94 PULMONIFERA.—HELICID&. 
In the latter part of summer, the Edible Snail 
lays beneath the surface of the earth from sixty to 
eighty eggs, which are of a globular shape, covered 
with a white leathery skin, and about as large as 
dried peas. In from twenty to thirty days, ac- 
cording to the state of the weather, the young 
snails are hatched, each enclosed in a delicate shell, 
of a single whorl. A period of thirteen months 
from the time of hatching suffices, according to M. 
Bouchard Chantreux, to bring the animal to its full 
growth. 
The name pomatia, derived from the word me@a, 
which signifies a lid, refers to the curious covering 
with which the animal closes the mouth of its shell, 
to exclude the air during its residence in winter 
quarters. All the circumstances connected with its 
hybernation are so interesting that I shall describe 
them at length from a memoir on the subject by 
M. Gaspard, condensed in the Zoological Journal, 
with some valuable notes by Professor Bell. . 
M. Gaspard remarks that in our temperate 
climate, as soon as the first autumnal chills are felt, 
about the commencement of October generally, 
felix pomatia becomes indolent, loses its appetite, 
and associates in considerable numbers on hillocks, 
the banks of ditches, in thickets, hedges, and such 
places. In a day or two the animals cease feeding, 
expel the last contents of the intestines, and then 
hide themselves under moss, grass, dead leaves, or 
the like rubbish. Here each forms for itself, with 
the anterior part of its muscular foot, a cavity suffi- 
ciently large to contain at least its shell. ‘This 
cavity it enlarges and excavates by turning itself 
round on every side, then raising itself against 
the sides of the cavity, and at last against the 
