82 CYPR^.A. 



cessities. It is supposed that, during the operation 

 of perfecting his first receptacle, he himself in- 

 creases in dimensions, till it be with difficulty that 

 he is contained within it: when this is the case, he 

 squeezes himself through the narrow aperture, per- 

 haps with considerable pain, as the whole cavity of 

 the shell was insufficient for !iis ease; and commit- 

 ting his unprotected body to the briny element, 

 is, doubtless, agreeably irritated, till his secreting 

 powers are enough awakened to lay the foundation 

 of a new testaceous covering. These circumstances 

 are rendered still more extraordinary, by observa- 

 tions which maybe made upon the genus, very much 

 at variance with them. Had they not, indeed, 

 been announced as from ocular demonstration, they 

 might be suspected of having originated in some 

 accidental occurrence, or imaginary habit. 



In the first place, analogy concludc3 against any 

 such wandering propensitv; for it is not even sur- 

 mised that the congeners of the animal possess it; 

 and it is difficult to conceive why this Limax alone 

 bhould grow disproportionably, after the comple- 

 tion of his first shell. We find, in general, tlutt 

 in the construction of the Univalves, the whorU 



