16 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSKS. 



is very glossy and slightly convex. Theophrastus, in his 

 treatise upon animals which live in holes, states that 

 snails have the habit of burying themselves. He says : 

 — " Snails live in holes during the winter, and still 

 more in the summer, on which account they are seen in 

 the greatest numbers during the autumn rains. But 

 their holes in the summer are made in the ground, and 

 in the trees."* 



Helix nemoralis is also eaten, and at Toulouse sells 

 for 5 or 10 centimes a dish ; but by some, snails with 

 striped shells are not considered good, as they have a 

 bad taste and smell. M. Moquin-Tandon purchased, 

 in 1847, in the market at Toulouse, a basket containing 

 400 specimens of Helix aspersa for 60 centimes; and 

 another, with 1503 specimens of Helix nemoralis, for 75 

 centimes, — making 15 centimes the 100 for the former, 

 and a little less than 5 centimes for the latter. Helix 

 nemoralis and Helix hortensis are known by various 

 names in France ; " for instance, at Bordeaux they are 

 called demoiselles, mogne at Libournes, molimomo at Li- 

 moges, limaio at Agen, limaia at Montpellier, livree in 

 the north of France, and caracolo in the Pyrenees/'f 



Helix Pisana, which is a very local species with us, 

 and only found at Tenby (where I have seen it in pro- 

 fusion), at Manorbeer, in Cornwall, Jersey, and Ireland, 

 is greatly prized as an article of food abroad, and is 

 larger than it is with us, — indeed, almost as large as 

 Helix nemoralis. 



" At Marseilles, the average sale of Helix Pisana and 



Helix rhodostoma is about 20,000 kilogrammes, at 3 



francs the 50 kilogrammes, which makes the sum of 



1200 francs. By the sale of our common garden snail 



* Athenaeus, Deipn. vol. i. p. 104. f Dr. Ebrard, ' Des Escargots.' 



