HELICIDjE. — SNAIL. 19 



starting from the table, and giving full vent to his feel- 

 ings of abhorrence."* 



In Paris, snails are not considered in season till the 

 first frost, about the end of October or beginning of 

 November, when they are closed with their white epi- 

 phragm. The Parisians eat about fifteen or twenty for 

 breakfast, and they are also said to give a better flavour 

 to wine. 



In Spain, also, all snails are eaten, unless they are 

 too small to cook ; and they are called caracola, and the 

 men who gather and sell them are called caracoleros. 

 However, they apply the term caracola, to all snail-like 

 shells, only distingishing them thus, caracola del mar, 

 caracola del rio, caracola del huerta, i. e. salt, freshwater, 

 or garden caracoles. 



Rossmassler mentions having seen fourteen different 

 species of Helicidce brought to the markets in Murcia 

 and Valencia, and sold to be eaten. He adds that 

 snails are not only food for the poor, for that many 

 kinds are too costly. One species, called serranos, is 

 sold for a penny of our English money each ; but they 

 are not half that price bought by the dozen. They cook 

 them by stewing them, shells and all, in a richly-spiced 

 sauce, and then put the shell to the mouth, and draw 

 out the animal by sipping or sucking it. 



Rossmassler states, for the benefit of those who may 

 travel in Spain for scientific purposes, that to collect 

 plants it is useless to visit the north of Spain before the 

 middle of April, and the south before the end of March. 

 For insects and shells, the end of the summer, and above 

 all the autumn, is the best time of the year. 



The snail-hunters, who daily supply the markets with 

 * Curiosities of Food, p. 348. 



c2 



