14 UP AND DOWN THE BROOKS. 



tain seasons of the year, I think. They are the 

 flat ones that have all the whorls of their shells 

 in the same plane. These snails belong to the 

 old genus Planorbis. 



It is not particularly wise to leave a snail-bottle 

 open. Close it with mosquito-bar, for otherwise 

 you will be likely to come back after leaving your 

 bottle and find out that your biggest and there- 

 fore supposedly your most intelligent pond-snail 

 has walked out of the jar, deposited himself on 

 the steps in the hot sun, been unable to extricate 

 himself from his difficulty, and find his road back 

 to the water in the bottle, and so has perished, 

 miserably broiled to death. So much intelligence 

 has the pond-snail. 



It is said that, in Rome, the present of a snail 

 on a certain festival was a symbol of renewed 

 friendship. I can well believe it, for although I 

 suppose it was a land-snail, yet snails whether on 

 the earth or in the water are most peaceable crea- 

 tures, and usually set a much better example to 

 the quarrelsome beetles than thoje creatures are 

 willing to follow. 



Pick up any stick that you may find that has 

 lain long in the water, and you can gather pond- 

 snails from it. They hang on the water-weeds 

 also, where those dip into the pools, and if the 

 snails are gathered and kept a few days in the 

 spring, their eggs will be found on the sides of 

 the jar. 



