Ill] OF SNAILS 319 



by the sun. If there is none such provided by nature 

 — which is usually the case in a sunny place — and 

 you do not chance to have a shady spot in which 

 to make your snail-bed, at the foot of mountain 

 rocks, for instance, the base of which is bathed by 

 a lake or streams, you will have to make a dewy 

 place artificially. This is done by getting a hose-pipe 

 with small teats attached to it which squirt water on 

 to some stone near by, so that the water is splashed 

 in all directions. 

 3 Snails need little food and no one to give it to 

 them ; they discover it, as they crawl about, on the 

 floor of the enclosure, and even find it unless they 

 are stopped by a stream, by climbing the upright 

 walls. ' And, indeed, while they are on the huckster's 

 stall they manage to keep alive for a long time by 

 chewing' the cud, with the help of a few bay leaves 

 thrown amongst them and a sprinkling of bran. 



^ Parietes stantes invenit. Keil paraphrases sed etiam stantes 

 parietes cibi inveniendi causa ascendunt^ which is no doubt the 

 meaning. But how get this from the Latin? Per parietes is 

 plausible. 



^ Ruminantes. The Archetype has ex gruminantes ad pro- 

 palam. Gesner reads ex se ruminantes ad propolam. Keil dis- 

 liking ex se writes simply ruminantes, not noticing, however, 

 that this reading has the support of one MS. If the text be 

 right, ad must here have the sense of apud. Propola = 7r^>o7rwX»;t. 

 It is curious that in all the cases quoted by Nonius of the use 

 of ruminor by Varro, the metaphorical sense *' to ponder over," 

 "to remember," is alone found, e.g., Ruminari dictum in 

 memoriam revocare. Varro, Tanaquil : Non modo absens de te 

 fuidquam segnius cogitabit sed etiam rumimibitur Autnanitatem. 



