566 PHILOSOPHICAL TBANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1774. 



shell, whose snail had come out 4 several times, in the presence of different 

 people, each of whom have assured me that they saw it. A day or two after the 

 date of that letter, the above gentleman brought the identical shell, as he declared, 

 into the presence of several other persons, that they might try if the snail would 

 again make its appearance. The company were not disappointed: for after the 

 shell had lain 10 minutes in a glass of water that had the cold barely taken off, the 

 snail began to appear: and in 5 minutes more we perceived half the body fairlypushed 

 out from the cavity of the shell. We then removed it into a basin, that the snail 

 might have more scope than it had in the glass : and here in a very short time, 

 we saw it get above the surface of the water, and crawl up towards the edge of 

 the basin. While it was thus moving about, with its horns erect, a fly chanced 

 to be hovering near, and perceiving the snail darted down on it. The little ani- 

 mal instantly withdrew itself within the shell, but as quickly came forth again, 

 when it found the enemy had gone off. We allowed it to wander about the 

 basin for upwards of an hour; when we returned it into a wide mouthed phial, 

 where Mr. Simon had lately been used to keep it. He presented me with this 

 remarkable shell ; and I observed, at 1 2 o'clock, as I was going to bed, that the 

 snail was still in motion ; but next morning I found it in a torpid state, sticking 

 to the side of the glass. 



In a few weeks after the time abovementioned, I took an opportunity of send- 

 ing this shell to Sir John Pringle, who showed it at a meeting of the society ; 

 but as he has been pleased to inform me, some of the members could not bring 

 themselves to believe but that Mr. Simon must have suffered himself to be 

 imposed on by his son, who, as they imagined, substituted fresh shells, for 

 those which he had got out of the cabinet. On this, I wrote to Mr. Simon, 

 which produced his letter of the 4th of February. I afterwards also examined 

 the boy myself; and could find no reason to believe that he either did or could 

 impose on his father. 



Mr. Simon is a merchant of this place, of a very reputable character, and 

 undoubted veracity. He lives in the heart of the city, a circumstance which 

 rendered it almost impossible for the son (if he had been so disposed) to collect 

 fresh shells. The father of Mr. Stuckey Simon was Mr. James Simon, f. e. s., 

 who, being a lover of natural history, as well as an antiquarian, made a little 

 collection of fossils, which is still in the son's possession, and contains some 

 articles that are rather uncommon. 



Mr. Stuckey Simon to Dr. Macbride, dated Dublin, Nov. 26, 1772. 



Sir, — An accident having brought to light what some naturalists have not had 

 an opportunity to examine into, and which has been a subject of some conversa- 

 tion among gentlemen to whom I have mentioned it, has made me commit to 

 writing the simple facts, in order to put others on making further experiments on 

 the subject.-r About 3 months since, I was settling some shells in a drawer ; 



