1899] SNAIL-SLUG. 127 



or in some way or other to be, or very recently having been, feeding 

 on an Earthworm. 



The TestaceUcB differ so entirely in nature of food from our common 

 Slugs, that they are beneficial to us by ridding us of small ground 

 vermin ; they are wholly carnivorons, and prey chiefly on Earthworms, 

 but also on Slugs and Snails, and even on each other. 



During the day they live mostly underground, and are to be found 

 in gardens, and at the foot of old walls, by roots of plants, &c. How 

 far they may come to the surface at night to feed does not seem clear ; 

 they are recorded as sometimes coming to the surface in breeding 

 time ; also it is said that the Testacella only sallies out at night in 

 search of prey ; also it is said that those who wish to procure speci- 

 mens should look for them at daybreak, especially after a warm dewy 

 night in the months of July and August. But whatever variations 

 may occur as to coming to the surface by night, there appears no doubt 

 that as a regular thing they live underground by day. Throtigh the 

 ground beneath the surface they hunt the Worms on which they 

 principally feed, their great compressibility of body, and also their 

 power of lengthening or contracting themselves at will, giving them 

 great facilities of movement, and after having gorged themselves they 

 can remain for a fortnight or more without food. 



Heavy rains destroy great numbers of them, but cold is stated not 

 to do them harm, and as a protection when cold winds are prevalent, 

 they are recorded as enclosing themselves in a kind of case formed of 

 slime secreted by the skin, and often mixed with extraneous particles. 

 In winter they bury themselves very deep in the ground. 



The average length of life is considered to be five or six years, and 

 they multiply by eggs which are laid separately, and are very large in 

 proportion to the body. 



The Testacella haliotidea (figured from life at p. 126) is, when full- 

 grown, as much as three inches in length, and four-tenths of an inch 

 in width. The body firm in texture, cylindrical, and very flexible, 

 contracted towards the front, and somewhat broader behind the middle, 

 capable of extending itself hke a worm, and the skin smooth when the 

 animal is crawling at full length, transversely wrinkled when at rest. 

 The back convex, divided longitudinally into three nearly equal parts 

 by two grooves, which run along each side from the front edge of the 

 shell to within a short distance of the tentacles, or horns. These 

 longitudinal grooves have [tyincally) transverse lines running down- 

 wards from them ; but in my specimen, though the long grooves were 

 plainly observable, the offsets of lesser lines were not noticeable ; this 

 very probably from the Slug having been for some days not in natural 

 circumstances. 



The colour is very variable, but is generally described as yellowish 



