SLUGS AND SNAILS. 



269 



kinds of grey slugs from each other, but this is soon 

 acquired. Snails and slugs should be sought early in 

 the morning whilst the grass is still wet with dew, or 

 after a shower. 



The ancient Romans, and some modern nations, 

 held the larger snails in esteem as a great delicacy. 

 They fattened them for the table until they are said 

 to have attained an enormous size. The largest 

 British snail, called 

 the Apple Snail, 1 is 

 reported to have 

 been a great favour- 

 ite with -the Ro- 

 mans. Some assert 

 that it was brought 

 to this country first 

 by the Roman con- 

 querors, and is only 

 now found in the 

 south, where the 

 shells are discov- 

 ered buried in the 



vicinity of old Roman encampments. Others say 

 that Sir Kenelm Digby introduced them for medicinal 

 purposes. Others, again, that they were brought to 

 Albury, in Surrey, by Mr. Howard, in the sixteenth 

 century. Whichever account be true, it is admitted 

 that they are not indigenous, and even now are only 

 found in chalky districts. Several Continental nations 

 retain snails as a fashionable delicacy. In France 



APPLE SNAIL. 



Helix pomatia. 



