THE MODE OF EATINO. 33 



UHot'iil iiiliiibitantri of a iiiariiu'. lank ; tlioy make 

 llu^iUHt'Jvt'.H at lioiiu', and iWd itwulily. Jt ih inter- 

 eHting to wiitch the businoHH-like way in which 

 they proceed. At very regnhir intervals, the pro- 

 boHcin, a tube with thick lienhy wallH, is rapidly 

 turned innide out to a certain extent, until a Hurtace 

 in bronght into contact with tlie ghiKs, having a 

 nilky hintre ; thl.s Ih the tonf^iie ; it is moved with a 

 HJiort tiweep, an<l tiu-n the tnbuhir pndxjHcirt infolds 

 itrt walls a/^ain, the tongue disappearing, and every 

 lihunent of coiderva being carried up into the inte- 

 rior from the little area which had been swept. 

 The next instant, the foot meanwhih' having nuule 

 a small advance, the proboscis unfolds again, the 

 longiii' makes another sweep, and again the whole 

 is withdrawn ; and this proceeds with great regu- 

 larity. I can compare the action to nothing so 

 well as to the manner in which the tongue of an 

 ox licks up the grass of the held, or to the action 

 of a mower cutting down swathe after swatlu^ as 

 he nuirehes along. The latter comparison is nun'O 

 striking for the marks of progress which each t>pe- 

 rator leaves behind him. Though the confervoid 

 plants are swept otf by the tongue of the ^loUusk, 

 It is not done so cleanly but that a mark is left 

 where they grew; and Irom its pee\diar form and 

 Htrueture, the tongue leaves a series of successive 

 curves all along the coiu'se which the Mollusk has 

 tollowed, very closely like those which nuirk the 

 iu(livi»lual swathes eut ])y flu- mower in his course 

 thnmgh the field. 



The unsightly appearam-e thus lett must l»e got 

 rid of by mechanical means. A stick with a bit 

 of rag tied around its end, or, what is better still, 

 a brush uuide on i)uriiose, like a nail-brush with a 



