B1CHE DE MER. 197 



MRS. F. 



Then there are birds' nests, which we have before alluded 

 to, and also the biche or bearche de mer. 



HENRIETTA. 



What is that? 



MRS. F. 



It is now ascertained to be a species of Sea Slug (Holu~ 

 thurise); which is dried and used in the dishes of the Chinese, 

 being collected on the shores of nearly all the islands of the 

 Indian Archipelago and New Holland. It sells in China at 

 a high price; but as it requires great care, and the smell of it, 

 moreover, is very disagreeable, it seldom forms part of the 

 cargo of an European vessel.* 



HENRIETTA. 



Well, that is not worse than the snails which some people 

 eat. 



MRS. F. 



This tribe of animals is a general article of food. The 

 Romans had their Cocklearia, in which they were fed upon 

 bran and wine until they attained an incredible size.f The 

 Ashantees eat snails after they have been smoke-dried. In 

 several provinces of France, at Liege, in Silesia, Brabant, 

 Switzerland, and Italy, they are also eaten as food; and in 

 the markets of most of the great cities of the Continent they 

 are sold to make a mucilaginous broth for those who are 

 attacked with affections of the lungs. The places in which 

 they are fattened are termed escargatoires, escargot being the 

 French appellation of the edible snail (Helix pomatia). One 

 of these fattening places has been described to me, which 

 exists in a convent on the lake of Starenberg, in Bavaria. It 

 resembles, in construction, one of our garden brick pits; and 

 on removing the cover, hundreds of these creatures were 



* Raffles's Java, and Beechey's Voyage. 



t Varro says, until a shell would hold two quarts! 



i Bowdich. 



17* 



