422 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



youth is conscious of its weakness, and full of humility. It rarely 

 trusts itself out of the obscure hole in which it was hatched ; when 

 it does, it is only at night, dreading the desiccating air, and above 

 all, the sun's rays, even with the house it always carries with it for 

 shelter. 



This calcareous and velluted house is spiral, which the animal has 

 the inappreciable advantage of transporting without fatigue. It is 

 light, and sometimes quite disproportionate to the body of the animal, 

 which it covers only in that part which contains the viscera and 

 respiratory organs. 



The form of the shell is generally much variegated. Some are 

 flattened, others are orbicular or globose ; in some the spiral is very 

 pointed. The edges of the shell are sometimes simple, sharp, and 

 pointed ; others, on the contrary, thick and inverted, presenting an 

 edging of great solidity. The spire is generally rolled up from right 

 to left. A Helix shell, the spiral of which follows the inverse direc- 

 tion, that is, from left to right, is a rarity much sought after by 

 amateurs. 



The ancients held snails in special esteem for the table. The 

 Romans had many species served up at their feasts, which they 

 distinguished in categories according to the delicacy of their flesh. 

 Pliny tells us that the best were imported from Sicily, from the 

 Balearic Isles, and from the Isle of Capri, the last dwelling-place of 

 the aged Tiberius \ the largest came from Illyria. Ships proceeded 

 to the Ligurian coast to gather them for the tables of the Roman 

 patricians. The great consumption led to the establishment of parks 

 ( Cochlearia, Varro ; Cochlcarion 7nvarid, Pliny), in order to fatten 

 the animals, as is now done with oysters. They were fed for this 

 end upon various plants mixed with soup ; when it was desired to 

 improve the flavour, a little wine and sometimes laurel leaves were 

 added. These parks were formed in humid shady places surrounded 

 by a fosse or a wall. Pliny has even transmitted to us the name of 

 the inventor of the Cochlearia, a certain Fulvius Hispinus. Addison 

 describes, with details, one of these establishments kept up by the 

 Capuchins at Fribourg in Switzerland, in imitation of the ingenious 

 Roman gourmet we have named. 



Among the Romans snails were sen/ed at the funeral repast. 

 Certain heaps of their shells, which are found in the cemetery of 

 Pompeii, are the remains of those funeral festivities with which the 

 inhabitants of the buried city honoured the tombs of their friends 

 and relations. 



