404 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



the noise is so near as to agitate the air which immediately surrounds 

 it. Indeed, the snail few has senses ; the poor creature is at once 

 blind, deaf, and dumb. 



The snails are male and female in the same individual, or herma- 

 phrodite. Their eggs are roundish, heavy, and of a whitish colour. 

 The animal deposits them on the soil in little irregular heaps ; at other 

 times it deposits them one after the other, like the grains of a chaplet, 

 in holes which it digs in the soil, or in the natural excavations created 

 by moisture. The eggs are even found in the hollows of old trees ; in 

 fissures of walls or rocks. 



When the young Helix issues from the egg, it is already provided 

 with an extremely thin membranous shell. The timid and tender 

 youth is conscious of its weakness and full of humility. It rarely 

 trusts itself out of the obscure hole in which it was hatched ; when 

 it does, it is only at night, dreading the desiccating air, and, above 

 all, the sun's rays, even with the house it always carries with it for 

 shelter. 



This calcareous and velluted house is spiral, which the animal has 

 the inappreciable advantage of transporting without fatigue. It is 

 light, and sometimes quite disproportionate to the body of the animal, 

 which it covers only in that part which contains the viscera and respi- 

 ratory organs. The form of the shell is generally much variegated. 

 Some are flattened, others are orbicular or globose ; in some the spiral 

 is very pointed. The edges of the shell are sometimes simple, sharp, 

 and pointed ; others, on the contrary, thick and inverted, presenting 

 an edging of great solidity. 



The spire is generally rolled up from right to left. A helix shell, 

 the spiral of which follows the inverse direction, that is, from left to 

 right, is a rarity much sought after by amateurs. 



The ancients held snails in especial esteem for the table. The 

 Eomans had many species served up at their feasts, which they dis- 

 tinguished in categories according to the delicacy of their flesh. 

 Pliny tells us that the best were imported from Sicily, from the 

 Balearic Isles, and from the Isle of Capri, the last dwelling-place of 

 the aged Tiberius; The largest came from Illyria. Ships proceeded 

 to the Ligurian coast to gather them for the tables of the Roman 

 patricians. The great consumption led to the establishment of parks 



