A shell no less remarkable for its form than its extreme rarity. The mouth bears a most striking resemblance to the human ear; and the only specimen known in this country is the one here figured, from the cabinet of Ch. Dubois, Esq., who obligingly favoured me with it for examination; neither does the exquisite work on the Land Shells, by M. de Ferrusac, now publishing at Paris, contain this species among the numerous matchless figures already given of this family.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Zoological_Illustrations_Volume_I_Plate_9.jpg/220px-Zoological_Illustrations_Volume_I_Plate_9.jpg)
HELIX auriculata.
Eared Helix.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg/20px-Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg/20px-Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Rule_Segment_-_Flare_Centre_-_22px.svg/22px-Rule_Segment_-_Flare_Centre_-_22px.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg/20px-Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg/20px-Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg.png)
Generic Character.
- Testa orbicularis vel globosa. Spira depressa vel paululum elevata. Apertura integra. Labium exterius marginatum. Operculum nullum.
- Shell orbicular or globose. Spire depressed, or but slightly elevated. Aperture entire. Outer lip margined. Operculum, none.
Specific Character.
- H. testâ depressissimâ, ferrugineo-marmoratâ et bifasciatâ, umbilico magno, profundo, aperturâ auriformi; labio exteriore incrassato, margine interiore dente obsoleto.
- Shell much depressed, marbled and doubly-banded with ferrugineous. Umbilicus large, deep. Aperture ear-shaped. Outer lip thickened, reflected, with a gibbous obsolete tooth within.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg/20px-Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg/20px-Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Rule_Segment_-_Flare_Centre_-_22px.svg/22px-Rule_Segment_-_Flare_Centre_-_22px.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg/20px-Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg/20px-Rule_Segment_-_Span_-_20px.svg.png)
In the present uncertainty respecting the natural groups of the genus Helix, as left by Lamarck, I have preferred for the present following the example of Cuvier and de Ferrusac, in placing it with that family, in preference to adopting the ill-defined and palpably artificial distribution of them by D. de Montfort, or of forming a new genus for its reception.
The variegations in its colouring are better seen in the figures than described. The whole shell is slightly marked with obsolete longitudinal striæ; the umbilicus is very deep, and the tooth does not extend externally beyond the margin of the lip.