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THE ZOOLOGIST 



No. 836.— February. 1911. 



THE WANDEEINGS OF A GIGANTIC AFEICA^■ SNAIL. 



By E. Ebnest Gbeex. 



(Plate II.) 



The sndden appearance of an immense snail carrying a 

 spire-shaped shell fully five inches in length will naturally 

 attract considerable notice in a country where the largest snail- 

 shell hitherto known measures two inches only. And this is a 

 phenomenon that has recently occurred in the Island of Ceylon, 

 where a well-known African Snail {Achatina fulica) has sud- 

 denly appeared m overwhelming numbers. It is the more 

 remarkable in that the presence of this giant land mollusc 

 excited no comment until it had overrun a thickly populated 

 area of about four square miles, and had multiplied to an 

 incredible extent. Then there was a sudden outcry from the 

 alarmed villagers smd an investigation by Government officials. 

 The writer of this article was deputed to report upon the out- 

 break. 



On visiting the infested locality, the huge snails were to be 

 seen — literally in milHons — crawhng over the ground, climbing 

 up waUs, fences, Eind poles, and clustered upon the trunks of 

 trees. Two hundred and twenty-seven snails were cotmted in 

 one such cluster on the stem of a coconut-tree in a length of 

 about six feet. Many other larger clusters were observed. The 

 ground beneath the clusters of snails was covered an inch deep 

 Zool 4th ser. col. XV., February, 1911. E 



