FOOD FROM THE CRTTSTACEANS AND MOLLUSCA. 403 



proper order, because if they have been feeding in places 

 where hemlock and belladonna grow, the most horrible 

 convulsions, delirium, and death will follow on indul- 

 gence in a feast of snails. Some people are delighted to 

 behold this new element of food introduced into the 

 market, for snails have been the object of the most 

 especial grudge ever since they destroyed the vines, and 

 forced the people who devoured them to do so without 

 the sour sauce which renders them so delicious; and 

 already have the exhortations of the municipality met 

 with some success, as the report sent in concerning the 

 ratio of their consumption shows that ever since their 

 registration at the Halle this has gone on steadily in- 

 creasing. 



In preparing snails for the table in France they are 

 first well washed and then thrown shell and all into 

 boiling water, where they are allowed to remain till well 

 cooked. The liquor is then strained oflf, the contents of 

 the shells extracted with a suitable insti^ument, and 

 chopped up into a fine hash with sardines and bread 

 crumbs. The shells are then crammed with this force- 

 meat, boiled lightly in butter, garnished with parsley, 

 and served up with a sauce prepared from the broth 

 obtained in the boiling stages of the process. It is not 

 generally known that the French first acquired their 

 appreciation of these moUusks from the Germans, who 

 introduced the custom of eating them into the Eastern 

 provinces, whence it spread rapidly through the whole 

 country. In Germany it has fallen into complete disuse, 

 except in some few parts of Bohemia. 



Snails, as we have seen, were highly esteemed by the 

 Eomans, our masters in gastronomy, and are now raised 

 in many of the departments of France with success. 

 In the sixteenth century the Capuchins of Fribourg 

 recovered the art of breeding and fattening snails, an 

 art which is not lost in our day, for in Franche-Comte, 

 Lorraine, and Burgundy they raise excellent snails, 

 which find a sure demand in the Paris market. 



There are now fifty restaurants and more than twelve 

 DD 2 



