of Animals to secure Warmth^ 501 



these poor apes are fain to huddle about any chance fire that 

 may be lighted out of doors and left burning ; but though they 

 are seen sitting close to the dying embers, they have never been 

 known to add a single chip of fuel to continue the fire * a cir- 

 cumstance somewhat at variance, indeed, with the title of this 

 paper, but not the less curious, as illustrative, by contrast, of 

 animal manners. 



Animals which lie torpid during winter are usually careful to 

 provide a warm and well sheltered domicile for their long sleep, 

 and it is not a little interesting to observe the proceedings 

 of different species. The edible snail (Helix pomatia, LINN.), 

 for example, found in the middle districts of England, but 

 supposed to have been introduced from the Continent in the 

 sixteenth century, forms, at the end of autumn, a very curious 

 winter cell. When at liberty, it constructs this cell of earth, 

 moss, and withered grass, by means of its muscular foot, 

 enlarging the cavity by turning itself round, and forming the 

 roof by carrying up portions of earth and mossf . But, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Bell, * it is not by the pressure of the foot and 

 the turning round of the shell that this is principally effected. 

 A large quantity of very viscid mucus is secreted on the under 

 surface of the foot, to which a layer of earth or dead leaves 

 adheres ; this is turned on one side, and a fresh secretion being 

 thrown out, the layer of earth mixed with mucus is left. The 

 animal then takes another layer of earth on the bottom of the 

 foot, turns it also to the part where he intends to form the 

 wall of his habitation, and leaves it in the same manner, 

 repeating the process until the cavity is sufficiently large, and 

 thus making the sides smooth, even, and compact. In form- 

 ing the dome or arch of the form, a similar method is used, the 

 foot collecting on its under surface a quantity of earth, and the 

 animal turning it upwards, leaves it by throwing out fresh 

 mucus, and this is repeated until a perfect roof is formed^.' 



I brought a pair of these animals from the woods of Godes- 

 berg on the Rhine in 1829 ; and as they were kept under an 

 inverted glass, with only a few leaves, it was amusing to see 



* Scott, Intell. Philosophy, iv. 1. 



t M. Gaspard in Majendie's Journ. de Physiologic, ii. 295. ' 

 J Zoological Journal, i. 94, note. 



VOL. I. MAY,_1831. 2L 



