166 POPULAR CONCHOLOGY. 



bilicus either covered or visible. Animal, 

 head furnished with four tentacula, the two 

 longest having eyes at the summit. Foot large 

 and oblong. — There are 225 species recent, 

 and 16 fossil. 



Throughout the whole of nature there are 

 very few classes of animated beings more 

 abundant, or more completely spread over the 

 surface of the earth, than this genus, the Helix, 

 or common snail. It is found even in the most 

 barren and desert places, feeding upon the 

 miserable specimens of vegetation which may 

 be found, and existing in great numbers in 

 places entirely deserted by the other ranks of 

 creation. It is equally adapted to the hottest 

 and the coldest climates, the most cultivated 

 and most barren situations. The Helix aspersa, 

 or common garden snail, may be found at the 

 foot of Chimborazo, in the forests of Guiana 

 and Brazil, and almost all over the continents 

 of Europe, Asia, and Africa; even the great 

 desert of Zahara is peopled by them. On the 

 shores of the Mediterranean they are a valuable 

 article of food, when boiled in the shell and 

 eaten with rice; and it has been conjectured 



