and weald clays that stretch up to the base of the chalk downs of Eastbourne on the west, and those of Kent on the east; but on passing on to the chalk it is met with in extraordinary numbers. In Gloucestershire, shells of this species constitute a stratum, at a depth of 6 or 9 inches beneath the surface, that I have traced over several square miles. In the Isle of Wight and in Dorsetshire it is found similarly in a subfossilized state. ACME FUSCA-(the Brown Acme) (Pl. XI., figs. 142, 144).—The shell is scarcely one-tenth of an inch long, cylindrical, and very polished; under a good lens it is seen to be marked with distant longitudinal striations; the colour is glossy brown; the aperture is roundish oval, contracted above and closed with a thin horny-whitish operculum; the whorls six or seven; the umbilicus is small. It is rare in Great Britain, but widely distributed. It lives among decaying leaves and tufts of moss, in moist situations, especially near the sea. I was once successful in securing several living specimens of this minute species, by collecting dead leaves and shreds of bark into a heap; and upon turning over the mass, after a lapse of a few weeks, my heart was gladdened with the much-prized treasures and many other interesting species. The above kind of bait I have employed very frequently and found it to answer extremely well, naturally so, as it affords food, shelter, warmth, and moisture to the snails. A. fusca is known in a fossilized state at Copford, Essex. |