126 WEST AMERICAN SHELLS 
cabbage leaves, reaching full size in about two 
years. I once reared a large number in this way, 
but at length was obliged to dispose of them for 
fear that they would escape and do injury. The 
shell is large, about an inch in diameter, nearly 
globular, thin, and marked with wrinkles. The 
eolor is brownish gray, with bands of chestnut and 
threads of yellow, giving the shell a spotted ap- 
pearance, from which fact it takes its name. This 
species is used for food by the French, and it is 
not unlikely that some were brought to this coun- 
try for the purpose of propagation. 
We begin our study of 
our most interesting div- 
ision of the old genus 
Helix, by examining the 
picture of a fine specimen 
of Epiphragmophora fide- 
lis, Gray, the Faithful 
Snail, as shown in Figure 
105. The long name given to this division of 
snails means the ‘‘epiphragm-bearer,’’ and the 
epiphragm is the door which the snail constructs 
across the entrance to his shell when he goes into 
retirement, as many of these creatures do during 
some part of the year. In the dry region it is dur- 
ing the summer, and in the colder parts of the 
coast it is during the time of frost and snow. This 
epiphragm is not a permanent affair like an oper- 
eculum, but is constructed of dried mucous and 
resembles white blotting paper. Sometimes there 
are several layers, one behind another. 
