CHAPTER X 



WONDERFUL TEETH AND TONGUES 



THE mouth of a snail is hardly the place where 

 the seeker after beauty would expect to have his 

 desires gratified. Yet we propose to make a 

 little investigation in this apparently unsuitable 

 direction. 



That all people have not an insuperable pre- 

 judice to snails is evident from the fact that on 

 the Continent and it is said in some parts of 

 England the largest and fattest specimens of the 

 edible or Roman snail, which we are about to 

 discuss first, are considered a great delicacy when 

 carefully cooked. But the snail is better 

 equipped for eating than for being eaten : for 

 we are told by our scientific friends that the 

 creature possesses 140 rows of teeth, each 

 row containing 151, thus giving a total of 

 21,140 teeth in the complete set. What an 

 order for a dentist ! But, unlike human beings, 

 snails can altogether dispense with artificial aid ; 

 for as the front row of teeth wear away, the next 



