HE materials for beginning an 

 acquaintance with the shell- 

 animals lie almost at 

 every back door. Should there 

 be an untidy corner of the 

 garden where empty flower-pots 

 are stored, a water-butt, or old wood is stood — there, 

 without search, you may surely find a few examples of 

 the dingy and too common Garden Snail. Much as we 

 may object to the presence of this Snail where there are 

 choice or tender plants, we shall find it a very handy 

 example if we desire to obtain knowledge respecting 

 the class to which it belongs. All the Mollusca, it 

 is true, do not agree in structure with the Snail, any 

 more than they agree in external appearance, but we 

 may well adopt it as one of the few general types of 

 structure under which all the species may be classed. 

 A description of a species that is accessible to all, 

 and at least familiar by sight, should prove more 

 generally acceptable than an illustration drawn from 



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