THE POPULAE EDUCATOR. 



slugs may therefore know, as well as human beings, what it is 

 "to suffer from nervous attacks. 



Would any one like to see the heart of a snail ? The keeper 

 of the above-mentioned museum will gratify the wish. It is a 

 hard matter to look into the human heart, but readers may 

 there inspect the inner part of a snail's heart, which is generally 

 placed near the middle of the animal's back. 



The snail must, of course, breathe. How does the air enter 

 lis system ? The snail's nose, if we may use the expression, is 

 on the back, or right side of the nock that is, the hole through 

 which the air enters is there placed. Can the snail smell ? 

 Philosophers are not agreed upon the point. There is not, how- 

 ever, the least doubt that they soon find out vegetables for which 

 they have a liking, as many an indignant gardener will admit. 



Snails exhibit in spring and early summer a strange pecu- 

 liarity. Their bodies are then covered with little spikes or 

 darts of a horny substance, about a quarter of an inch long. 

 Some of the older books have engravings representing these 

 darts flying as if shot off from the bodies of the snails. They 

 are, however, a puzzle to the snail philosophers up to the 

 present time. 



Let us now look at the shell. In what light shall we regard 

 this ? Is it the snail's house, or the snail's skeleton ? Either 

 notion may be held. If we deem it the house, then we may 

 well envy the animal for his power, not only of making his own 

 house, but of repairing damages which may happen to walls or 

 roofs. He is not only his own mason, builder, and architect, 

 but provides his own quarry. We need not say, perhaps, that 

 the lime of the shell is produced from the pores of the animal's 

 body. When he grows too largo for his first house he enlarges 

 it, and thus inhabitant and mansion are always accommodated 

 each to the other. As his family never live with him, ho has 

 but his own good-will and pleasure to consult in the building. 

 Two things deserve special notice. Readers must have observed 

 great differences in the coloured markings of snails' shells. 

 Now each snail has his own colour manufactory. A series of 

 glands, like so many chemical workshops, produce the colours 

 which give the various tints to the shell. It is a singular fact 

 that even the baby snail begins its work of builder before it is 

 hatched. Even when yet in the egg, the little creatures are 

 found to have formed a thin shell. This is something like 

 infant precocity. One thing, however, seems beyond these 

 babies ; they cannot form the colouring matter of the shell; the 

 house is built first and ornamented after. 



We must now call attention to the snail's winter house. 

 When food begins to fail, and the autumn nights get cool, the 

 creature becomes drowsy, and makes up his mind to a long 

 sleep. Some bury themselves in the ground, others crowd into 

 sheltered corners. But note the preparation for the winter. 

 Some species retire deeply into the shell, building up four or 

 five thin walls of lime at the entrance, so that the animal is 

 completely blocked up and separated from the outside world. 

 Having performed this building feat, the snail bids good-bye to 

 all care and sorrow, dropping into a comfortable sleep for the 

 whole winter. Some of these are indeed rudely roused from 

 slumber by hungry birds, which, discovering the shells, drive 

 their beaks through the thin walls, and tearing out the luckless 

 snail, devour him before he has time to awake. 



Are snails of any use at all ? Readers who wish for variety 

 of food may make wholesome soup of their bodies. Start not 

 at the proposal ; one species of snail was eaten in England in 

 the time of Elizabeth, and " a snail feast " is said to be still 

 celebrated on special days by some trades in the North of 

 England. A modern cookery book describes no less than 

 twelve modes of preparing the animals for food. Is any 

 reader anxious to try a dish ? Then take our recipe : Get a 

 sufficient quantity, according to appetite, of the edible snail 

 (Helix pomatia is the learned, name), boil them in spring water, 

 then strew pepper and salt over and dine. The Emperor Nero 

 is said to have preferred them fried ; any reader who pleases 

 can, of course, try them that way. 



Our friends will bear in mind that we purposely avoid in 

 these articles technical descriptions of species and genera, deep 

 physiological discussion, and anatomical details. Our main 

 object is to call attention to the richly varied facts which are to 

 be seen in every field and garden throughout the year. There 

 is much to excite wonder, and remind us of our infinite Creator 

 in the meanest creatures of the waters, land, or air. 



LESSONS IN FRENCH. XVII. 



SECTION I. FRENCH PRONUNCIATION (continued). 

 VIII. LIQUIDS. 



80. L and LL. Whenever I and II are preceded by ai, ei, 

 oui, and sometimes by i only, they receive a sound very different 

 from that which they have when initial. In the former case, 

 they become liquid, and are so called from their peculiar sound. 

 Yet it is a sound with which foreigners are well acquainted. 

 The only difficulty is, in expressing or illustrating the sound by 

 means of English analogous sounds. 



It is the same sound which is given to the letters Hi in the 

 correct pronunciation of the English words collier, billiard, bril- 

 liant, and William. If you pronounce any one of these words very 

 carefully, observing at the same time the peculiar sound of the 

 letters Hi, you will have the correct liquid sound which is illus- 

 trated by the peculiar sound of yl in the word seraglio. 



In French words containing liquid sounds, observe the follow- 

 ing general rules, namely : 



Rule 1. Pronounce the letter a before il and ill as a in the 

 English word ah. 



Rule 2. Pronounce the letter e before il and ill as a in the 

 English word day. 



In the illustrated pronunciation of the following examples of 

 liquid sounds, the last syllable ye of many of them is scarcely 

 sounded. Let it be but the mere faint echo of the voice. 



Name, gl ; sound, like g I in the English word seraglio. 



TRENCH. PRONUNCIATION. 



Accueil Ak-uhyl 



Briller Breel-yay 



Castillo Kas-teeyl 



D^pouille Day-pooyl 



Enorgueillir Ahu-or-guhl-yeer 



Famille Fain-eeyl 



Feuille 



Fille 



Mouiller 



Oreille 



Paille 



Pouiller 



Kdveil 



Sillon 



Soleil 



Tailleur 



Tourbillon 



Travail 



Fuhyl 



Feeyl 



Mool-yay 



Or-ayl 



Pahyl 



Pool-yay 



Eay-vayl 



Seel-yonh 



Sol-ayl 



Tie-yuhr 



Toor-beel-yonh 



Trav-i-yl 



ENGLISH. 

 Reception. 

 To brighten. 

 Contention. 

 Spoil. 



To be proud of. 

 Family. 

 Paper, or a sheet of payer. 

 Daughter. 

 To wet. 

 Ear. 

 Straw. 

 To abuse. 

 Alarm-clock. 

 Furrow. 

 Sun. 

 Tailor. 

 Wliirlwind. 

 Labour. 



But there is another very different and common method of 

 pronouncing the liquid sound illustrated in the preceding 

 examples. Its chief merit is, the ease with which it may be 

 acquired. It cannot bo stigmatised as absolutely vicious, though 

 it be, at least in our opinion, inelegant. 



The following examples will be used to illustrate the kind of 

 pronunciation just spoken of, viz. : 



FRENCH. 

 Aiguille 

 Bouilli 

 Bouteille 

 Cuiller 

 Fauteuil 

 Groseille 

 Muraille 



PRONUNCIATION. 

 A-guee-y' 

 Booee-y' 

 Boo-tay-y' 

 Kuee-yeair 

 Fo-tuh-y' 

 Gro-zay-y' 

 Mu-rah-y' 



ENGLISH. 

 Needle. 

 Soiled. Beef. 

 Bottle. 

 Spoon. 

 Arm-chair. 

 Currant. 

 Wall 



Speaking of these different methods of pronouncing the 

 liquids, the following opinion is taken from Bolmar's "Levizac's 

 French Grammar," namely : 



" This last pronunciation being the easiest of the two, has 

 been adopted by so many people in France, that it is no longer 

 considered a fault, except by grammarians. However, I recom- 

 mend the former, not only on account of its correctness, but 

 also on account of its being a sound very common to the Spanish, 

 Italian, and Portuguese languages, in which languages this sound 

 does not admit of any variation. It is represented in the Spanish 

 by II, in the Italian by gli, and in the Portuguese by Ifi." 



81. GW. This liquid is much used in the French language. 

 Its correct sound is peculiar, and by no means difficult to 

 attain. It is the sound of the letters gn in the English words 

 bagnio, mignonette, and vignette. 



Pronounce the word mignonette correctly and carefully, observ- 

 ing, at the same time, the peculiar sound of the letters gn, 

 which will be the correct sound of this liquid. 



