12 SLUGS AND SNAILS. 



in other parts it lias still a residence, and within these few 

 years it has materially injured or destroyed many of the piles 

 used in the construction of the pier at Portpatrick, on the 

 coast of Ayrshire ; and the Limnoria terebrans, a crustaceous 

 insect, co-operating with it, the result of their united efforts 

 " can hardly fail to be the utter and speedy destruction of all 

 the timber in the pier." And it may be remarked, that the 

 size of the specimens received from this northern locality, 

 gives no support to those who assert that the animal has dege- 

 nerated in our seas, since they " equal, if not surpass, in 

 magnitude the largest as yet stated to have been met with in 

 the Indian ocean, having almost attained the length of two 

 feet and a half," the ordinary length being about a foot.* 

 The Teredo, which is not uncommon on the western coast of 

 Ireland, has also begun the work of devastation in the har- 

 bour of Donaghadee, and at Youghal, in the county of Cork ; 

 and Mr. Ball states, " that about eight years ago, he saw 

 several pieces of timber from the harbour of Dunmore, county 

 of Waterford, that were perforated by the Teredo, which 

 caused great destruction there at that time."f No sort 

 of wood appears capable of resisting the fatal powers of this 

 Mollusk. Teak, sissoo, and saul — Indian woods allied to the 

 teak but of a harder quality — are all eaten through in a short 

 time ; British oak and cedar with still greater ease ; and of 

 course in such soft woods as alder and pine it works much 

 more speedily and successfully, driving the bore always in 

 the direction of the grain, whether the position of the wood 

 be perpendicular or otherwise. J 



Ask your gardener why, in the spring especially, he with 

 sedulous care draws layers of quicklime and ashes round his 

 beds, or sprinkles them with lime water, and he will tell you 

 that all this precaution is necessary to protect his early crops 

 from the ravages of snails and slugs, than which he has no 

 more mischievous annoyers : and for greater safety he places 

 half decayed or greasy leaves, tiles, and other unseemly 



the authority of Mr. Knowles, says it is abundant at Plymouth. — Life of 

 Davy, ii. 224. And Mr. Osier's statement is contradicted by Dr. Moore. — 

 Charlesw. Mag. N. Hist. ii. 206 ; and iii. 197. _ 



* Thompson in Edin. New Phil. Journ. xviii. 122. — The longest which 

 Sellius met with in Holland were thirteen inches, but trustworthy witnesses 

 assured him they had seen specimens three feet long. — De Tered. 6. 



t Edin. New Phil. Journ. xviii. 130. 



% The experiments made by Mr. John Cooper, of Dover, shew " that 

 kyanizing timber does not in any degree protect it from the worm ; " nor 

 saturating it with copperas water. The African oak resisted the attacks of 

 it better than either fir or English oak ; and teak appears to have been 

 uninjured. — See Athenaum, Sept. 12th, 1840, p. 718. 





