Midland Naturalist/Volume 01/Helix cantiana
Helix cantiana, (Montague.)
Since Martin Lister, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, indicated the existence of this Mollusk, which, he thought, might be a variety of H. rufescens, or a distinct species, giving as its habitat “Kent,” an almost complete knowledge of the Mollusks inhabiting Britain has been attained, and it is of much interest to Conchologists to note the distribution of species over these Islands.
Montagu, in 1803, called it Cantiana, after its early recorded habitat. We know now that it occurs not only in the south and south-eastern counties, but has spread northward and westward, following the theoretical line of migration of the Mollusca of this country.
We have authentic records of its occurrence in twenty-one counties—twenty in England and one in Wales, as follows:—Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Middlesex, Hants, Somerset, Essex, Hertford, Oxford, Gloucester, Monmouth, Suffolk, Warwick, Worcester, Cambridge, Norfolk, Stafford, Lincoln, Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Glamorgan. This being the case, we should expect to find it in the central counties of Buckingham, Bedford, Huntingdon, Leicester, Northampton, Nottingham, and Derby, and southward in Berks, Wilts, and Dorset.
If any of our friends, while reading these notes, will take the map of England, they will readily see that, with three exceptions, the counties enumerated as habitats, are contiguous; and whether we ascribe its distribution to the creature's own powers of migration, or to man's agency, the result is the same; and we should scarcely expect that, in its spread, it would skirt the eastern coast from the south, and travel from south up the central counties, and miss those indicated.
It will be of much interest if any of our friends, having observed it in any of the counties named, would kindly inform us of the fact.
In our own district it occurs at Henley-in-Arden, where it was first observed by Mr. W. G. Blatch; and we have, during one of our pleasant walks with that learned but modest Naturalist, Mr. Jas. Bagnall, seen it plentifully distributed along the canal bank at Holywell, about four miles from Henley. Mr. Slatter, of Redditch, says it is common at Littleton, near Evesham; and we have taken it near Evesham Railway Station. In all these places it extends for a considerable distance along the road. Nearly all the shells are rufous and white, white shells being uncommon; for, although Reeve says "the lower half of the shell is always tinged with a rufous foxy rust colour," it is not so; pure white shells are not uncommon in the south-eastern counties on the chalk, and occur occasionally wherever the species is plentiful.
The shells vary in size and texture, recording to the nature of the creature's habitat; specimens from the chalk or limestone, where the plants upon which it feeds contain abundance of lime, are large and smooth, while those from the sparsely clad sand-dunes of Deal are stunted and rough. We have examples in our cabinet of a truly minor form, its dimensions are B. 0.55, Alt. 0.35, the ordinary size being B. 0.70, Alt. 0.40. We have shells B. 0.80, Alt. 0.50.
Dr. Turton says this species was introduced by "colliers" into Northumberland, where it occurs on the banks of the Tyne. In the "Quarterly Journal of Conchology" for August, 1878, our excellent correspondent, Mr. J. S. Gibbons, M.B., notes its occurrence on the Chalk Cliffs, near Flamborough Head, in Yorkshire, "in a locality so retired that it is impossible to suppose it otherwise than indigenous;" it is very common in some districts of central Yorkshire, and it is possible, therefore, that it may be found in Durham.
The locality, "near Dublin,” is given in Gray's Turton, (p. 36) probably on the authority of its being named as occurring there in Welsh and Whitelaw's History of Dublin; but Dr. J. Gwyn-Jeffreys says "subsequent writers on Irish Conchology have not confirmed the correctness of such statement."
Reeve says (p. 67) Mr. Guise believed it to have been introduced into Glamorganshire, where he found it between Swansea and Oystermouth.
We shall be very pleased to receive any further notes of the occurrence of this species in places not known to us.
Handsworth, Birmingham.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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