HABITS AND PROPERTIES. 7 



scourges of the country. Like caterpillars, locusts, and 

 rats, they are considered to be perpetual enemies, ami 

 a war of extermination is carried on against them. To 

 limit the extent of the evil, many remedies have been 

 proposed, and among others the prayers and exorcisms 

 of the church have been claimed, but without any consid- 

 erable abatement of it. Happily, we are not in this 

 country subject, in the same degree, to the mischief 

 done by these animals, for their excessive increase is 

 kept in check, probably, by the vicissitudes of the cli- 

 mate ; but it may be useful to know that a border of 

 ashes, sand, or sawdust, laid around the bed containing 

 the plants it is desired to protect, will prove an impassa- 

 ble barrier to the slugs, so long as these substances remain 

 dry. When the slugs attempt to pass the barrier, they 

 become entangled in the dry ashes or sand, which en- 

 velops them entirely. The particles of these adhere 

 to the viscid surface of the animals, who, in vain endeav- 

 oring to disengage themselves from them by secreting 

 new mucus, at length become exhausted and die. 



Their growth is remarkably rapid. We have knouu 

 the young to double their size and weight in a week. 

 The earliest hatched young of the season generally attain 

 their full maturity before the end of the first year, 

 although they may afterwards increase somewhat in bulk. 

 Those which leave the egg at a later period, mature dur- 

 ing the second year. Individuals kept in confinement 

 and fully fed reach a much greater size than when in 

 their natural condition. 



