LIMAX MAXIMUS Linnaeus 



Material. Limax maximus is a European species which 

 was introduced into this country and is now fairly common. It 

 is found in damp places and may be kept alive for a long time if 

 fed on vegetables or apples. It is by no means a typical gaster- 

 opod, nor even a typical pulmonate, since the great majority of 

 gasteropods have a helicoid body. But the size and shape of 

 Limax make it peculiarly adapted for dissection and after all it 

 possesses characteristically gasteropod features. The old method 

 of drowning the animal in a hermetically closed jar filled with 

 water which had been deprived of air by prolonged boiling, is 

 still giving the best results. A few drops of alcohol or chloroform 

 may be added to the water to hasten the relaxation of the 

 muscles. Freshly killed specimens are best for dissection. 

 Specimens preserved in formalin should be soaked in warm water 

 for several hours previous to dissection. Every student should 

 receive one specimen and a prepared slide with a section through 

 the hermaphroditic gland. 



Descriptive Part 



Limax maximus or the gray slug belongs to the order of pul- 

 monate gasteropods. It lives on land in damp places, feeding 

 on various plants. Its molluscan nature is at once apparent 

 from its large foot which is its only organ of locomotion, and its 

 dorsal shield which is nothing but the mantle. The foot is quite 

 llat and extends from one end of the animal to the other. Its 

 border is clearly set off from the rest of the body. The head is 

 not distinctly separate, except on the ventral surface. Here the 

 mouth is situated, which, when closed has the appearance of a 



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