THE SNAILS AND SLUGS OF THE GREEN LANES. 215 



snail " (Fig. 154) seems to prefer them, and there- 

 fore takes its place. Notwithstanding the destructive 

 habits of H. aspersa, if it can get primroses, or 

 nettles, it will not trouble the farmer for any other 

 food the deduction from which fact is that it would 

 pay to allow a few of these common plants to 

 remain, in order to draw off and pacify the snails. 

 The shell of Helix hortensis is more globular than 

 another abundant species, the Wood snail (Helix 

 nemoralis, Fig. 155) which it resembles in many 

 respects. It is also about one-third smaller in 



Fig. 154. 



Garden Snail (//. hortensis}. 



size. The eggs of the Garden snail look not much 

 unlike small peas and a bad kind they would be for 

 any gardener to sow ! Like most common and 

 abundant species, it is noted for the varieties into 

 which its members can be grouped. Of these there 

 are three very distinct forms, called by Macgillivray 

 the common banded, the unicolour (not banded) and 

 the sand-inhabiting kind (Arenicola). The garden 

 snail is further noticeable for the smell of onions it 

 can emit a character shared by several other rarer 

 species of snails. The normal condition of the shell 

 of the garden snail is five thin brown bands running 



