256 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 



most common snail of that country ; but neither there nor in Eng- 

 land are they used for the table. In France they are the objects of 

 a small commerce ; the peasants collect them in the vineyards, and' 

 feed them till winter,^ when they seal themselves up, and in this state 

 they are purchased by the confectioners, vi^ho prepare them in the 

 shell with butter and herbs, and forward them to Paris. They are 

 recommended in pulmonary complaints, and are used by the ladies 

 as a cosmetic. The French have a proverb drawn from this shell, 

 which they apply to an ill formed or decrepid person — '^il est fait 

 comme une escargot." They are found in the Crimea, where they 

 are eaten by the Tartars.* 



The Helix Aspersa, (Muller,) was introduced into England by 

 Sir Kenelar Digby, for the relief of those affected with diseases in 

 the lungs, but is not, that we are aware of, now ever used. 



XXV. Unio ? — Fresh water Muscles. 



This most abundant and interesting American family, though every 

 where found, appears to be but little used. Some tribes of Indians 

 eat them, and at present round one of the ponds at Plymouth, Mass., 

 may be seen pits full of these shells, the fish of which had been con- 

 sumed by the aborigines before the landing of the Pilgrims. Some 

 of the thicker species of the Ohio, are said to have been at Pitts- 

 burgh successfully turned into buttons and ornaments resembling 

 mother-of-pearl. 



XXVI. Chama Gigas, (Linn.) — Boat Shell. 



This very fine and well known bivalve is chiefly found in the Bay 

 of Tappanuli, in Sumatra ; but is sufficiently plentiful around New 

 Guinea, and in other parts of the east ; it lies in moderately deep 

 watery and frequently grows to a very large size. One shell descri- 

 bed by Linnaeus weighed four hundred and eighty nine English 

 pounds, and he says the inhabitant has been known to furnish one hun- 

 dred and twenty men with a day's food. Sir Joseph Banks had an 



* Plin. Hist. Nat., lib. ix. cap. 32. Donovan's British Shells, Vol. iii. PL 84. 

 Dictionnaire de Trevoux, Art. Escargot. Le Clerc's Hist. Mod. de Russie. Sta- 

 tistique de France, Vol. i. pp. 387-388. Say's Am. Conchology, Helix. Introd. 

 The information respecting the Romans, is chiefly from Varro, De Re RusticA, 

 a copy of which the writer has not been able to meet with, and has therefore 

 drawn his information from extracts. Those who have it in their power to con- 

 sult the original, will, he believes, find more extended information on the subject. 



