166 THE MOLLUSKS OF OUR CELLARS. 
denied them. Our speculative friend asks, “may it not be 
that man, driven from the northern lands by the coming of 
his higher suecessor on the stage of life, is to finally end his 
race on earth within the recesses of the gloomy forests of 
Brazil or Borneo?" 
THE MOLLUSKS OF OUR CELLARS. 
BY W. G. BINNEY. 
Most of the readers of the NATURALIST, who reside in the 
cities of our Atlantie coast, are aware that the cellars of their 
houses are infested with slugs and snails. They have seen 
or heard of the glistening tracks made by their slime, and 
have heard dreadful stories of the ugly creatures who left 
them when escaping from their nocturnal depredations. But 
as few of our readers have met them face to face, we pro- 
pose giving a short description of each with a portrait of 
sufficient accuracy to enable any one to identify the separate 
species. ' 
A word first about their characters and habits. They all 
belong to the great division of mollusks which are called 
Pulmonata, from the fact of their breathing with lung-like 
vessels. Furthermore, they all belong to that group of Pul- 
monata which are called Geophila, or lovers of dry land, 
from the fact of their habits being terrestrial in distinction 
from those which are adapted to living in fresh-water, or in 
the sea. These Geophila are distinguished in addition to 
their breathing with lung-like vessels by their having their 
eyes at the end of long, slender, cylindrical feelers. Thus 
far most authors agree, but in subdividing these Geophila 
into natural groups there is so little accord among naturalists 
that we do not carry our readers farther in classification. 
Suffice it to say that literally from head to tail almost every 
