CHAPTER X 



WONDERFUL TEICTH AND TONGUES 



The mouth of a snail is hardly the place where 

 the seeker after beauty would expect to have his 

 desires gratified. Yet we propose to make a 

 little investigation in this apparently unsuitable 

 direction. 



That all people ha\'e not an insuperable pre- 

 judice to snails is evident from the tact that on 

 the Continent — and it is said in some parts ot 

 England — the largest and fattest specimens of the 

 edible or Roman snail, which we are about to 

 discuss first, are considered a great delicacy when 

 carefully cooked. But the snail is better 

 equipped for eating than for being eaten : tor 

 we are told by our scientific friends that the 

 creature possesses 1 40 rows of teeth, each 

 row containing 151, thus giving a total of 

 21,140 teeth in the complete set. What an 

 order for a dentist ' But, unlike human beings, 

 snails can altogether dispense with artificial aid ; 

 for as the front row of teeth wear away, the next 



