702 NATUEAL HISTORY OP AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



alive to the United States 'as delicacies'; but I am inclined to consider this an exaggeration 

 growing out of the fact that, among our fancy groceries, 'a few jars of pickled Snails, imported 

 from Italy,' figure as a curiosity, rather than something needed for the table. The same author 

 records that the glassmen at Newcastle once a year have a snail feast, collecting the animals 

 in the fields and hedges on the Sunday before. 



" Mr. W. Gr. Binney, for whom a sirup of Snails was prescribed by two regular physicians in 

 Paris in 1863, points out how old is the belief that land moUusks possess valuable medicinal 

 qualities. In the Middle Ages the rudimentary shell of the Slug acquired a high rank among the 

 numerous bezoars and amulets which were supposed to protect the body from evil influences, and 

 to impart health and activity. The accounts of these virtues, copied from one author to another, 

 have perpetuated the early superstitions until it is difficult to overcome them by the light of the 

 present day, when, even in England, Snails are supposed to possess a useful power in cases of lung 

 trouble. A full relation of all the absurdities which gained credence would form a curious and 

 marvelous page in the history of credulity. They have, also, from very early times, been used in 

 the preparation of cosmetics ; and no longer than two or three centuries ago the water procured 

 from them by distillation was much celebrated, and employed by ladies to impart whiteness and 

 freshness to the complexion. Finally, I hear that there is celebrated in Eome, even now, a 

 midsummer festival, upon which occasion all family feuds may be made up, or any differences 

 between friends easily adjusted, since that is the spirit of the day; and a sign or token of this 

 renewed friendship and good-will is the present of a Snail from one party to the other, or an 

 exchange of mollusks between them. The symbolism and virtue reside in the alleged amicable 

 influence of the head and 'horns' — why, perhaps comparative mythologists may be able to tell us. 



" In this country no such fanciful notions have ever gained credence. The Snails are too 

 habitually hidden to attract the attention of any but a few ; and even when their existence is 

 known, they are unfortunately regarded with such a disgust as would preclude any acceptance of 

 them, either for food or medicine." 



In Thomas De Yoe's "Market Assistant," p. 312, is the following information, which refers to 

 about the year 1860 : " From the French journals we learn that there are fifty restaurants and 

 more than twelve hundred private tables in Paris where Snails are accepted as a delicacy by from 

 eight to ten thousand consumers. The market price of the great vineyard Snails is from 2 francs 

 50 centimes to 3 francs 50 centimes (47 to 66 cents) per hundred, while those of the hedges, woods, 

 and forest bring only from 2 francs to 2 francs 25 centimes (38 to 43 cents). Snails are, and have 

 been for several years, imported [into New York] from Europe, but are principally used by 

 foreigners. They are generally stewed after having been scalded out of their shells." 



The custom house counts this import among "fancy groceries," so that no separate record is 

 obtainable of the amount consumed. In the case of several of the large Southern species, such as 

 the Apple-snail {Ampularia), the BuUmi, and the large pond Snails, their remains in the shell- 

 heaps show that in preliistoric time they formed a regular part of the food of the red men. The 

 Seminoles, of Florida, and various native races west of the Eocky Mountains, eat them yet. 



207. THE WING-SHELLS— PTEROPODA. 



The Pteropods, or wing-footed mollusks, are a small group which swim freely throughout the 

 broad ocean. Their shells are of small size, fragile, and semi-transparent. They form, therefore, 

 available food for a large number of surface-feeding fishes, and particularly of the cetacea ; the 

 right whale, indeed, is said to live almost wholly upon certain species of them which abound in 



