IN A SNAILERY. 33 



yet found in Great Britain where the Roman encampments 

 were. They are still regarded as a delicacy in Italy and 

 France, the favorite method of preparation being to boil 

 in milk, with plenteous seasoning. Frank Buckland says 

 that several of the larger English species are excellent food 

 for hungry people, and recommends them either boiled in 

 milk, or, in winter, raw, after soaking for an hour in salt 

 and water. Some of the French restaurants in London 

 have them placed regularly upon their bills of fare. Thou- 

 sands are collected annually and sent to London as food for 

 cage-birds. Dr. Edward Gray stated, a few years ago, that 

 immense quantities were shipped alive to the United States 

 " as delicacies ;" but I am inclined to consider this an exag- 

 geration growing out of the fact that, among our fancy gro- 

 ceries " a few jars of pickled snails, imported from Italy," 

 figure as a curiosity, rather than something needed, for the 

 table. The same author records that the glassmen at New- 

 castle once a year have a snail feast, collecting the animals 

 in the fields and hedges on the Sunday before. 



Mr. W. G. Binney, for whom a sirup of snails was pre- 

 scribed by two regular physicians in Paris in 1863, points 

 out how old is the belief that land mollusks possess valua- 

 ble medicinal qualities. In the Middle Ages the rudimen- 

 tary shell of the slug acquired a high rank among the mi- 



3 



