WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



brane, long, narrow, and cartilaginous, which 

 may be brought up against the cutting-edge of 

 the upper jaw. This "tongue" is studded with 

 rows of infinitesimal silicious " teeth/ ' eleven thou- 

 sand of which are possessed by our common white- 

 lipped helix, although its ribbon is not a quarter of 

 an inch long. All these sharp denticles point back- 

 ward, so that the tongue acts not only as a rasp, 

 but takes a firm hold upon the food. On holding 

 the more transparent snails up to the light it is easy 

 to see how they eat, and you can hear a nipping 

 noise as the semicircular piece is bitten out of the 

 leaf. Their voracity often causes immense de- 

 vastation, particularly in England, where the great, 

 gray slugs will ruin a garden in one night if the 

 gardener is not daily on the watch. Our own straw- 

 berries sometimes suffer, but a border of sawdust, 

 sand, or ashes around the bed is an adequate pro- 

 tection in dry weather. In trying to cross it, the 

 marauders become so entangled in the particles 

 adhering to their slimy bodies that they exhaust 

 themselves in the attempt to get free. They also 

 are very fond of fungi, including many poisonous 

 kinds. 



At the first hint of frost our snail feels the ap- 

 proach of a resistless lassitude, and, creeping under 



302 



