230 MOLLUSCA. 



Helix,* the Snail. 



The shell is large, and usually somewhat globular ; 

 the last whorl but one, encroaching upon the circu- 

 lar form of the aperture or mouth, renders the latter 

 somewhat crescent-shaped. The Garden Snail (H. 

 Hortensis] is our most common native species ; but 

 though large, it is far exceeded by the Esculent 

 Snail, (If. Pomatia,-\-) which is said to have been 

 introduced from the continent into our southren 

 counties, where it now abounds. The history and 

 economy of this large and fine species having been 

 more studied than those of the others, we shall 

 speak chiefly of it, but the rest probably differ but 

 little from it. 



From twenty-five to eighty eggs are laid by the 

 Esculent Snail in a hole in the earth, which it then 

 carefully closes. This usually takes place in June ; 

 they are round, hard, and white, as large as small 

 peas, and resembling misseltoe-berries. Exposed 

 to the damp of the earth, they need no care to hatch 

 them ; but in the course of three or four weeks, 

 according to the heat of the weather, each produces 

 a little Snail. It gnaws a passage for itself through 

 the egg with its singular tooth, and comes forth with 

 its tender shell, consisting of a whorl and a half. 

 For a while it feeds, like the caterpillars of some 

 insects, on the egg-shell which it has just forsaken. 

 When this is devoured, it eats the soil which sur- 

 rounds it, mixed as it is with decayed vegetable 



* "EX/I, helix, spiral. f n&^, poma, an operculum. 



