34 Beautiful Shells. 



THE COMMON SNAIL 



Is called by naturalists Helix aspersa, the generic 

 name "being derived from a Greek work signifying 

 spiral, and having reference to tlie shape of the 

 shell ; the plural is Helices, a term applied to all 

 convoluted or twisted shells, which terminate in a 

 point like a church spire : a spiral-shelled fossil is 

 called a helicate. The specific name comes from the 

 Latin asper — rough ; whence also our English word 

 asperity — roughness, and several others. The Heli- 

 cidce, or Helix family, is that which includes the 

 land shell Snails and the naked Slugs, and in this 

 family there are several genera; they are distin- 

 guished from the shelled water Snails, both sea and 

 river, by having a different breathing apparatus, 

 and some other points of internal construction which 

 it is not necessary to describe here. 



The Common Snail has a mouth, of which it 

 makes good use, as market gardeners well know, 

 and yet this mouth is not furnished with teeth; 

 instead of these, the upper lip, which is of a horny 

 texture, is what is called dentated, from the Latin 

 dentus — a tooth, that is, divided or separated, so as 

 to present somewhat the appearance of a row of 

 teeth in the jaw ; this lip is of an arched form, and 



