No. I (1917) EDIBLE MOLLUSCS 5I 



are eaten so far as I can learn. This is not due to any lack of 

 species of adequate size, if we take the apple-snail, Helix pomatia, 

 so highly esteemed by the ancient Romans and the modern French, 

 as a standard, or the more common English garden snail (H. aspersa), 

 utilized very abundantly by the French when the former species is 

 unobtainable. In Madras gardens two clean-looking snails are 

 found, smaller indeed than Helix aspersa, but still large enough for 

 culinary use ; one is the single-banded Ariophanta ligulata, the other 

 the two-banded A. biscrialis. Larger than these are several species 

 found in the Anamalai, Palni, Nilgiri and other hill tracts. Among 

 the more notable are the Ariophantas. A. hasileiis, already men- 

 tioned as occasionally eaten in the Cochin teak forests, is also found 

 in the Anamalai and Nelliampathi hills ; it is a magnificent species 

 often measuring 2^ inches in diameter. A. madcraspatana, a 

 smaller species, inhabits the Palni hills, while another, A. kadapaen- 

 sis, fully equal in size to Helix aspersa, is found in the Anamalais, 

 together with Helix ampulla of about the same dimensions. 

 A. seniinigata is another fair-sized snail found in the Coimbatore 

 and adjacent districts. Finally from Mysore comes a slightly 

 larger snail, Cycloplwrus )iilghericus. It will be noted that most of 

 these are hill species, found chiefly in the jungle tracts that clothe 

 the lower slopes and creep up sheltered ravines. Taken generally 

 land-snails are not plentiful on the plains, being replaced there by 

 the pond-snails (Anipiillaria and Vivipara) found in abundance 

 wherever paddy cultivation is of importance. 



In dry sandy tracts where babul thorns abound, especially in 

 Tinnevelly and Ramnad districts, a small white Helix is often 

 exceedingly numerous, but although one would expect this to be 

 of some food importance at least in times of famine, I cannot trace 

 any utilization even in years of direst distress. A inafnitl pre- 

 judice prevails against the use of any land-snails. 



