Snails.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



tions in the mantle, nor is there any terminal pore. 

 When extended these slugs are very slender, and it 

 has been stated that they are both terrestrial and 

 aquatic in their habits, but M. Rang observes that he 

 never met with them in Bourbon and Martinique, 

 except in the woods and gardens, under old fallen 

 trunks. The following is an example. 



2597. — The Shielded Slug 



( Vaijimtlus Tmmuisi). Onichidium laeve, De Blain- 



ville. 



The letter a exhibits the animal contracted 

 and seen on the under side, with the head covered by 

 the mantle; b exhibits the animal extended and 

 crawling. 



2598.— The Limacklla 

 {Llmacetta Elfortiand). AH we know of this slug 

 IS from M. de Blainville himself, who first charac- 

 terized If, and who says that the combination of ' 

 characters appears to him so anomalous that he 

 doubts really whether he had well observed the 

 mollusk on which he has established the genus. 

 M. Rang however gives it a place in the family, 

 merely copying the description and M. de Blain- 

 ville s expressions of doubt above stated. 



Generic character. — Animal elongated, subcy- 

 lindrical, provided with a foot as long and as large 

 as itseli', from which it is separated only by a 

 furrow ; enveloped in a thick skin, forming at the 

 anterior part of the back a sort of buckler for the 

 protection of the pulmonary cavity, the orifice of 

 which is at its right border. 



^HAi* P*wl''".u'' '"l"*^'' '■^^' "■''" °" October the 29th, 



ihn,,; fh kk'^^'u' ' "^' '"'"' '" "'h«r ga-dens 



about the neighbourhood we cannot learn. 



2599.— The Testacella {Testacella scutulum). 

 2600.— The Tesekiffe Testaceixa 

 (Testacella Mavyei). The Testacellae are slugs, with 

 a contracted mantle, placed over the hinder part of 

 the back, and supporting a small external plate or 

 shell, somewhat spiral in its contour, and of an oval 

 outlme. The tentacles are four; the orifice of the 

 pulmonary cavity is placed under the right side of 

 the posterior apex of the shell. Referring to Fig 

 2099, a shows the shell externally, b internally 

 of I. scutulum; and turning to Fig. 2600 a arid 

 b exhibit the shell of T. Mauirei. Three species 

 are described and figured by Mr. Sowerby, viz T 

 haliolideus a native of France ; Scutulum, consi- 

 dered by Mr. Sowerby to be a native of England • 

 and Maugei, an inhabitant of Teneriffe, but now 

 naturalized around Bristol. 



The testacella appears to have been first noticed 

 by iM. Dugu6, in a garden at Dieppe in 1740- but 

 l-TT ?f ,".°' "^f"^ '" ^^^''' attracted much attention 

 till M. Maug6, some years since, brought home spe- 

 cimens (rom the island of Teneriffe. " It has also 

 been lound," says .Mr. Sowerby, '■ in several parts of 

 1-rance, and in Spain, and more lately in a garden 

 at Bu,1ol. Some specimens from the last-mentioned 

 place have been handed to us by Mr. Miller of that 

 city. It feeds upon earth-worms, having the power 



«hl! ?"f n "^-'/k' ^'^''y*,? «"<:h a degree, that it is 

 able to follow them in all their subterranean wind- 

 ings: we have observed them attentively, and ivere 

 rather surprised that an animal generally so ex 

 fremely sluggish in its motions, after discoverins its 

 prey by means of its tentacula, thrusting froni its 

 large mouth its white crenulated revolute tonirue 

 shou d instantly seize upon with extraordinary' 

 rapidity, and firmly retain, an earth-v.orm of much 

 greater size and apparent force than itself, but 

 which by Its utmost exertion is unable to escaoe " 

 Mr. Sowerby adds, that De F^rus.sac and Cuvier 

 consKlcr this to be the only carnivorous terrestrial 

 mollusk. Slugs, however, as we have observed are 

 carnivorous. ' 



De l-^russac remarked that the simple, gelatinous 

 ,?nT/"H '-\"'m""%°'" !'?«,^"™al, hidden habitua ly' 

 under the shell, is divided info many lobes capable 

 of enveloping the whole body by an extraordina y 

 development when the animal finds it necessary to 

 protect itself from the consequences of too -reat 

 dryness. o'^ai 



Rrwl'o!''lt''? T^ n''''- *^f ■" ♦''« ^''^''ens around 

 Bristol the testacella or shelled slug is now so com- 

 mon as to prove a nuisance. It has been also 

 found m a earden in Gloucestershire (see the 'Penny 

 Maeazine,' 1835 p. 152). Mr. Sowerby found thl 

 Testacella scutulum in a garden at Lambeth ; and in 

 our own garden at Hammersmith this species fat 

 least so we suppose it to be) is tolerably abundant • 

 several specimens, some of considerable size a e 

 now before „s; the colour is yellow, more or less 

 deep, sometimes of a straw tint with a white line 

 along each .side. In crawling, these ,slu<.s greatly 

 extend the anterior part of th^ body, to"an^acu ^ 

 point, and insinuate themselves with the utmost 

 ease into the soil. Their texture is very firm a mo 

 cartilaginous to the feel, and the mucus of the TkTn 

 s extreme y tenacious. They are most common y 

 o be lound in cool and dewy or wet weather and 

 \'SriT. ""■'"' '"'' '" '^^ «ea^on! The' fi?s' 



2601. — Olivieb's Parmacella 

 (Parmacella Olivieri). The parmacellie are slus- 

 iike animals, having a mantle with free edges sun- 

 porting on Its posterior portion an oblong flat shell 

 exhibiting the rudiment of a spire. ' 



Ohvier's parmacella is a native of Mesopotamia 

 whence a specimen was brought by that traveller 

 to Pans, and served for the anatomical researches 

 of Cuvier. 



Other species are found in Brazil, Bourbon, Mada- 

 gascar, and the East Indies. M. Rang states that 

 n Brazil these parmacellae inhabit the woods, but 

 that at Bourbon and Madagascar he never found 

 them except upon rocks near fresh-water torrents. 

 Family HELICID^ (COMMON GARDEN 

 SNAIL, BULINUS, &c.). 



2602.— The Lakgk Garden Snail 

 i-Hellx aspersa). As the fisherman hates the otter 

 so does the gardener this voracious, destructive 



?hf;., """r^'' °f, "^'''^^ '" "'<^ K^'den and or- 

 ,dpn Lwv '*i^l'y annoying. If the species be 

 Identical, this snail has a most extensive range It 

 IS found, for instance, over a great part of Europe 

 ^The'^fn- ^"■"=?V*^'he foot of Chimborazo, and 



island It abounds m the southern and midland coun- 

 ties ; yet we do not recollect ever to have seen it in 

 Derbyshire, or in the portions of StaiFordshire, 

 Cheshire, and Lancashire with which we are well 

 acquainted ; and we doubt its existence in the 

 Snlii Vw r "'^ counties the beautiful Belted 

 bnaif (Helix nemoralis) is abundant 

 . The Hehx aspersa often attains to a veiy lar^e 

 size: we have .specimens in which the mouth of the 

 shell measures transversely seven-eighths of an 

 nch. In winter this snail becomes^ torpid, and 

 closes the opening of the shell with a tough mem- 

 brane (Epiphragma). " 



of the French (Helix pomatia), abundant in the 

 warmer parts of the continent, has been naturalized 



■ n Surrey, and some other counties of our island 

 It IS eaten on many parts of the continent, where 

 says Cuvier, it is •' nourriture assez recherchee " 

 Hi h ' ''."i, .r'"';''P^ °^^^' ^V^i^ie^, formed a favourite 

 Sn, .r -^ ^^l "'""''"'' "'''• had their Cochlearia, or 

 Snailleries(Escargotoires, where they were fattened 

 upon meal and new wine, boiled down, and were , 

 sometimes brought to an enormous size. We can 

 not, however, help fancying that some error must 

 have been committed in the text of a passagTfn 

 the work of Pliny, who, on the authority of Varro 

 says cujus artis [i. e. of fattening snails) gloria in 

 eandem magnifudinem perducta sit, ut octoginfa 

 quadrantes caperent singularum calyces." Now 

 rwhi^h il"'"^'''"^ " T'eans a measure of three ounces 



t^P h f "°' Tf? 'i'.'"'' ""^ h'^^'e ™ a.ssertion, that 

 the shells would hold two hundred and forty ounces 

 or fen quarts which is positively beyond belief! 

 Relerring to this passage, and to Varro (de Re RusI 



■ ca). Pennant says, "People need not admire the 

 temperance of the supper of the younger Pliny 

 which consisted of only a lettuce a-piece, th"e^e 

 snails, two eggs, a barley-cake. sweet wine and snow' 

 Hirpbius "" ^"^ proportion to those of 



.o^»"'"hK"^ fattened at the present day in many 

 parts of the continent, in Escargofoires or SnaillerieT 

 which may be described as pens boarded in and 

 abundantly supplied with herbs, with which ^he 

 floor is covered to the depth of a Ibof 

 i\^nZV'T^°'f '^''•"""'Stances attend the hyberna- 

 tion ot the Helix pomatia, which have been detailed 

 by M Gaspard. He remarks that in our temperate 

 climate as soon as the first autumnal chillsTe felf 

 generally about the commencement of October this 

 species becomes indolent, loses its appetite, and 

 associates in considerable numbers on hillocks, the 

 o.^nks of ditches, thickets, hedges, and simi^lar 

 places. In a short time they cease feeding and 



and"the likr\t''' under moss, grass, dead ijaves. 

 and the like. Here each forms for itself with the 



^iPnT 1 ''"\ °^ "' ■"'"'*'^"'" fo"' ^ cavity uffi- 

 .^.en fly large to contain at least its shell ; this cavHy 

 It enlarges and excavates by turning itse f round on 

 every side, then raising itself against the sides o" 

 the cavi y, and at last against the roof formed o 

 moss or leaves, or a small quantity of earth brough 

 here by its motions. When it has succeeded in 

 bringing he aperture of the shell to nearly a ho/" 



":^mXTl^\t°'"- ■ Jl!'^''°'" i^^ooncltracted 

 within the shell, the snail then expands, so as com- 

 pletely to cover It, the collar of the mantle, whi™h 

 13 at this period very white; and then inspires a 

 Hofe yj "'■■' after which it closes the re.p^Ja ory 

 hrinp if" ^" •i''°"*' ^ •*"« transparent mem^ 

 brane is formed with its mucus, and interposed be- 



j tween the mantle and any extraneous substances 



I ly ng aiove. The mantle then secretes rquantitv 



I of very white fluid over its whole sur ace^ wh c^ 



sets uniformly, ike plaster of Paris, and i^srant'v 



I t. ,1^''" "" " hardened, the animal separates 



ec"e'l';,^"3 «f^ '7''''i" """ '^♦~"^" -'"=°" 

 fion nr^h ' 1 u"f'' ^ ^""^ hours, expelling a por 



ion of the air It had previously inspired, itis^enabled 

 to shrink a little farther into the shell. It now 

 forms another lamina of mucus, expires more a^ 

 and thus retires farther into the sheirTnX way 

 sometimes a fourth, fifth, and even a sixth pa iMon 



Su hT^MT-' '"'"'"'^'i-'- -"« filled TthT 

 oucli IS M. Ga.-,pard's account; but Mr Bell re 



nTS wh ch h" "°' ^'TP'***'^ -plain the mal 

 ner in which the excavation is formed. " It is not 



Soogl?"T'd'th''/'^ ''°°''' '""'^ ♦'- last^'a'iZ 

 zooiogis., and the turning round of the shell that 

 this IS principally effected. A large auantifv of 

 very viscid mucus is secreted on he^ unTer su ice 

 of the foot to which a layer of earth or dead "eaves 

 adheres; this is turned on one side, and, a f^esh 



I "h, rcus'i"!*.!™ Tr"^•'•'^'T^ of eart'h'mS 

 witn mucus 1., lelt. The animal then fakes another 



layer o earth on the bottom of the ?oot turnsit 



a so to the part where he intends to form the wd 



01 his habitation, and leaves ,t in the sam^ m,r 



epeating the process until the cavity is sufficientlv 



large, and thus making the sides smooth, even "„* 



compact. In lorming the dome or arch of the cham 



ber a similar method is used, the foot collectingon hs 



under surface a quantity of earth ; and the animal 



turning ,t upwards, leaves it by throwing out iS 



mucus and this is repeated unlil a perfect rooft 



formed. As 1 have very often watched this curious 



process, .m certain of the facts. On remS 



veiy carefully a portion of the roof soon after itl 



completion I was enabled to see the format on of 



U^^e operculum. In about an hour, or even less 



alter the hybernaculum is covered in, the whole 



pours'ou ft '="','"■ °'' '''' ""■*'" insf'antaneously 

 pours out Hie calcareous secretion in considerable 

 quantify. This ,s at first as fluid as thick cream! 

 b very soon acquires exactly the consistence of 

 biid-hme, being excessively adhesive and tenacious ; 



fecfl} solid"" "" ' ''"^'' '' '' P°"''^'^ °"' ^' ^^ ?«>•- 

 M. Gaspard states that the labour of each indi- 

 vidual continues for about two or three davs • hnt 

 hat the whole of the month of October is o^cupkd 

 HeaddT, .''^"P'l-'he shells of the species. 

 He adds that about the beginning of April the hy- 

 bernation ceases. '< The mode by ^hich their escape 

 from confinement is effected is simple and easi> 

 comprehended. The air which is contained in he 

 different cells, and which had been expired on the 

 animal withdrawing itself farther and farther into 

 the shell after the formation of the operculum ™ 

 again inspired, and each separate membranous par, 

 ition broken by the pressui^ of the hinder p" 1^0 

 the foot projected through the mantle. When it 

 arrives at the calcareous operculum, the animal 

 ma ingalast effort, bursts Ld detaches its most 

 , obtuse angle Then insinuating by little and little 



inlu'm^,'; i '^^ !?°' i''^'"''^'^" 'htshill and the oper! 

 ^"'""''t forces the latter oft' or breaks it away." 

 (See the Abstract of M. Gaspard's Memoir, with 

 vol 1) ^ ^- ^'''- ^•^•^■' '^°°'ogical Journal? 

 The following shells are examples of various 

 forms among the Helicids, and serve to show the 

 variation of figure which this family exhibits. 



2603.— Lamarck's Carocolla 

 {Carocolla Lamarckii). The animal is represented 

 in the act of crawling along -epresented 



al£f I'^r ""'^'"'^-^'PP'^'l Carocolla (Corocolla 



Fiv' imfi" Ih" '^f ■•'•y-';'^-^ Pupa (Pupa uva). 



Sl:2^o:r^r!!!J^"5^.i^"p-hrysiiis). 



9fin7 fi.„ r. -^ - -,"!;'' v^ "pacnrysaiis). 



depressu'S' '^^:^^ -^"-'°- (Anasto^- 



2608.— The Cootused Streptaxis 



species inhabit the tropical parts of Africa and South 

 America Our figured specimen is a native or 

 Brazil. It IS seen in two views 



RS^Si'toS*^ "^'^^ ^^^'- ^^^'"^)- 

 In tifo vfews.''^ ^"*''" ^^^*"'^ ^P-^uIa australis). 



2611.— The Minute Vertigo 



h^'M-^n^"f"^- ■}" *he genus Vertigo, established 

 by Muller, the snail has only two tenf!c es or bonis 



Onhe trV" "'' "P^- The shells are siZZ'. 

 VI the two figures represented at Fig. 2611 a re 

 presents the Vertigo p^usilla, 6 is an a1 hrd pec Ls" 

 with the animal. Both are magnified. Vertigo 



202 



