On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 25& 



one half the known world, thousands of birds were slaughtered to 

 procure one dish of tongues, rivers turned from their course, and 

 mountains cgt through, to form oyster pits and lamprey stews, and 

 patricians and senators thought it not beneath their dignity to super- 

 intend the minutiae of snail warrens. This shell is indigenous to 

 most parts of continental Europe, but it chiefly abounds in Italy and 

 Spain. In the former it anciently was, and still is, much used for 

 the table, and among the Roman epicures there was constant com- 

 petition to prove who could produce the largest and the fattest. 

 Pliny informs us that one Fulvius Harpinus was the first who in- 

 vented a stew for snails about B. C. 80, in which they were fed and 

 protected. Every care was taken of them, and the owners of these 

 warrens boasted as much of their snails, as gentlemen, in the present 

 day, do of their horses. Several species, from various countries, 

 were probably used, each of which were kept in separate depart- 

 ments, and were regularly fed on wheat meal sodden with wine and 

 mixed with a few laurel leaves. Thus preserved, they grew to a 

 most surprising size, and if we can believe the authorities, it was not 

 uncommon for the shell, (naturally about two inches in diameter,) to 

 contain ten quarts of liquid ! 



The Cochlearia, or snail stews, were generally made in open pla- 

 ces surrounded by water, so that the snails might not abandon them, 

 and care was taken that the places were not too much exposed to 

 the sun or the dews. The artificial stews were most frequently 

 made under rocks whose bottoms were watered by lakes or rivers, 

 and if there was not a natural dew, they produced one by means of 

 a pipe of water bored full of holes. They were also fed on a smaller 

 scale, in large pots or pans, bored full of holes to let in the air, and 

 lined with bran and wine lees or vegetables. In Italy they are still 

 fed in similar places on vegetables, and during Lent are eaten in 

 great quantities. They are regularly exposed in the markets, as 

 well as in those of Switzerland, Spain, and France, and are exported 

 in barrels to the Antilles. They were introduced into England about 

 two centuries since, and distributed through the counties of Surrey 

 and Sussex, but by whom is now uncertain. They soon spread 

 themselves, however, through most parts of the south, and are found 

 at present in the country round Dublin. In the north they have 

 never prospered, and we are not aware of any place more northerly 

 than Northamptonshire, where they are to be found. In Holstein 

 they are indigenous as far as the shores of the Baltic, and are the 



