult to detect, in occasional examples of the H. lenis, faint
traces, beneath a high magnifying power, of the minute spiral
lines which are so easily to be seen in the closely allied H.
osoriensis, and which are exceedingly conspicuous in the //.
circumsessa.
( Lutilla, Lowe.)
Hyalina cellaria.
Helix cellaria, Mull, Hist. Verm. ii. 28 (1774)
Webb et Berth., Ann. d. Sc. Nat. xxviii. syn.
314 (1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. 59 (1854)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 177 (1854)
Albers, Mai. Mad. 17 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 21 (1867)
Hyalina cellaria et canariae, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can.
15, 16 (1872)
CANARIAN GROUP. 321
Helix cellaria et canariae, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 144, 178
(1876)
Habitat Canariam Grandem, Teneriffam, et Hierro ; sub
lapidibus, praecipue in cultis.
As in the Madeiran and Azorean archipelagos (and even as
at St. Helena), the common European H. cellaria has estab-
lished itself in the Canaries, where it is locally rather
abundant, for the most part within the cultivated districts, but
likewise in sylvan spots of an intermediate altitude. It was
taken by Mr. Lowe and myself throughout the region of El
Monte in Grand Canary, at Las Mercedes and near Garachico
and Ycod el Alto in Teneriffe, and on the western side of
Hierro; and Grand-Canarian specimens are now before me
which were met with by Mr. Watson.
The examples of this Hyalina from Grand Canary have
been described by Mousson (1. c. 16. pi. 1. 16-18), under the
name H. canarice, as specifically distinct ; but I am totally un-
able to detect anything about them to warrant their separation.
Their spire is a little less depressed and their umbilicus just
perceptibly wider, and perhaps also (though I am not at all
sure about this) their ultimate volution is a trifle more broadly
developed ; but each of these characters are barely appreciable,
and are easily matched (as it seems to me) in selected
individuals from the other islands of the Group ; so that I can
scarcely regard the Grand-Canarian ones as representing even
a decided ' variety ' (and, therefore, a fortiori, a species),
though, out of deference to Mousson, I will cite them as, at all
events, the ' @. canarice?
Hyalina venniculum.
Helix vermiculum, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. vii. 104 (1861)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. v. 109 (1868)
Hyalina vermiculum, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 18. pi.
1. f. 25-27 (1872)
Helix vermiculum, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 112 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam; in aridis calcareis inter Portum
Orotavse et Realejo, necnon mox supra illud, sub lapidibus sat
vulgaris.
Although partaking more, in its general proportions and
contour, of the H. cellaria^ this little Hyalina is in some
respects intermediate between that species and the H. crystal-
Una. Indeed in its comparatively small size, and in its white,
hyaline, transparent surface it has more in common at first
sight with the latter ; nevertheless the form of its under-portion,
which slopes off gradually into the umbilicus, at once removes
Y
322 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
it into the same group as the cellaria. This structure of the
umbilical region will at once serve to separate even the young
and minute examples from the crystalline^ from which it
further differs (apart from the larger stature of the adult shells)
in its basal whorl being relatively a trifle more widened
towards the aperture, in its under-parts being of a somewhat
more milky white (or rather less strictly glassy), and in its
volutions being more appreciably impressed towards the suture
with transverse radiating lines, which become lighter, and
almost evanescent, posteriorly.
The only district in which I am aware that the H. vermi-
culum has hitherto been observed (unless indeed the H.
semicostula, Beck, which is reported from Grand Canary, be
identical with it) is in the north of Teneriffe, where it was
taken by Mr. Lowe and myself, in abundance, beneath stones,
on the dry calcareous ground between Eealejo and the Puerto
of Orotava, as also (at La Dehesa) immediately above the
latter. 1
( Crystallite, Lowe.)
Hyalina crystallina.
Helix crystallina, Mull., Hist. Verm. ii. 23 (1774)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 47
(1831)
Albers, Mai. Mad. 17. t. 2. f. 18-21
(1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 22 (1867)
Hyalina crystallina, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 17
(1872)
Helix crystallina, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 106 (1876)
Habitat Fuerteventuram, Teneriffam, Palmam, et Hierro ;
hinc inde sub lapidibus in graminosis.
I have no doubt that this little European Hyalina (which
has established itself also in the Madeiran and Azorean Groups)
will be found eventually to be universal at the Canaries,
though hitherto it has been observed only in four islands, out
of the seven. In those four, however, I have myself met with
it, namely at Sta. Maria Betan curia in Fuerteventura ; at the
Agua Mansa, the Agua Garcia, and near Orotava, in Teneriffe ;
in the Barranco de Agua and the Barranco de Galga, as well as
1 I may just notice in this place the Hyalina semicostula, Beck, which is
cited by Keeve from Grand Canary, but without any evidence for the correct-
ness of his habitat. I have little doubt that Keeve was mistaken in quoting
the species, which is said to occur in Portugal, as Canarian ; and I am glad to
observe that Mousson has arrived at the same conclusion. I have therefore
no hesitation in omitting it from our catalogue.
CANARIAN GROUP. 323
on the Cumbre above Buenavista, in Palma ; and also, in semi-
cultivated grounds, in Hierro.
The single example, now before me, from Fuerteventura has
the umbilicus a trifle larger than is the case in the specimens
from the other islands; but I can see nothing about it to
warrant the suspicion that it represents more than a slight
insular modification (which we might perhaps cite as the ' var.
/3. fuerteventurce ') of the H. crystallina.
( Vermetwn, Woll.)
Hyalina festinans.
Zonites festinans, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 138 (1852)
Helix festinans, Pfei/. 9 Mon. Hel. iii. 106 (1853)
Hyalina festinans, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 17. pi. 1. f.
22-24 (1872)
Habitat Palmam; in sylvis editioribus late sed parce
diffusa.
This little Hyalina appears to be peculiar (so far at least as
has been observed hitherto) to the island of Palma, where it
occurs in damp sylvan spots of intermediate and lofty altitudes.
It was met with by Mr. Lowe and myself in the Barranco de
Galga, and by the sides of the Vueltas (on the ascent to the
Cumbre) above Buenavista ; and Mr. Lowe obtained it (on
May 26, 1858, in the wood of El Bucco, at El Monte, above
Barlovento.
The H. festinans has somewhat the same whitish-green
colour, or olivaceous-brown, as the H. lenis (which is likewise
a Palman species, though found equally in Hierro) ; but it is
very much smaller and less sculptured, with the spire more
depressed, with the ultimate and penultimate volutions
(particularly the former) conspicuously narrower or less de-
veloped, and with the umbilicus, although open and spirally
visible from beneath, not quite so much so (relatively) as is the
case in that species. In mere stature indeed it may be said to
be intermediate between the H. lenis and the crystallina ;
though its much greater bulk, wider umbilicus, and yellowish-
green hue will at once separate it from the latter.
Perhaps in reality the nearest ally of the H. festinans is the
minute and very rare H. scintilla, Lowe, of the Madeiran
archipelago, which in its general facies and colour it a good
deal resembles. It is, however, considerably larger than that
species, its umbilicus is (proportionately) less open, its spire is
perhaps even still more depressed, and its surface is both less
shining and more appreciably sculptured.
Y 2
324 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
S) Mouss.)
Hyalina clymene.
Zonites Clymene, ShuttL, Bern. Mitth. 138 (1852)
Helix Clymene, Pfeiff., Man. Hel. in. 11 (1853)
Hyalina Clymene, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 19, pi. 1. f.
28-33 (1872)
Helix Clymene, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 182 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam ; ad rupes aquaticas juxta oppidulum
Garachico, una cum Pupa, Physd, Ancylo, et Hydroccena
commixta, degens.
I am extremely doubtful whether this curious little Planor-
bis-like shell should be associated with Hyalina ; nevertheless
since it is considered by Mousson to be better placed here than
elsewhere, I will not disturb the situation which he has
assigned to it. But I will merely add, that its whole structure
appears to me to be distinct from that of the Hyalinas ; whilst
its subaquatic mode of life (on dripping rocks, in company with
Ancylus, Physa, and Hydroccena) is quite unprecedented, so
far as I am aware, in the members of the present group.
The H. Clymene (the largest examples of which are, in their
broadest part, about a line across) is a flattened, Planorbis-
shaped little shell, slightly transparent, and of a dark olivace-
ous-brown, often a good deal corroded with a hard whitish
deposit. Its volutions are transversely striated, and the ultimate
one is very largely developed (the upper lip of the aperture
being more forwardly-produced than the lower) ; its spire is not
merely depressed, but absolutely concave ; and its umbilicus is
wide, and spirally visible from beneath.
The only region in which I am aware that the H. Clymene
has hitherto been observed is near Garaehico, in the north of
Teneriffe. I did not myself meet with it ; but it was taken by
Mr. Lowe (as it had been, apparently, a few years before, by
Blauner) from off wet rocks, close to the waterfall, on the road
leading to Ycod de los Vinhos, namely adhering to bits of
stick, &c., in trickling places, along with the Pupa castanea,
the Ancylus striatus, the Physa acuta, and the Hydroccena
gutta.
Genus 7. LETJCOCHROA, 1 Beck.
Leucochroa ultima.
Leucochroa ultima, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 19.pl. 1.
f. 34-36 (1872)
Helix ultima, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 193 (1876)
1 In some observations on the present genus, Mousson (I. c. 19) remarks :
* Les LeucochroeSy Beck, ou Calcarines, Moq.-Tand., forment un ensemble
CANARIAN GROUP. 325
Habitat Fuerteventuram ; a cl. Fritsch lecta.
The present and two following Leucochroas were detected by
Fritsch in Fuerteventura, and I know nothing about them
except from the descriptions which are given by Mousson.
Judging from the figures they appear to be very closely related
inter se, and it may perhaps be a question whether more than at
any rate two species are in reality represented by the three
forms. The L. ultima seems to have a good deal in common
with the L. cariosa, Oliv., from Palestine ; and, comparing it
with that shell, Mousson says : ' Elle a, en effet, le meme test
crayeux, le meme enroulement de la spire, une carene analogue,
dentelee dans les tours superieurs, enfin un meme genre de
granulations. Mais elle reste bien plus petite ; elle est bien
moins rugueuse, n"a pas de carene aussi prononcee, enfin man-
que de forte angulation autour de 1'ombilic/ ' La plupart des
individus ont ete ramasses morts, quelques-uns cependant con-
tenaient encore 1'animal.' (I. c. 20).
Leucochroa pressa.
Leucochroa pressa, Mouss., I. c. 20. pi. 1. f. 37-39 (1872)
Helix pressa, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 194 (1876)
Habitat Fuerteventuram ; una cum precedente degens.
In all probability but a modification of the L. ultima,
with which it was found in company. Mousson says: 'Elle
s'est trouvee melee a la precedente, dont elle difTere par son
applatissement, son ombilic ouvert, sa granulation plus fine
passant a des stries ! Malgre ces differences elle pourrait n'en
etre qu'une modification individuelle. Les echantillons que
j'ai sous les yeux ont tous ete ramasses a 1'etat mort ; mais, a
juger d'apres 1'etat fraix de leur nucleus, ne peuvent pas ap-
partenir a une ancienne epoque.' (I. c. 20.)
Leucochroa accola.
Leucochroa accola, Mouss., 1. c. 20. pi. 1. f. 40, 41 (1872)
Helix accola, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 200 (1876)
Habitat Fuerteventuram ; et semifossilis et vix recens
reperta.
This is the smallest of the three forms, and rather more
conical than the others. 'Elle est,' says Mousson (I. c. 21),
' cependant, en moyenne, plus elevee, presente un nucleus un peu
d'especes, Stroitement lies par la nature solide et calcaire du test, par leurs
habitudes de vie, occupant surtout des lieux fortement exposes au soleil, enfin
par des rapports geographiques tres-intimes. Dans un arrangement naturel
il convient, a ce qu'il me semble, de faire ressortir ces affinite~s, en elevant,
1 exemple de M. Albers, ce groupe en genre.'
326 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
preeminent par rapport au cone spiral obtus, une base plus
applatie, une surface plus irregulierement et plus finement
granuleuse, etc.'
The L. accola seems to have been found principally in a
subfossil state, none of the specimens which were obtained by
Fritsch being apparently quite recent, though some of them
were distinctly older than the rest. ' Elle se trouve en un double
etat, d'abord avec les caracteres d'une coquille actuelle, re-
cuillie a 1'etat mort, avec sa sculpture bien conservee; puis
avec un aspect altere, toute la sculpture ayant disparue sous une
surface inegale, corrodee ou polie par 1'usure. Ces individus,
un peu plus coniques et a la base plus applatis que les autres,
semblent appartenir a une faune ancienne, tandisque les autres
relevent de Pepoque presente, ou de 1'epoque qui 1'a immediate-
ment precedee.' (Mousson, 1. c. 21).
Grenus 8. PATULA, Held.
( lulus, Woll.)
Patula garachicoensis, n. sp.
T. orbiculato-depressa, discoidea, profunde sed haud late
perforata, pallide fusca, subtenuis, vix nitidiuscula, crebre sub-
irregulariter aut subconfluente ruguloso-striata ; spira depressa ;
anfractibus 5-5-1- convexis, trans versim crebre sed subirregulari-
ter arcuatim ruguloso-striatis, ultimo haud descendente, sutura
profunde impressa ; apertura lunata ; peristomate tenui,
acuto, versus columellam reflexiusculo. Diam. may. vix 3|- ;
alt. H Un.
Var. ft. submarmorata. Vix magis tenuis, et paulo minus
grosse sculpturata, spira minus depressa, anfractibus obsolete
subalbido-marmoratis.
Helix agrestis, Lowe, in litt.
Habitat TenerifTam; juxta oppidulum Garachico, mense
Aprili 1861, a Eevdo. E. T. Lowe inventa. Var. /3. (in Tene-
riffa certe lecta) a cl. Berthelot Domino Lowe donata.
Obs. Species P. Bertholdiana, PfeirT., insularum Cap. Vi-
ridis, affinis, sed prsecipue differt testa magis depressa et rugosius
sculpturata, anfractibus convexioribus (ultimo nullo modo
carinato), suturaque profundiore.
Several examples of the present Patula, which seems to be
quite different from everything else which has hitherto been
described from the Canarian Group, were taken by Mr. Lowe,
during April 1861, near Grarachico, in the north of Teneriffe.
Although exceedingly distinct, in its diminished stature, very
much smaller umbilicus, and less polished imcZer-portion, per-
CANARIAN GROUP. 327
haps its nearest ally in this archipelago is the (nevertheless more
highly coloured) P. putrescens, Lowe, from Palma, with
which in its flattened, discoidal contour and tumid volutions it
to a certain extent agrees. From the Hyalina circumsessa,
Shuttl., it is totally distinct by, inter alia, its smaller size and
very much smaller umbilicus, by its more flattened spire and
much less developed basal volution, and by its entirely wanting
the spiral hair- like lines which are so eminently characteristic
of that species and its two immediate allies. 1
In its general size and hue, as well as in the proportion of its
umbilicus, the P. garachicoensis has also, at first sight, a little
in common with the P. Bertholdiana, Pfeiff., from the Cape
Verdes. It is, however, more flattened and discoidal than that
species (or less lenticular^), its surface is more strongly and
roughly sculptured, and, although the spire is much depressed,
its volutions are nevertheless more tumid, the basal one more-
over being quite free from the slightest trace of a keel.
( Janulus, Lowe.)
Patula Pompylia.
Helix Pompylia, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 140 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 122 (1853)
Patula Pompylia, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 27. pi. 2.
f. 29-32 (1872)
Helix Pompylia, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 128 (1876)
Habitat Palmam ; in sylvaticis editioribus rarissima.
This may be regarded, in the Canarian archipelago, as the
representative of the Madeiran P. stephanophora, Desh., with
which, in its general outline and in the character of its sculp-
ture, it has a good deal in common. It is, however, consider-
ably smaller than that species, and its umbilicus is both still
more diminished in width and more suddenly scooped out ; its
spire is relatively a little more depressed ; its under-portion is
more convex, and rather less opake ; and the costse of its
whorls are more closely set together, and, although much
raised, not quite so elevated or quite so curved.
The P. Pompylia seems to be of the greatest rarity, and
confined (so far as has been observed hitherto) to Palma, where
it occurs in the damp wooded districts of a high altitude. It
1 The single example, now before me, which I have enunciated above as
representing a'var. . submarmorataS was received from M. Berthelot as
undoubtedly Teneriffan ; and in all probability it is the exponent of some
local race, or slight modification, of the P. ffarachicoensis, peculiar to another
district. It differs in being a trifle more fragile and less coarsely sculptured,
in its spire being less depressed, and in its volutions being very obscurely
dappled with a few faint and irregular paler markings.
328 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
was met with by Mr. Lowe and myself on the Cumbre above
Buenavista,' as well as by the edges of the Vueltas on the
ascent to that elevated region ; and it would appear to have
been found also by Blauner.
( PatulcB normales.}
Patula textilis,
Helix textilis, ShuHL, Bern. Mitth. 140 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 121 (1853)
Patula textilis, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 22. p. 1. f. 42-
44 (1872)
Helix textilis, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 159 (1876)
Habitat Palmam ; in sylvaticis humidis editioribus, rariss.,
una cum P. Pompylia, ShuttL, degens.
Like the P. Pompylia, ShuttL, the P. textilis occurs in the
higher and wooded districts of Palma, to which island (unless
indeed the P. concinna, Lowe, from Hierro, be but a local mo-
dification of it) it would seem to be peculiar. It is evidently,
like that species, of the greatest rarity, but was met with
by Blauner, and subsequently both by Mr. Lowe and myself
(during June, 1858), on the ascent of the Cumbre above Buena
vista.
Although possessing much the same character of sculpture, the
P. textilis may at once be known from the P. Pompylia by its
larger size, its just perceptibly more elevated spire, and its
very much wider and more open umbilicus. Its basal volu-
tion, too, is relatively a trifle broader or more developed ;
and its transverse costse are conspicuously more oblique.
Patula concinna,
Helix concinna, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. vii. 105 (1861)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. v. 177 (1868)
Patula concinna, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 22. pi. 1.
f. 45-47 (1872)
Helix concinna, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 195 (1876)
Habitat Hierro ; in regione sylvatica ' El Grolfo ' dicta, sub
cortice truncorum putrescentium, a meipso inventa. Forsan
prsecedentis status insularis.
I am extremely doubtful whether this is anything more
than an insular modification, peculiar to Hierro, of the Palman
P. textilis ; nevertheless since it has a few very minute cha-
racters of its own, and it was enunciated as distinct by Mr.
Lowe, I will not attempt absolutely to amalgamate the two.
Judging from the five types which are now before me,
CANARIAN GROUP. 329
and which were taken by myself (from beneath the bark of a
rotten tree) in the sylvan district of El Grolfo on the western
slopes of Hierro, the P. concinna differs from the textilis,
merely, in its transverse costse being rather less raised or de-
veloped, in its ultimate volution being just appreciably wider,
and its umbilicus being a trifle larger or more open. Its spire,
too, is, if anything, just perceptibly more depressed. In colour
it would seem to be either of a pale reddish brown, or else of a
still paler albino-yellow.
Patula putrescens.
Helix putrescens, Lowe, Ann. Nat Hist. vii. 104 (1861)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. v. 143 (1868)
Patula putrescens, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 23. pi. 1.
f. 48-50 (1872)
Helix putrescens, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 144 (1876)
Habitat Palmam ; a meipso in sylvaticis editioribus, sub-
truncis arborum putre scent ibus, detecta.
The present Patula, like the P. Pompylia and textilis, has
been observed hitherto only in the wooded districts of Palma,-^-
where it was met with by myself, abundantly, beneath the trunks
of decaying trees and pieces of rotten wood, in the Barranco de
Galga. It differs however from those species in its larger size,
darker, coffee-brown hue (although it has an occasional albino
variety or state), more open umbilicus, more shining surface,
and less costate sculpture, its volutions (which are fewer, and
which, in spite of the spire being much depressed, are extremely
convex) being merely striated transversely with irregular sub-
confluent hair-like lines. The larger examples of the H. putres-
cens are about 4^ lines across, in the widest part.
Patula engonata.
Helix engonata, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 139 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 114 (1853)
Patula engonata, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 23. pi. 2.
f. 1-4 (1872)
Helix engonata, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 211 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam; juxta oppidulum Garachico, raris-
sima.
The P. engonata may be regarded as one of the representa-
tives at the Canaries of the common European P. rotundata,
with which in size, colour, and sculpture it is almost coinci-
dent. It differs, however, essentially, from that species in the
conformation of its very much larger umbilicus, ^which is not only
330 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
more open, but which shapes-out at its commencement a peculiar
and very distinct circular keel on the under-part of the basal
volution. It is also, on the whole, a little darker, or browner,
than the rotundata ; and it is less sculptured beneath (at any
rate outside the above-mentioned circular keel) with costate
lines.
This would appear to be one of the most local of the Ca-
narian Land-shells, and indeed one of the rarest, the only
district in which I am aware that it has hitherto been found
being around Garachico, in the north of Teneriffe. It was met
with there, in 1861, not uncommonly, by Mr. Lowe, having
previously been taken, in the same locality, by Blauner.
Patula retexta.
Helix retexta, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 139 (1852)
Pfei/., Man. Hel iii. 115 (1853)
Patula retexta, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 24. pi. 2.
f. 5-8(1872)
Helix retexta, Pfei/., vii. 212 (1876)
Habitat Palmam ; a cl. Blauner sub foliis dejectis lecta.
This species and the following one are the only Canarian
Patulas which I have not myself had an opportunity of ex-
amining. Comparing it with the Teneriffan P. engonata, and
the P. Guerineana, Lowe, from Madeira, Mousson says (I. c.
24) : ' Elle ne presente ni la carene, ni Tangle au pourtour de
rombilic de la P. engonata ; le dernier tour est plus lisse ; la
suture marginee d'une fine ligne blanche. L'espece la plus
proche est la P. semiplicata, Pfr. (Guerineana, Lowe) de Ma-
dere, mais celle-ci n'a pas de suture marginee, un ombilic encore
plus large, des tours plus etroits quoiqu'en nombre egal, et une
costulation plus grossiere.'
The P. retexta was taken by Blauner in Palma, where how-
ever it was not met with by either Mr. Lowe or myself.
Patula scutula.
Helix scutula, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 139 (1852)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iii. 108 (1853)
Patula scutula, Mouse., Faun. Mai. des Can. 24 (1872)
Helix scutula, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 186 (1876)
Habitat TenerifFam ; sub ligno emortuo a cl. Blauner bis
detecta.
As already stated, this is one of the few Canarian species
which I have not been able to inspect. It appears to have been
unknown also to Mousson, who remarks (1. c. 24) : ' Cette
espece m'est inconnue. Par sa forme tres deprimee, le nombre
CANARIAN GROUP. 331
de ses tours, s'elevant a 9, et la largeur de 1'ombilic elle se
presente comme un developpement extreme du type de la rotun-
data, Mull.'
( Pyramidula, Fitz.)
Patula placida.
Helix pusilla (pars), Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 46
(1831)
placida, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 140 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 82 ( 1 853)
pusilla, /3. sericina, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 176
(1854)
Luseana, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 83. t. 2. f. 3.
(1867)
Patula placida, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 25. pi. 2.
f. 9-12 (1872)
Helix placida, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 139 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam, Palmam, et Hierro ; in sylvaticis edi-
tioribus, passim.
As I have already stated, at p. 87 of this volume, the present
minute Patula formed a portion of Mr. Lowe's original H.
pusilla, but it was not until 1 854 that he recognized it to be
so far distinct as to define it as a ' var. /3. sericina ' of the
latter. In the meanwhile however it had been described by
Shuttleworth, from the Canaries, under the title H. placida.
The exact characters which separate it from the pusilla have
been fully pointed out.
The P. placida would seem to occur in precisely similar
situations throughout the Canarian archipelago as it does at
Madeira, its normal range being within the wooded districts of
intermediate altitudes. I have taken it at Las Mercedas in
Teneriffe, in the Barranco de Agua and the Barranco de Gralga
in Palma (where it was found also by Mr. Lowe at El Monte,
above Barlovento), and in the sylvan region of El Grolfo on the
western slopes of Hierro. It appears also to have been found
in Teneriffe (namely on the trunks of trees at Gruimar) by
Blauner.
( AcantMnula, Beck.)
Patula pusilla,
Helix pusilla, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. 8. Trans, iv. 46. t. 5.
f. 17 (1831)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 101 (1848)
servilis, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 140 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 101 (1853)
332 TESTACEA ATLANTIC A.
Helix pusilla, a. ammlata, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 176
(1854)
Alb., Mai Mad. 18. t. 2. f. 7-10 (1854)
Pawa 9 Mon. Moll. Mad. 79 (1867)
hypocrita, Dohrn, in Mai. Bldtt. xvi. 1 (1869)
Patula servilis, Mouse., Faun. Mai. des Can. 25. pi. 2.
f. 13-16 (1872)
Habitat Teneriffam, Palmam, et Hierro ; in aridis sub lapi-
dibus, minus frequens.
This extremely minute Patulaseems to possess a wide geogra-
phical range, occurring not only in the Madeiran and Canarian
archipelagos, but likewise at the Cape Verdes (from whence it
was described by Dr. H. Dohrn as the ' P. hypocrita '), and even
at St. Helena, where it was detected by myself in 1875. At the
Canaries I met with it only in Teneriffe and Hierro (in the
former of which islands it was obtained by Mr. Lowe near Grara-
chico) ; but it would appear, also, to have been found by Blauner
in Palma.
I have already stated, at p. 89 of the present volume, what
the exact characters are which separate the P. pusilla from the
placida ; but I will again add that it is (on the average) a
little smaller, browner (or less olivaceous), and more depressed
(its spire being less raised), and that its volutions ' (which are
a trifle less inflated) have a greater or less tendency to be fur-
nished with a few additional, elevated, hair-like lines, or costse,
which, although at times scarcely distinguishable, are more
often (when viewed beneath a high magnifying power) quite
conspicuous.
Patula spinifera.
Patula spinifera, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 25. pi. 2.
f. 17-20 (1872)
Helix spinifera, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 85 (1876)
Habitat Canariam Grandem, et Palmam ; in sylvaticis edi-
tioribus, rarissima.
This remarkable little Patula appears to be one of the
rarest of the Land-Shells of the Canarian archipelago, where
it occurs in the damp sylvan districts of intermediate and lofty
elevations. I took a single- specimen of it in Grand Canary (the
first, I believe, which has been recorded from that island) ; and
a few more were met with by Mr. Lowe and myself in the Bar-
ranco de Agua and the Barranco de Gralga, as well as on the
Cumbre above Buenavista, of Palma.
In its rather larger size and turbinate, Helix-shaped out-
line, the P. spinifera (which belongs to much the same type as
CANARIAN GROUP. 333
the European H. aculeata, Mull.) approaches nearer to the
P. placida than it does to the pusilla ; nevertheless in the fact
of its surface being furnished with a few distant, oblique, hair-
like costse (which however are occasionally developed into
elongate lamelliform processes, or even spines) it partakes more
of the peculiarities of the latter. It is both larger and more
convex than even the placida, and of a more dull hyaline
brown ; whilst the extraordinary tendency for the development
of its line-like lamellce into spiniform appendages (sometimes
monstrously expressed, even though occasionally worn and in-
distinct) completely removes it from thepusilla, in which these
additional thread-like lines are in a comparatively undeveloped
state, and seldom very conspicuous.
Genus 9. HELIX, Linne.
( Vallonia, Kisso.)
Helix pulchella.
Helix pulchella, Mutt., Hist. Verm. ii. 30 (1774)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, i v. 45 ( 1 8 3 1 )
Id., Proc. Zool.-Soc. Lond. 176 (1854)
99 Alb., Mai. Mad. 45. t. 12. f. 1-4 (1854)
99 Paiva, Mon. Mott. Mad. 77 (1867)
Mouss., Faun. Mai des Can. 57 (1872)
Habitat Canariam Grandem, Teneriffam, et Palmam ; hinc
inde sub lapidibus, prsecipue in cultis.
The minute European H. pulchella, which occurs also in the
Azorean and Madeiran archipelagos, and which I detected during
1875 in the intermediate districts of St. Helena, and which was
found by Mr. Benson at even the Cape of Good Hope, is widely
spread over the Canarian Group, where in all probability it
will be ascertained, sooner or later, to be universal. Hitherto
however it has been observed only in Grand Canary, Teneriffe,
and Palma, in the first and third of which I have myself met
with it. Indeed on the western side of Palma it appeared to
be common, on the calcareous Llanos (in the region of La
Banda) between Argual and the sea. And it would seem to
have been found in the same island by Blauner ; as well as in
Teneriffe by Fritsch and Mr. Lowe, the former of whom
obtained it about Sta. Cruz and towards Point Anaga, and the
latter at Garachico. The only form of the shell which I have
as yet seen corresponds with the true pulchella, Mull., and not
with the costata which elsewhere is so often intermixed with
the type.
334 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
( Iberug, Monf.)
Helix digna,
Helix digna, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 68. pi. 4. f. 3
(1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 304 (1876)
Habitat Gromeram; in statu semifossili a cl. Fritsch re-
perta.
Detected by Fritsch, in a subfossil state, in Gomera, and a
species of peculiar interest geographically as belonging to much
the same type as the Porto-Santan H. Wollastoni, Lowe, and
forensis, Woll., from the Madeiran Group, and the Mediterra-
nean H. scabriuscula, Desh. It appears however to be con-
siderably larger than the H. Wollastoni ; c le sommet,' says
Mousson, ' est plus obtus, forme par un nucleolus relativement
bien plus gros, le nombre des tours n'est que de 4 au lieu de 5
et ils grandissent plus promptement, la sculpture est moins
reguliere et plico-costulee, au lieu d'etre simplement costulee,
la surface intercostale n'est pas finement granulee, mais inegale-
ment rude, la base, quoique de forme tres semblable, est plus
renflee autour de 1'espace central, le bord basal de Fouverture se
courbe plus fortement vers 1'insertion columellaire et se renechit
plus largement et plus subitement pour cacher la perforation.
Malgre ces differences, VH. digna constitue une des analogies
les plus intimes entre les deux groupes d'iles.' (I. c. 69)
Helix Berkeley!.
Helix Berkeleii, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. vii. 108 (1861)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. v. 265 (1868)
Berkelei, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 80. pi. 4. f. 7,
8 (1872)
Berkeleii, P/ei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 305 (1876)
Habitat Canariam Grandem ; a Eevdo. E. T. Lowe et meipso,
Aprili 1858, inter Maspalomas et Juan Grande, et recens et
semifossilis, reperta.
This curious Helix approaches nothing which has hitherto
been detected in these various Atlantic archipelagos; though
perhaps it is more nearly related to the H. Wollastoni of the
Madeiran Group than to anything else, or possibly to the com-
paratively gigantic subfossil H. digna, Mouss. (which however
I have had no opportunity of inspecting), from Gomera. Never-
theless with even the H. Wollastoni it has very little really in
common, though its discoidal contour, strongly developed
keel, and completely closed umbilicus would tend perhaps to
affiliate it a little with that species ; whilst in its granulated
CANARIAN GROUP. 335
(instead of obliquely plicate) surface it makes a certain approach
towards the (otherwise altogether dissimilar) H. Webbiana,
Lowe, of Porto Santo.
Apart from its flattened form and powerful keel, the H.
Berkeley i may be further recognized by its entire surface (which
is opake and of a pale-brown) being asperated with large and
irregular tubercles, which on the upper side diminish in bulk
towards the nucleus, and which on the under are file-like, par-
tially transverse, and very densely crowded together. Its lower
part is comparatively convex ; its keel is somewhat compressed
above (through the adjoining portion being slightly worn-out,
or concave) ; its volutions are very obsoletely bifasciated ; and
its peristome (the upper and lower lips of which are not joined
by a corneous plate across the basal whorl) is very broad, white,
and reflexed.
The H. Berkeleyi was detected by Mr. Lowe and myself, on
the 12th of April 1858, on a dry calcareous slope (close to the
sea), between Maspalomas and Juan Grande, in the south-east
of Grand Canary; where we likewise met with it (and some-
what less sparingly) in a subfossil condition.
( Mitra, Albers.)
Helix cuticula.
Helix cuticula, Shuttl, Bern. Mitth. 142 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 39 (1853)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 69. pi. 4. f. 4-6
(1872)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 74 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam, Gomeram, et Palmam; in sylvaticis
humidis editioribus, rarior.
This singular, Vitrina-like little Helix may be known by
the paucity of its (obliquely and densely, but delicately, striated)
whorls, by its extremely thin, pellucid, pale-green (but not very
shining) substance, by its relatively rather large aperture (the
peristome of which is acute, and not at all recurved), and by its
compressed, sharply developed keel, which is visible also in
the volutions of the spire, where it closely adjoins the suture,
and occasionally well-nigh overhangs it.
The H. cuticula, which may be regarded as the Canarian
representative of the (nevertheless comparatively gigantic) H.
Webbiana, 1 Lowe, of the Madeiran Group, appears to be scarce,
and confined to damp sylvan spots of a rather high altitude,
in which situations it has been met with in Teneriffe, Gomera,
1 I have already pointed out, at p. 102 of this volume, what the most
salient characters are in which the If. cuticula differs from the If. Webbiana.
336 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
and Palma. In the first of those islands it was obtained by
Mr. Lowe and myself in the woods above Taganana, at Las
Mercedes, and above Orotava, as well as at Los Sillos and near
Grarachico and Ycod-el-Alto-; in the second by Mr. Lowe (on
April 21, 1861) on the Cumbre above the San Sebastian Bar-
ranco ; and in the third by Mr. Lowe and myself, on the ascent
to the Cumbre above Buenavista, as well as in the Barranco de
Agua, the Barranco de Gralga, and at Barlovento. In Teneriffe
it was found also by Blauner and Fritsch.
( Pomatia, Beck.)
Helix aspersa,
Helix aspersa, Mull., Hist. Verm. ii. 59 (1774)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 241 (1848)
spumosa, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. vii. Ill (1861)
aspersa, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 69 (1872)
Habitat Palmam ; hinc inde in intermediis degens, forsan
ex Europa olim introducta.
The common European H. aspersa, Miill., which has ac-
quired for itself so wide a geographical range, occurs sparingly,
in many localities, in Palma ; but as it has not been observed
hitherto in any other portion of the Grroup, it is pretty certain
that it must have become accidentally introduced, at some
former period, into that particular island, just as it has at the
Azores, and (more recently) around Funchal in Madeira, and
even at St. Helena. In Palma (where it was found also by
Blauner and Fritsch) we met with it at the foot of the ascent to
the Cumbre above Buenavista (on the road from Sta. Cruz to
La Banda), as well as in the Barranco de Herradura (between
Los Souces and Barlovento).
Although some of the Palman examples of this common
Helix are apparently quite typical (a fact which does not seem
to have been sufficiently recognised by Mr. Lowe), in others the
shell is rather thinner and paler, with the spire perhaps a trifle
smaller and more depressed, and with the aperture a little more
transverse, approaching in a slight degree the H. Mazzullii,
Jan., from Sicily. I agree, however, with Mousson that there is
nothing about them to warrant the suspicion that they are
specifically distinct ; though a rather fanciful capability which
the animal appeared at the time to possess, of secreting
mucus in greater abundance than is usual for the H. aspersa,
induced Mr. Lowe to separate them as a species under the
title of H. spumosa.
CANARIAN GROUP. 337
( Macularia, Albers.)
Helix Moussoniana.
Helix Adonis, Mouss. [nee Angas, 1869], Faun. Mai. des
Can. 71. pi. 6. f. 1 (1872)
Pfeif., Mon: Hd. vii. 344 (1876)
Habitat Gomeram ; a cl. Fritsch semifossilis lecta.
A large Helix which was discovered by Fritsch, in a sub-
fossil condition, in Gromera, and one which would appear to be
allied (for I have not, myself, had an opportunity of inspecting
it) to the Porto-Santan H. subplicata, Sow., of the Madeiran
archipelago. Mousson, who also compares it with the H.
alonensis, Fer., from Spain, remarks (I. c. 71, 72): 'Cette
grande et belle espece rappelle par la forme de son ouverture,
surtout par son bord basal excave, d'un cote la H. subplicata,
Lowe, de Madere, de 1'autre VH. alonensis, Fer., et se place
entr'elles. La surface n'est ni costulee, ni granuleuse au nucleus
comme dans la premiere, mais plus fortement plico-striee que
dans la seconde, et denuee des sillons decurrents characteristiques.
La spire est plus serree et plus deprimee que dans la subplicata,
et assez analogue a celle de Yalonensis, dont elle differe par
Fexpansion et le renflement du dernier tour et son resserrement
sensible a Tendroit ou il commence a s'abaisser. L'ouverture
forme en travers une ellipse un peu incline et bien plus regu-
liere que dans Yalonensie, dont les deux bords superieur et
inferieur sont egalement courbes ; cette ellipse est plus allongee
que dans VH. subplicata?
Helix efferata,
Helix efferata, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 72. pi. 6. f. 2
(1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 345 (1876)
Habitat Gromeram ; una cum specie precedenti semifossilis
reperta, et forsan ab ilia vix certe distincta.
Found likewise in a subfossil condition in G-omera, and
apparently very closely allied to the preceding species, from
which perhaps, although somewhat smaller, and with a few
characters of its own, it is hardly sufficiently distinct. ' Une
seconde grande espece,' says Mousson (I. c. 72), f de 1'epoque
diluvienne de la meme ile qui, malgre quelques analogies, ne
saurait etre reunie a YH. Adonis. La forme en effet est plus
conique, moins dilatee ; les tours sont moins con vexes et pourvus
d'une angulation obtuse, qui ne disparait qu'au dernier tour et
se reconnait la encore a une ligne dorsale faiblement saillante.
La surface presente un martela.e obtus, passant a des stiles
338 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
anguleuses ou ondulees obliques, sans trace de granulations;
V Adonis par contre est simplement striee. Le bord inferieur
de I'ouverture, laquelle forme un ovale un peu dilate, est moins
excave et plus largement calleux.'
Helix lactea,
Helix lactea, Mull., Hist. Verm. ii. 19 (1774)
W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. syn. 313 (1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. ii. 2. 55 (1839)
Mouse., Faun. Mai. des Can. 70 (1872)
Habitat Canariam Grandem, TenerifTam, et Hierro ; prse-
cipue juxta oppidos, sed interdum etiam omnino in rure, in in-
ferioribus degens.
The widely spread H. lactea, Miill., of Mediterranean lati-
tudes, and which was obtained abundantly both by Mr. Leacock
and Mr. Lowe on the opposite coast of Morocco, is common both
in Grand Canary and Teneriffe, where it is called by the
inhabitants ' Boca negra ;' and it was met with by Fritsch, also,
in Hierro. D'Orbigny considered that it was probably intro-
duced originally from Spain as an article of food, and it must be
admitted that in Grand Canary it is particularly plentiful about
Las Palmas, and in Teneriffe about Sta. Cruz ; yet the fact of its
existing also, in profusion, in the sandy and well-nigh unin-
habited region of El Charco, beyond Maspalomas, in the extreme
south of Grand Canary (where it was taken by Mr. Lowe and
myself in 1859), is certainly against that hypothesis. Hitherto
it has not been observed in any other of these various Atlantic
archipelagos; though a few Canarian individuals which were
turned loose by Mr. Lowe, some years ago, in Madeira, may
perhaps have succeeded (though I think that they have not done
so) in introducing the species into at any rate the Funchal dis-
trict of that island.
The H. lactea can be confounded with nothing else with
which we have here to do, its large size, elongate subdepressed
contour, and solid substance, added to its broadly expanded
peristome, its complete freedom from an umbilicus, the minute
and rather irregular spiral striae with which its volutions are
finely decussated, and the peculiarity of its ornamentation (the
ground-colour being of a more or less dirty yellowish-white,
though with the greater portion of the surface taken-up by
wide, brownish, whitely-freckled bands, whilst the aperture and
its interior are highly polished and nearly black), being more
than sufficient to distinguish it.
The Canarian examples of this large Helix appear to belong
to the true lactea-type, and not to the nearly allied H.punctata,
CANADIAN GROUP. 339
., which nevertheless is cited by Pfeiffer (Mon. Eel. iv.
222, and vii. 332) as occurring in the Canarian Group. 'La
forme des Canaries,' says Mousson (1. c. 71), 'appartient bien a
la lactea, Miill., et non a la punctata, Mull., et se place entre
le type et la var. murina, Kossm. (Icon. in. 800-805), dont
Fouverture au bord superieur est encore plus dilatee.'
Helix gibboso-basalis, n. sp.
T. imperforata, depresso-globosa, solida, subnitida, striis ob-
liquis subevanescentibus irregularibus, aliisque indistinctis mi-
nutissimis spiralibus leviter decussata, suffuse subcarneo- et
subplumbeo- aut sublivido-brunnea sed subtus in medio obscure
et ad peristoma subclarius pallidior [aut, aliter, infuscate palli-
dula sed obsoletissime et omnino suffuse 4-fasciata, fasciis
versus aperturam nebulose confluentibus] ; spira minus elevata,
ad apicem obtusa; anfractibus 4J, ultimo rotundato, antice
deflexo; apertura intus subnigra, peristomate (anguste solum
expanso) intus nigro-castaneo sed extus pallide brunneo-flavo,
marginibus callo.nigro (longe intus sulcato) junctis, columellari
lato sed undulato-ingequali, quasi biflexuoso, in medio (aut
paulo magis versus insertionem) obtuse gibboso. Diam. maj.
12; alt. 7. lin.
Habitat ' Teneriffam borealem ; ' exemplaria duo a D. Vargas
collecta, obtinet Eev. E. T. Lowe.
Obs. H. lacteal^ MiilL, amnis, sed nisi fallor vere distincta.
Differt testa multo minore, ad apicem magis obtusa, omnino
levius decussatim sculpturata; anfractibus minus numerosis;
apertura minore, antice minus desiliente, intus super parietem
ventralem breviter plicato-sulcato ; peristomate multo minus
expanso minusque recurvo, margine basali bisinuatim inaequali
aut in medio obtuse tuberculatim gibboso. Necnon in colore
omnino ab H. lacted discedit ; sc. testa suffuse subcarneo- et
sublivido-tincta (quasi subconcolor), solum in regione umbilicali
et extus aperturam infuscate flavescenti-grisea, fasciis obsoletis-
simis (rmllo modo albo-irroratis) obscure ornata.
The two examples from which the above diagnosis has been
compiled were given to Mr. Lowe, in 1861, from the collection
of Senhor Vargas, and as having been taken undoubtedly ' in
the north of Teneriffe,' but as to the exact spot he had no note.
And indeed this locality (if really to be depended upon) might of
itself have created a suspicion, had there been any doubt on the
subject, that the species is truly distinct from the H. lactea,
which, so far as Teneriffe is concerned, seems to be confined
to the vicinity of Sta. Cruz. But, in point of fact, I think there
can be no question about its specific claims; although it is
z 2
340 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
equally certain, from its general contour and coloration, its
blackened, highly-polished aperture, its total freedom from an
umbilicus, and the minute spiral lines of its surface, that it
belongs strictly to the lactea group.
If the sample now before me be a normal one of its kind, the
H. gibboso-basalis differs from the lactea in its very much
smaller size (its greatest diameter being only 12 lines, instead of
about 20) and its comparatively dark or subconcolorous sur-
face, which is entirely free from pallid specks or freckles,
appearing at first sight (at any rate when viewed from above)
to be of an almost uniformly livid- or plumbeous-brown ; though
when more closely inspected, it will be seen, in reality, to be of
a dull, dirty, yellowish-tinge (as is evident about the umbilical
area and outside the aperture), but with four darker bands so
obscure and diffused that on the upper side they are well-nigh
indistinguishable, nearly blending together (particularly on the
anterior region of the basal whorl) so as to tone-down, or infus-
cate, the entire surface.
Apart however from contour and size, the present Helix has
the spire (which is composed of a volution less) more obtuse
than in the H. lactea, its aperture is relatively smaller and less
deflexed, its peristome is very much less expanded or developed,
its sculpture is altogether finer, and there are a few abbreviated
grooves and ridges, far within the aperture, on the ventral wall
of the body-volution. But a more curious feature (if indeed it
be a constant one) consists in the uneven, or biflexuose, nature
of the columellary portion of its lower lip, occasioned by an
unusual prominence, or gibbosity, amounting almost to a large
obtuse tubercle or lump, at a little distance from the insertion
of the latter into the axis. This last-mentioned feature, if not
a mere accidental one, is at least very remarkable.
Whether the H. gibboso-basalis is in any way related to
the H. Dupotetiana, Terver (Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 274), from
Northern Africa, with the diagnosis of which it has certainly
something in common, I have no means of deciding.
( Hemicycla, Sow.)
Helix gravida.
Helix gravida, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 85 (1872)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 343 (1876)
Habitat Fuerteventuram ; a Dom. Fritsch semifossilis re-
perta.
I have had no opportunity of inspecting this large Helix,
which appears to be somewhat intermediate between the sar-
CANARIAN GROUP. 341
costoma and lactea types, and which was detected by Fritsch,
in a subfossil condition, in Fuerteventura. < Cette espece,' says
Mousson (I. c. 85, 86), 'que je ne connais que subfossile, pour-
rait au premier abord etre prise pour une forme dependante de
VH. lactea,, Miill., mais un examen attentif demontre qu'elle est
bien differente et rentre les Hemicycles du groupe sarcostoma. La
spire est plus regulierement conique que dans la lactea^ de sorte
que le dernier tour a relativement moins de grandeur. La sur-
face est striee, non granuleuse, moins fortement au dernier tour,
lequel par contre presente sur toute sa surface un martelage
grossier, mais peu profond, qu'on ne voit pas dans les especes
mediterraneennes. Le bord superieur n'a pas de tendance a
s'evaser, mais est presque parallele au bord basal. Le peristome
est gros et s'arrondit en se reflechissant. Le bord basal est
epais, formant a I'interieur une ligne un peu relevee, se repliant
a 1'exterieur et se collant largement sur la region ombilicale, qui
est renflee et calleuse.'
Helix sarcostoma.
Helix sarcostoma, W. et #., Ann, des Sc. Nat. 28. syn. 312
(1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 54. t. 1. f. 13, 14
(1839)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. i. 266 (1848)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 86 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 343 (1876)
Habitat Lanzarotam, Fuerteventuram, et Canariam Grran-
dem ; in montibus hinc inde baud infrequens. Necnon etiam
semifossilis in insulis iisdem reperitur.
It is more particularly of the two eastern islands of the
archipelago, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, that this large and
beautiful Helix (highly developed examples of which measure
about an inch across their broadest part) is characteristic;
nevertheless it occurs also, though much more sparingly, in
Grand Canary. It was in those three islands that it was origi-
nally detected by MM. Webb and Berthelot ; and it is in the
same three that it has subsequently been met with by Fritsch,
Mr. Lowe, myself, and others. I feel almost satisfied that it
does not exist in Teneriffe, and agree therefore with Mousson
that the habitat ' Teneriffe ' given by Zollinger is probably the
result of mere looseness and inaccuracy ; ' La localite Tenerife,'
says he, ' me parait plus que douteuse, M. Zollinger ayant repu
cette espece, et ne 1'ayant pas trouvee lui-meme.' It occurs
on the mountains at a rather high elevation. In Lanzarote we
found it principally at Chache and around Maria ; and it was
342 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
taken also by Webb in 1829, in the extreme north of the same
island, particularly in the ' Malpais,' or ancient lava-current,
of the Montana de la Corona. In Fuerteventura we obtained
it rather abundantly on the summit of Monte Atalaya, over-
looking the Rio Palmas, where the examples are of a very
large stature, and have their peristome monstrously developed.
In a subfossil condition Mousson records the H. sarcostoma
from Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, though it is only from the
latter of those islands that I possess it distinctly subfossilized ;
and I myself met with it in Grand Canary, namely in the cal-
careous deposits on the maritime ridge between Las Palmas and
the Puerto da Luz.
In the general character of its somewhat dappled colouring
this fine Helix is a little suggestive at first sight (particularly
when the specimens are young and the aperture is unformed) of
the common European H. aspersa ; nevertheless it is altogether
of a warmer, and more livid, tint, and its bands (which are
normally four or five in number) are sometimes comparatively
distinct and uninterrupted, in which case all resemblance with
that species ceases. It is a solid shell, rather obliquely-elon-
gated in contour, quite imperforate (when adult), and with its
peristome (which is of a pinkish- or fleshy-white, and very
highly polished) more or less broadly expanded and recurved,
often indeed (as in many of the Fuerteventuran examples) mon-
strously so. The upper and lower margins of its aperture,
which are joined by a thin intervening lamina, are slightly
approximated ; the latter is sinuated internally, at a considerable
distance beyond the columellary portion, so as to shape out an
elongated basal obtuse tooth-like ridge ; and its whole surface
is opake, and very densely and minutely granulated all over, but
with the transverse lines of growth feeble and subobsolete.
Apart from the freckles and interrupted bands, its upper region
is often unequally clouded, or suffused, after the fashion of
tortoiseshell, yellowish ill-defined blotches being frequently
traceable in various parts ; and outside the aperture, which is
very greatly deflexed, it is always more or less gradually fla-
vescent.
Helix Saulcyi.
Helix Saulcyi, cTOrb., in W. et B. Hist. 56. t. 3. f. 9-11
'1839)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 267 (1848)
Mouss.,Faun. Mai. des Can. 87 (1872)
temperata, Id., ibid. 87. pi. 5. f. 5, 6 (1872)
?1 et Saulcyi, P/., I. c. vii. 343, 344 (1876)
CANARIAN GROUP. 343
Habitat Canariam Grandem ; ad et juxta promontorium
c Isleta ' dictum, in boreali insulae, et semifossilis et (multo
rarior) recens.
I have not myself seen this large and variable Helix> which
appears to be peculiar to Grand Canary, 1 except in a subfossil
condition ; but I possess several examples of it subfossilized
which were taken by Mr. Lowe on the Isleta (the semidetached
subinsular promontory in the extreme north of that island), and
others which were found by myself on the calcareous ground
between the Isleta and Las Palmas, where it has likewise been
met with by Mr. Watson. It is probable therefore that the
original specimens which were sent by Despreaux to MM.
Webb and Berthelot were obtained in that same district, which
is so readily accessible from Las Palmas. Mousson records it
as having been found likewise by M. Grasset at ' Puerto de la
Paz ; ' but it is most likely that the latter locality was a mis-
print for Puerto da Luz, which is a small fishing-village ad-
joining the Isleta.
The H. Saulcyi is but slightly smaller, on the average, than
the H. sarcostoma, which in general outline and proportions it
much resembles. Indeed, apart from colour (concerning which
I cannot form an opinion from specimens which are subfos-
silized), it mainly recedes from that species in its totally dif-
ferent surface which is almost destitute of minute granules,
but is coarsely (and often deeply) sculptured or malleated, the
malleations having a tendency to form (at any rate on the
basal volution) more or less oblique subconfluent grooves ; and
in the lower margin of its peristome (which is altogether much
less developed) being, in the typical examples, more broadly
straightened, or well-nigh unscooped-out (and therefore nearly
free from an obtuse angle or tooth), internally. Its underside,
moreover, is liable to be rather tumid and gibbose, or suddenly
inflated, immediately below the aperture.
Monsson's H. temperata (which was established on a single
Grand-Canarian example from the collection of M. Berthelot)
seems to me to differ in no respect from this extremely variable
species except that it is less coarsely malleated (a character,
judging from the specimens which are now before me, without
the slightest significance) and that the lower division of its
peristome is less straightened internally, or more suddenly
1 The If. Saulcyi is cited by Pfeiffer, in his first volume of the Mon. Hel.\
as coining from Fuerteventura likewise ; but it is evident that both the
habitat and characters of the species were mixed up with those of the sarco-
stoma ; and there can be little doiibt that the If. Saulcyi has no claim what-
ever to be regarded as Fuerteventuran. Indeed in his seventh volume the
habitat has been corrected by Pfeilfer himself.
344 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
scooped-out so as to form an obtuse ridge-like tooth ; but I will
merely remark that this latter feature is so eminently incon-
stant that it is scarcely possible to find two individuals of the
H. Saulcyi which are precisely similar as regards the develop-
ment of their peristome and aperture. Nevertheless I will at
all events register this particular phasis of the shell, which
passes into the other by the finest possible gradations, as the
* var. /3. temperata.'
Helix Pateliana.
Helix Paeteliana, ShuttL, in litt.
Pfei/>, Mai. Bldtt. vi. 26 (1859)
Id., Mon. Hel v. 299 (1868)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 88. pi. v.
f. 7 (1872)
Pa'teliana, Pfeif., Mon. Hel. vii. 346 (1876)
Habitat Fuerteventuram (sec. Pfeiff.) ; ex exemplare unico,
in Mus. Cumingiano, descripta.
I know nothing of this Helix except what may be gathered
from Pfeiffer's diagnosis, which was drawn out from a unique
example, said to have been taken in Fuerteventura, in the collec-
tion of the late Mr. Cuming. Mousson assigns to it, in doubt,
a specimen which was obtained in that same island by Fritsch,
but which he nevertheless says does not quite accord with the
published description. A single individual, now before me,
which was received by the Baron Paiva from M. Berthelot, and
which is stated (though I do not think that this can be depended
upon) to be Fuerteventuran, very much resembles the figure
which is given by Mousson ; though my own belief is that it
represents nothing more, in reality, than a rather enlarged and
elongated phasis of the H. Pouchet in which the striae and
granulations are somewhat less developed, and that in all pro-
bability it was met with in some district of Teneriffe, and not
in ' Fuerteventura ' at all. Hence I do not think that my own
specimen, at any rate, although differing a little from the ordi-
nary Pouchet-tjpe, can be trusted, either as embodying the H.
Pateliana or as having for certain been met with in the par-
ticular island from whence it is reported to have been brought.
Helix Pouchet.
Le Pouchet, Adans., Hist, du Seneg. 10. t. 1. f. 2 (1757)
Helix Pouchet, Per., Tabl. 32 (1821)
Adansoni, W. et #., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. syn. 313
(1833)
Pouchet, dOrb., in W. et B. Hist. 56 (1839)
CANARIAN GROUP. 345
Helix Adansoni, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 268 (1848)
Pouchet, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des. Can. 82 (1872)
Adansoni, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 345 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam; in aridis apricis juxta Sta. Cruz et
Orotava degens. Necnon etiam semifossilis occurrit.
The H. Pouchet is a strictly Teneriffan species ; and I have
little doubt that the additional habitat ' Grand Canary,' which
was cited for it by Webb and Berthelot, was founded either on
an inaccuracy of identification or else (which is far more pro-
bable) on their characteristic looseness, as regards data. Like
the H. plicaria, it has been taken by almost every naturalist
who has visited Teneriffe for many years past, including Webb
and Berthelot, d'Orbigny, Blauner, Hartung, Fritsch, Eeiss,
Lowe, Watson, and myself, and, I believe, in nearly all instances,
on the sides of the Barranco del Passo Alto near Sta. Cruz. I
have however met with it, likewise, on the opposite side of the
island, near the Puerto of Orotava, where it occurs equally in
a subfossilized, or partially subfossilized, condition.
Helix desculpta.
Helix desculpta, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 83 (1872)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 345 (1876)
Habitat Fuerteventuram, semifossilis ; a cl. Fritsch lecta.
This species appears to have been described by Mousson
from a subfossil example, or examples, found by Fritsch in
Fuerteventura ; and, judging from the diagnosis (for I have not
been able to procure a type for examination), I might have
been inclined to regard it as not very remote from the H. Pou-
chet, were it not expressly said to be free from granulations and
to have no traces of even an obsolete keel on its basal volution,
which latter, moreover, is less abruptly deflexed at the aper-
ture. It seems to be allied both to the H. Pouchet and the H.
plicaria, though not referable to either. 'Cette espece,' says
Mousson, * d'une epoque ancienne, ne rentre bien ni dans les
formes de YH. plicaria, ni de YH. Pouchet. Elle est plus glo-
buleuse ; le dernier tour n'a pas trace d'angulation ; la sculpture
consiste en simples stries, non serrees, peu relevees, et parfaite-
ment lisses, tandis qui dans la premiere des deux autres especes
elles sont incisees, dans la second granuleuses ; 1'ouverture est
plus contracted, plus petite, moins evasee en haut et pourvue d'un
bord aussi largement reflechi que dans les autres especes.'
Helix retrodens.
Helix retrodens, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 89. p. 4.
f. 14,15(1872)
34C TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Helix retrodens, P/eiff., Mon. Hel vii. 347 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam ; a cl. Fritsch detecta.
The H. retrodens (of which I have no type for comparison)
is described as a rather convex, strongly striated shell, partially
malleated, somewhat shining, and of a pale-yellowish olive-brown
(still paler beneath;, and with three indistinct darker bands
which are more or less interrupted by whitish lines and mark-
ings. Its nucleus is said to be finely granulated ; and its peri-
stome, which is white and very broadly expanded, has its basal
portion thickened internally into an obtuse ridge-like plait. It
is stated by Mousson to be allied to the H. modesta, Fer.
(= Paivana, Lowe), and was taken by Fritsch in Teneriffe. I
possess examples of a Helix from Arona which agree to a great
extent with the diagnosis of the H. retrodens, though not suffi-
ciently so to enable me to refer them for certain to that species.
Helix modesta.
Helix modesta, Fer., Prodr. 71 (1821)
55 55 Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 269 (1848)
Paivana, Lowe [nee Fer., 1864], Ann. Nat. Hist.
vii. 110(1861)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. v. 307 (1868)
modesta, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 83 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 351 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam ; juxta Sta. Cruz, prsecipue in Barranco
Santo, vulgaris.
This is a common Helix near Sta. Cruz in Teneriffe, parti-
cularly in the Barranco Santo, where it was met with abun-
dantly by Mr. Lowe and myself, as it had been previously by
Fritsch ; and it was also taken by Blauner and Grasset. By
d'Orbigny it appears to have been mixed up, or confused, with
the H. Pouchet.
The H. modesta is of a dark greenish-brown hue above, but
paler, yellower, and more glossy beneath, and occasionally with
obscure indications of a few obsolete bands. In form it is rather
compact and obtuse, with faint traces on its basal whorl of a
keel, which however completely vanishes towards the aperture ; its
peristome is white and broadly developed, the basal portion being
nearly straight but a good deal thickened ; and its surface is
roughened with irregular transverse costate lines, and is here and
there conspicuously malleated.
As compared with the H. plicaria, the modesta is smaller,
more depressed, and more compact, as well as of a darker
greenish-brown hue ; and (although strongly costate-striate) it
is free from the remote and greatly elevated string-like trans-
CANARIAN GROUP. 347
versely-sculptured ridges which are so characteristic of that
(equally Teneriffan) species ; and it has more appreciable traces,
too, of an obsolete keel.
Helix Bethencourtiana.
Helix Bethencourtiana, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 143(1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 270 (1853)
?5 Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 84.
pi. 5. f. 3,4 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 478 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam ; a cl. Blauner inventa.
I have not seen this species, which was taken by Blauner in
Teneriffe ; but it is said to be much allied to the H. plicaria,
from which it is mainly distinguished by its smaller size, and
by having its costate ridges perfectly simple, or free from trans-
verse sculpture. 6 Cette espece,' says Mousson, ' confondue an-
terieurement avec VH. plicaria, et subordonnee par M. Lowe
(Ann. Nat. Hist. 3. ser. vii. 110) a VH. Adansoni, Webb [i.e.
H. Pouchet, Adans ], a ete nettement definie par M. Shuttle-
worth, comme je me suis convaincu sur des echantillons de la
main de 1'auteur meme. Elle se distingue de la plicaria par
sa moindre grandeur, sa tenuite, par 1'accroissement plus prompt
des tours, par des plis distants eleves, mais parfaitement lisses,
non creneles, par une ouverture plus regulierement ovale
en travers, enfin par un peristome beaucoup moins large, en peu
colore. L'absence totale de martelage la separe entierement de
la modesta, qui a la meme grandeur.'
Helix plicaria.
Helix plicaria, Lam., Encyl. Meth. t. 462 f. 3
plicatula, Id., Hist. viii. 81 (1822)
plicaria, W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. syn. 313
(1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 56 (1839)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. i. 291 (1848)
Desk., Per. Hist. i. 112 (1851)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 81 (1872)
Habitat Teneriffam ; in collibus apricis circa Sta. Cruz 5 vul-
garis. Etiam semifossilis parce reperitur.
The H. plicaria, Lam., is essentially characteristic of Tene-
riife, where it is common on most of the dry and rocky hill-sides
around, and above, Sta. Cruz, and from whence it has been brought
by every collector who during the last fifty years has visited
the island. There is no evidence that it is found elsewhere in
348 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
the archipelago (though we might well expect, perhaps, to meet
with it in Grand Canary), and it is simply monstrous therefore
that MM. Webb and Berthelot should have cited it as spread
over the entire Group. Such loose assertions as these are abso-
lutely unpardonable in the fauna of any country in which the
most punctilious accuracy as regards habitat is a sine qua non ;
and even had there been reason to suspect that the H. plicaria
was not altogether confined to Teneriffe, still MM. Webb and
Berthelot could not have been in a position to vouch for its uni-
versality, inasmuch as they had collected but very imperfectly
in some of the outlying islands, and indeed on Hierro had not
so much as once even set foot 1 But throughout the whole of
their gigantic ' Histoire ' this extreme slovenliness on the im-
portant question of localities meets one on nearly every page ;
and although it was an easy method for themselves, to define
the range of a species by simply citing ' toutes les Canaries ' as
its habitat, nevertheless no truthful monographer could possibly
accept any such statement unless some proof was given, at the
same time, that it is tenable ; and in the present instance their
innuendos concerning the H. plicaria are utterly discreditable,
for, so far as we have any data for forming an opinion, the
species would appear to be (not universally Canarian^ but)
exclusively Teneriffan.
There can be no fear of confounding the H. plicaria with
anything else with which we are here concerned, its rather
flattened (though completely imkeeled) contour and corneous
brown surface (which is paler, or yellower, beneath, and on
which anything like darker bands are rarely traceable), in con-
junction with its white and broadly-flattened peristome, and the
remote but extremely elevated and transversely-sculptured cos-
tate ridges with which it is beset, giving it a character essen-
tially its own. The very minute impressions which crenulate
its oblique transverse ribs will be seen, when closely inspected,
to be the result of a system of densely-packed spiral lines,
which are conspicuous on the summits, or edges, of the costse,
but are obsolete in the spaces between them.
I possess a few examples of the H. plicaria in a distinctly
subfossilized condition, and in which the ridges are rather less
developed and less decidedly crenulate, but I cannot now quite
recall whence I obtained them.
Helix inutilis.
Helix inutilis, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 81. pi. 5.
. f. 1, 2 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 425 (1876)
CANARIAN GROUP. 349
Habitat Teneriffam ; a cl. Grasset lecta.
It seems far from improbable that this Helix, which was
taken by M. Grasset in TenerifFe, represents but an accidental
state, or variety, of the H. plicaria, in which the umbilicus is
unclosed-over by the expanded lamina of the lower lip ; never-
theless its exposed or open umbilicus makes it in some degree
connective between that species and the H. planorbella ; though
its affinities are clearly more with the plicaria than with the
latter.
After his diagnosis of the H. inutilis, Mousson remarks :
* Cette espece se place entre la planorbella et la plicaria,
Lam., en se rapprochant toutefois plus de la seconde. Elle se
distingue des deux par un enroulement plus lache, et un bord
basal entierement detache. En outre elle differe de la planor-
bella par une ouverture plus grande et une costulation ruguese
et plus grossiere ; de la plicaria par contre, dont elle partage
entierement la sculpture, par 1'ombilic tres ouvert, malgre la
large reflexion du bord, par la forme plus reguliere de Fouverture
et le rapprochement des insertions marginales jusqu'a moins de
-J-Q du pourtour. II me semble peu Vraisemblable que ces differ-
ences ne soient qu'individuelles, dues a un developpement anor-
mal, bien que je n'aye vu qu'un individu de cette espece,
provenant, suivant M. Tarnier, comme la plicaria, de Teneriffe.'
Helix planorbella.
Helix planorbella, Lam., Hist. viii. 66 (1822)
strigata, var. 13, Per., No. 162. t. 67. f. 8
planorbella, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 76. pi, 4.
f. 18, 19 (1872)
var* /3. incisogranulata, Mousson.
Helix planorbella, Desk., Per. Hist. i. 45 (1851)
Pfeiff.,Mon. Hel.v* 364(1868)
Id., Novit. Conch, ii. 297. t. 72. f. 8-12
,. var. incisogranulata, Mouss., I. c. 176
(1872)
Habitat Teneriffam, et Gomeram ; in ilia var. p., sed in
hac (sec. Mousson) status normalis.
This is one of the species which were not obtained by either Mr.
Lowe or myself, and one which I have been unable to procure
for examination; but according to Mousson it presents two
totally distinct forms, one of them peculiar to Gomera, with
the costae simple or ungranulated, which he believes to cor-
respond with the Lamarckian type, and the other, which is
more depressed and keeled, and has the ridges distinctly
sculptured, to Teneriffe. This latter phasis, figured by Pfeiffer
350 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
(Novitat. Conch, ii. 297. t. 72. f. 8--12) as the normal state
of the H. planorbella, Mousson treats as a ' var. incisogra-
nutataj and defines it thus : ' umbilico paulo angustiore, pli-
cis minus numerosis, sub lente minute granulatim incisis,
margine basali minus adnato, minus incrassato, intus distinc-
tius convexo.'
Judging from the diagnosis and figure, the H. planorbella
(which, through a mistake, was cited originally from Porto
Rico) is a rounded but depressed shell, with an open umbili-
cus, and rather strongly costate-striate on its upper portion,
the costae in the typical (or Gromeran) state being quite simple,
but minutely sculptured across (or crenulated) in the 'var. /3.
incisogranulata' from Teneriffe. In colour it is of a pale
yellowish-corneous, with two or three more or less evident
darker bands; and its peristome has the margins (the basal
one of which is widely thickened) a good deal approximated.
Helix vermiplicata, n. sp.
T. semiobtecte umbilicata, orbiculato-depressa, subtenuis,
densissime et grosse vermiculato-plicata (plicis valde irregula-
ribus, submalleato-confluentibus), et sub lente minutissime
obsoletissimeque arenoso-granulata, subopaca, griseo- vel luteo-
albida et fasciis obsoletis 4 vel 5 (sc. 1 vel 2 infra, et 1 vel
2 mox supra peripheriam, et 1 pone suturam) suffuse nebu-
losa; spira obtusa, sutura simplici impressa; anfractibus 5,
ultimo magno inflato sed minute arguteque filo-carinato, antice
paulo descendente ; apertura lunato-rotundata, peristomatis mar-
ginibus ad insertiones separatis disjunctis. Diam. maj. 9J
tin.
Habitat Palmam ; in calcareis ad Argual, regionis occiden-
talis ' Banda ' dictse, pauca specimina emortua collegi.
Out of five examples of this Helix which I met with on
the calcareous ' Llanos ' (below Argual) of the Banda, on the
western side of Palma, only one is at all mature, and even
that one has its peristome still unformed ; nevertheless the spe-
cies is so well defined by its sculpture and other features, that
I have ventured to describe it, feeling satisfied that it can-
not be associated with anything else with which we have here
to do.
The specimen to which I have just called attention is so
very nearly adult, and has its umbilicus (as in the younger
ones) so greatly exposed (scarcely as much as half of it being
closed over by the expanded lamina of the lower lip), that I
feel almost confident that this character of 'semiobtecte per-
forata ' will be found to hold good during all periods of its
CANARIAN GROUP. 351
growth; and such being the case, its affinities, which at first
sight are not readily apparent, will perhaps be ascertained to
lie amongst the forms around the H. planorbella, though, at
the same time, the species has evidently something in common
with the (equally Palman) H. granomalleata.
Not to mention this peculiarity of its umbilicus, the pre-
sent species is smaller than the H. granomalleata, and it is
also rather more depressed both above and below, and it has a
fine thread-like though minute keel which is traceable even down
to the very aperture. It is not much malleated, its sculpture
consisting mainly (apart from the excessively minute sand-
like granules) of extremely irregular and densely-packed, coarse,
subconfluent, oblique ridges, or subundulating vermiform folds ;
and in colour it would seem to be of a dingy olivaceous-white,
suffused with a darker tint in consequence of the 4 or 5 obso-
lete bands which are indistinctly indicated.
Helix Plutonia.
Helix Plutonia, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist.vii. 108 (1861)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. v. 300 (1868)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 76. pi. 4.
f. 12, 13 (1872)
Pfeiff', Mon. Hel. vii. 423 (1876)
Habitat Lanzarotam, et Fuerteventuram ; in ilia recens, sed
in hac et recens et vix semifossilis ad Pozonegro parce reperitur.
By M. Fritsch this well-marked Helix was found both in
Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, but it is only in the latter
that it was obtaiued by Mr. Lowe, -who took several subfos-
silized examples of it (for I think that they are more than
merely dead and bleached), along with one or two others im-
mature and recent, at Pozonegro, on the eastern side of that
island ; but it is a species which I did not myself meet with.
The H. Plutonia is a large, rather flattened, obtuse,
and almost sublenticular shell, nevertheless with the nucleus
of the extremely compact and closely-set spire somewhat pro-
minent, and with scarcely any indications of a keel on the
ultimate volution, though there are evident traces of one up
the spire, manifested by a thread-like, subelevated, laterally-
compressed line along the anterior edge of the suture. Its
umbilicus is generally half-exposed, and thus far therefore
open, but at times it is nearly closed up by the reflexed lamina
of the columella ; its whorls are six in number, and all of them
except the basal one much flattened ; and its upper surface is
covered with fine and light, irregular, scabrous, costate lines,
intermingled with a few granules, whilst, beneath, it is more
352 TESTACEA ATLANTICA.
shining and comparatively unsculptured. Its aperture is large,
with the upper and lower portions wide apart and disconnected ;
and its peristome, although recurved, is narrow and only slightly
expanded.
When young and undeveloped the H. Plutonia is very much
more sharply carinated (on account of the ultimate, imkeeled
volution having still to be added) ; and, according to Mousson
(for the example now before me does not shew it), there are a
few hair-like filaments arising out of the asperated granulations.
If this latter statement be true, it would seem to imply that the
real affinities of the H. Plutonia are not with the exact forms
amongst which I have placed it, and with which it is associated
by Mousson. But, in point of fact, the species is a very diffi-
cult one as regards location ; and what its nearest allies may be,
it is by no means readily apparent.
Helix semitecta.
Helix semitecta, Mouss. 9 Faun. Mai. des Can. 75. pi. 4.
f. 17 (1872)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. vii. 423 (1876)
Habitat Gromeram, semifossilis ; collegit cl. Fritsch.
A Helix which was found by Fritsch in Gomera, and ap-
parently in a subfossil condition ; though as it was sufficiently
well preserved for Mousson to give some idea both of its colour
and markings, it can scarcely have been so strictly subfossilized
as many of the species which we have had occasion to
notice.
The H. semitecta seems, judging from the diagnosis and
figure, to be distinctly umbilicated, the umbilicus however
being half closed over by the expanded lamina of the lower lip ;
in outline it is rather convex, obtuse, and compact, and without
any traces of a keel ; its surface is not only strongly and regu-
larly striated, but likewise unequally beset with coarse granules ;
and its aperture is relatively rather small, with the upper and
lower margins of the peristome a good deal, and subequally,
curved. ' La coloration,' says Mousson, ' ne se compose pas de
zones continues simples, mais de 4 fascies, qu'interrompent des
taches anguleuses blanches, qui se continuent sur les intervalles ; '
and, as regards size, it would appear to measure about 1 1 lines
across its broadest part.
Helix Paivana.
Helix Paivana, Morelet [nee Lowe\ Journ. de Conch, xii. 186
(1864)
Mouss. 9 Faun. Mai. des Can. 77 (1872).
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 455 (1876)
CANARIAN GROUP. 353
Habitat Gromeram ; a Barone de Paiva communicata. Ra-
rissima.
The H. Paivana, which appears to be peculiar to Gromera,
and which measures about 10 lines across its broadest part, is a
rather depressed but obtuse shell, there being no indications of a
regular keel ; its spire is only slightly raised, but somewhat
blunt and dome-shaped ; and its umbilicus is partially visible, it
being only half closed-over (or perhaps rather more) by the re-
flexed lamina of the peristome. It is somewhat thin in sub-
stance, tumid beneath, and of a yellowish-brown hue (paler on
the underside), but ornamented with four narrow and regularly
interrupted darker bands, which give a somewhat freckled ap-
pearance to the whole upper portion ; and the surface is beset
with coarse tubercles (which become obsolete towards the
nucleus, and gradually disappear below on the umbilical area
which is more shining and polished), caused by the breaking-
up of the densely-packed oblique transverse lines of growth. Its
peristome, which is acute and not much recurved, has the upper
and lower insertions slightly approximated.
Helix Villiersii,
Helix Villiersii, tfOrb., in W. et B. Hist. 57. t, 3. f. 11, 12
(1839)
Pfeiff., Man. Hel. i. 378 (1848)
Villiersi, Mouss., Faun. MaL des Can. 79 (1872)
Habitat Gomeram ; a Dom Despreaux olim reperta.
As stated below, the ' var. a. subaucta ' of the H. quadri-*
cincta would seem to me to approach very near to this species
(which I have not been able to inspect, and which apparently
is but little known), though the acuteness of its keel prevents
it from being actually identified with it. Indeed, judging from
the diagnosis, the H. Villiersii is not more carinated than the
H. Planorbella, and probably not more so than the Paivana ;
and its transverse costate ridges are said to be interrupted be-
neath, and the whole shell thin and fragile.
The H. Villiersii^ which was found many years ago in Gro-
mera by M. Despreaux, was also unknown to Mousson, who
nevertheless seemed inclined to believe that it may prove in
reality (when further material shall have been obtained) to
represent some variety, or state, of either the H. planorbella
or the H. quadrioincta ; though, I suspect, unless indeed the
description be very inaccurate, that it must be distinct from at
all events the latter.
A A
354 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Helix quadricincta.
Helix qnadricincta, Morelet, Journ. de Conch, xii. 156
(1864)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel v. 371 (1868)
Id., Novit. Conch, ii. t. 72. f. 13-16
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 78
(1872)
Habitat Gromeram ; in collibus aridis apricis juxta San Se-
bastian vulgaris. ' Var. a. subaucta ' in locis magis elevatis
degit.
Morelet's H. quadricincta seems to be peculiar to Gromera,
where it was taken abundantly by Mr. Lowe and myself on
the dry rocky slopes immediately above San Sebastian, on the
northern side of the ravine ; and it would appear to have been
met with previously by Fritsch. It is stated by Pfeiffer, on
the authority of the Baron Paiva, to occur also in Teneriffe ;
but this, I think, requires corroboration.
The H. quadricincta, which measures about 8 lines across
it broadest part, is a depressed and lenticular shell, acutely
keeled, with about half of its umbilicus exposed (or uncovered),
and beset all over with simple and very regular oblique trans-
verse costate lines. It is rather tumid on the underside, but its
volutions above are flattened ; and its surface is of a pale yel-
lowish-corneous hue (whiter and paler beneath), but ornamented
with four narrow darker bands, of which one is immediately
above (and adjoining) the keel, another at a short distance be-
low it, and the remaining two on the anterior half of the whorls.
Its peristome (which is white and polished) is a good deal
expanded and recurved, the basal portion being broadly incras-
sated.
There is a slightly larger phasis of this species, which is
found at a higher elevation, and which was taken by Mr. Lowe,
on April 21, 1861, immediately below the Cumbre (on the south-
eastern side) at the head of the San Sebastian ravine, and which
I should have been inclined to regard as the H. Villiersii of
d'Orbigny was not its keel quite as strongly expressed as in the
typical H. quadricincta. In addition to its being somewhat
larger than the latter, its costae are not quite so regular, its
aperture is relatively a little more developed and outwardly-
extended, the basal margin of its peristome is a trifle less
thickened and less curved, and its fasciae are just appreciably
less continuous, or more interrupted, giving a slightly more
freckled appearance to the upper portion of the shell than is the
case in the H. quadricincta proper, though very much less so
CANARIAN GROUP. 355
than in the //. Paivana. This particular state of the species
.may be thus briefly defined :
Var. a. subaucta. paulo major, costis vix minus regulari-
bus, apertura submajore, peristomatis margine basali sensim
minus incrassato minusque curvato, fasciisque vix magis fractis.
Diam. maj. 9 lin.
Helix saponacea.
Helix saponacea, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. vii. 108 (1861)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. v. 300 (1868)
Mouss., Faun* Mai. dee Can. 91. pi. v.
f. 9-11 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 350 (1876)
Habitat Canariam Grrandem ; in aridis saxosis ad El Chareo,
ultra Maspalomas, copiose lecta. Necnon semifossilis reperitur,
This flattened and lozenge-shaped, but uncarinated Helix
(the larger examples of which measure about 7-J lines across
their broadest part) is one of the most distinct species in
the archipelago, and one which was detected by Mr. Lowe and
myself, both in a recent and subfossil state, on dry rocky banks
in the low and remote district of El Charco, in the extreme
south of Grand Canary, beyond the sandy wastes of Maspalomas.
We found it in tolerable abundance, in company with the H*
Despreauxii, d'Orb., and the H. pulverulenta, Lowe.
Apart from its depressed but unkeeled contour, the H. sapo-
nacea may be known by its umbilicus being completely closed
over, and by its surface being uniformly covered (except in the
central area beneath, where it is paler and shining) with small
but sharply defined granules,- caused by the breaking-up of the
fine and inconspicuous transverse lines of growth. Its spire,
although flattened, has the volutions somewhat convex ; and its
upper surface, which is slightly opake, is of a pale yellowish-
corneous hue ornamented with three more or less obscure red-
dish-brown bands, the aperture (which is much deflected) being
flavescent outside. Its peristome is white and highly polished,
as well as broadly expanded and reflexed, and the insertions are
wide apart and unconnected by an intervening lamina.
Helix psathyra.
Helix psathyra, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist, vii, 109 (1861)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. v. 300 (1868)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 90. pi. 5. f. 8
(1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 350 (1876)
Habitat Canariam Grandem ; in inferioribus, intermediis,
locisque elevatis, late diifusa. Semifossilis rarius invenitur.
A 2
356 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
It is to Grand Canary that this Helix appears to be pe-
culiar, it having been taken by Mr. Lowe and myself in many
remote spots both in the interior and south of that island. We
met with it in abundance at the head of the Barranco leading
down to Aldea de San Nicolas from Mogan ; but we had previ-
ously taken it, more sparingly, at Mogan itself, as well as in the
lofty Final of Tarajana (above San Bartolome), and even so low
down as at Maspalomas and Arguineguin. On the northern
side of the island we did not observe it ; but Mousson records
its detection by Fritsch near Las Palmas. In the calcareous
region between Aldea de San Nicolas and Lagaete, we found it
subfossilized.
In proportion to its size (for the larger examples measure so
much as an inch across their widest part), the H. psathyra is a
rather thin and fragile shell, with the umbilicus completely
closed over, and the peristome (although acute) greatly expanded
and recurved. It is slightly shining above, and brilliantly po-
lished in the central area below, where, moreover, it is of a
much paler olivaceous-yellow. Its upper region is of a pale
olivaceous-brown, with a slightly livid tinge (sometimes the
green and sometimes the yellow predominating), the outside of
the aperture being flavescent ; and there are very obscure traces
of four or five obsolete darker bands ; and its sculpture is very
light, consisting only of fine irregular oblique lines of growth
(free from granules, except at the nucleus), mixed up with faint
malleations.
Helix Gaudryi.
? Helix Gaudryi, d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 57. t. 3. f. 15-17
(1839)
? Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iv. 231 (1859)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 98. pi. 5. f.
16, 17 (1872)
? Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 347 (1876)
Habitat Canariam Grandem ; in intermediis, praecipue per re-
gionem El Monte dictam necnon in Caldeira magna montis
Bandama, degens.
The H. Gaudryi (at any rate as understood by Mousson^
though not, apparently, as accepted by Pfeiffer) would seem to
be peculiar to the intermediate districts of Grand Canary,
where, throughout the region of El Monte (particularly about
Los Laurealos, and within the great crater of the Bandama
mountain) it is by no means uncommon ; and I have taken it
above San Mateo, on the ascent to the Koca del Soucilho. It
was met with in much the same localities by Mr. Lowe like-
wise ; and Mousson records that it was also obtained in Grand
CANARIAN GROUP. 357
Canary by Fritsch, It was probably a mistake of M. d'Orbigny's
to have cited it from Gromera ; but most likely lie was merely
guided by the references of Mr. Webb, whose extreme in-
accuracy on the subject of habitats I have had occasion more
than once to dilate upon. I happen however to know that the
El Monte district was collected in for some time by Webb, so
that he could scarcely have failed to secure this large and con-
spicuous Helix.
Even Mousson, who gave an emended diagnosis of this
species, has omitted to call attention to some of its most salient
features, such, for instance, as the minute granulations with
which it is densely crowded (he even speaks of it as ' laevigata ' ! ),
and the pinkish purple tinge with which its peristome is con-
spicuously coloured ; and he also defines it as 4-fasciate, where-
as the number of its fasciae is most unmistakeably five, two
being below the dorsal line, two (which are subconfluent) im-
mediately above it, and one adjoining the suture.
In its rather obliquely-elongated outline, laterally-extended
aperture, and greatly developed, incrassated, recurved, pinkish
peristome, no less than in its solid substance and its densely-
granuled, 5-fasciated surface, the H. Gaudryi is a good deal
on the type of the H. sarcostoma ; nevertheless it is very
much smaller and more depressed (both above and below)
than that species (even though free from all indications of a
keel), and has a much livelier and more dappled coloration,
the bands being broken-up by more or less angular yellowish
markings ; added to which there is no trace of an elongated
obtuse ridge-like tooth (formed by the scooping-out of the
basal margin) within the peristome, and it is generally more
appreciably malleated. It is, however, a variable shell, the
malleations being often comparatively inconspicuous ; and even
the umbilicus is sometimes (though rarely) not completely
closed over. The larger examples of the H. Gaudryi measure
about 11 lines across their broadest part, and the smaller ones
about 8.
Helix granomalleata, n. sp.
T. imperforata, depresso-subglobosa, subtenuis, oblique pli-
cato-malleata (plicis valde irregularibus, subconfluentibus), et
minute densissimeque arenoso-granulata, supra opaca, subtus in
medio laevior nitidior, griseo-lutea et fasciis 4 vel 5 (sc. 1 vel 2
infra et 2 omnino confluentibus mox supra peripheriam, et
1 plus minus indentato-interrupto pone suturam) castaneis
ornata ; spira obtusa, sutura simplici impressa ; anfractibus 5,
convexiusculis, ultimo magno inflate (nee, aut postice obsoletis-
sime, carinato), antice valde descendente; apertura magna,
358 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
lunato-ovali ; peristomate acuto sed parum expanse et reflexo,
marginibus ad insertiones subconvergentibus sed separatis (vix
callo junctis), supero et basali subsequalitur arcuatis, hoc
simplici (nee intus sinuate subdentato). Diam. maj. 12 lin.
Habitat Palmam ; in Barranoo de Herradura, necnon ad
Los Souces, a Revdo. R. T. Lowe (et recens et semifossilis)
detecta.
Nine examples (two or three of which are subfossilized) of
this well-marked Helix were taken by Mr. Lowe in Palma,
namely at Los Souces, and in the Barranco de Herradura ; and it
is remarkable as being the only tolerably large species, with
the exception of the H. vermiplicata (and the clearly imported
H. aspersa, MiilL) which has hitherto been observed in that
island. Mousson's monograph does not enumerate a single
Palman representative of the great section Hemicycla ; never-
theless, seeing that Goinera is so rich in insular forms, we can
hardly suppose that Palma, with its superior elevation and
more extensive area, is deficient in them, but must merely
conclude that the smaller amount of research which has been
expended on it accounts for the fauna having been less in-
vestigated,
The present Helix is rather thin in substance, and depresso-
globose in outline ; its ultimate whorl is a good deal developed,
rounded, and (except very obsoletely so posteriorly) unkeeled ;
its umbilicus is altogether closed over ; and its surface (which is
opake except in the central space below) is not only very
densely crowded with minute sand^like granules, but also con-
siderably malleated, the malleations however being so mixed
up (except towards the apex of the spire) with the very irre-
gular oblique plicafi that the two systems of sculpture seem to
be well-nigh completely blended together, or inseparable. In
colour it is of a rich brownish- or olivaceous-yellow (paler around
the axis beneath), and there are four or five darker and some-
what conspicuous bands, either one or two of which are below
the dorsal line, another (broader, and perhaps composed of two
confluent ones) immediately above it, and another (which is
more or less indented, or freckled, on its anterior margin)
behind the suture.
Helix merita
Helix merita, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 174 (1872)
Pfeiff., Man. HeL vii. 348 (1876)
Habitat Gromeram, semifossilis ; a Dom. Fritsch reperta.
The present species and the H. harmonica I have not been
able to inspect, and there seem to be but few characters about
them of a very striking or distinctive nature. They were both
CANAR1AN GROUP. 359
of them obtained by Fritsch, the H. merita (which is the
larger of the two, measuring 27 millimetres across its broadest
part) in Gromera, and only in a subfossil, or perhaps partially
subfossil, state, fcr Mousson was able to call attention to its
markings. Comparing it with the H. harmonica, to which it
is. manifestly allied, he observes : * La forme totale est plus
conique, mais en meme temps plus deprimee ; les tours croissent
d'abord plus promptement, puis plus lentement, et sont, malgre
un certain renflement le long de la suture, peu hauts ; le pour-
tour dorsal, anguleux aux tours superieurs, s'arrondit au dernier
tour, mais laisse decouvrir, presque jusqu'a 1'ouverture, une
ligne faiblement saillante; 1'ouverture est moins reguliere,
surtout le bord basal non excave vers 1'interieur, mais droit ou
au milieu faiblement releve en un epaississement calleux, sub-
denti forme. Cette espece, a juger d'apres son etat, appartient
a la faune subfossile de Pile, mais a conserve un certain degre
de fraicheur, par rapport a sa sculpture et, quoiqu'affaiblie, a sa
coloration.'
Helix harmonica.
Helix harmonica, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 74. pi. 4. f.
11 (1872)
Pfei/. 9 Mon. Hel. vii. 348 (1876)
Habitat Hierro ; mihi non obvia. Collegit cl. Fritsch.
As just stated, this Helix, which was taken by Fritsch in
Hierro, is unknown to me. It appears, however, to be of a
yellowish-white tint, with two darker well-defined bands beneath,
but more suffused on the upper portion. 'La surface,' says
Mousson, 4 presente des stries costulees extremement faibles et
une fine granulation allongee microscopique, egalement faible,
qui n'influe que sur le brillant un peu mat. L'ouverture ne
s'abaisse que lentement et peu. Le bord externe est un peu
reflechi et blanc ; 1'inferieur s'epaissit sans s'applatir, reste
concave, quoique moins que le superieur, et se fond avec une
faible callosite dans Tavant dernier tour.' It is described as
measuring 22 millimetres across its broadest part.
Helix gomerensis.
Helix gomerensis, Morelet, Journ. de Conch, xii. 157
(1864)
Pfmff.1 Mon. Hel. v. 62 (1868)
5, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 73. pi.
4. f. 9, 10 (1872)
Habitat Gomeram ; a Barone Castello de Paiva com-
municata.
I possess several examples of this fine Helix (the largest one
860 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
of which measures about 11 lines across its widest part) which
were received by the Baron Paiva from Gromera, and there can be
no doubt that it is the species which was described by Morelet.
In proportion to its size the shell is extremely thin and fragile,
being more than usually sub-diaphanous when held up to the
light ; and its colour is a deep castaneous-brown, but rather
paler (or more olivaceous) beneath, with extremely indistinct
indications of three obsolete darker bands, one of which is just
below the dorsal line, another immediately above it, and the
third a little behind the suture (the space between this last one
and the suture being sometimes, apparently, though not in the
specimens now before me, of a more lively ochreous yellow). In
outline the H. gomerensis is somewhat depressed ; its ultimate
volution, which is angulated posteriorly but rounded and obtuse
in front, is very broadly developed ; and its aperture is large,
the peristome being thin but slightly recurved, with the margins
(the basal one of which is only narrowly expanded) wide apart
and disconnected. Its surface, which is subopake above but
more shining in the central area below, is finely and very
densely, but unequally, costate-striate ; and, when viewed
Ijeneath a high magnifying power, it will be seen to be most
closely covered with excessively minute and ill-defined sand-
like granulations.
Helix hierroensis.
Helix Hierroensis, Grasset, Journ. de Conch, v. 345 (1856)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iv. 231 (1859)
Valverdensis, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. vii. 110 (1861)
Hierroensis, Mouse., Faun. Mai. des Can. 98 (1872)
Habitat Hierro; in intermediis ad oppidum Valverde
lecta.
This is a Helix which was taken abundantly by Mr. Lowe
and myself in a garden at Valverde, in Hierro ; and it appears
to have been met with previously both by Grasset and Fritsch
in the same island. It is much smaller than the H. gomerensis
(measuring only about 9 lines across its widest part), and rather
more globose in contour ; but in colour and sculpture it has
much in common with that species. It is, however, a little
more strictly opake on the upper surface (the minute sand-like
granules with which it is closely beset being perceptibly coarser
and more defined) ; and its colour is of a dull olivaceous coffee-
brown, rather than of a reddish castaneous. It has less traces,
too, of a keel on the posterior half of the basal whorl (which is
itself less broadly developed) ; its aperture is relatively smaller ;
and its peristome is whiter and a trifle more thickened. Its
three bands are quite as obscure as in the H. gomerensis, being
CANARIAN GROUP. 361
often altogether imperceptible ; its oblique transverse lines are
equally light and irregular (being, moreover, slightly undulated
about the dorsal region, so as to give that part an obsoletely
submalleated appearance) ; and its suture (as in that species)
is often edged with an extremely narrow yellowish-white
marginal line.
It is not altogether impossible that this Helix may prove
eventually to be the true H. Maugeana of Shuttleworth (Bern.
Mitth. Diagn. 292 ; 1852). At any rate what he believed to be
Shuttleworth's actual type (in the collection of the late Mr.
Cuming) was examined by Mr. Lowe, who declared it to be
specifically identical with the Valverde shell. Still, as the
diagnosis of the H. Maugeana does not sufficiently tally with
the H. hierroensis, there is a difficulty about adopting Shuttle-
worth's title, and disturbing the synonymy as above quoted.
Helix Perraudieri.
Helix Perraudieri, Grasset, Journ. de Conch, v. 345. t. 13.
f. 2 (1856)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iv. 232 (1859)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 100
(1872)
Habitat Hierro ; mihi non obvia. Collegit cl. Grasset.
The H. Perraudieri is a species which was found by M.
Grasset in Hierro, but one which I have not myself had an
opportunity of inspecting. It seems also to have been un-
known to Mousson (except by the figure and published
diagnosis), who nevertheless appeared satisfied as to its close
affinity with the H. hierroensis. Judging from the description
of M. Grasset, it is more depressed than the latter, as well as
regularly and minutely malleated, and free from the granula-
tions which give so marked a character to that species ; but in
point of size the two do not, apparently, greatly differ.
Helix distensa.
Helix distensa, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 100. pi. 5. f.
20, 21 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 349 (1876)
Habitat Gomeram. Invenit cl. Fritsch*
A Gomeran Helix, detected by Fritsch, which is apparently
a good deal allied to the H. Perraudieri, Grasset, from Hierro ;
but, according to Mousson (for I have not been able to inspect
a type), elle est plus globuleuse ; le dernier tour est arrondi,
bien qu'un peu deprime vers Tangle dorsal de 1'ouverture, la
362 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
ligne dorsale est un peu au-dessus de la mi-hauteur du tour.
La spire parait irreguliere, en ce que les tours du sommet
grandissent plus lentement que le troisieme et le quatrieme.
.... Quant a la coloration il y a des individus uniforme d'une
teinte rouge-brune, tirant sur le violet vers le sommet, d'autres
qui sur un tapis jaunatre presentent les 5 bandes ordinaires
foncees, interrompues par des taches jaunes irregulieres, qui
envahissent egalement le fond. L'ouverture, comme dans la
Perraudieri, est etroite dans le sens de la hauteur, etiree et
anguleuse en travers. Le peristome se dilate sans se reflechir,
et s'orne a 1'interieur, comme a 1'exterieur, d'une forte labiation
blanche, qui, comme dans 1'autre espece, frappe a la premiere
vue.'
Helix indifferens.
Helix indifferens, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 98 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 349 (1876)
Habitat Hierro, semifossilis ; exemplare unico a cl. Fritsch
detecto.
Described by Mousson from a single worn example which
was found by Fritsch, in a subfossil condition, in Hierro ; and
one can scarcely help regretting that it should have been
deemed desirable to erect an additional species on material at
once so insufficient and unsatisfactory. ' Espece subfossile,' says
Mousson, 6 dont je n'ai vu qu'un individu use, mais que, dans
1'embarras, je done d'un nouveau nom. La forme la place
entres les H. hierroensis et Guanartemee, Grrasset Elle
differe par un bord faiblement evase et reflechi, par une ouver-
ture d'un ovale arrondi fort regulier, sans sinus superieurs, ni
angulation dorsale ; les deux bords ont presque la meine
courbure. Le basal, bien concave comme dans le sousgenre
Iberus, est arrondi, s'insere au moyen d'une callosite convexe, a
la base renflee, et developpe, profondement a 1'interieur pres de
la columelle, un tubercule arrondi, qu'on ne voit qu'en tenant
1'ouverture tres obliquement. Si ce caract&re est constant et
non accidentel, il serait tout particulier pour cette espece.' The
H. indifferens is said to measure 21 millimetres across its
broadest part, with an altitude of 1 4.
Helix Maugeana.
Helix Graudryi, Pfeiff. [nee d'Orb., 1839] i. 269 (1848)
Maugeana, Shutti,., Bern. Mitth. 292 (1852)
Mouss.,Faun. Mai. des C&n. 96 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 347 (1876)
Habitat ' Canaries (mus. Cuming),' sec. Shuttleworth ; mihi
non obvia.
CANARIAN GROUP. 363
As already mentioned, it is far from impossible that the
//. hierroensis, Grasset, from Hierro, may prove to be Shuttle-
worth's H. Maugeana, in which case the latter name would
have the priority. At any rate the specimen, in the collection
of the late Mr. Cuming, from which Shuttleworth appears to
have drawn up his diagnosis, was examined carefully by Mr.
Lowe, who affirmed it to be conspecific with the one from
Hierro. Still there is a possibility that Mr. Lowe was mistaken
in assuming the example in question as Shuttleworth's absolute
type, and more particularly so since the published diagnosis of
the latter does not accord sufficiently well with Grasset's
species (re- enunciated by Mr. Lowe under the name of ' H. val-
verdensis ') ; so that, in the uncertainty, I think that we are
fully justified in retaining the title ' hierroensis ' for the
Valverde Helix, and in concluding that Shuttleworth's term
' Maugeana ' must apply to some other (cognate) form.
After what has just been said, it is scarcely to be expected
that I should attempt to decide what the H. Maugeana of
Shuttleworth really is. Yet examples of a Helix, now before
me, which were received by the Baron Paiva from Arona in
Teneriffe, had they not been totally ungranulated, would have
tallied better perhaps with Shuttleworth's diagnosis than the
Hierro one does. Still, being ungranulated, they cannot be
treated as the H. Maugeana ; and I fear therefore we must be
content to leave the latter species in doubt, trusting that
future researches, and a further comparison of the Shuttle-
worthian type (if it be still accessible), may yet succeed in
solving the problem of its identity, or otherwise, with Grasset's
H. hierroensis. Shuttleworth r s diagnosis of his H. Maugeana
is as follows : ' T. obtecte perforata, tenuis, globoso-depressa,
flavescente-fusca, fasciis fuscis obsoletis ornata, tenuiter plicato-
striata et reticulatim malleata, sublente minute et creberrime
granulata, nitidiuscula ; spira subdepressa, anfr. 4^- convexi,
ultimus antice subgloboso-inflatus, demum subito deflexus ;
apertura perobliqua, lunato-ovalis ; perist. leviter expansum,
reflexum, album, marginibus subparallelis, basali paululum
dilatato-calloso. Diam. maj. 21 ; min. 16; alt. 11 millim.'
Helix Guanartemes.
Helix Guanartemes, Grass., Journ. de Conch, v. 346. 1. 13.
f. 15, 16 (1857)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iv. 232 (1859)
Manriquiana, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. vii. Ill (1861)
Guanartemes, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 99 (1872)
Habitat Canariam Grandem ; in intermediis per regionem
364 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
El Monte, necnon praecipue ad oppidulum Teror, hinc inde
degens.
I am extremely doubtful whether this is more in reality
than an insular modification, peculiar to Grand Canary, of the
H. consobrina, Fer., of Teneriffe. Indeed, after a very careful
comparison of an extensive series of both forms, it seems to me
that they have positively nothing to separate them except that
the H. Guanartemes has its peristome a trifle more thickened
and (like the H. sarcostoma and Gaudryi) of a pinkish-purple,
or flesh-coloured, tinge, and that its columella (when viewed
obliquely) is just appreciably shorter. All other characters re-
ferred to in the published diagnoses are simply imaginary. Thus
Mr. Lowe speaks of the H. Guanartemes (i. e. his H. Manri-
quiana ') as ' Icevigata (nee granulata),' and Mousson lays equal
stress on the same feature ; whereas granules are nearly always
more or less traceable beneath a high magnifying power, and in
many of my examples they are almost as strongly expressed as
in even the H. sarcostoma or the H. Gudryi. Indeed these
' granulations ' might well-nigh be said to be absolutely without
signification in a diagnostic point of view, for they are equally
variable both in the present Helix and in the H. consobrina. In
mere colour and markings, moreover, both species are so incon-
stant that hardly two individuals can be found which are exactly
alike ; so that no distinctions can possibly be drawn from either
pattern or hue.
The H. Guanartemes, like the H. consobrina, is a rather thin
and malleated shell, with the transverse lines of growth very
fine, lightly expressed, and unequal, and the peristome mode-
rately expanded and recurved. Its surface is of a more or less
brownish-yellow hue (occasional examples possessing a ground-
colour of a comparatively clear yellow), and there are normally
5 conspicuous darker bands (some of which are often broad and
suffused, but seldom quite absent), two being placed below the
dorsal line, two (which are at times confluent) immediately
above it, and one (which is more or less indented or freckled)
behind the suture.
The present Helix was taken in Grand Canary both by
Grasset and Fritsch, and subsequently in considerable abun-
dance by Mr. Lowe and myself. We found it principally in
and around the little town of Teror (on one occasion even within
the house of Don Pedro Manrique), but likewise in the region
of El Monte, particularly in the hollows of old trees at the
Laurealos, where some of the specimens, in their large size and
more strongly granulated surface, make a slight prima facie
approach in the direction of the H. Gaudryi, d'Orb.
CANAEIAN GROUP. 365
Helix consobrina.
Helix consobrina. Per., Prodr. 72 (1821)
?? Mouss., Faun. MaL des Can. 94. pi. 5.
f. 14, 15 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. 360 (1 876)
Habitat Teneriffam ; in sylvaticis intermediis occurrens.
The H. consobrina, which is so closely allied to the Grrand-
Canarian H. Guanartemes that I can detect absolutely nothing
to separate it except its white and rather thinner peristome and
its just appreciably longer columella, is peculiar apparently to
the sylvan regions of Teneriffe, at intermediate altitudes, my
own examples being principally from the wood of the Agua
Grarcia. In prima facie aspect it is almost inseparable from
the H. Guanartemes ; and I have already pointed out what the
main characters are which apply equally to the two forms.
Helix invernicata,
Helix consobrina. W. et. B. [nee Fer., 1821], Ann. des Sc,
Nat. 28. syn. 311 (1833)
tfOrb., in W. etB. Hist. 54 (1839)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 269 (1848)
invernicata, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 95. pi. 5.
f. 13(1872)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 346 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam; in truncis cavernosis Laurorum et
Ericoz in sylva ad ' La Esperanza ' (ultra Laguna sita) congre-
gans.
This is a Helix which has generally been considered to be
the true H. consobrina of Ferussac, but one which Mousson
has separated from the consobrina proper ; and I think per-
haps that it may be accepted as specifically distinct, though I
cannot feel absolutely satisfied that it is more in reality than a
smaller and ungranulated race of the consobrina, in which the
transverse lines of growth are a trifle less evident and the mal-
leations relatively a little more so, and in which the surface is
altogether more glossy and shining, and the colour is of a more
uniform ochreo-olivaceous brown speckled with small irregular
angulated blotches, and fragmentary reticulations, of yellow.
Its ultimate volution, also, does not descend quite so much, or
quite so suddenly, in front, and is rather less constricted (and
therefore less gibbose) at the aperture. Judging from my own
material and that of Mr. Lowe, the H. invernicata is decidedly
a smaller shell than the consobrina proper, nevertheless Mous-
son's diagnosis would imply that it is larger.
366 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
The H. invernicata, which is strictly Teneriffan (unless in-
deed the H. Guanartemes be regarded as the Grrand-Canarian
modification of the consobrina, in which case the three forms
would probably be referred to a single plastic type, having for
its range the intermediate districts of Grand Canary and Tene-
riffe), was originally discovered by Webb within the hollow
trunks of old laurels and heaths in the little wood of La Espe-
ranza, a few miles to the south of Laguna ; and I may add that
it was met with by Mr. Lowe and myself, under precisely similar
circumstances, in the same spot. Whether the other naturalists
who have obtained it (namely Mauge, d'Orbigny, Zollinger,
Fritsch, and Reiss) found it also at La Esperanza, I have no
means of ascertaining.
Helix malleata.
Helix malleata, Per., Prodr. 91 (1821)
bidentalis, Lam., Hist. vi. 279 (1822)
malleata, W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. syn. 312
(1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 54. t. 1. f. 15-17
(1839)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. i. 312 (1848)
Mouse., Faun. Mai. des Can. 91 (1872)
Habitat Teneriffam ; in sylvaticis intermediis editioribusque,
inter muscos humidos, ad truncos arborum cavernosos, et sub lapi-
dibus, hinc inde vulgaris.
Peculiar apparently to the sylvan regions of Teneriffe, at
intermediate and rather lofty altitudes, particularly in the
north-eastern division of the island. It was taken by Mr. Lowe
and myself at the Agua Grarcia, as well as at Las Mercedes, at
the edges of the Vueltas above Taganana, and between Taga-
nana and the Valle de Palmas (near Point Anaga) ; and it has
been met with in Teneriffe by nearly every naturalist who has
visited that island, including Webb and Berthelot, Mauge,
d'Orbigny, Blauner, Fritsch, and Reiss.
The H. malleata (which measures about 11 J lines across the
widest part, with an altitude of about 9) is a strong and globose
shell, at once distinguishable by its glossy, malleated surface,
its dark rich olivaceous-brown hue (rendered darker by the
broad, though not always apparent, coffee-coloured bands with
which it is ornamented and suffused), by its suddenly and very
greatly deflexed (posteriorly constricted) aperture, and by its
peristome (which is thickened into a coarse and prominent
white rib, rather than reflexed) being developed internally into
two tooth-like callosities, one of which is extremely large and
placed at the angle, or insertion, of the upper margin, whilst
CANARIAN GROUP. 367
the other is smaller and at a little distance from it in the
direction of the dorsal line (the space between the two assuming
the form of a curved sinus). These teeth are naturally more
pronounced in some individuals than in others, and in the spe-
cimens from Taganana they are often monstrous ; and although
globose in outline, the posterior half of its basal volution is
distinctly keeled ; the apical portion of its spire is usually more
or less worn and decorticated ; and although there are no traces
of granules (properly so called), the surface will nevertheless be
seen, when viewed beneath a very high magnifying power, to
be beset here -and there with infinitesimal spira%-arranged
granuliform markings, as though composed of closely-packed
but fragmentary (or broken-up) lines,
Helix nivariae, n. sp.
T. imperforata, solida, subgloboso-depressa, malleata, superne
subopaca et sublente minutissime arenoso-granulata, subtus in
medio nitida egranulata et ibidem clare olivaceo-lutea, supra
obscurius luteo-olivacea et fasciis brunneis 3 vel 4 suffuse cincta ;
anfractibus 5^ convexiusculis, ultimo inflate (nee etiam postice
carinato), antice descendente ; apertura parva, subtriangulari-
lunata, valde constricta; peristomate albo, valde incrassato,
rudi, intus convexo, extus expansiusculo acuto reflexo, ad angu-
lum superiorem necnon inter angulum et lineam dorsalem plus
minus obsolete subdentato-calloso, margine basali lato subin-
sequali sed intus simplici recto. Diam. maj. 10 J lin; alt. 6^-.
Habitat Teneriffam ; in inferioribus juxta Portum Orotovse
a Revdo. R. T. Lowe reperta. Necnon etiam semifossilis ibi-
dem exstat.
Obs. Ab H. malleata, Fer., nisi fallor, vere distincta*
Differt testa maj ore, subdepressiore, subdilutius (sc. minus leete
olivaceo-) colorata, ubique minutissime arenoso-granulata et
subopaca (nee lucida) ; anfractu ultimo nee etiam postice cari-
nato, antice lentius minusque descendente ; apertura multo
magis triangulari, peristomate intus magis convexo, sed extus
magis acuto producto recurvo, marginibus ad insertiones remo-
tioribus, dentibus binis dextri obsoletis, basali intus crassiore
magisque recto.
It is somewhat singular that so large and conspicuous a Helix
as the present one should apparently have escaped the researches
of the many naturalists who have visited Teneriffe ; but if it be
right to separate the Grand-Canarian H. Glasiana&nd the Gome-
ran H. Fritschi from the malleata (of which, I think, there can
be but little doubt), it must be right, a fortiori, to deal in a
similar manner with the H. nivarice, for while those two forms
368 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
might possibly be looked upon as permanent insular phases of
the Teneriffan type, no such conclusion could be arrived at in
the case of the one now under consideration, seeing that it in-
habits the same island (and has done so since the subfossil epoch)
as the malleata proper. Apart also from its diagnostic cha-
racters, which are both numerous and striking, the habitats of
the species in question seem quite dissimilar ; for while the
H. malleata is essentially sylvan in its mode of life, occurring
normally from about 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the sea, the H.
nivarice, on the contrary, is found in comparatively low and
arid spots towards the northern coast, the examples before me
having been taken by Mr. Lowe near the Puerto of Orotava,
where it exists both in a recent and a semifossilized condition.
The H. nivarice is larger and relatively perhaps is little more
depressed than the malleata, and (except in its central area
beneath) it will be seen, when viewed under a high magnifying
power, to be everywhere crowded with infmitesimally minute
sand-like granules (far smaller than those which are so conspi-
cuous in the Grand-Canarian H. Glasiana), a peculiarity of
sculpture which causes the surface (which is equally malleated,
though less richly coffeaceo-olivaceous) to be less glossy than in
that species. Its ultimate volution (which is free from all ap-
pearance of a keel even behind) is less deflected in front, and
more gradually so ; its aperture (which is small) is much more
triangular in outline ; and its peristome, which is more thick-
ened and convex within, but more acute, more produced, and
more reflexed externally, has the margins much wider apart at
their points of insertion, the basal one, moreover, being more
straightened, and the upper one having the two teeth quite ob-
solete, or sometimes faintly represented by a slight thickening,
or callosity, in the usual places.
Helix Grlasiana.
Helix malleata, ., Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 312 (1848)
G-lasiana, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 143 (1852)
pellis-lacerti, Reeve [teste Pfeiff.], Conch. Icon. t. 132.
n.841
Mouse., Faun. Mai. des Can. 92
(1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 359
Habitat Canariam Grandem ; in intermediis, prsecipue per
regionem El Monte, in Caldeira magna montis Bandama, nec-
non in calcareis inter oppida Lagaete et Gaidar, occurrens. In
statu semifossili ad calcareos inter Las Palmas et Puerto da
Luz copiose inveni.
CANARIAN GROUP. 369
This may perhaps be regarded as the representative in Grand
Canary of the Teneriffan H. malleata, Fer., though in reality it
comes far nearer in its opake granulated surface and the obsolete
teeth of its peristome, as also in its less sylvan mode of life, to
the H. nivarice. It is widely spread over the intermediate dis-
tricts of Grand Canary, descending in a subfossil condition to
quite a low altitude, for I have met with it, genuinely subfossil-
lized, on the calcareous isthmus between Las Palmas and the
Isleta. In a recent state it was taken abundantly by Mr. Lowe
and myself throughout the region of El Monte, as well as within
the Great Caldeira of the Bandama mountain, and on the calca-
reous ground between Lagaete and Gaidar ; and it is recorded
by Mousson as having been obtained by Fritsch likewise in
Grand Canary, It was first detected by Webb, in a bleached
and decorticated condition, during August of 1829, who however
mistook it for the H. malleata.
Apart from its smaller size and opake, coarsely granulate
unmalleated surface (the granules of which are formed as it were
by the broken-up closely -packed transverse lines of growth, and
extend over the very nucleus itself, the basal portion, which is
bright and glossy, being alone devoid of them), the H. Glasiana
recedes from the malleata in being (as regards its ground-co-
lour) of an altogether much paler or yellower hue, there being
no indication of the deep rich olivaceous- and coffee-brown tints
which are so characteristic of that species ; its ultimate volution,
which descends much less in front, is free from all traces of a
keel even behind ; and its aperture is not only more rounded
and very differently shaped, but it has the tooth-like callosities
obsolete, the one towards the middle of the outer lip being
represented by a mere thickeningof the peristome (usually slight
but sometimes considerable, and for the most part more strongly
expressed in the subfossilized examples), while the other, which
is so enlarged and conspicuous at the upper angle in the H.
malleata, is uniformly and completely wanting. Its peristome
is often, though by no means always, of a pinkish or flesh-coloured
tinge ; with the basal margin straightened, or even subconvex,
internally, instead of being (as in the H. malleata) concave.
The H. Glasiana measures about 10 lines across its broadest
part, and has an altitude of about 7^ or 8.
Mousson's subfossil ' var. deformis ' which he affiliates with
the Teneriffan H. malleata, but which he records to have been
found by Grasset at ' Puerto da Cruz ' in Grand Canary, requires
further explanation, for I cannot but think that it will be ascer-
tained in reality to be referable to the H. Glasiana, the sub-
fossilized examples of which have their peristome greatly
thickened (causing the aperture to appear smaller and more
B B
370 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
misshapen^), and the outer tooth considerably developed. More-
over its habitat 'Puerto da Cruz' looks exceedingly like a
misprint for Puerto da Luz, which is the exact locality for the
H. Glasiana in its subfossilized condition ; and, in further cor-
roboration of this, it is noteworthy that Grasset is reported to
have also met with the H. Saulcyi in a subfossil state, a spe-
cies which occurs in company with the (equally subfossilized)
H. Glasiana, and emphatically in the vicinity of the Puerto da
Luz. My belief therefore is, that Grasset's subfossilized speci-
mens and my own are specifically identical, and that they both of
them represent a very slightly modified phasis of the H. Glas-
iana (my examples, which are perhaps less decorticated than
Mousson's were, having, in addition to the obsoleteness of the
upper tooth of the peristome, the granulations distinctly trace-
able on to the very nucleus), and have nothing whatever to do
with the exclusively Teneriffan H. malleata.
Helix Fritschi.
Helix Fritschi, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 93. pi. v.
f. 12(1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 360 (1876)
Habitat Gromeram ; recens circa San Sebastian, et sertiifos-
silis ad Hermigua, vulgaris.
Although belonging to the same type, this is a smaller,
thinner, and more globose shell than any of the preceding
three species, its aperture is more regularly rounded, and its
peristome is much less incrassated, the tooth-like callosities
which are more or less evident in the other members of the
malleata group, being here quite obsolete ; though sometimes
an exceedingly faint thickening in the two usual places is just
traceable, as though to point out its affinities. The H. Fritschi
moreover is remarkable for the greater opacity of its (unmal -
leated) surface, even the under portion being almost free from
gloss, a peculiarity which is due to its extremely densely and
minutely roughened type of sculpture, which, although at first
sight appearing to be granulose, will be seen (beneath a high
magnifying power) to be the result of a system of closely-packed
extremely diminutive transverse lines which are broken-up into
elongated granuliform parts, some of them well-nigh merging
into true granules. In colour the H. Fritschi is somewhat
curious, the ground-tint being of a dirty whitish- or brownish-
yellow, freckled all over with fragmentary lines and small an-
gular subconfluent blotches of a slightly paler hue; and, in
addition to all this, there are 4 narrow and not very conspicu-
ous darker bands, one of which is placed just below the dorsal
CANARIAN GROUP. 371
line, and the other 3 above it. The nucleus is minutely granu-
lose, but much less coarsely so than in the H. Glasiana.
The H. Fritschi may be said to be the Gomeran representa-
tive of the H. nivarice (rather than of the H. malleata) of
Teneriffe, and of the H. Glasiana of Grand Canary. It was
met with abundantly by Mr. Lowe and myself, as it had been
previously by Fritsch, on the hill-sides above San Sebastian ;
and Mr. Lowe obtained it subsequently, in great profusion, in
a subfossil condition, at Hermigua, on the opposite side of the
island.
( Hktp&rypha, Hartm.)
Helix pisana.
Helix pisana, Mull., Venn. Hist. ii. 60 (1774)
Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 52 (1831)
W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. 6 (1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 58 (1839)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 171 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 21. t. 3. f. 1-18 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 70 (1867)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 28 (1872)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 227 (1876)
var. geminata.
Helix pisana, v. geminata, Mouss., Schw. Denks. xv. 132
(1857)
geminata, Id., Faun. Mai. des Can. 29 (1872)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. vii. 228 (1876)
var. Grasseti.
Helix planata (pars), W. et B. [nee Chemn.] Ann. des Sc.
Nat. 28. syn. 312 (1833)
pisana monstrosa (pars), d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 59
(1839)
, Grasseti, Tarnier in litt.
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 31. pi. 2.
f. 33,34(1872)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. viii. 228 (1876)
Habitat Lanzarotam, Fuerteventuram, Canariam Grandem,
TenerirTam, Gomeram, et Palmam (in Hierro sola adhuc haud
observata) ; calcareos inferiores prsecipue colens. Etiam semi-
fossilis in Fuerteventura a cl. Mousson occurrere dicitur.
After a very careful comparison of the almost endless phases
(both in outline and colour) which cluster around (in the Cana-
rian archipelago), or radiate from, the normal state of the com-
mon European H. pisana, I have been driven to the conclusion
that not one of them can be held as specifically distinct, for
B B 2
372 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
there is not a feature on which their various claims as (so-called)
' species ' has been supposed to rest which does not seem to me
to be totally unreliable and fluctuating. Thus the H. geminata
of Mousson, which in its normal condition is larger, more solid,
and more depressed than the typical pisana, with its sculpture
perhaps a little coarser, its perforation entirely closed, and its
colour peculiarly dark and lively, passes by such imperceptible
gradations, in all these several particulars, into the usual aspect
of the pisana proper, that many hundreds of examples which
are now in my possession (from different islands, and districts,
in the Group) leave me in complete uncertainty as to which of
the supposed ' species ' they should be referred ; and I do not think
that it would be possible to decide positively whether they are
the true pisana (as limited by Mousson) or the geminata. I
have no hesitation therefore in regarding the H. geminata as a
mere geographical development of the pisana, perhaps some-
what characteristic of the Canarian archipelago, but neverthe-
less assuredly passing into the ordinary Mediterranean type by
every conceivable shade of intermediate link. And similar obser-
vations may apply to the H. Grasseti, Tarnier (=planata (pars)
W. et B., nee Chemnitz), from the Isleta of Grand Canary,
which retains all the essential characters of pisana proper, ex-
cept that its spire is remarkably depressed, its keel is more
acute, its perforation is nearly concealed, and its decussating
striae are quite as coarse as in the var. geminata. 1
In its more typical aspect I have taken the H. pisana
(which occurs likewise in the Azorean and Madeiran Groups) in
Lanzarote, as well as on the little adjacent island of Graciosa,
in Grand Canary (principally below Tafira), and in Teneriffe
(about Laguna and Sta. Cruz ). The examples from Fuerteven-
fcura (where Mousson records the species as having been found
by Hartung in even a subfossil condition) are more emphatically
referable to the var. geminata than those from any of the other
islands, being on the average extremely large, solid, and
deeply coloured, with their perforation seldom otherwise than
quite closed up. The Teneriffan ones are usually somewhat
smaller, and are often (as regards their umbilicus and sculpture)
intermediate between the geminata and the type ; certain of
them also, from Laguna and near Orotava, being of a uniform (and
comparatively constant) buff hue, with but small and insignifi-
cant markings superadded. Whilst my Gomeran individuals
1 I am not indeed altogether sure that even the Lanzarotan //. im.pugnata t
Mousson, would not be treated by certain monographers as an extreme
development of the H. pisana, its var., or status, ' subgeminataj having a
good deal in common with the ' var. Grasseti ' of the pisana ; nevertheless, as
this is more doubtful, I will not attempt to open up the question.
CANARIAN GROUP. 373
have more the aspect, I think, of the var. geminata than of the
pisana proper ; though their perforation is by no means quite
concealed.
The variations in mere colour of this protean Helix are so
endless (scarcely two specimens, except the totally white ones,
being exactly alike) that it would be almost a waste of space to
attempt to tabulate them.
Helix impugnata,
Helix planata (pars), W. et B. [nee Chemn.'], Ann. des Sc.
Nat. 28. syn. 312 (1833)
pisana monstrosa (pars), d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 59
(1839)
impugnata, Mouss., Schw. Denksch. xv. 132 (1857)
Id., Faun. Mai. des Can. 32. pi. 2. f. 35,
36 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Eel. vii. 248 (1876)
Habitat Lanzarotam, et ins. parvam adjacentem ' Graciosa '
dictam ; ad rupes maritimas circa oram borealem, vulgaris.
Etiam semifossilis a cl. Mousson occurrere dicitur.
This species, which has been observed hitherto only in the
north of Lanzarote, was mixed up by Webb with the (equally
depressed, but otherwise dissimilar) var. Grasseti of the pisana,
from the Isleta of Grand Canary, the two together (as is evi-
dent from his habitat in ' Canaria, Lancerotta, et Graciosa ')
being referred to the H. planata, Chernn. ; and thus a double
error was placed on record, for not only are the Lanzarotan
and Canarian shells distinct inter se, but neither the one nor
the other of them accords with Chemnitz's species, which is
totally different and belongs to the fauna of Morocco. 1 The
present Helix was first defined by Mousson, in 1857, from Lan-
zarotan examples which were collected by M. Hartung, who is
said to have also met with it in a subfossil condition.
The H. impugnata was taken in profusion by Mr. Lowe and
myself in the extreme north of Lanzarote, particularly about
Chache and the lofty maritime cliffs (overlooking the Salinas)
known as the Bisco ; and we likewise obtained it on the little
adjacent island of Graciosa.
There can be no question that the H. impugnata belongs
strictly to the pisana-tjpe, and that the variety of the shell
which is less acutely keeled (the ' var. subgeminata ' of Mous-
son) makes a very decided approach towards the ' var. Grasseti *
of the pisana, which occurs in Grand Canary. Nevertheless, in
1 The true H. planata, Chemn., is abundant around Mogador, where it
may be found adhering to the shrubs of Broom (Retama monosperma, L.).
374 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
spite of the great aberrational range of the pisana, I think that
the H. impugnata recedes from it in so many particulars, and
so conspicuously, that we may fairly be permitted to cite it as
distinct ; though, at the same time, I cannot but feel that
another mode of treatment is at any rate possible. The U. im-
pugnata is a solid and (in its normal condition) a very acutely
keeled species, the keel being subcrenulate and filiform (or
shaped out by a slight concavity on either side) and traceable
up the (depressed) spire ; its basal region is comparatively con-
vex ; its surface is almost opake, and roughened, being strongly
sculptured with the usual decussating striae (the spiral lines of
which are exceedingly apparent) ; and its perforation is nearly
closed. In the 6 var. subgeminata ' the keel is much less sharply
expressed, and the spire is less flattened. 1
From the ' var. Grasseti ' of the pisana (to which it is more
particularly allied) the H. impugnata differs in having the keel
acuter, as well as more prominent and filiform (being scooped
out on either side) ; in its spire being a little less flattened, its
sculpture coarser, its surface more opake, its basal volution (es-
pecially towards the aperture) less ventricose, and its columellary
margin somewhat less vertical. Its colour too is different,
being less lively and defined, the markings being more obscure
and fragmentary, and toned-down with a suffused yellowish-
brown.
( XerojjJiila, Held.)
Helix lineata.
Helix lineata, Oliv., Zool. Adriat. 177 (1799)
maritima, Drop., Hist. Nat. 85. t. 5. f. 9, 10 (1805)
W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. syn. 316
(1833)
simulata, W. et B. [nee Per."], I. c. syn. 315. t. 24. f. 1
(1833) 2
1 It is remarkable that two precisely analogous states of the shell occur
in the true If. planata, Chemh., from Mogador ; and they were well denned
by Mr. Lowe (vide 'Zool. Journ.,' 1860, pp. 196, 197) as the 'a. acutangula'
and the ' &. obtusangula.'
2 Mousson (I. c. 34) raises the question as to whether the H. simulata,
W. et B. [which however is not the simulata of Ferussac, a species purely
oriental], may not be identical with the scarcely differing state, or variety (?),
of the lineata to which Shuttleworth appears to have applied the MS. name,
' canariensis ; ' and to this I would reply that the H. simulata, W. et B., is
simply and purely the H. lineata, Oliv., in its normal Caiaarian aspect. Mr.
Webb's examples were, in point of fact, collected by himself in the El Monte
district of Grand Canary, and some of them he transmitted to Mr. Lowe in
August, 1829 ; and in a note, now before me, written by Mr. Lowe in 1833, he
(Mr. Lowe) identified them, without any doubt whatsoever, with the //. ma-
ritima, Drap., which indeed is the universal species of the El Monte region,
differing only from the more northern type in the few and very insignificant
points to which I have called attention.
CANAR1AN GROUP. 375
Helix maritima, tfOrb., in W. et B. Hist. 60 (1839)
lineata, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 34 (1872)
canariensis (Shuttl.) et herbicola (Shuttl.), Mouss.,
1. c. 33 et 35 (1872)
lineata, et herbicola, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel.
vii. 231, 232 (1876)
Habitat Fuerteventuram, Canariam Grandem, et Teneriffam ;
in aridis inferioribus intermediisque (praecipue in calcariis) hinc
inde abundans.
The common European H. lineata, Oliv. (= maritima,
Drap.), occurs here and there, in dry, grassy, and calcareous
spots, at the Canaries ; but I have no reason to suspect that it
has been recorded hitherto except from Fuerteventura, Grand
Canary, and Teneriffe. D'Orbigny indeed, with that character-
istic want of accuracy, as regards habitat, which is so conspicu-
ous throughout the whole of the gigantic ' Histoire Naturelle,'
gives as its range ' toutes les Canaries ' (an assertion which is
copied by Pfeiffer, who adds, Habitat in omnibus insulis Ca-
nariis ') ; but I have merely to add that these loose generaliza-
tions (or, rather, guesses) are simply unpardonable in an instance
like the present one where he had not a shred of evidence to
adduce that the species had been observed in more than, at
the utmost, three islands (probably indeed not more than two)
out of the seven. It is extremely probable that it may be found
eventually to be pretty generally distributed ; but that is no
excuse for making a positive assertion which has at least a fair
chance of turning out altogether fallacious.
By Mr. Lowe and myself the H. lineata was met with only
(as indeed it was by Webb, and quite recently by Mr. Watson)
in Grand Canary and Teneriffe, namely between El Monte
and Las Palmas, as well as between Lagaete and Gaidar, of the
former, and around Sta. Cruz and Laguna (particularly in
the Barranco delDrago)of the latter ; but it is said by Mousson
to have been obtained in Fuerteventura by Fritsch, who, like
ourselves, obtained it equally in Teneriffe and Grand Canary.
Judging from Spanish examples now before me, which were
collected in the neighbourhood of Barcelona, the Canarian form
of this variable European Helix does not differ materially from
the ordinary one. Perhaps its striae are somewhat more distinct,
thread-like, and regular, causing its surface to be just appre-
ciably duller or more opake ; and the darker bands which are
comparatively narrow and well defined in the majority of the
more northern specimens, are wider and more broken-up (or in-
terrupted) and suffused, at any rate on the upper portion,
giving the spire a more mottled, or tessellated, appearance ; but
376 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
such differences as these are scarcely worth noticing in a species
which is so eminently unstable as the H. lineata.
As for the H. canariensis and herbicola (both of them mere
manuscript names of Shuttleworth), I cannot conceive that they
represent more than the most ordinary local modifications of
this naturally variable shell ; and considering that even the
author himself was so little convinced of their stability that he
did not venture to publish so much as a diagnosis of them, one
cannot but regret that so eminent a conchologist as Mousson
should have thought it desirable to do so, and thus to add (on
confessedly imperfect evidence) two more ' species ' (so-called)
to the perfect chaos which already exists around the lineata (or
maritima, Drap.), the variabilis, and the virgata. 1
Helix conspurcata,
Helix conspurcata, Drap., Hist. Nat. des Moll. 105. pi. 7.
f. 23-25 (1805)
Theba conspurcata, Risso, Hist. Nat. iv. 74 (1826)
Helix conspurcata, Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 170 (1848)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 36 (1872)
Habitat Teneriffam ; in aridis apricis (vel inferioribus vel
intermediis) hinc inde, prsecipue in cultis, congregans.
The somewhat insignificant, European H. conspurcata^
Drap., occurs in Teneriffe, where it is occasionally abundant,
in certain sunny spots of a low and intermediate elevation. It
has been found near Sta. Cruz, and more plentifully around
Laguna (where it was obtained by Mr. Lowe, in 1861, in the
Barranco del Drago) and at Souzal. At first it a good deal re-
sembles the H. armillata, Lowe, of the Azorean, Madeiran, and
Cape Verde archipelagos (and which exists also, under a rather
more strongly striated phasis, in Morocco, from whence it was
re-described inadvertently by Mr. Lowe as the ' H. eumceus ') ;
1 I say 'confessedly,' because Mousson, in speaking of the II. canariensis,
says : ' M. Shuttleworth a designe sous le nom de H. canariensis une coquille,
qu'il n'a pas diagnosee, sans doute parce qu'elle rentre par rapport & sa forme
dans le chaos des modifications de la variabilis, Drap. Si done nous donnons
une description, ce n'est pas dans le but de 1'eriger en espece, mais pour ne
pas admittre un nom sans definition.' And, again, in his notice of the
H. herbicola, he writes : ' Encore une espece difficile & placer, et non decrite
par 1'auteur ; ' and, after stating that the three features which seem to dis-
tinguish it from the lineata are its more depressed spire, its just appreciably
more angulose basal whorl, and its slightly less opake surface, he further
adds : ' D'autres individus, rapportSs par M. de Fritsch, sont tin peu plus
eleves, quoique toujours obtus, moins anguleux, et moins polis. De nouvelles
observations sur les rapports de vie de ces deux formes pourront seules
decider sur leur reunion ou separation.' With only such data as this, one
cannot but think that it would have been better not to have taxed such a
terribly confused group as the present one with two more 'new species,'
which by his own admission were by no means absolutely necessary.
CANARIAN GROUP. 377
nevertheless it is, on the average, a little smaller and more de-
pressed, its umbilicus is not quite so large, and its entire surface
(which is a trifle more shining, or subpellucid) is sparingly
clothed, particularly when the shells are young, with fine hairs
or cilise. It is usually, too, a little more brightly variegated
with pallid markings ; and there are more or less obsolete indi-
cations beneath (as in the H. lancer ottensis, W. et B.) of a few
indistinct spiral, or concentric, bands and line-like rings.
Helix apicina.
Helix apicina, Lam., Hist. vi. 102 (1822)
Xerophila apicina, Held, in Isis, 913 (1837)
Helix apicina, Morel., Moll, du Port. 63 (1845)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 170 (1848)
Morel., Hist. Nat. Acor. 174 (1860)
Drouet, Faun. Acor. 158 (1861)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 242 (-1876)
Habitat Teneriffam ; examplaria dua nuperrime communi-
cavit Eevdus. E. B. Watson.
Two examples of the H. apicina, Lam., which occurs in
southern Europe, the Azores, and northern Africa, have lately
been communicated by the Eev. E. B. Watson, as forming a
portion of the material which was collected in Teneriffe during
the expedition of H.M.S. ' Challenger ' ; and as Mr. Watson has
kindly permitted me to examine the whole of the species which
were found in that island, and which represent the most ordi-
nary and commonplace of the Canarian forms, there can be no
question whatsoever concerning the perfect accuracy of its
habitat. I possess the H. apicina from Marseilles, Tangier,
and Mazagan (in the last of which places it was found by Mr.
T. S. Leacock) ; and the Teneriffan individuals agree with them
precisely in every particular.
At first sight the H. apicina might seem to have a little in
common with certain examples of the H. lancerottensis which
happen to be abnormally depressed ; nevertheless the spire is
still more flattened than in even such individuals as these, and
the ultimate volution is more suddenly enlarged, giving the
shell somewhat the prima facie contour of the Madeiran H.
obtecta and latens, or of Lowe's H. Irus from Mogador. Added
to which, the substance is more solid, and the surface (which is
free from hairs) is not only more sharply striated but has an
appreciable broken-up, or tessellated, fascia immediately behind
the suture. Moreover the umbilicus is relatively a trifle larger.
378 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A,
Helix lancerottensis.
Helix lancerottensis, W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 33. syn. 1 2
(1833)
d'Orb. [nee diagn. p. 60], in W. et B.
Hist. t. 1. f. 24, 25 (1839)
Orbignyi, var. calcarea, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can.
37 (1872)
lancerottensis, Pfeiff, Mon. Hel. vii. 560 (1876)
var. Orbignyi.
Helix Orbignyi (W. et B.), d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 59. t. 2.
f. 31-33 [nee coll. d'Orb] (1839)
et var. mitigata, Mouss., I. c. 36, 37 (1872)
var. adoptata.
Helix adoptata, Mouse., I. c. 37. pi. 2. f. 39-41 (1872)
Habitat ins. omnes Canarienses ; in inferioribus interme-
diisque, sub lapidibus, degens.
Owing to the excessive carelessness of M. d'Orbigny, who
has altogether misunderstood and confused this common Ca-
narian shell, both Pfeiffer and Mousson seem to have been in a
hopeless state of doubt concerning it ; and no wonder, consider-
ing that d'Orbigny (in 1839) drew out his diagnosis of it from
a single bleached example of the H. monilifera, W. et B.,
whilst the figures to which he refers, and which had been long
engraved under Webb's supervision and represent the species
which was published in the 'Synopsis' in 1833, apply to a
totally different shell, correctly depicting, in fact, the true
H. lancerottensis ! In reality the H. Orbignyi, W. et B., is
only a rather larger, thinner, and occasionally hispid form of
the lancerottensis, which obtains more particularly in the cen-
tral and western portions of the archipelago, the smaller, more
calcareous, and glabrous one (the ' H. Orbignyi, var. calcarea '
of Mousson), and which is Webb's type of his lancerottensis,
being especially characteristic of, though by no means peculiar
to, the two eastern, and much drier, islands of the Group. 1
The above is in complete accordance with the remarks of
Mr. Lowe in his paper on the shells observed at Mogador. Al-
luding to the surprising inaccuracy of M. d'Orbigny, he says :
1 The If. lancerottensis occurs also at Mogador, on the opposite coast of
Morocco (from whence I possess many examples) ; and Mr. Lowe, in referring
to this typical form of the shell, says (vide l Journ. of the Linn. Soc.' for 1860,
p. 199), ' It agrees perfectly with six original Lanzarotan specimens sent to
me by Webb in 1829, of his H. lancerottensis, and with others found by myself
and Mr. Wollaston last year not only in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, but
also (together with the H. OrMynyi, Webb) in all the Canary Islands.'
These six original types are now in my own collection, and I can vouch for
the correctness of Mr. Lowe's conclusion.
CANARIAN GRO UP. 379
' D'Orbigny's description of H. lancerottensis proves by his
original single type to have been drawn up from an old dead
bleached example of H. monilifera, Webb ! The figures, how-
ever, to which he refers (t. 1. ff. 24, 25) represent the true H.
lancerottensis of Webb, whose first two plates of shells had been
engraved under his own management by Terver long previous to
d'Orbigny's engagement in the work, and correctly exhibit the
species originally intended, and published by Webb in his Sy-
nopsis, but of which the present is unfortunately not the only
one subsequently misunderstood and thrown into confusion by
d'Orbigny' (1. c. 199). And, again (I. c. 200) ; 'D'Orbigny has
wonderfully misunderstood this common species. Not only, as
already noted, has he placed in his collection and described in
Webb's " Histoire " for the true H. lancerottensis, Webb, an old
dead shell of H. monilifera, 1 Webb ; but five genuine examples
of the true H. lancerottensis in his collection have been mis-
taken for, and actually stand as types of, the larger variety, H.
Orbignyi, Webb.'
Although seldom very abundant, there is not a single shell
which is more universally spread, than the H. lancerottensis,
over the entire Canarian archipelago, in the whole seven
islands of which I have indeed myself taken it. It is extremely
variable, both in size and surface, putting on a slightly modified
phasis according to the local influences, especially dryness and
moisture, of the particular district in which it is found ; and I
cannot understand on what principle the Gomeran form of it,
which is perhaps a trifle more depressed and conspurcata-like,
should have been singled out by Mousson (under the title of H.
adoptata) for specific separation, thus destroying unnecessarily,
as it seems to me, by a single link, the chain of faintly differing
races which gives so marked a topographical interest to the
species as a whole. In Lanzarote and Fuerteventura it more
often assumes a rather small, bleached, and calcareous aspect,
free from all indications (even when immature) of minute hairs ;
and in the former of those islands I more particularly met with
it about the lofty cliffs (known as the Eisco) in the extreme
north, overlooking the Salinas, a locality which I happen to
know, from letters now in my possession, was comparatively well
searched by Mr. Webb, and where he evidently obtained the
examples which were figured as his types of the H. lancerotten-
sis. In TenerifTe the larger and thinner form, described by
d'Orbigny as the < H. Orbignyi, W. et B./ and in which the
surface is often minutely pilose, may perhaps be said to pre-
dominate ; though both phases of it (and every intermediate
1 This specimen I have myself also examined accurately, and can vouch
for Mr. Lowe's observation being correct.
380 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
grade) are to be found. This * H. OrbignyiJ which is some-
times rather abundant about Sta. Cruz, Orotava, and Garachico,
occasionally attains an appreciably larger size (when it corre-
sponds with the <var. mitigcutaj Mouss.), and is apt to live
gregariously beneath stones, where it encrusts itself with a more
or less hardened covering of the dusty soil, much after the
fashion of the Madeiran H. vulgata, Lowe, with which species
indeed I cannot but think that it has, despite its comparatively
diminutive bulk, something very decidedly in common.
My Palman specimens are principally from the Barranco de
Herradura.
( Irus, Lowe.)
Helix eutropis.
Helix eutropis, ShuttL, MaL Blatt. vii. 237 (1860)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. v. 371 (1868)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 58. pi. 3.
f. 28-30 (1872)
Habitat Fuerteventuram, rarissima ; a Dom. Berthelot olim
communicata, necnon a cl. Fritsch nuper collecta.
This is one of the rarest, and most peculiar, of the Canarian
Land-shells, and one which entirely escaped the observations of
myself and Mr. Lowe in the archipelago. It appears to have
been observed hitherto only in Fuerteventura, from whence I
possess a single example from the collection of M. Berthelot ;
and others seem to have been found, more recently, in the same
island, by Fritsch.
The H. eutropis (which is rather thin in substance, and
which measures about seven lines across its broadest part) is an
umbilicated and slightly lenticular species, somewhat convex be-
neath, and with a strong crenulated subfiliform keel ; its surface
is coarsely ribbed, both above and below, with oblique, regular,
remote, and much elevated costse, and its colour is of a dull
griseous-green. Although considerably smaller, it a little calls
to mind, at first sight, both in its outline and sculpture, the
Porto-Santan H. Wollastoni and forensis, of the Madeiran
Group ; but its conspicuously open umbilicus will, even of itself,
at once remove it from the scabriuscula type.
Helix multigranosa.
Helix multigranosa, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 59. pi. 3.
f. 25-27 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 292 (1876)
Habitat Gomerarn ; semifossilis ; a cl. Fritsch, in Valle de
Gran-Rey, reperta.
CANADIAN GROUP. 381
This is a species which was found by Fritsch, in the Valle de
Gran-Key, in Gromera ; and as it appears to have been in a sub-
fossil condition, it may perhaps have become extinct, though
this is a question which can only be solved by future, and more
careful, researches, in the same island. I have had no oppor-
tunity of inspecting it ; but it is compared by Mousson to the
Porto-Santan H. depauperata, Lowe, of the Madeiran archi-
pelago ; and, judging from the figure, it would certainly seem
to have something in common (as regards size, sculpture, and
contour) with that species.
In his remarks which follow the diagnosis, Mousson says:
' Tout le test est convert de granulations allongees dans le sens
des stries d'accroissement et tellement serrees, qu'elles semblent
resulter de deux systemes de sillons se croisant sous un angle
tres aigu. L'ombilic est mediocre, ne s'evase que peu et
s'enfonce presque cylindriquement. L'ouverture est assez ob-
lique, presque circulaire et peu modifiee par Favant-dernier
tour. Le peristome peu evase au bord superieur, reflechi et
labie a Pinferieur, se continue dans la callosite un peu detachee
qui relie les deux bords. Le nucleolus est plus grand qu'ordi-
nairement et lisse. Parmi les especes de Madere, YH. depau-
perata, Lowe (Pfr. Mon. No. 493) s'en rapproche le plus, mais
elle a les tours plus serres et plus convexes, le pourtour moins
anguleux, les stries plus grossieres et plus irregulieres, par contre
les granulations beaucoup plus fines. Toutefois elle fixe la
place de notre espece dans la systeme ' (I. c. pp. 59, 60).
( Spirorbula, Lowe.)
Helix paupercula,
Helix paupercula, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 47. t. 5.
f. 19(1831)
Id., Proc. Zool. Soc.Lond. 175 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 35. t. 8. f. 27-30 (1854)
Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 61 (1867)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 60 (1872)
Pfeif. Mon. Hel. vii. 264 (1876)
Habitat Lanzarotam ; circa Haria, versus borealem insulae,
rarissima.
The solid, flattened, and Planorbiform little H. paupercula,
which is composed of about four whorls, the spire being ex-
tremely depressed (indeed often a little concave), occurs very
sparingly in Lanzarote, where it was obtained originally by
M. Hartung, and subsequently (near Haria, in the north of that
island) by Mr. Lowe. It is universal throughout the Madeiran
382 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Group (absolutely swarming in Porto Santo), and is found like-
wise at the Azores ; but it is nevertheless strictly an ' Atlantic '
species, not having been observed hitherto either in Europe or
Africa.
The H. paupercula (which measures about 2J lines across
its broadest part, and which possesses the curious habit of coat-
ing itself over, though not always, with a hardened envelope of
dirt) is opake in surface, and either brown or grey in hue ; and
it is closely and minutely granulated all over, with the oblique
transverse lines of growth rather conspicuous. Its umbilicus is
large and spiral ; and although its peristome is acute, circular,
and elevated, its aperture is much bent down and very power-
fully constricted, so as to shape out a corneous ring-like pro-
minence behind the former.
( Lynda, Woll.)
Helix Loweana.
Helix torrefacta, Lowe [nee Adams, 1849], Ann. Nat. Hist.
vii. 106(1861)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. v. 261 (1868)
Patula torrefacta, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 27. pi. 2.
f. 25-28 (1872)
Helix torrefacta, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 298 (1876)
Habitat Lanzarotam ; ad rupes arid as apricas torrefactas,
prsecipue versus oram borealem, inter lichenes, occurrens.
This is a most elegant, lenticular little Helix, very delicately
and shortly pilose, or spirally laciniated, conspicuously umbili-
cate, and beautifully blotched on the upper portion with irregu-
lar white markings on a brown ground. In affinity it is not
far removed from the H. lentiginosa, Lowe, of Madeira ; never-
theless it can hardly, I think, be admitted into the same actual
group with that species, owing to the rather anomalous cha-
racter which it possesses of being girt, both above and below,
with (in addition to its closely-set oblique subundulating trans-
verse costse) minute spiral lines. Indeed the existence of these
spiral lines induced Mousson to propose for it, in conjunction
with the H. circumsessa of Shuttleworth, a new section
('Lyra'), regarding them both, however, as Patulas ; but I
have already shewn (vide ante, p. 318) that the H. circum-
sessa is no Patula at all, but a Hyalina (intimately related to
the H. lenis, Shuttl., and my H. osoriensis), and it would be
preposterous to treat the present Helix as a Hyalina! And
indeed I cannot but believe that it is almost equally removed
from even the genus Patula as it is from Hyalina, its affini-
CANARIAN GROUP. 383
ties being far more with the Actinella-section of Madeira, re-
presented by the H. lentiginosa and its immediate allies. 1
As compared with the Madeiran H. lentiginosa, the present
species (the name of which I have been compelled to change,
the title torrefacta having been preoccupied in 1849 for a
Helix from Jamaica) is a trifle larger and more solid (or less
subtransparent), with a rather wider umbilicus, and with its
aperture somewhat more developed and less circular, the
peristome being both less recurved and more interrupted (or
less continuous) across the body-volution. Then, as regards
ornamentation, clothing, and sculpture, the differences are still
more apparent, the H. Loweana being almost white beneath
(instead of a dull yellowish horny-brown), with merely a broken -
up fascia near to the keel, whilst the whole portion visible from
above is reddish-brown but blotched with a few irregular
though well-defined white transverse patches. Moreover the
H. lentiginosa is a strictly (though sparingly) pilose species ;
whereas the Loweana has only its spiral lines furnished with
excessively diminutive and abbreviated lacinice-like fragile
bristles : and the sculpture of the lentiginosa consists merely
in irregular, oblique subconfluent costae, instead of the sharp
densely-packed undulating ridges of the Loweana, intersected
(or decussated) by the infinitesimal spiral lines to which I
have already called attention.
The H. Loweana has been observed hitherto only in Lanza-
rote, where it was met with by myself, and subsequently by
Mr. Lowe, on the dry exposed maritime cliffs, known as the
Eisco, in the extreme north of that island and overlooking the
Salinas. They were taken chiefly from amongst lichen, within
the crevices, and on the actual surface, of the hot rocks, in
places directly exposed to the sun ; and Mr. Lowe also obtained
examples in the neighbouring district of Chache.
( Hisj)idella, Lowe.)
Helix leprosa.
Helix leprosa, ShuttL, Bern. Mitth. 142 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 130 (1853)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 61. pi. 3. f. 31-
33 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 273 (1876)
1 It was not until after I had arrived at this conclusion independently,
that I observed Mr. Lowe's note, to exactly the same effect, accompanying his
diagnosis of the //. torrefacta. ' The nearest ally,' says he, 'of this very dis-
tinct and well-marked little species is the Madeiran //. lentiginosa. The
numerous fine thread-like or lamellar spiral strise resemble those of the com-
mon sylvan Teneriffan H. circumsessa, Shuttl., which is however as distinct
in habit as in habitat, belonging to the group Lwilla.'
384 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
Habitat Teneriffanr ; in humidis sylvaticis editioribus, raris-
sima.
The H. leprosa is one of the rarer species of the archipelago,
and one which has been found hitherto only in the damp sylvan
districts, at a rather high altitude, in Teneriffe, where it was
taken by Mr. Lowe and myself at the Agua Mansa (on the
mountains above the Villa of Orotava), and previously in the
same spot by Blauner and Grrasset ; and we also met with it at
the edges of the Vueltas above Taganana.
Were it not for the smallness of its almost concealed um-
bilicus, the present Helix might well-nigh be treated as a
Patula, it having somewhat the primd facie appearance of
certain forms (such as the Madeiran H. deflorata, Lowe) which
I have arranged under the section lulus ; but its comparatively
minute and nearly closed-up perforation, in conjunction with its
more conspicuously pilose surface, cause it to be better asso-
ciated with the members of the Hispidella- group ; though I
am inclined to suspect that at any rate tne Madeiran H. actino-
phora, to which Mousson considers it allied, is more naturally
placed amongst the keeled and slightly hispid Patulas of the
gorgonarum- and Bertholdiana-tjpe.
Apart from its somewhat lenticular, obtuse, depresso-globose
Patula-like contour and almost closed umbilicus, the H. leprosa
(the larger examples of which measure nearly 5 lines across the
broadest part) may be known by its thin, fragile substance, and
pale corneous yellowish-brown hue, and by its hairy and nearly
opake surface being coarsely sculptured with oblique and closely-
packed costate striae. Its apex is rounded and blunt, its basal
whorl is almost free from angulation, and its peristome is acute
and unthickened, but nevertheless a little expanded and re-
flexed, with the margins wide apart at their insertion, being
totally unconnected inter se by a corneous lamella.
Helix lanosa.
Helix lanosa, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 61. pi. 3. f. 34-
36 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel vii. 273 (1876)
Habitat ' Canaries ' (coll. Tarnier) ; ab exemplare unico a cl.
Mousson descripta.
This is a species which was established by Mousson on the
evidence of a single example which had been communicated to
him by M. Tarnier, of Dijon, as having come from the ' Cana-
ries,' but without any kind of note as to its precise locality ;
and, considering how nearly related it manifestly must be to the
H. leprosa, and considering also the absolute uncertainty of its
CANADIAN GROUP. 385
habitat, one cannot but regret that material so meagre and un-
satisfactory should have been made use of to augment an island
fauna in which the most perfect accuracy as regards the several
areas of distribution is of primary importance. Still, having
been once admitted and described, it cannot be subsequently
ignored.
Judging from Mousson's diagnosis and figure, I cannot per-
ceive that the H. lanosa differs materially from the leprosa,
Shuttl., and more particularly so, since the ' granules claires,'
on the absence of which he depends for one of its main dis-
tinctions from the latter, are to me scarcely (if at all) recog-
nizable in any of the specimens of even the true leprosa which
I have yet examined. Neither can I acknowledge the great
affinity of either of these species (so-called) with the Madeiran
H. actinophora. The remarks of Mousson on the H. lanosa
are as follows : 6 Je n'ai vu qu'un individu de cette espece, que
je dois a la bonte de M. Tarnier, mais sans indication precise de
localite. Elle differe de la leprosa, dont elle partage assez la
forme, par V absence de granules claires et par la presence dun
duvet de filaments laineux, bien que courts, places sur les dos
des stries. Les premiers tours, ainsi que le milieu de la base,
sont depourvus de filaments. La petitesse, la tenuite, le faible
developpement du bord, I'ab&ence d'ombilic penetrant, la pilosite
differente, etc., la separent du groupe de la //. hispidula et la
rangent dans le groupe voisin des H. ciliata, Ven M et actino*
phora, Lowe.'
Helix pavida.
Helix nubigena, Lowe [nee Saulcy, 1852], Ann. Nat* Hist*
vii. 105 (1861)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. v. 179 (1868)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 56* pi. 3*
f. 22-24(1872)
pavida, Mouss., I. c. 56 (1872)
et nubigena, Pfeiff., Mon< Hel. vii. 197, 278
(1876)
Habitat Teneriffam, et Palmam ; sub foliis ramulisque Re-*
tama3 (i. e. Spartium nubigena) in locis valde elevatis a meipso
lecta.
The insignificant little H. nubigena, Lowe (which I have
been compelled to cite under Mousson 's subsequent name of
pavida, 'nubigena' having been pre-occupied in 1852 for a
Helix from the Pyrenees), appears to have been found hitherto
only by myself, first, at a high elevation in Palma, and after-
wards at a still higher one in Teneriffe. It was on the Cumbre,
of the former island, above Buenavista (some 6,000 feet above
c c
386 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
the sea), that I originally met with it, though merely two
examples, and those in an immature condition. But it subse-
quently occurred to me, in much greater abundance, at an
altitude of about 9,000 feet, in Teneriffe, namely amongst the
dead sticks and rubbish which had accumulated beneath the
bushes of the 'Retama' (or Canarian Broom), on the Cumbre
above Ycod el Alto, for which that 1 fty region is so celebrated ;
and since I likewise took it, under precisely similar conditions,
on the opposite Cumbre, above the Agua Mansa, the species
may perhaps be defined as occupying more particularly the
upland scoriaceous districts which are characterized by the
Eetamas.
Although so remarkable in its habitat, the present Helix is
a most inconspicuous, depresso-rotundate little species (mature
individuals measuring only about 2 lines across their widest
part) ; and indeed whatever peculiarities it may possess are
well-nigh obscured by the habit which it has of coating itself
over with a covering of dirt. Moreover the excessive thinness,
and flexibility, of the shell renders this outer envelope extremely
difficult to be removed without at the same time destroying the
clothing, and occasionally also even the cuticle; but when it
has been sufficiently got rid of to permit the various features to
become visible, the H. pavida will be seen to be of a pale
yellowish- (or often olivaceous-) horny-brown, semitransparent
in substance, but with its surface (which is nearly opake, and
finely sculptured with subconfluent transverse lines) studded all
over with most 'minute and very abbreviated, but rather remote,
silvery squamiform bristles, which give it, when the specimens
are unrubbed, a slightly frosted appearance ; and, although at
times quite unicolorous, it has more frequently a curious ten-
dency to have its dorsal region (though nearly destitute of a
keel) marked with a few unequal, detached, paler, yellowish-
white blotches, representing a fragmentary fascia. Its um-
bilicus, in proportion to the size of the shell, is rather large and
open ; its volutions are a little convex, with the suture a good
deal sunken; and its peristome is acute, with the upper and
lower margins unconnected and wide apart.
The two Palman examples of this shell, to which allusion
has already been made, have always appeared to me to be abso-
lutely conspecific with the Teneriffan ones, and such likewise
was the opinion (judging from their general fades, and the un-
mistakeable peculiarity of their habitat) of Mr. Lowe ; yet
Mousson has described them, although confessedly immature
and unsatisfactory, as a new species, under the title of ' H.
pavida.' But their characters, to which he calls attention in
his diagnosis, are simply, and purely, those of the ordinary H.
CANARIAN GROUP. 387
nubigena (as will at once be seen by comparing them with my
remarks given above) ; and I am totally unable to conclude,
from such material, that they represent so much as even a
' variety ' of the Teneriffan type. Yet, singularly enough, he
does not attempt to point out in what they differ from the
latter, but contents himself with observing (which is of course
self-evident) that they cannot be referred to either the H.
leprosa, the lanosa, or the hispidula !
The H. pavida may be looked upon as the Canarian repre-
sentative of the H. Armitageana, Lowe, of the highest eleva-
tions of Madeira ; though that species (which is almost equally
fragile, and of a similar olivaceo-coTneous hue) is considerably
larger and a little less flattened, and has a somewhat smaller
umbilicus, its surface is beset with coarse elongate-subtriangular,
file-like filaments (instead of infinitesimal abbreviated bristles),
its peristome (although acute) is more developed and recurved,
and there are usually obscure indications of two indistinct,
narrow, reddish-brown bands.
( Gonostoma, Held.)
Helix crispo-lanata, n. sp.
T. umbilicata, lenticularis, parum acute carinata, tenuis,
opaca, dense et grosse plicatulo-striata et pilis longissimis sub
crispatis cinereis ubique (sed prsesertim in regione dorsali)
vestita; spira depressa; anfractibus 5, celeriter crescentibus,
ultimo supra ad carinam (in spira mox supra suturam con-
tinuam) obsolete compresso, subtus convexo ; apertura obliqua,
peristomate acuto, marginibus late separatis et lamina subnulla
junctis, columellari umbilicum (profundum et subito, sed haud
angulatim, excavatum) non attingente. Diam. maj. lin. 4 ;
alt. H.
Obs. Species, sculptura grosse plicato-striata et forma de-
pressa carinata, cum H. fortunata, Shuttl., congruens ; tamen
multo minor, umbilico angustiore, et ubique pilis crispatis lon-
gissimis vestita. Ab H. hispidula, Lam., differt spira depres-
siore, umbilico paulum maj ore, necnon testa grossius striata
pilisque multo longioribus ac rudioribus induta.
Habitat Palmam; exemplar unicum, Maio exeunte 1858, in
Barranco de Gralga repertum.
A single example (not quite mature as regards its peristome)
of this very remarkable Helix was taken by Mr. Lowe's servant,
Antonio Eodrigues, on the 21st of May, 1858, in the Barranco
de Galga, in Palma ; and there cannot be a question that it
represents a truly distinct member of the Gonostoma section,
partaking in some measure of the characters both of the H.
c c 2
388 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
hispidula and of the fortunata. Although very much smaller,
yet in its flattened spire, strongly developed keel, and coarsely
striated surface, it agrees better with the latter of those species
than it does with the former ; nevertheless the exceedingly long
and coarse hairs with which it is everywhere clothed entirely
remove it from the H. fortunata, as indeed they do (though
in a less degree) from the hispidula. It is thin ai$ fragile in
substance, and (although opake) somewhat transparent ; and its
umbilicus is deeply and rather suddenly (but by no means angu-
larly) scooped-out.
From the H. lanosa, Mouss., which was described from a
single individual the precise island of which was uncertain, it
appears to recede (judging from the diagnosis) in being smaller
and more depressed, as well as more sharply keeled, and in its
umbilicus being very much larger and exposed, and in its hairs
(which clothe the under portion of the shell as well as the upper)
being considerably longer and more developed.
Helix hispidula.
Carocolla hispidula, Lam., Hist. vi. 99 (1822)
Helix hispidula, W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. 314 (1833)
Pfeiff., Mon. Eel. i. 209 (1848)
' Mouss.) Faun. Mai. des Can. 62 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 294 (1876)
var. /3 (major). Bertheloti, Fer.
Helix Bertheloti, Fer., Bull. Zool. 90 (1835)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 65 t. 2. f. 46
(1839)
hispidula (pars), Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 209 (1848)
Bertheloti, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 63 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 295 (1876)
Habitat Teneriffam, et (sec. Fritsch, sed an vere?) Gome-
rani ; prsecipue in inferioribus intermediisque vulgaris.
The H. hispidula, Lam., according to my own experience,
is essentially Teneriffan ; though, according to Mousson, it
appears to have been obtained by Fritsch in Gomera likewise. 1
But around Sta. Cruz and Orotava, in Teneriffe, I have met
with it in profusion ; and it was taken in equal abundance by
Mr. Lowe about Garachico, and in the Barranco de Majuelo of
Los Silos. It appears however to present a larger and a smaller
state (the latter of which is generally assumed to correspond
with Lamarck's type), for after a most careful comparison of a
1 I cannot but feel it possible that the species which I have described
below as the H. gomerce may have been mistaken by Fritsch for the //.
hispidula.
CANARIAN GROUP. 389
long a,rray of examples collected in various localities, I cannot
persuade myself that the H. Bertheloti of Ferussac is anything
more than a slightly enlarged and robuster phasis of the ordi-
nary H. hispidula, in which the costate lines are a little coarser,
the umbilicus just appreciably wider, and the entire surface
more distinctly studded with a few remote (more or less hair-
bearing) granules. Every other character which is mentioned
in the published diagnoses seems to me to be simply imaginary ;
and moreover, unless I am greatly mistaken, the two forms
merge gradually into each other. At any rate the habitats
abovv3 referred to are for the smaller (or ' typical ') state. The
larger one, or <var. ft. Bertheloti^ was taken commonly by
Mr. Lowe and myself above the Puerto of Orotava ; and it is
said to have been found by Fritsch at Taganana and (rui mar. 1
The H. hispidula is a rather discoidal shell, with the keel
not very sharply expressed, and the umbilicus small but open
and cylindrical. It is thin and fragile in substance, of a pale
horny-brown, closely sculptured with fine transverse costate
lines, and more or less clothed (when the specimens are fresh
and unrubbed, and particularly when young) with short squami-
form hairs. Its peristome is acute, but a little recurved, and
with the upper and lower margins wide apart and unconnected
by an intervening lamina. Although on the whole depressed,
the H. hispidula is less so than any of the following members
of the present section.
Helix fortunata.
Helix lens, W. et B. [nee Per., 1821], Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28.
syn. 315 (1823)
tfOrb., in W. et B. Hist. 66. t. 2. f. 7-9 (1839)
fortunata, ShutiL, Bern. Mitth. 141 (1853)
Pfei/., Mon. Hd. iii. 162 (1852)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 64 (1872)
Habitat Teneritfam, et (sec. Fritsch sed an vere ?) Grome-
ram ; supra Sanctam Crucera ( in ilia) prsecipue occurrens.
Usque ad 2,000' s.m. ascendit.
Like the H. hispidula, this is more particularly Teneriffan,
though (as in the case of that species) it would appear to have
been found by Fritsch in Gomera also. Near Sta. Cruz in
Teneriffe it was met with by Mr. Lowe and myself in tolerable
abundance, where it seems to ascend to a somewhat higher
1 If so slight a modification as the If. Bertlwlati, which is often barely
distinguishable from the smaller type, is necessarily to be treated as specific,
I can only say that the Madeiran H. polynwrplia should, by parity of rea.son-
ing, be split up into at least twenty ' species ' (so called).
390 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
elevation than the hispidula. Our examples were principally
from the Barranco del Passo Alto, and the ravine beyond it (in
the direction of Point Anaga), as well as from the hills to the
north of the town, especially towards El Campo, where Mr.
Lowe obtained it in profusion on the summit of a rocky emi-
nence about 2,000 feet above the sea.
The H. fortunata is a larger, more lenticular, and a trifle
more depressed shell than the H. hispida, and with its keel
very much more acute and appreciably flattened-out (on the
upper side), or compressed, and traceable up the spire ; its
surface (which is free from the remote granules which mark, on
the upper side, the positions of the hairs in the young examples
at all events of the 'var. ft. Bertheloti') is less opake, and
rather more closely costate-striate ; its umbilicus is considerably
wider ; and the lower margin of its peristome is perhaps some-
what more broadly expanded.
Helix beata, n. sp.
T. umbilicata, lenticularis, acute carinata, nitidula, dense et
grosse plicatulo-striata, (saltern in statu adulto, sed an in imma-
turo ?) calva, pallido-oornea ; spira planata, valde depressa ;
anfractibus 5J, lente^ cresoentibus, ultimo (supra et infra) ad
carinam compresso, antice breviter et paululum deflexo, subtus
convexo-inflatiusculo ; apertura obliqua, securiformi, peristomate
acuto, marginibus late separatis et lamina subnulla junctis,
columellari anguste expanso, reflexo, umbilicum (parvum, pro-
fundum, et subito, sed hand angulatim, excavatum) vix attin-
gente. Diam. may. tin. vix 6 ; alt. 2.
Obs. H. fortunatce, Teneriffae, affinis, sed paulum minor,
subnitidior, spira depressiore, valde deplanata, carina sensim
magis compressa sed vix supra suturam in spira visibili,
anfractu ultimo subtus convexiore et magis inflato, umbilico
sensim angustiore magisque subito excavato, necnon peristo-
matis marginibus (columellari minus expanso) magis remotis.
Ab H. planaria, Lam,, differt testa multo minore grossius-
que striata, carina multo minus acuta, anfractu ultimo antice
raagis descendente, necnon umbilico angustiore, minus spiraliter
visibili, et minus angulatim exoavato.
Habitat Fuerteventuram ; exemplar unicum communicavit
Baronus de Paiva.
The single example from which the above diagnosis has
been compiled was obtained by the Baron Paiva from Fuerte-
ventura, and it certainly seems to me to represent a distinct
and undescribed member of the hispidula group. It is more
nearly allied to the H. fortunata, ShuttL, of Teneriffe, than to
CANARIAN GROUP. 391
anything else with which I am acquainted ; nevertheless it is
smaller and less opake than that species, as also very much more
flattened on the upper side (its spire being almost as much
depressed as in the H. planaria), but a little more convex
and inflated beneath, causing the umbilicus, which is appreci-
ably narrower, to be more suddenly, or abruptly, scooped- out.
Its keel, too, is more acute, and a little more evidently com-
pressed both above and below ; and the margins of its peristome
are relatively wider apart.
Helix planaria.
Carocolla planaria, Lam., Hist. vi. 99 (1822)
Helix afficta, var. planaria, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 65
(1872)
Pfei/., Mon. Eel. vii. 296
(1876)
Habitat Teneriffam ; in montibus supra et ultra Taganana
degens.
The H. planaria of Teneriffe, the afficta of Palma, and
the discobolus of Gromera, in their general structure and
practically bald surface, as well as in the sudden and somewhat
angular scooping-out of their perpendicular-sided umbilicus,
may be regarded as representative forms ; but whether it be
desirable to treat them as insular modifications or as separate
species I am scarcely prepared to say. Perhaps either view is
equally tenable ; for as it is pretty clear that they can never be
absolutely connected by intermediate links, it is impossible to
pronounce for certain that they are merely developments of a
single type. At any rate they each stand in precisely the same
relation to each other ; and it seems unreasonable therefore to
cite the planaria (as Mousson has done) as a variety of the
afficta, and yet to retain the latter as specifically distinct from
the discobolus. Whichever principle we adopt should be ap-
plied equally to them all ; and since at any rate the afficta and
discobolus have always been looked upon as properly-defined
species, I am inclined to be guided by that assumption, and to
extend it to Lamarck's H. planaria, which, if anything, is
perhaps the best characterised of the three.
It was only on the mountains in the north-east of Teneriffe,
above and beyond Taganana, that we met with the H. planaria ;
and it appears to have been found in the same district by
Fritsch and Reiss. The particular spot in which Mr. Lowe
subsequently obtained it was on a hill called ' Benijo,' between
Taganana and Point Anaga. It is at once separated from its
Gromeran and Palman allies by its extremely flattened and very
392 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
sharply carinated form, its acutely angulated aperture, and iu
rather thin, subpellucid substance. Its keel is broadly com-
pressed, both above and below, and is more or less traceable up
the spire, forming often on the penultimate whorl a narrow
line overhanging the suture ; its volutions are flattened ; and its
surface is of a pale clear whitish-brown, merging beneath into
a brownish-white. In size it is a little larger than the afficta
(measuring about 6^ lines across its broadest part), but smaller
than the discobolus; its umbilicus is a trifle wider than that of
the former, but narrower than that of the latter ; and its
ultimate whorl hardly descends at all anteriorly.
Helix afficta.
Helix afficta, Fer., Prodr. 151 (1821)
(pars), Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 65
(1872)
(pars), Pfeiff., Man. Hel. vii. 296 (1876)
Habitat Palmam ; hinc inde sub lapidibus in intermediis.
As already mentioned, the present Helix may be regarded
as the Palman representative of the H. discobolus of Gomera,
and of the H. planaria of Teneriffe, though it is certainly
more allied to the former than to the latter. With the H.
discobolus indeed it has very much in common, agreeing with
it in its general sculpture and surface, and in its volutions not
being so extremely flattened as in the planaria ; nevertheless it
differs in its smaller size and considerably narrower umbilicus,
and in its whorls being 6^ in number instead of 7.
From the H. planaria the afficta recedes in being more
solid, and very much less depressed both above and below, in its
umbilicus being appreciably smaller, in its keel being very
much less broadly flattened out, and in its aperture being much
less angulated externally.
It was in the intermediate districts of Palma that the H.
afficta was met with by Mr. Lowe and myself, particularly
in the Barranco de Nogales ; and it appears to have been found
in the same island by Blauner.
Helix gomersD, n. sp.
T. umbilicata, lenticularis, acutissime carinata, tenuis,
subopaca, densissime et minute costulato-striata, pallide cornea ;
s pira obtuse con vexiuscula ; anfractibus 6J, lente crescentibus,
ultimo (supra et infra) ad carinam subalbidam anguste leviter
compresso, antice breviter deflexo, subtus subconico-convexo ;
apertura obliqua, securiformi, peri st ornate acuto, marginibus
subapproximatis et lamina subnulla junctis, columellari an-
CANADIAN GROUP. . 393
guste expanse, reflexo, umbilicum (profundum et subito angu-
latiin excavatum) baud attingente. Diam. maj. tin. 5;
alt. 2.
06,9. H. discobolo, ShuttL, affinitate proxima, sed multo
minor, magis tennis, ac magis opaca, densius et multo minutius
costulato-striata, necnon umbilico subminore et subminus
evidenter spiraliter visibili.
H. affictce, Fer., ab ins. Palma, statura umbilicoque mino-
ribus, forsan magis affinis ; sed differt, inter alia, testa multo
minore, magis tenui, necnon crebrius minutiusque striata.
Habitat Gromeram ; in statu emortuo necnon semifossili,
juxta Hermigua, collegit Rev. K. T. Lowe.
Twelve examples of a Helix which are now before me, and
which were taken by Mr. Lowe, in a dead and imperfectly sub-
fossilized state, near Hermigua, on the western side of Gromera,
are clearly allied, in their suddenly and angularly scooped-out
umbilicus, general contour, and the exact number of their
volutions, to the H. discobolus, of that same island, as well as
(and perhaps more conspicuously so) to the H. afficta of Palma ;
nevertheless it is quite impossible to affiliate them with either,
their very much smaller stature and narrower umbilicus,
particularly (in both of these respects) as compared with the H.
discobolus, being quite sufficient, even of themselves, to warrant
their separation. But, in addition to these two discrepancies,
their shell is much thinner and more fragile than in either of
those species, and their surface is very much more densely and
minutely striated. Whether the H. gomerce, however, is an
undoubted member of the present fauna I can scarcely decide ;
but since some of the examples (although bleached) are com-
paratively fresh and of a pale corneous hue, I am inclined to
think that it can hardly be said to have passed wholly away.
Others, nevertheless, seem to be as completely ' subfossilized ' as,
at any rate, many of the Helices which are usually denned as
having been found in that condition.
Helix discobolus.
Helix afficta, d'Orb. [nee Per., 1821], in W. et. B.Hist. 66.
t. 3. f. 24-26 (1839)
discobolus, ShuttL, Bern. Mitth. 290 (1852)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. iii. 643 (1853)
Mouss.,Faun. Mai. des Can. 66 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 296 (1876)
Habitat Gromeram ; in collibus aridis saxosis apricis juxta
San Sebastian, vulgaris.
This is the largest of the Canarian members of the present
394 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
section (measuring about 7 lines across its broadest part),
and one which was found abundantly by Mr. Lowe and myself
in Gromera, namely 'on the dry rocky slopes immediately
above, and around, San Sebastian, particularly on the northern
side of the ravine ; and it appears to have been met with in the
same island by Fritsch.
The //. discobolus is very closely related to the H. afficla
of Palma ; but apart from its larger size, it may be recognized
from that species by its umbilicus being wider and more
spirally visible, and by its volutions being seven in number
instead of only six. 1
( Caracollina, Beck.)
Helix lenticula,
Helix lenticula, Per., Tabl. Syst. Prodr. 37. 154 (1821)
subtilis, Lowe, Cambr. Phil. S. Trans, iv. 45. t. 5. f.
13 (1831)
lenticula, d'Orb., in W. el B. Hist. 66. t. 2. f. 10-12
(1839)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 211 (1848)
Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud. 196 (1854)
Alb., Mai. Mad. 43. t. 11. f. 9-12 (1854)
1 I may just notice, in this particular place, the H. marcida of Shuttle-
worth, {Bern. Mitth. 291 ; 1852), a single imperfect example of which, in the
Museum at Marseilles, is supposed to have come, in all probability, from the
Canaries. Species thus miserably represented (the H. marcida being both
immature and unique), and resting upon evidence so completely untrust-
worthy, ought never to be admitted at all into the fauna of any country in
which accuracy of habitat is absolutely essential ; and I at least will not con-
sent to have anything whatever to do with it. Mousson, after including it
in his Canarian monograph, adds : 'La description de cette espece, qui n'est
guere connue des malacologues, repose sur un seul individu incomplet, et dont
1'origine precise est inconnue. Le test strio-granuleux, garni de petits poils
velus, et la forme generale multispire, perforee, mais non carenee, la range
suivant 1'auteur dans le voisinage de YH. hispidula, Lam. ; mais elle en
differe par ses dimensions toutes different es, par la tenuite^de son test, et son
duvet plus court et dense.' It is of course by no means impossible that
future observations may prove the H. marcida to be Canarian ; but, mean-
while, the evidence for its haUtat is altogether so loose and insufficient that
no truthful monographer could well do otherwise than decline to receive it
into his topographical catalogue.
And I may also include, along with the H. marcida, a second Helix, which
comes under precisely the same category, the H. Melolontha of Shuttle
worth. Like the other it is unique, and exists only in the Marseilles museum,
both of them being manifestly from the collection of M. Terver, whose
orchil-infesting species, the habitats of which were so incautiously assumed,
have added a terrible amount of confusion, not only to the Canarian but also
to the Madeiran fauna. Considering how utterly mistaken he was in the
case of the H. tiarella and tceniata, pronouncing them to be Canarian while
they are simply confined to Madeira proper, I must be excused if the evidence
for the H. Melolontha should appear to me to be quite as unsatisfactory as
that for those two species and for the //. marcida.
CANARIAN GROUP. 395
Helix lenticula, Paiva, Mon. Moll. Mad. 96 (1867)
Dohrn, Mai. Blatt. 3 (1869)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 66 (1872)
Habitat ins. omnes (i. e. septem) Canarienses ; in aridis
apricis longe lateque diffusa. Etiam semifossilis in Canaria
Grandi, sc. in arenis ad El Charco ultra Maspalomas, reperitur ;
necnon cl. Mousson. c var. virilisj a Fuerteventura receptam et
forsan (vix certe) in statu semifossili repertam, descripsit.
This common Mediterranean Helix (which occurs also in
the Azores, Madeiras, and Cape Verdes) is widely diffused over
the Canarian archipelago, from the whole seven islands of
which I have myself obtained it. My Lanzarotan examples are
principally from Chache, and the Risco (overlooking the Salinas)
in the extreme north of the island ; the Fuerteventuran ones
from the Rio Palmas, and the Monte Atalaya; the Grand
Canarian ones from El Monte, El Charco (in the extreme
south), Aldea de S. Nicolas, the Final of Tarajana (above S.
Bartolome), and between Maspalomas and Juan Grande; the
Teneriifan ones from Orotava (where it was met with also by
Mr. Watson) ; and the Palman ones from the Barranco de
Herradura, the Barranco de Agua, the Barranco de Nogales,
and the calcareous region below Argual of the Banda.
In the Madeiran Group the H. lenticula has much the
appearance of having been originally naturalised, occurring as
it does, almost exclusively, within the cultivated districts ; but
at the Canaries it has a wider and more natural range ; added to
which, in the sandy wastes at El Charco (beyond Maspalomas)
in the south of Grrand Canary I met with it in even a subfossil
condition ; and some of the specimens which were obtained by
Mr. Watson on the hills above Las Palmas, in the same island,
appear also to be subfossilized. Mousson likewise reports a very
solid form of the shell, from Fuerteventura, his ' var. virilisj
which he seems to think may possibly belong to a fauna which
has passed away, though the fact that he has not cited it in
his ultimate list as subfossil would at any rate seem to imply
that he entertained some degree of doubt on the subject. His
' var. virilisy which was obtained in Fuerteventura by Fritsch,
he describes as thicker and more solid than the ordinary type,
adding : 6 Cette forme, assez particuliere, s'est trouvee en
quelques individus morts, qui, nonobstant une certaine fraicheur,
ne paraissent pas appartenir a 1'epoque actuelle, que caracterise,
dans la meme ile, le type actuel. Elle s'en distingue par la
solidite du test, la plus forte costulation, se prolongeant a la
base, par la carene un peu crenelee, par le peristome re-
marquablement epaissi, par 1'insertion superieure qui avance
et qui s'epaissit presque en un tubercle.'
396 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
( Turricula, Beck.)
Helix inops.
Helix inops, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 48. pi. 3. f. 1-3
(1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 102 (1876)
Habitat Canariam Grandem ; a cl. Fritsch (sec, Mousson)
semel lecta.
I have had no opportunity of inspecting a type of this
species, which was described by Mousson from a single example
taken by Fritsch in Grand Canary ; and I can merely refer,
therefore, to Mousson's observations which accompany his
diagnosis. c Je n'ai vu qu'un individu,' says he, ' de cette espece,
qui se distingue des autres especes Canariennes de ce groupe
par sa simplicite. La surface n'a d'autre sculpture que de fines
stries subcostulees sans nodulations quelconques ; a la base elles
sont encore moins marquees et irregulieres. Les tours du cone
regulier, peu eleve, sont un peu convexes, surtout le long de la
suture ; la carene, qui est peu aigue, ne presente pas de crene-
lures prononcees, mais seulement des stries un peu plus accen-
tuees. La coloration est simplement blanche, sans zones ni
taches, a 1'exception du nucleolus, qui comme d'ordinaire se
presente comme un grain hyalin et corneV (I. c. 48.)
i
Helix cyclodon,
Helix cylodon, W. et 5., in litt.
d'Orb , in W. et B. Hist. 64. t. 2. f. 1-3
(1839)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. i. 177 (1848)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 48 (1872)
Habitat ' Canaries ' (sec. W. et B.) ; mihi non obvia.
Although obtained by Webb through M. Terver, whose orchil-
infesting Helices have proved so untrustworthy as regards
habitat, and which have introduced so much confusion into the
several faunas of the Atlantic archipelagos, I nevertheless can-
not altogether reject (as Mousson has practically done, even
whilst allowing the species to increase the number of the
catalogue) the Canarian claims of the H. cyclodon which,
being quite on the Despreauxii and moderata type, seems to
me to have a fair chance of having been received from one or
the other of the ssven islands of this widely scattered Group ;
though to be expected to believe that it occurs, as M. Terver
had the effrontery to assert (and that too without the slightest
shadow of evidence), in the Canaries, Cape Verdes, Madeiras,
and Azores is simply preposterous. Mousson however was
CANARIAN GROUP. 397
decidedly mistaken in concluding that it is identical with the
H. pumilio, Chemn. (though it is quite possible that the
example in the collection of Mr. Cuming which was examined by
Pfeiffer may have been referable to that species), which is found in
the sandy district around Mogador on the opposite coast of Mo-
rocco ; for the H. pumilio differs in many important particulars
from the H. cyclodon, its spire being very much more elongated,
conical, and acute, with the nodules and inequalities of its
entire surface (including the medial keel) much more pro-
minently developed, and with only a very faint appearance of a
darker zone beneath ; added to which, it is thinner in sub-
stance, and less white and porcelain-like, and the interior of
its aperture is not darkened as in these immediately allied
forms.
Two original examples of the H. cyclodon which are in the
d'Orbignyan collection at the British Museum, have the spire a
good deal elevated but nevertheless obtusely conical, or some-
what dome-shaped ; the whorls are rather plane (their upper,
or medial, keel being obsolete), but coarsely nodose just above
the suture, where they appear consequently to have a circle of
blunt teeth, or nodules, rather cfowmwardly (more than out-
wardly) directed, though scarcely overlapping the suture. Its
volutions are about 6 \ in number ; in substance it is solid ; and
its surface, which is of a dingy or cinerous white, has a darker
band (not very conspicuous) at a short distance from the keel
on the underside of the shell.
Helix Despreauxii.
Helix Despreauxii, d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 65. t. 3. f. 21-
23 (1839)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel i. 179 (1848)
Mouse., Faun. Mai. des Can. 49 (1872)
Pfeif., Mon. HeL vii. 250 (1876)
Habitat Canariam Grrandem ; in regione ' El Charco ' dicta,
ultra Maspalomas, sub lapidibus in aridis apricis congregans.
Necnon etiam semifossilis, et in statu normali et sub. ' var. ft.
immodicaj invenitur.
The H. Despreauxii, which is one of the most beautiful of
the Canarian Land-shells, was taken abundantly by Mr. Lowe
and myself in the extreme south of Grand Canary, namely in
the arid district of El Charco, beyond the sandy wastes of
Maspalomas ; and we also met with it in what I believe to be a
truly subfossil condition, along with the H. pulverulenta and
lenticula, in the same spot. Mousson describes a subfossil
state of the species, obtained by Fritsch in Grand Canary,
398 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
under the name ' var. immodica,' as follows : ' Crassior, spira
magis elevata, rugis et nodulis minus numerosis sed fortioribus,
apertura parvula, peristomate obtuso incrassato integro sub-
soluto ; ' but it does not seem to apply to the subfossilized
specimens which we met with at El Charco, and which do not
differ appreciably from their recent homologues* However an
example is now before me, which was found (subfossilized) by
Mr. Watson, I believe near Las Palmas, and which answers in
every respect with the diagnosis of Mousson's variety.
In outline the H. Despreauxii is conical and trochiform ; its
colour is a dusky cinerous- or plumbeous-white, but a rich casta-
neous-brown inside the aperture ; its perforation is small and
punctiform ; and its surface is much roughened with large irre-
gular scabrous tubercles and vermiform flexuose callosities, which
are more particularly coarse and conspicuous on the under side.
Its main feature however consists in its elegantly, equally, and
very deeply dentate keel, which is not only traceable up the
spire but is supplemented by a second keel, of a similar kind
but a little less prominent, in the middle of each whorl. The
shell is solid in substance, and has the nucleus brown and
corneous ; and its aperture is much angulated externally, with
the margins of the peristome a good deal approximated.
Helix moderata,
Helix Despreauxii, var. moderata, Mouss., Schw. Denksch.
xv. 135 (1857)
moderata, Id*, Faun. Mai. des Can. 50. pi. 3. f. 4-6
(1872)
Pfei/., Mon> Hel. vii. 250 (1876)
Habitat Lanzarotam, et Fuerteventuram ; a DD. Hartung
et Fritsch lecta.
I possess four examples of this Helix which were taken in
Fuerteventura by M. Hartung, and which were given by him to
Mr. Lowe in 1855 ; and although I have little doubt that the
H. moderata is in reality but an insular phasis (peculiar to
Lanzarote and Fuerteventura) of the Grrand-Canarian H. Des-
preauxii, nevertheless since the two forms are not likely ever
to be absolutely connected, and the one now under consideration
has been described by Mousson as specifically distinct, I will
not actually unite them. Judging from the types before me,
the H. moderata' may be said to be a trifle larger, paler, and
more depressed than the Despreauxii (the spire being less
elevated), and to have both its tubercles and callosities less ex-
aggerated or prominent, indeed the upper, or medial, keel of
the volutions is so far reduced in coarseness as sometimes to be
CANARIAN GROUP. 399
comparatively indistinct. Its umbilicus, too, is relatively a
little larger, or more open, and its aperture is not quite so
rounded. 'Elle est,' says Mousson, 'plus deprimee que la
Despreauxii, souvent presque plate en haut; 1'ombilic plus
etroit dans les individus coniques, s'ouvre dans les deprimes
jusqu'a i- du diametre ; les asperites sont plus fines et moins
dominantes ; dans 1'espace qui longe la suture et dans la partie
de la base qui suit la carene, on observe de simples stries
costulees, qui continuent sur les tubercles (ce qui n'est pas le
cas dans la Despreauxii) ; la carene secondaire est en retrait
sur la dorsale et ne sort pas du cone spiral ; souvent elle se
reduit a une ligne de petites nodulations, qui quelquefois dis-
paraissent entierement,' 1'ouverture est moins ronde, son bord
est interrompu sur un certain espace et non entier. En un mot,
cette forme, qui habite les deux iles de TEst qui sous tous les
rapports se lient intimement, est une Despreauxii, dans laquelle
tous les caracteres ont perdu le leur acuite et se sont rapproches
des H. mirandce, Lowe, et granostriata, Mousson.'
Helix mirandse.
Helix Mirandse, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. vii. 107 (1861)
5 , Pfwff; Mon. Hel. v. 214 (1868)
Mouss., Faun, des Mai. Can. 51. pi. 3.
f.. 7-9 (1872)
Habitat Gromeram et Hierro ; in ilia in collibus aridis
apricis prope San Sebastian sub lapidibus sat copiose reperta,
sed in hac inter portum et Valverde multo rarior.
This perhaps is rather the smallest member of the Turricula
group which has hitherto been detected at the Canaries, the
larger examples measuring only about 3J lines across their
broadest part ; and it is also the most brightly coloured, its
surface being of a dusky white with a more or less interrupted
darker band both above and below, and with the spire ad-
ditionally mottled with very irregular transverse patches and
lines. Although somewhat trochiform in outline, the shell is
nevertheless less conical and elevated than that of the H. Des-
preauxii, its perforation is relatively larger, and its aperture
(which is less angulated externally, and is somewhat darkened
within) has the margins of the peristome (which is itself
whitish) more distant and interrupted. Its under portion
(instead of being roughened with coarse scabrous elongated
tubercles and tortuous callosities) is simply striated with fine
radiating costate lines ; while the upper region has the latter
very oblique and flexuose, but supplemented by short additional
obtuse transverse ridges, or elongate tuberculiform prominences.
400 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
which are elevated in the centre of each whorl into an obscure
medial unequally crenulated keel, and into a rather more
pronounced one in the usual place, i.e. along the dorsal line
of the basal volution.
The H. mirandce (the specific title of which was selected in
commemoration of Mr. Gray's yacht ' the Miranda,' in which
we visited the several islands of the Canarian archipelago) was
taken abundantly by Mr. Lowe and myself in Gomera, namely
on the dry and rocky slopes above and around San Sebastian,
particularly those on the northern side of the ravine ; and we
subsequently met with a few examples of it in Hierro, on the
ascent from the landing-place to Valverde.
The H. nodosostriata, of Mousson, founded upon a single
example, appears to be merely a larger and rather more de-
pressed form of the H. mirandoe, in which the prominences are
more developed, and the base somewhat more coarsely and
irregularly sculptured. We met with it in company with the
typical form, into which it appears gradually to merge.
( Discula, Lowe.)
Helix argonautula.
Helix argonautula, W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. syn. 21
(1833)
d'0rb.,in W. et B. Hist. 64. t. 2. f.
16-18 [necf. 13-15] (1839)
Mouss.) Faun. Mai des Can. 55 (1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 212 et 551
(1876)
Habitat Canariam Grandem ; sub lapidibus ad Arguineguin
lecta.
The present Helix would appear to be one of those which
was detected originally by M. Terver, of Lyons, amongst dried
orchil ; and although the latter was of doubtful origin, the H.
argonautula was nevertheless admitted by Webb, without
further enquiry, into the Canarian fauna. However rash such a
proceeding may have been (for the same amount of looseness, as
regards the evidence for the exact localities, resulted in the
introduction into his list of species which are essentially
Madeiran, and others which are equally peculiar to the Cape
Verdes), it at least in this particular instance had the advantage
of placing no geographical error upon record, for the Helix in
question happens fortunately to be a Canarian one. Still,
nothing could of course be said about the island in which it was
found, for it was only (as it were) by mere accident that even
the archipelago itself was correctly guessed at ; and therefore it
CANARIAN GROUP. 401
is satisfactory that the H. argonautula should have been met
with by Mr. Lowe and myself, who, by finding it (in consider-
able abundance) at Arguineguin in the south of Grand Canary,
were enabled to supply the required data concerning its precise
habitat.
The H. argonautula (which measures about 4 lines across
its broadest part, and which is composed of about 4^ rapidly
increasing volutions), is a thin, sublenticular, and very acutely
carinated shell, the keel (which is irregularly crenulated)
being strongly expressed on the upper side on account of a
slight groove or erosion alongside it, and being usually traceable
up the penultimate whorl as an elevated line adjoining the
upper edge of the suture ; its spire is greatly depressed, though
with the nucleus a little prominent ; its base is suloconically
convex, with the umbilicus rather suddenly and deeply scooped-
out ; its aperture (which is obsoletely elongate-quadrangular)
has the upper and lower portions of the peristome acute and
only obscurely connected by a thin intervening lamina ; and its
surface is densely sculptured with coarse, irregular, undulating,
oblique costate lines. In colour it is of a pale corneous brown
(rather paler, and yellowish, beneath, particularly towards the
umbilicus), obscurely marbled above with cinereous lines and a
few fragmentary patches, and with a narrow band below (seldom
two) at a short distance from the keel.
There is a certain prima facie resemblance between this
species and the Madeiran H. tabellata, Lowe ; nevertheless tle
latter is very much more flattened above, with the whorls
narrower and more numerous, and (although quite as acutely
carinated) the keel is not shaped-out (or compressed ^ by an
adjoining erosion on the upper side, nor is it visible on the
penultimate volution ; its base (although inflated) is not coni-
ca%-convex; its umbilicus is narrower; its aperture is less
angular, with the peristome less acute and slightly recurved ;
and its surface is less coarsely costate-striate, but studded with
large granules, as well as more broadly fasciated below.
Although supposed to be exclusively Canarian, Mousson has
lately described (Jahrb. Malak. Ge's. i* 81 ; 1874) what he re-
gards as a mere phasis of this Helix from Casa Blanca in Morocco,
a fact of considerable importance geographically. But if the
Grrand-Canarian form of the species be truly the one which was
originally enunciated by Webb and Berthelot (which perhaps,
considering the unsatisfactory manner in which it was obtained
namely from amongst dried orchil, may be open for con-
sideration), it is quite clear that it must be accepted as the
type, and that consequently the modification from the African
continent (whatsoever it may be) should be treated practically
D D
402 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
as the ' variety ' ; and I cannot but think, therefore, that
Mousson is hardly justified in adopting the opposite line, and
regarding the Morocco shell as the normal one. Be this how-
ever as it may, his diagnosis of the latter, as compared with the
Grand-Canarian one, is as follows : ' Paulo minor, solidior,
spira saepe irregulariter scalata, alba, seriatim corneo-maculata,
anfractibus supra planis, ad carinam crenulatam elevatis.' The
form from Grand Canary, on the other hand, he defines, under
the varietal name of ' canariensisj thus : ' Paulo major, spira
fere plana, interdum subscalata, corneo-grisea, infra indistincte
fasciata, anfractibus supra planiusculis, ad carinam non ascen-
dentem impressis.'
Helix pulverulenta.
Helix argonautula (pars, i. e. f. 13-15) [nee f. 16-18, nee
descriptionis] , d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist.
64. t. 2 (1839)
pulverulenta, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. vii. 107 (1861)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. v. 191 (1868)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 52. pi. 3.
f. 10-12 (1872)
Habitat Canariam Grandem ; ad El Charco, ultra Maspa-
lomas, sub lapidibus in saxosis aridis apricis, una cum H.
Despreauxii, d'Orb., degens, reperta. Necnon semifossilis
ibidem parce inveni.
Although a little resembling it in primd facie aspect and
colouring, the present Helix is nevertheless exceedingly distinct
from the H. argonautula ; though it would appear to have
been confounded with it both by Webb and by d'Orbigny, inas-
much as three out of their six figures of the latter clearly
pertain, in reality, to this species, the other three, along with
the description, applying to the true H. argonautula. And,
so far as mere locality is concerned, it is not at all surprising
that they should have been in possession of both forms (even
whilst failing to observe their actual distinctions) ; for they
were obtained by Mr. Lowe and myself in almost adjoining
districts in the south of Grand Canary, and it is far from un-
natural therefore that the same consignment of orchil in which
the H. argonautula was found would contain likewise the
H. pulverulenta. Still it is inexplicable to me that, even if
Webb should have omitted to recognise in them more than the
exponents of a single species, their diagnostic characters should
have been subsequently overlooked by d'Orbignv, for. when
CANARIAN GROUP. 403
viewed carefully together, it seems well-nigh impossible to
mistake them.
The H. pulverulenta is a good deal smaller than the argo-
nautula (measuring only 3 lines across its widest part), and it
is very much less sharply carinated, the keel, moreover, which
is comparatively simple (or nearly uncrenulated), being less
broadly compressed (or flatten ed-out) on the upper side ; both
its spire and volutions are rather more convex ; its suture is
more sunken or impressed, without any appearance of a thread-
like keel at its upper edge ; its ultimate whorl is narrower ; its
costate lines are considerably finer and less undulated ; its basal
region, although inflated, is less conically convex ; its umbilicus
is smaller ; its aperture is much less angular, with the margins
of the peristome more completely disconnected by an interven-
ing lamina ; and the fascia of its underside is usually brighter
and more developed.
It was in the dry and stony district of El Charco, beyond
the sandy wastes of Maspalomas, in the extreme south of Grand
Canary, that the H. pulverulenta was met with by Mr. Lowe
and myself; and as that region is at no great distance from
Arguineguin, the locality in which we found the H. argonau-
tula, it is extremely probable that the gradually acquired areas
of the two species approach each other very closely, even if they
do not indeed absolutely overlap. We also obtained the H.
pulverulenta in what I cannot but think is a truly subfossilized
state, in the immediate vicinity of its present habitat.
Helix granostriata.
Helix granostriata, Mouss., Schw. Denksch. xv. 135 (1857)
Id., Faun. Mai. des Can. pi. 3. f. 13-15
(1872)
Pfeiff., Mon. Hel. vii. 245 (1876)
Habitat Lanzarotam, et Fuerteventuram ; in ilia recens, sed
in hac nunc recens nunc semifossilis reperitur.
Three examples of this species are now before me which
were given to Mr. Lowe in 1855 by M. Hartung, by whom they
had been taken in Fuerteventura ; and were it not for the com-
parative largeness of their umbilicus, I should perhaps have been
more inclined to refer the H. granostriata to the Turricula
group than to Discula. As it is, however, I think that its
affinities are more with the argonautula and pulverulenta
than they are with the forms around the Despreauxii and mi-
randce.
The present Helix is perhaps a trifle larger, on the average,
than the H. argonautula (measuring about 4 lines across its widest
D D 2
404 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
part) ; its spire, although obtuse, is more conical, or much less
depressed ; and its umbilicus is not quite so open. Its ultimate
whorl, too, is not quite so acute or so broadly edged with a com-
pressed keel, though the latter is perhaps more distinctly trace-
able (immediately above the suture) up the spire ; its colour
(above) is of a paler yellowish-horn, or buff, the volutions being
more or less variegated by a narrow, tessellated fascia above the
suture, on the actual keel, and sometimes by a second, and more
indistinct, medial one ; its aperture is a good deal thickened, or
labiate, internally ; and (which is the salient feature) its trans-
verse ridges of growth are uniformly broken-up by (nevertheless
somewhat obscure) spiral lines into granuliform, or tuberculi-
form, fragments, giving the entire surface a very beautifully
sculptured appearance.
The H. granostriata (which was not obtained by either Mr.
Lowe or myself) was found both by Hartung and Fritsch, and
by both of them in Lanzarote as well as in Fuerteventura. In
the latter island it seems to have been met with subfossilized
likewise. ' Elle se trouve,' says Mousson, ' a Fuerteventura
egalement a 1'etat subfossile en dimensions plus faibles, a test
plus solide et a surface depourvue des details de la sculpture,
qui la ou 1'on en decouvre les traces, sont bien les memes.'
Helix morata.
Helix morata, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can* 54 (1872)
Pfei/., Mon. Eel. vii. 246 (1876)
Habitat Fuerteventuram, semifossilis ; a cl. Fritsch detecta.
This Helix (which is unknown to me except through the
published diagnosis) appears to be closely allied to the grano-
striata, but smaller. It was found by Fritsch, in a subfossil
state, in Fuerteventura, and was described by Mousson from
a single example. ' Cette espece,' says Mousson, ' provient de la
meme ile que la granostriata^ mais parait en differer. La
morata est plus petite, moins anguleuse, plus etroitement om-
biliquee ; la peristome n'est pas evase, quoique fortement labie,
les bords sont bien separes a leur insertion ; enfin, au lieu de
granules allongees, il y a un tapis da granules plus fines
serrees et rondes, qui determine un double systeme de sillons
trans versaux et spiraux. Cette jolie espece dont je n'ai vu
qu'un seul echantillon, denue de cuticule, appartient peut-
etre egalement a une faune diluvienne eteinte.'
Helix multipunctata,
Helix multipunctata, Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 54. pi. 3.
f. 16-18 (1872)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. vii. 246 (1876)
CANARIAN GROUP. 405
Habitat Fuerteventuram, semifossitis ; a cl. Fritsch lecta.
A small species, found likewise by Fritsch in Fuerteven-
tura, and only in a subfossil condition. Indeed, as in the
case of the H. morata, Mousson appears to have had but a
single example to describe from. The following are his re-
marks concerning it : ' Cette petite espece, qui se lie a la
morata, appartient encore a une faune passee. Elle est plus
petite, plus applatie, et se distingue de ses voisines par la de-
viation considerable du dernier tour, ce qui degage 1'ombilic sur
-j de son pourtour. La surface est tres finement reticulee, par
des stries costulees serrees et des lignes spirales plus distances,
ce qui produit une fine granulation ponctiformeun peuallongee.
Des taches blanches opaques alternent avec d'autres un peu cor-
nees et diaphanes, et produisent sur la carene et le long de la
suture un faible ondulation, ce que provient d'une plus facile
destructibilite des parties cornees a cote des opaques. Le seul
individu de cette espece est a Fetat subfossile et altere.'
( Lemniscia, Lowe.)
Helix tumulormn.
Helix tumulorum, W. et B., Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28. syn.
315 (1833)
d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 62. 1. 1. f. 29-31
(1839)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 216 (1848)
Mouss.y Faun. Mai. des Can. 43 (1872)
Habitat Canariam Grandem; in promontorio boreali
' Isleta ' dicto, prsecipue inter tumulos Indigenarum, et recens et
semifossilis, occurrens. Necnon semifossilis in calcariis juxta
Puerto da Luz, Isletse adjacentibus, parce legi.
This is the largest member of the Lemniscia section in the
Canarian Group, and one which has been found hitherto only on
the ' Isleta,' the island-like promontory in the extreme north
of Grand Canary, stretching out beyond the village of Puerto da
Luz (which is itself a little to the north of Las Palmas). In
that particular locality it was found originally by Webb (as it
subsequently has been by Lowe, Fritsch, Watson, and others),
principally amongst the tombs of the ancient inhabitants of the
archipelago, the Guanches, a fact which evidently suggested its
specific name.
The H. tumulorum (the largest adult examples of which
measure about 5 or 6 lines across the widest part) is, like most
of its allies, a thin and rather broadly- or shortly-conical shell,
strongly sculptured with the dense oblique transverse lines of
growth, with its perforation extremely minute and almost con-
400 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A,
cealed, and with its keel (which is more powerfully expressed
from the fact of there being a slight compression, or concavity,
on either side of it) very sharply defined. Its ground colour is
either white or brownish-white ; and it is ornamented with two
more or less conspicuous darker fasciae, one of which is placed
beneath, and becomes lost within the (acute, unthickened) aper-
ture, whilst the other is above the keel, and is broad and much
mottled or interrupted, occupying the volutions of the spire to
nearly its apex. The whorls themselves are, on the whole, flat ;
nevertheless the keel is distinctly traceable alongside the suture
up about two-thirds of the spire, which causes them to be a
little angular, or prominent, posteriorly.
The nearest Canarian ally of the present species to the Te-
riffan H. phalerata, W. et B. ; but I think nevertheless that
the two cannot be treated as insular modifications of each other,
the tumulorum being very much larger and more obtusely
conical, as well as more strongly striated ; and its keel is sharper
and (as just mentioned) laterally compressed, and traceable up
the spire. The fascia, too, on the upper portion of the shell is
wider, it being generally suffused over the greater part of the
surface so as to give the latter a brightly speckled, or mottled,
appearance.
In a subfossil condition the H. tumulorum occurs near to its
present habitat ; and I also met with it in calcareous places close
to the village of Puerta da Luz, which is but just removed from
the Isleta. 1
Helix phalerata.
Helix Eosetti W. et B., [nee Mich.], Ann. des Sc. Nat. 28.
syn. 317 (1833)
phalerata, Id., I. c. Append. 325 (1833)
Kosetti, d'Orb., in W. et B. Hist. 62. t. 1. f. 32-34
(1839)
phalerata, Pfei/., Mon. Hel. i. 158 (1848)
nivariensis, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 141 (1852)
Pfei/., Mon. Hel. iii. 167 (1853)
phalerata, Lowe, Ann. Nat. Hist. vii. 106 (1861)
Mouss., Faun. Mai. des Can. 41 (1872)
Habitat Teneriffam ; circa urbem Sanctse Crucis sublapidibus
vulgaris.
It appears, according to d'Orbigny (who examined the types),
1 In the Madeiran archipelago the nearest ally of the H. tumulorum is
probably the H. tectiformis, Sow., from Porto Santo ; nevertheless the much
greater bulk of that species, added to its large and open umbilicus, its over-
hanging, roof -like keel, and its coarsely granulated surface, will, apart from
coloration, at once separate it from all the members of the section Lenvniscia.
CANADIAN GROUP. 407
that the H. Rosetti and phalerata, of Webb and Berthelot, are
one and the same species ; though I think it is more probable
that the former, which they expressly ascribe to Grand Ca-
nary, was founded on a small state of the nearly-allied H. tumu-
lorum, which seems to be peculiar to that island. At any rate,
whatever they intended to indicate by their ' H. Rosetti, 9 it
is not the H. Rozeti (mis-spelt by them 'Rosetti') of Midland,
as they would imply, that species being an Algerian one, and
distinct.
Unless I am much mistaken, the H. phalerata is strictly
confined to Teneriffe ; and I think it safer therefore to omit
Palma as a habitat, even though recorded by Mousson, feel-
ing it exceedingly likely that Fritsch's example (or examples)
was but the closely resembling H. persimilis (so common in
that island) under perhaps a rather larger and more fasciated
guise. In TenerifTe, however, the phalerata proper was found
abundantly by Mr. Lowe and myself, around Sta. Cruz (particu-
larly towards El Campo and in the Barranco del Passo Alto) ;
and it had previously been met with in the same district by
Webb and Berthelot, d'Orbigny, Blauner, Grasset, and Reiss.
As lately mentioned, the H. phalerata is intimately con-
nected with the Grand Canarian H. tumulorum ; nevertheless
it is too distinct from it in many of its details, to be treated, I
think, as a local, or insular, modification of that species. Of
course it is possible that, in reality, this may be the case ;
nevertheless where the differential characters of two forms are
sufficiently and readily conspicuous, and intermediate connective
links are wanting, I cannot see what right we have to act on a
mere hypothesis and to reject what have been already published,
and recognized, as species.
The //. phalerata is a very much smaller shell than the
tumulorum, with its upper, or spiral, band narrower and less
mottled or suffused, its sculpture is not quite so coarse, and its
keel is not only less prominent or acute but also free from the
slight scooping-out on either side which causes it to be so pro-
nounced in that species. Its spire too is more conical, or pointed ;
and the volutions are flatter, the keel not being traceable so far
up towards the apex.
Helix persimilis.
Helix persimilis, Shuttl., Bern. Mitth. 141 (1852)
Pfeif., Mon. Hel. iii. 129 (1 853)
Mouss., Schw. Denksch. xv. 134 (1857)
Id., Faun. Mai. des Can. 40 (1872)
prseposita, Id., I. c. 45 (1872)
408 TEST ACE A ATLANTIC A.
jt
Habitat Fuerteventuram, Canariam Grandem, Teneriffam,
Gomeram, Palmam, et Hierro(in Lanzerota sola adhuc haud ob-
servata) ; late diffusa.
The H. persimilis, Shuttl., which is probably universal
throughout the Canarian archipelago (Lanzarote being the only
island, out of the seven, in which it does not happen hitherto
to have been observed), is closely allied to the //. phalerata,
from which it seems mainly to differ in its smaller size, still
thinner substance, less strongly developed keel, and browner or
more suffused surface. It varies somewhat, however, not only
in size and the greater or less elevation of its spire, but likewise
in hue, occasional examples (as, for instance, a few which are
now before me from Hierro) being almost as brightly coloured
as the phalerata, or as the more variegated individuals of the
r/wnilifera ; and I must confess that I am quite unable to detect
any character to warrant the suspicion that Mousson's H. prce-
posita, which was established on a single example taken by
myself (in the Final of Tarajana) on the mountains of Grand
Canary, is anything more than a rather enlarged H. persi-
milis, by no means so much above the normal stature of the
species as is the more discoidal race from the maritime dis-
tricts of the same island which I have denned as a 'var. a.
umbilicata.'
I have taken this variable shell, under its more typical phasis,
in Grand Canary, Teneriffe, Gomera, Palma, and Hierro,
my Teneriffan examples being principally from around Sta.
Cr 
