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sage of air. The multiplication of Snails is 

 at times prodigious ; and it is uniformly ob- 

 served that a rainy season contributes much 

 to their increase, "it has been asserted, and 

 on apparently good authority, that Snails 

 have been known to revive after remaining 

 in torpidity a number of years ; and they 

 also possess extraordinary powers of repro- 

 duction, being able to renew almost any 

 part of the body that has been amputated, or 

 of the shell that has been broken. This 

 species of Mollusca is universally diffused : 

 throughout the continents of Europe, Asia, 

 and Africa ; in the hottest and coldest cli- 

 mates ; in the most cultivated as well as in 

 the most barren situations ; in the forests of 

 Guiana and Brazil, at the foot of Chimbo- 

 ra/.i i, and even in the great desert of Zahara, 

 the common Garden Snail will be found. 



The GKEAT VINE S.VAII,, or EDIBLE 

 SXAIL. (Helix pomatia.) This species was 

 considered by the ancient Romans one of 

 their table luxuries, and such great attention 

 was paid to the mode of feeding them, that 

 they frequently attained an immense size. 

 On the shores of '.lie Mediterranean they are 

 still regarded as a valuable article of food, 

 when boiled in the shell, and eaten with 

 rice : and in some countries, as Switzerland 

 and parts of France, they form a consider- 

 able article of commerce. They are fed by 



: 



thousands in places, called 

 which are made on purpose for them. They 

 are used, boiled in milk, for diseases of the 

 lungs ; and are also sent to America from 

 this country as a delicacy. Some authors 

 tell us that this species has been introduced 

 into this country from abroad ; while others 

 suppose it to be indigenous. It is almost 

 peculiar to chalky and gravelly soils. 



Among the members of the family llflii-iihe 

 one genus deserves especial notice from its 

 structure. There are only two species known, 

 Anastoma dcpressa and Anastoma globu- 

 losa. " The peculiarity," says Mr. Sowerby, 

 " which distinguishes this genus from all 

 the other Helicit'orm Univalves is so extra- 

 ordinary, that it appears to us to be de- 

 serving of particular notice, inasmuch as it 

 evidences a considerable alteration in the 

 habit and economy of the animal which pro- 

 duces it, at the time of its arrival at the last 

 period of growth, when it forms the reflected 

 outer lip, and the teeth in the aperture. 

 Until then, the animal must crawl about 

 like other Snails, with the spire of its shell 

 uppermost ; but as soon as it arrives at ma- 

 turity, and is about to form its complete 

 aperture, it takes a reverse position, and 

 afterwards constantly carries its spire down- 



wards." It is very rare, and is brought from 

 the East Indies. 



SNAKES. Under the words SERPENTS, 

 RATTLESNAKE, BOA, HYDROPHIS, &c., will 

 be found descriptions of many of the most 

 formidable among the venomous species : we 

 shall therefore in this article notice a few of 

 the Colulridae, all of which are perfectly 

 innoxious. We commence, then, with the 

 Common or RINGED S.NAKK (Coluber natrix.) 

 This species is very common in all parts of 

 England ; frequenting low moist woods, 

 damp meadows, and hedgerows in the vici- 

 nity of water ; feeding upon young birds, 

 mice, and other small quadrupeds, and li- 

 zards ; but, in preference to all these, upon 

 frogs. The Ringed Snake grows to the length 

 of more than three feet. The head is of an 

 elegant ovate form, and considerably de- 

 pressed, the bock part broader than the neck. 

 The teeth are email, curved backwards, as 

 in all the other innocuous Snakes, arranged 

 in two series on each side of the jaw both 

 above and below. Tongue long and flexible, 

 and bind to about one third of its length. 

 The back and sides are covered with small 

 scales ; and the bellv with oblong, narrow, 

 transverse plates. The colour of the back 

 and sides is dusky or brown ; the upper parts 

 of the body and head being of a light brown- 

 ish grav with a green tinge, sometimes ap- 

 proaching to a dull pale olive : the middle 

 of the back is marked with two rows of small 

 black spots, running from head to tail ; and 

 from them proceed numerous lines of spots 

 crossing the bides. The plates on the abdo- 

 men are dusky ; and the scales on the sides 

 arc a bluish white colour, sometimes marbled 

 with block. On each side of the neck there 



a pale yellow spot ; and the base of ea.'h has 

 a triangular black spot, one angle of which 

 points downwards. It lays its eggs in dung- 

 hills and hotbeds, whose heat, aided by that 

 of the sun, promotes the exclusion of its 

 young. During the winter these reptiles 

 resort to the bunks of hedges, the hollow 

 roots of old trees, or some sequestered and 

 sheltered corner, where they remain, coiled 

 together, sometimes in considerable numbers, 

 till, like the other tribes which hybernate, a 

 warmer season calls them forth to resume 

 their natural functions. 



Mr. Bell remarks, that " Snakes, like most 

 other Reptilia, shed their cuticle or outer 

 skin at greater or less intervals. It is a 

 mistake to assign a particular period to this 

 process ; some have stated it to occur once, 

 Borne twice in the summer ; but I have found 

 it to depend upon the temperature of the 

 atmosphere, and on the state of health, and 

 the more or less frequent feeding of the ani- 

 mal. I have known the skin shed four or 

 five times during the year. It is always 

 thrown off by reversing it ; so that the trans- 

 parent covering of the eyes, and that of the 

 scales also, are always found concave in the 

 exuviae. Previously" to this curious circum- 

 stance taking place, the whole cuticle be- 

 comes somewhat opaque, the eyes are dim, 

 and the animal is evidently blind. It also 

 becomes more or less inactive ; until at 

 length when the skin is ready to be removed, 



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