102 LAND AND FRESH-WATER MOLLUSKS. 
immediate vicinity quitted the leaves, which they 
were then eating; . . . . from all quarters were 
the Vitrines seen marching on, leaving the holes 
where they had been reposing ..... it was a 
general rendezvous. One that was feeding upon 
the remains of Helicella cellaria abandoned its 
victim to satisfy the craving of a newly acquired 
taste. I remarked, at this moment, a veritable 
expression in their tentacles; when the nervous 
ganglion had received the odoriferous impression, 
the horns were no longer swayed to and fro, but 
steadily fixed on the object which attracted 
them. It is believed that life is concentrated 
in these delicate stalks. Animation has been 
pointed out in the ear of certain beings of a 
superior organization ; why may it not be found 
to exist, though in a less degree, in the tentacle 
of a snail,—principal seat of its physiognomy ! 
After its heavy meal, the Vitrine takes no 
food for many days, and its activity is not so 
great as when its aliment is vegetable.” 
Vitrina pellucida is abundant in suitable local- 
ities,—humidity is essential to it,—among moss 
and decaying leaves in woods and glens; under 
stones and herbage in meadows on the coast-line, 
and to a great altitude in the mountain glens. 
Shelter, it apparently needs none, further than 
what is imperfectly provided for it by its own 
comparatively small shell; for it may be seen 
