360 



HISTORY OF FISHES. 



of the elephant; and its anatomy is as well, 

 it' not better, known: however, not to give 

 any one object more room in the general 

 picture of nature than it is entitled to, it will 

 be sufficient to observe that the snail is sur- 

 prisingly fitted for the life it is formed to lead. 

 It is furnished with the organs of life in a 

 manner almost as complete as the largest ani- 

 mal : with a tongue, brain, salival ducts, 

 glands, nerves, stomach, and intestines ; liver, 

 heart, and blood-vessels: besides this, it has 

 a purple bag that furnishes a red matter to 

 different parts of the body, together with 

 strong muscles that hold it to the shell, and 

 which are hardened, like tendons, at their 

 insertion. 



But these it possesses in common with 

 other animals. We must now see what it 

 has peculiar to itself. The first striking pe- 



and forms a kind of solid operculum about half a line in 

 thickness, which accurately closes the mouth. When 

 this is become hard, the animal separates the mantle 

 from it. After a time, expelling a portion of the air it 

 had inspired, and thus "being reduced in bulk, it retreats 

 a little further into the shell, and forms another leaf of 

 mucus, and continues repeating this operation till there 

 are sometimes five or six of these leaves forming cells 

 filled with air between it and the operculum. 



The mode in which these animals escape from their 

 winter confinement is singular. The air they had ex- 

 pired on retiring into their shell further and further 

 remains between the different partitions of mucous mem- 

 brane above mentioned, which forms so many cells 

 hermetically sealed: this they again inspire, and thus 

 acquiring fresh vigour, each separate partition, as they 

 proceed, is broken by the pressure of the foot, projected 

 in part through the mantle ; when arrived at the oper- 

 culum, they burst it by a strong effort, and finally de- 

 taching it, then emerge, begin to walk, and to break their 

 long fast. 



In all these proceedings, the superintending care and 

 wise provisions of a Father Being are evident. This 

 creature can neither foresee the degree of cold to which 

 it may be exposed in its state of hibernation, nor know 

 by what means it may secure itself from the fatal effects 

 it would produce upon it, if not provided against. But 

 at a destined period, at the bidding of some secret 

 power, it sets about erecting its winter dwelling, and 

 employing its foot both as a shovel to make its mortar, 

 as a hod to transport it, and a trowel to spread it duly 

 and evenly, at length finishes and covers in its snug and 

 warm retreat ; and then, still further to secure itself from 

 the action of the atmosphere, with the slimy secretion 

 with which its Maker has gifted it, fixes partition after 

 partition, and fills each cell formed by it, with air, till 

 it has retreated as far as it can from every closed orifice 

 of its shell and thus barricades itself against a frozen 

 death. Again, in the spring, when the word is spoken 

 Awake ! it begins immediately to act with energy, 

 it re-inspires the air stored in its cells, bursts all its 

 cerements, returns to its summer-haunts, and again lays 

 waste our gardens. 



It is worthy of remark, that the terrestrial animals of 

 this tribe all delight in shady and moist places, and that 

 during hot and dry weather, they seldom make their ap- 

 pearance ; but no sooner comes a shower than they are 

 all in motion. It is probable that their power of motion 

 is impeded by a dry soil, and that the grains of earth 

 and small stones, when quite dry, adhere to their slimy 

 feet. Abridged from Kirby's Bridgewater Treatise. 



culiarity is, that the animal has got its eyes on 

 the points of its largest horns. When the 

 snail is in motion, four horns are distinctly 

 seen : but the two uppermost, and longest, 

 deserve peculiar consideration, both on ac- 

 count of the various motions with which they 

 are endued, as well as their having their eyes 

 fixed at the extreme ends of them. These 

 appear like two blackish points at their ends. 

 When considered as taken out of the body, 

 they are of a bulbous or turnip-like figure ; 

 they have but one coat ; and the three 

 humours which are common in the eyes of 

 other animals, namely, the vitreous, the aque - 

 ous, and the crystalline, are, in these, very 

 indistinctly seen. The eyes the animal can 

 direct to different objects at pleasure, by a 

 regular motion out of the body ; and some- 

 times it hides them by a very swift contrac- 

 tion into the belly. Under the small horns is 

 the animal's mouth ; and though it may ap- 

 pear too soft a substance to be furnished with 

 teeth, yet it has not less than eight of them, 

 with which it devours leaves, and other sub- 

 stances, seemingly harder than itself; and 

 with which it sometimes bites off pieces of its 

 own shell. 



But what is most surprising in the forma- 

 tion of this animal are the parts that serve for 

 generation. Every snail is at once male and 

 female; and while it impregnates another, is 

 itself impregnated in turn. The vessels sup- 

 plying the fluid for this purpose, are placed 

 chiefly in the fore part of the neck, arid extend 

 themselves over the body ; but the male and 

 female organs of generation are always found 

 united, and growing together. There is a 

 large opening on the right side of the neck, 

 which serves for very different purposes. As 

 a vent, it gives a passage to the excrements; 

 as a mouth, it serves for an opening for res- 

 piration; and also as an organ of generation, 

 it dilates when the desire of propagation be- 

 gins. Within this each animal has those 

 parts, or something similar thereto, which 

 continue the kind. 



For some days before coition, the snails ga- 

 ther together, and lie quite near to each other, 

 eating very little in the meantime; but they 

 settle their bodies in such a posture, that the 

 neck and head are placed upright. In the 

 meantime, the apertures on the side of the 

 neck being greatly dilated, two organs, resem- 

 bling intestines, are seen issuing from them, 

 which some have thought to be the instru- 

 ments of generation. Beside the protrusion 

 of these, each animal is possessed of another 

 peculiarity ; for, from the same aperture, they 

 launch forth a kind of dart at each other, 

 which is pretty hard, barbed, and ending in a 

 very sharp point. This is performed when 

 the apertures approach each other ; and then 



