47 



and it is probable that all whose aperture is closed 

 during the cold season only, are furnished with 

 this beautiful apparatus for the preservation of life. 



After the animal has been extracted, there remains 

 at the bottom of the shell a glairy transparent 

 matter, which affords one of the best and most 

 durable cements in nature, resisting every degree 

 of heat and moisture. 



From the time of the Romans, who fattened them as 

 an article of food, they have been eaten by various 

 European nations, dressed in various ways. Pe- 

 tronius Arbiter twice mentions them as served up 

 at the feast of Trimalchis (Nero), first fried, and 

 again grilled on a silver gridiron. 



At one period it seems that they were admitted at 

 our own tables ; as Lister, in his Hist. Anim. 

 Angl. p. Ill, tells us the manner in which they 

 were cooked in his time : " They are boiled in 

 spring water, and when seasoned with oil, salt and 

 pepper, make a dainty dish." " Coquuntur ex 

 aqua fluviatili, et adjectis oleo, sale et pipere, 

 lautum ferculum praeparant." And Ben Jonson, 

 in 'Every Man in his Humour,' mentions this dish 

 as a delicacy. 



..."Neither have I 



"Dressed snails or mushrooms curiously before me." 



These circumstances suppose their long foreknown 



