Original Combination:

contracta = contracted [latin]

Original Description:

Shell dextral, short, subovate, white; apex obtuse; whorls five ; umbilicus distinct; aperture irregularly orbicular, complete, the lamina of the labium being elevated above the surface of the preceding whorl and joining the extremities of the labia; labium with a large, elongated, prominent tooth, which is concave on the side towards the labrum; labrum bidentate; a large tooth or fold far within the throat, caused by the fold of the umbilicus; throat much contracted by the large tooth of the labrum into the form of a horse shoe.
Total length less than one- tenth of an inch.
Inhabits Virginia.
This is a short, wide species, sufficiently distinct from others, and readily distinguished by the lamina of the labrum being much elevated, and by the magnitude of the tooth of the labium. I obtained two specimens at Occoquan under a pile of bricks and rubbish. This species probably belongs to the genus Carychium.