The Zoologist— June, 1&69. 1701 



found abroad at this season, and repeated examination led me to dis- 

 cover a reason for it ; whether it is Ihe reason, may remain for wiser 

 ones to determine. These shells are commonly stuck fast where they 

 are found, or glued as it were, and not merely adhering as in a time 

 of rest in the wet season. And they have all been injured, — the shell 

 more or less broken. Are they going to die ? Are they undergoing 

 repairs ? This last seemed to me more probable. They are always, 

 in part at least, grown together, not quite symmetrically often, but 

 generally quite firmly. Do they eat by night as in the rainy season } 

 This I cannot assert. The firmness of iheir attachment would indi- 

 cate that they do not. So uniform has been my experience in this 

 case, that now, if I see an Achatina, or a large Helicina, on a tree in 

 the dry season, however inviting they may appear at a distance, I 

 pass them by as worthless. 



Oleacina and its allies are carnivorous snails. They have a smooth 

 polished delicate shell, yet possess the power to capture and devour 

 others many times larger than themselves, besides being protected by 

 a firm shell, and with a closely fitting hard operculum. Not unfre- 

 quently we find large shells like Helicina regina, or H. sagrseana, 

 quietly submitting to be devoured by an Oleacina, which it has the 

 strength to walk off with, as easily as a tortoise could carry away a 

 mouse. Wherein lies their great strength ? I can ofier a suggestion. 

 I have often been in such situations on the face of a vertical cliff, that 

 I needed both hands for support. At such times, if a shell attracted 

 my attention, I used to put it between my lips till I reached a place 

 where both hands were free. Thus I learned that the watery or 

 slimy secretion which all these animals emit, in the case of this group, 

 is bitter, and in the larger species very decidedly so. I can hardly 

 doubt that the secret of the power which these snails possess is to be 

 sought here. May not this bitterness produce a benumbing effect on 

 their prey ? I have discovered a like bitterness in no other shell, and 

 I have collected many species in this way, using my mouth as a 

 temporary box. 



Proserpina has a shell of like delicate structure as that of Oleacina. 

 Once I found one in close contact wiLh a Melaniella. This, together 

 with its structure, led me to suspect that it, too, is carnivorous. Who 

 knows ? Will an examination of the tongue tell ? Will some one 

 try it ? I once amused myself capsizing these little fellows, and if 

 they did not manifest real anger, there was a very good imitation of it. 

 Turned on its back, it lashed its tail about violently for a snail j or. 



