Si' Beautiful SJiclTs, 



TnE COMMON SNAIL 



Is called by naturalists Helix aspcrsa, tlie gencrla 

 name being derived from a Greek work signifj^ing- 

 spiral^ and liaving reference to tlie sbape of tlie 

 sliell ; tlie plural is Helices, a term ajoplied to all 

 convoluted or twisted sliells,, wliicli terminate in a 

 point like a cliurcli spire : a spiral-shelled fossil is 

 called a Jielicate, The specific name comes from tlio- 

 Latin asj>er — rough ; whence also our English word 

 asiKvity — ronghnesSj and several others. The Hcli- 

 cidce, or Helix family^ is that which includes the 

 land shell Snails and the naked Slugs^ and in this 

 family there are several genera; they are distin- 

 guishcd from the shelled water Snails^ both sea and 

 river_, by having a different breathing apparatus, 

 and some other points of internal construction which 

 it is not necessary to describe here. 



The Common Snail has a mouthy of which it 

 makes good use^ as market gardeners well know, 

 and yet this mouth is not furnished with teeth; 

 instead of those, the upper lip, which is of a horny 

 texture, is v*'hat is called dcntatedj from the Latin 

 dentus — a tooth, that is, divided or separated, so as 

 to present somewhat the appearance of a row of 

 teeth in the jaw ; this lip is of an arched form, and 



