HELICID^. — SNAIL. 21 



of France, and is found in the Pyrenees, and also in 

 Corsica. 



Dr. Ebrard was informed by Dr. Roi, the Inspec- 

 tor of Colonization in Africa, that in the market at Al- 

 giers large heaps of snails are to be seen of the same 

 species as those found in Central France, and are sold 

 by the bushel, and by the hundred, as an article of food ; 

 and a small species, about the size of a pea, is collected 

 in Algeria in great numbers, and given to the ducks. 



Sir Gardner Wilkinson has seen baskets full of snails 

 carried about for sale in the streets of Cairo ; and in 

 ' Physical Geography of the Holy Land' it is stated 

 that they are occasionally eaten in Syria, though not 

 often. In Scotland, fortunes are predicted by snails. 

 In Hone's f Every-day Book/ we read that "No one 

 will marry in May, but, on the first morning of that 

 month, the maidens rise early to gather May-dew, which 

 they throw over their shoulder in order to propitiate 

 fate in alotting them a good husband. If they can suc- 

 ceed, by the way, in catching a snail by the horns, and 

 throwing it over their shoulder, it is an omen of good 

 luck ; and, if it is placed on a slate, then likewise it 

 will describe by its turning the initials of their future 

 husband's name."* 



According to the : Archseologia Cambrensis/ in the 

 parish of St. Clear's, Carmarthenshire, small portions 

 of lands were formerly gambled away by means of snail- 



* In c Folklore of the Northern Counties of England,' p. 86, it is said 

 that if, on leaving your house, you see a black snail (slug ?), seize it 

 boldly by one of its horns and throw it over your left shoulder ; you 

 may then go on your way prosperously ; but if you fling it over the 

 right shoulder, you will draw down ill luck. This practice is said to 

 extend as far south as Lancashire. 



