22 EAMBLES IN SEAKCH OF SHELLS. 



sound so sweet so unlike anything he had ever 

 heard before, and so peculiar that he was not 

 only puzzled to imagine a prohable cause for it, but 

 actually unable to form a guess as to the exact 

 spot whence it proceeded. It was often repeated at 

 irregular intervals during the evening, occasionally 

 three or four times in the course of as many 

 minutes ; and, although it was not loud, and did not 

 continue many seconds at a time, it was distinctly 

 audible, notwithstanding the noise occasioned by 

 the beating of the rain against the windows and 

 the discord of the wind in the chimney stacks. 

 Several months elapsed ere he had an opportunity of 

 hearing it again. At this second performance the 

 rain was falling as before, but the shutters of the 

 room were not closed as they had been in the first 

 instance, and he was enabled distinctly to trace the 

 mysterious sound to one of the windows. A light 

 held near this window revealed the fact that the 

 musician was no other than our friend the Helix 

 aspersa. It appeared that the friction of its foot or 

 shell he could not satisfactorily determine which 

 against the wet glass had caused a vibration in the 

 pane on which it was travelling, and in this way 



