The Snail. 57 



a piece of glass we see that the foot is a large sucker that 

 moves in little waves. The glass is soon covered with 

 slime, poured out of a very- 

 small opening in the bottom 

 of the foot near the head. In 

 this way the snail coats bits of 

 earth and stone with a smooth 



Fig. 5. 



Fig. 6. 



glaze, that prevents them from irritating its soft foot. 

 Finally, we feed the snails, and watch the hard brown 

 jaw (Fig. 5) as it bites o£E pieces of the young leaves of 

 cabbage, lettuce, or celery. 



Fig. 7. 



These pieces are chewed by the teeth on the snail's tongne, which 

 point baehward when the tongne ig drawn in, bnt are mafle to 

 stand erect when the snail is eatiog and the tongne in pulled for- 

 ward by mnsolea. As the tongne works backward and forward, 

 the teeth grind the food against the hard jaw, and also the carti- 

 lage that lines the npper part and sides of the month. As many 

 of these tiny teeth are worn ont every time that the snail eats, 

 new ones are continually growing in a little pocket behind the 

 tongne and pushing forward to take the place of the old ones. 



Tf snails and slugs are troublesome in gardens, they 

 may be killed by sprinkling dust or ashes wherever they 



