12 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSKS. 



raen at Newcastle indulge themselves in a snail-feast 

 once a year, and collect them from the fields and hedge- 

 rows on the Sunday previous.* Addison, in his Travels, 

 mentions having seen a snail garden, or " escargotiere," 

 at the Capucins, in Friburg. It was a square place 

 boarded in, filled with a vast quantity of large snails. 

 The floor was strewn about half a foot deep with several 

 kinds of plants, for the snails to nestle amongst during 

 the winter. When Lent arrived, their magazines were 

 opened, and a ragout made of snails. 



" Escargotieres," or snail gardens, have been in use 

 for a length of time in various parts of Europe. Dr. 

 Ebrard, in his pamphlet, ' Des Escargots,' states that M. 

 Fischer, of Bordeaux, mentions those of Brunswick, 

 Silesia, and Copenhagen, which latter furnished snails 

 for the tables of the noble Danes in the eighteenth cen- 

 tury. 



In Barrois, an " escargotiere " consists of a cask 

 with the head staved in, covered with a net ; or a square 

 hole with the sides lined with wood, and fastened over at 

 the top with an iron trellis, or with a simple hurdle made 

 of light osier-sticks. The snails are placed in as they 

 find them, until there are sufficient for a repast, or for 

 sale. They are also kept in these places till they are 

 fattened, or till they close their shells with their epi- 

 phragm, which enables them to be more easily trans- 

 ported. In Lorraine, a corner of the garden is often 

 given up to the snails, surrounded with a fine trellis-work 

 to prevent their escaping, and all kinds of vegetables are 

 placed inside which are most appreciated by them. 



During the winter, the " escargots " (their shells 



* Since the above was written, a correspondent of ' Land and Water ' 

 Bays the glassmen's snail feast, at ^Sewcastle, no longer exists. 



