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stance may appear to be too soft to be furnished with teeth, yet it has no 

 fewer than eight; with these it chews leaves and other substances, seemingly 

 harder than any part of its own body, and sometimes biles ofF pieces of its 

 own shell. The snail, if its shell be broken, has the power of mending it. 

 Even when apparently broken to pieces, it will set to work, and, with the 

 slimy substance they force from their bodies, which soon hardens, they in a 

 few days close up all the numerous chasms. The junctures are easily dis- 

 tinguished, and the whole shell, in some measure, resembles an old coat 

 patched with new pieces. But, though the animal has the power of repairing 

 its old shell, it is not able to form a new one. 



" An inadvertent step may crush the snail, 

 That crawls at evening in the public path; 

 Yet he that hath humanity, forewarned, 

 Will step aside, and let the reptile live." 



The Esculent Snail (H. Pomatia) is the largest of all the land snails pro- 

 duced in England. It is found in woods, and under hedges, in Northampton- 

 shire, and in some of the southern counties. At the commencement of 

 winter, it carefully closes up 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. 



It is large and fleshy, and, when properly cooked, not unpleasant to the 

 taste. Amongst the Romans it constituted a favorite dish; but if the account 

 of Varro is to be credited, they had it of a size much larger than any known 

 at this time; for this writer assures us that the shell of some of them would 

 hold ten quarts: and we need not (says Mr. Pennant) admire the temper- 

 ance of the supper of the younger Plinys, which consisted only of a lettuce 

 a-piece, three snails, two eggs, a barley cake, sweet cake and snow, — in case 

 his snails bore any proportion in size to those just mentioned. They kept 

 these animals in what are called cochlearia, or snail stews. These were gen- 

 erally formed under rocks or eminences, whose bottoms were watered by 

 lakes or rivers; and if a natural dew or moisture was not found, they formed 

 an artificial one, by bringing into the place a pipe bored full of holes, like a 

 watering-pot, through which it was continually sprinkled. They 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, they 

 were fed on bran and sodden lees of wine. 



