164 JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY, VOL. 9, NO. 6, APRIL, 1899. 



that " the ashes of empty snail shells, mixed with myrrh, are good for 

 the gums, and that the grains of sand found in the horns of snails 

 introduced into hollow teeth, relieve the pain instantly." The slime 

 of Helix aspersa has also been used in making cement, which is said 

 to have been one of the best and most durable, resisting every degree 

 of heat and moisture, and in confirmation of this we all know how fast 

 these molluscs attach themselves to walls or stones during hibernation. 

 Lister savs that the glutinous exudation of this snail was formerly used 

 in bleaching wax. I doubt if all housekeepers are aware that at the 

 present day dishonest dairymen manufacture "cream" by means of the 

 mucous from snails squeezed into milk, which converts the latter into 

 thick cream, but perhaps, after all, <: where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly 

 to be wise " ! 



The last point I will mention is the value of deformed, or sinistral, 

 varieties of mollusca, which are so much sought after by collectors of 

 the present day, and which command a market value only known to 

 those who have given attention to the subject. I may say for instance 

 that the supposed market value of a sinistral specimen of the garden 

 snail (H. aspersa) is said to be a guinea, but I doubt if any are to be 

 obtained at the present time even at that price. 



I have now very imperfectly put before you some facts, in an 

 endeavour to show that even the poor despised snails and slugs have 

 their use and place in nature while living, and that the former may 

 also be of some service to man when they are dead, both as food and 

 as articles of trade and commerce. It is now for our conchologists to 

 further investigate the life histories and uses of these animals, so that 

 we may take advantage to the fullest extent of their benefits to man. 



Limnaea peregra abandoning its Shell. —On September 20th, 1898, at 

 Upwey, near Weymouth, I was much surprised to observe' two specimens of Lim. 

 peregra crawling about without their shells. The locality was a rapid shallow chalk 

 stream of clear water, containing great numbers of rather small examples. Seeing 

 the note by Mr. A. G. Stubbs on this question, in the October number of the 

 Journal, suggested to me the idea of adding my own observations on this remarkable 

 phenomenon. It is, I should imagine, almost certainly due to a disease of some sort. 

 — K. HURLSTONE Jones, M.B.,R.N., H. M.S. 'Repulse.' (Read before the Society, 

 Nov. 9th, 1898). 



Additional Note on Caecilioides acicula. — Re Mr. Wright's Note on 

 Cacilioides acicula (vol. 8, p. 395), years ago when exploring a Saxon cemetery, 

 near Witney, I found abundance of this shell on the bones of our forefathers. I 

 suggest the burial of bones as a trap for them in places where their presence is 

 known or suspected. — J. W. Horsley, St. Peter's Rectory, Walworth. (Read 

 before the Society, Nov. 9th, 1898). 



