376 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY. 



pleted the habitations,, their next care is to beautify, and 

 render them commodious. This they effect by means of 

 a white glutinous fluid, exuding, like the viscous juices 

 of the common snail, which hardens into a sort of crust, 

 and forms a thin smooth lining to their cells, protecting also 

 their tender bodies from being injured by the roughness 

 of the wood ; and enabling them to move in various di- 

 rections without inconvenience or danger. 



They take the greatest care to avoid injuring a neighbour''s 

 dwelling. Each case, or shell, is preserved entire, and 

 even where a piece of wood has been so completely per- 

 forated as to resemble a honey-comb, the slightest passage 

 or communication has never been discovered between the 

 different compartments, though the divisions have frequently 

 not exceeded the thickness of fine writing-paper. 



Is there nothing humiliating in the conclusion to which 

 these facts lead? "Would it not appear as if those floating 

 castles, which open communications between different coun- 

 tries, are liable to be destroyed by the bite of an insignifi- 

 cant creature in order to teach mankind the weakness of 

 their boasted strength ? But mark the protecting care of 

 Providence. The destructive operations of these insi- 

 dious moUusks are in a great degree obviated by the sin- 



