184 
can not detect the fragrance of an over-ripe 
melon—its favorite food—and it sometimes 
feeds on belladonna, rose laurel and other 
poisonous plants. Several cases of poison- 
ing have been caused by eating snails gath- 
ered from such plants. 
In October the snails, which have become 
very fat, “cork themselves up,” that is to 
say, they within their shells, the 
mouths of which they close with a thin, cal- 
careous pellicle or epiphragm. ‘Then they 
are taken from the park and placed on 
‘screens,’ or trays, which are piled together 
in great storehouses. Here the snails remain 
several months without food. In this re- 
spect they far surpass the fakirs of India, 
who, it is fabled, lie buried for weeks. 
According to the observations of H. An- 
capitaine, indeed, snails can fast for two or 
three years. 
When the snail grower judges that the 
fast has been sufficiently prolonged, or 
when the winter demand for snails begins 
the trays are taken down and the snails ex- 
amined by the women, who reject the dead 
and remove the “corks,” or epiphragms, of the living animals. 
Then, after girls have brushed the shells, to remove earthy 
matter, the snails are placed under a water tap, where a man 
stirs them with a shovel to facilitate thorough washing. 
The snails are then cooked in salt water in a great pot 
which holds about ten thousand. ‘This operation is per- 
formed two or three times a day, according to the demand 
and the size of the establishment, for the snails, to reach the 
consumer in good condition, must be cooked and shipped 
on the same day. 
After the cooking comes the “‘cleaning,’’ which consists 
in extracting the snail from the shell, drying the latter and re- 
filling it with the meat, reduced to a paste and laid between 
retire 
The Artificial Skating Pond 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
March, 
1906 
at gg ath 
Cleaning and Filling the Shells 
# 
i EY 
two layers of unsalted butter, seasoned with finely chopped 
chervil, shallots and parsley. 
The preparation of the “‘escargots a la bourguignonne,” 
or “Burgundy snails,” is now finished. All that remains is 
to pack them in wooden boxes holding 50, 100 or 200, for 
private consumers, or in larger packages for restaurants, 
shops and agents at the Halles (the great market of Paris). 
In Burgundy the sale of prepared snails extends from the 
middle of September to the end of April. In the south of 
France it begins earlier and ends later, and includes a second 
species of snail, Helix Melanostoma, which, under the name 
of “terrassau,” is in great demand at Marseilles and consti- 
tutes one of the greatest delicacies of the epicure. 
By A. S. Atkinson 
4 ATURE forms her own skating ponds in 
abundance in most localities, but where 
river, lake and pond are lacking skating 
need not necessarily be abandoned, nor even 
restricted to the few days of winter when 
the country side is veneered with a thin sheet 
In the deep hollows the rains and melting 
of snow-ice. 
snows form shallow ponds which subsequently freeze. Every 
boy and girl who owns a pair of skates wakes with joy and 
great expectations after such a freeze, and the temporary 
skating pond becomes an animated scene of outdoor pleasure. 
But alas, for the unsubstantial things of life! The water 
quickly percolates through the top soil, and the ice without 
support bends and cracks in a dozen different places. 
With a very little outlay of time and money such a hollow 
or large depression in the fields can be converted into a 
permanent skating pond where one may enjoy this winter 
sport, though situated a thousand miles from river or lake. 
On frozen ground the water remains in the depressions, but 
the warm rainstorms which frequently precede a hard thaw 
soften the top soil to a depth of several inches. Ordinary 
clay or sand is so porous that the water easily sinks through it 
within twenty-four hours. In order to form an artificial 
skating pond it is necessary to harden the surface so that the 
rain and melting snows can be retained indefinitely. 
Stake out the pond and cut down the sides a foot, so that 
a uniform depth is obtained. The soil can be thrown back 
upon the embankments at each side. All weeds and bushes 
must be cut down below the level of the intended surface of 
water, for these form disagreeable obstructions when left to 
freeze in the ice. Thick muck soil should now be carted 
from some nearby swamp and spread evenly over the surface 
of the pond. Ordinary marl, which is so abundant in many 
localities, makes an ideal material for this purpose. When 
first dug from the swamp it is lumpy and hard, and it will 
be necessary to pulverize it with a harrow after it is spread 
on the bottom of the pond. If carefully distributed around 
to a depth of two or three inches, the first rainstorm will 
dissolve it into the right consistency for use. “Then with a 
hoe and rake go over the pond and compact the marl surface 
so that when it dries it will form a tough, almost water-tight, 
skin over the top soil. Even when rain falls on this surface 
it will not leak through it and disappear. Water can be 
held in the hollow nearly all winter, and a genuine skating 
pond is thus obtained at little cost. 
Where there is a small brook running through the country 
ideal skating ponds can be formed wherever needed, either 
on the estate or farm or on the meadows nearby. Usually 
there is some depression in the country well suited to this 
work. By digging out the sides of the hollow a little a re- 
* 
