I fancy they have been cleared off by the pea-fowls who regularly hunt the ground, the pea-hen quartering the ground like a pointer. We have hardly any except the common brown snail now left. I looked among the débris round the rats' hole, to see if they had chosen any particular kind of dainty snail, as the Romans did, and some moderns have done, but the broken shells were almost all those of the common brown snail, with only a coloured one here and there amongst them."
Helix nemoralis (The Wood Snail), with a dark lip, and Helix hortensis, with a white lip.—Generally dispersed and abundant everywhere. It has long been a question with conchologists whether these two forms are distinct species. Linnaeus united them. Müller separated them. In modern times, Forbes and Hanley agree with the former, Gray with the latter. Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys says the variety hybrida seems to connect the two, and he regards nemoralis as the type, and hortensis and hybrida as local or casual varieties of one and the same species. In the neighbourhood of Chichester nemoralis is found on the Downs amongst juniper-bushes and furze; hortensis is most common in the hedgerows in the lowlands. The two forms are not found living together.—J. and H.
Helix arbustorum. The Shrub Snail.—Local. On bushy banks about Heufield and other localities on the sand. Not met with on the clay.—B. Found plentifully among nettles by the roadside and near water in the village of South Hailing, and elsewhere in the valley, but not met with on the hills, although in other localities it is said to occur at a great elevation.—W. By the side of the "Cut" near Landport it is not uncommon (U), and is included amongst the species found in the neighbourhood of Brighton (M). It is omitted, however from the Eastbourne list.—G.
Helix cantiana. The Kentish Snail.—Abundant on the chalk and clay; less so on the sand.—B. Not uncommon on the wild plants growing in hedgerows about Halting (W), and on the hill as well as in the valley (H). One of the commonest shells about Ratham; every hedge abounds with it.—J. It occurs at Eastbourne and Brighton, where it is common (M), and in the neighbourhood of Lewes is found on nettles at the foot of the Downs (U).
Helix Carthusiana. The Carthusian Snail, so called from its having been first discovered near a Carthusian Monastery.—A
