268 JOURXAI. OK CON<Hni.Oi;V, \'OI,. 13, NO. 9, JANUARY, 1912. 



As Food it has always been more or less in vogue, and allliough 

 the snail was denounced in scripture as unclean and its use as food 

 forbidden, yet the larger kinds have been held in esteem by many 

 ancient peoples, even by the Chinese and Hebrews, for their nutritive 

 and curative virtues ; while the masses of shells found in the caves 

 occupied by the primitive men of the Stone Age probably point to 

 their indulgence in a similar taste. 



Amongst the Romans the prevalence of snail-eating is attested not 

 only by their estal)lishment of snail-farms, whereon these creatures 

 were fattened for the table, but by their use of a special implement, 

 the "Cochleare," for their consumption, which, though a spoon al 

 one end, had a spike at the other for the purpose of picking the 

 animal from its shell. 



In Denmark, during the middle ages, the snail was regarded as a 

 privileged and dainty food, and its use restricted by law to the 

 nobilitv, the common people not being allowed to partake of it. 



Even at the present day, H. aspersa and other snails are used largely 

 for food, especially in T.atin coimtries and during Lent. In Paris 

 alone, more than fifty tons are used daily, a proportion of which belong 

 to the present species. 



Though thus used as an article of food in all ages ot mankind, yet 

 the snail was an object of superstitious veneration. The Gauls and 

 the Druids regarded the snail (and by this H. aspersa is probably 

 more particularly intended ) in an analogous way to that in which the 

 Egyptian priests regarded the Scarabceus, or Sacred Beetle, that is, as 

 a visible emblem of resurrection, a belief probably arising from its 

 habits of hibernation and aestivation, which are apparent deaths : 

 the tombs of the ancient Gauls. often bear the sculptured figure of a 

 shell, and this clearly shews that they regarded the snail as emblem- 

 atic of a future life. ' . 



The Romans, too, shared these beliefs in the symbolism of the 

 snail, the superstition probably arising from the finding of living snails 

 within the vaults of their forefathers, a circumstance which led to a 

 belief in some mysterious connection or sympathetic bond between 

 the silent snail and the spirits of the dead. These beliefs led to their 

 incorporation in Roman funeral ceremonies, snails being eaten at the 

 funeral repasts or around the tombs of those persons whose memory 

 they wished to honour. The masses of shells in the cemeteries of 

 Pompeii attest this custom amongst these ancient peoples. 



Having thus briefly glanced at some of the habits and uses of the 

 snail, we will now consider the modifications of the shell and investi- 

 gate the structure and functions of the various organs of the bodv. 



