THE GARDEN-SNAIL*, HEDGE-SNAIL †, AND GROVESNAIL. See to the fight the gentle warriors move, And dart, with harmless force, the shafts of love! The mode of breeding, in this and a few other species of snails, is extremely curious. At a certain time of the year they meet in pairs, and stationing themselves an inch or two apart, they launch at each other several little darts, not quite half an inch long. These are of a horny substance, and sharply pointed at one end. The animals, during the breeding season, are furnished with a little reservoir for them, situated in the neck, and opening on the right side. After the discharge of the first dart, the wounded snail immediately retaliates on its aggressor by ejecting at it a similar one: the other renews the battle, and in turn is again wounded. Thus are the darts of Cupid, metaphorical with all the rest of the creation, completely realized in snails. After the combat, they come together. Each of them DESCRIPTION. The Garden-snail is generally of a yellowish colour, with four tawny bands, interrupted by white spots. The lip is white. The whorls are rounded; and the shell is imperforate. SYNONYMS. Helix hortensis. Linn. Hélice des Jardins. Bosc. + DESCRIPTION. This species is of a nearly globular shape, somewhat pellucid, and banded with various colours. The aperture is broader than it is long. The whorls are rounded; and, as in the last, the shell is imperforate. SYNONYMS. Helix nemoralis. Linn.-La Livrée. Cuvier. Bosc. * DESCRIPTION. The Grove-snail is mottled with gray, brown, yellowish, and chesnut. It is convex and pointed. The aperture is nearly circular, with a reflected margin, elongated on the fore part. The whorls are rounded, and the shell is slightly umbilicate. Linn. Hélice des Ar SYNONYMS. Helix arbustorum. bustes. Tigny. lays its eggs in some sheltered and moist situation, generally under a little clod of earth, or in some cool cavity. The eggs are about the size of small peas, semi-transparent, and of a soft substance. From these the young ones are hatched completely formed, with shells on their backs; and they undergo no further change than what necessarily takes place in the gradual increase of their size. The depredations which these animals commit in gardens and orchards are very considerable; and it is remarkable, that in defect of moist and succulent food, such as fruit and tender leaves, they will attack even substances of a dry and hard nature. A Common Garden-snail, when confined for a single night, under a glass more than four inches in diameter, and placed on a sheet of common blue paper, has been known to devour the whole paper contained within the included space, to the very edge of the glass, so that a circular piece seemed almost as neatly taken out, as if it had been marked by a pair of compasses. But, The Snail, if its shell be broken, has a power of mending it. Even when apparently crushed to pieces, these animals will set to work; and, with the slimy substance which they force from their bodies, and which soon hardens, they in a few days close up all the numerous chasms. The junctures, however, are easily distinguishable; and the whole shell, in some measure, resembles an old coat patched with new pieces. although the animal has the power of repairing its shell, it is not able to form a new one. Swammerdam tried the experiment. He stripped a snail of its shell, without injuring any of the blood-vessels; but it died in three days after it had lost its covering: not, however, without having made efforts to restore it, for, before its death, it pressed out a certain membrane round the whole surface of its body. This membrane was entirely of the shelly nature, and was intended, no doubt, as a supply towards a new one. The following instances of tenacity of life in snails, are well authenticated, and are probably without parallel in any other individuals of the animal creation. Mr. Stuckey Simon, a merchant of Dublin, whose father, a fellow of the Royal Society, and a lover of natural history, left him a small collection of fossils and other curiosities, had, among them, the shells of some snails. About fifteen years after his father's death, (in whose possession they had continued many years,) he gave to his son, a child about ten years old, some of these snail-shells to play with. The boy placed them in a flower-pot, which he filled with water, and the next day he put them into a basin. Having occasion to use this, Mr. Simon observed that the animals had come out of their shells. He examined the child respecting them; and was assured that they were the same which had been in the cabinet. The boy said he had a few more, and brought them. Mr. S. put one of these into water, and in an hour and a half afterwards, he observed that it had put out its horns and body, which it moved but slowly, probably from weakness. Major Vallancy, Dr. Span, and other gentlemen, were afterwards present, and saw one of the snails crawl out, the remainder being dead, probably from their having remained some days in the water. This shell was sent to Sir John Pringle, who exhibited it at a meeting of the Royal Society; but some of the members imagining that Mr. Simon must have been imposed upon, by his son having substituted fresh shells for those that had been given to him, the boy was examined by Dr. Macbride on the subject; and the Doctor declared that he could find no reason to believe that the child either did or could impose upon his father. Mr. Simons living in the heart of the city, rendered it almost impossible for the boy (if he had been so disposed) to collect fresh shells; for he was at that time confined to the house with a cold. Mr. Simon, moreover, declared, that he was positive those were the shells he gave to him, for he had in his cabinet many more of the same sort, and nearly of the same size. After this account had been made public, there appeared in the Annual Register the following very singular narration. It was sent to the editors by a Mr. Rowe, and is stated to have been written by a lady, whose name he was not at liberty to mention. "I was at Mr. Haddock's, at Wrotham in Kent, and was making a little shell-work tower, to stand on a cabinet in a long gallery. After having repaired two small amber temples to grace the corners, I was desirous of having some ornament for the front; and seashells running short before I had finished, I recollected having seen some pretty little snails on the chalk-hills there we consequently all went one evening to pick up some. On our return I procured a large chinabasin, and putting a handful or two of shells into it, filled it up with boiling water. I poured off the first water, and filled the bowl again. I then carried it into a summer-house in the garden, where I loved to work early in the morning, before my friends were stirring. Next morning, how great was my surprise, on entering the summer-house, to find my poor snails crawling about, some on the edge of the basin, some tumbling over, some on the table, and one or two actually eating the paste that was to stick them on! I was perfectly shocked, burst into tears, and carefully picking up every snail, carried them into a field beyond the garden, where I make no doubt they perfectly recovered from their scalding." THE ESCULENT SNAIL*. This is the largest of all the land-snails that are produced in this country. It is found in woods and under hedges, in Northamptonshire and some other southern counties. *DESCRIPTION. This species is sometimes more than two inches in diameter. It is of nearly globular shape; and of a brownish white colour, with usually three reddish bands round At the commencement of winter, it carefully closes its shell with a thick white cover or operculum, attached to its body, that just fills up the opening, and in this enclosed state, it remains until the commencement of warm weather, seldom appearing abroad till about the beginning of April. when properly cooked, is Among the Romans it but, if the account of It is large and fleshy, and, not unpleasant to the taste. constituted a favourite dish; Varro is to be credited, they had it of a size infinitely larger than any now known; for this writer assures us, that the shells of some of them would hold ten quarts. The Romans kept these animals in what were called Cochlearia, or Snail-stews. These were generally formed under rocks or eminences, the bottoms of which were watered by lakes or rivers; and, if a natural dew or moisture was not found, an artificial one was formed, by bringing into the place a pipe bored full of holes, like a watering-pot, through which it was continually sprinkled. The snails required little attendance or food, supplying themselves, in a great measure, as they crawled about the sides or floor of their habitation. To fatten them, however, they were fed with bran and sodden lees of wine. These snails are at this day much admired in some parts of the Continent, and are not always used from economical motives; for at Vienna, but a few years ago, seven of them were charged the same price in the inns, as a plate of veal or beef. The usual modes of preparing them for the table, are by boiling, frying them in butter, or sometimes stuffing them with force-meat : but, in what manner soever they are dressed, their sliminess always remains. The greatest numbers, and the larger whorl. The aperture is large, somewhat lunate, and has the margin thickened and reflected. The pillar-lip is reflected. The whorls are rounded; and it is umbilicate. SYNONYMS. Helix pomatia. Linn. Hélice des Vignes, ou Escargot. Bosc.-Le Grand Colimaçon des Vignes. Čuvier. |