82 
CYPR^A. 
cessities. It is supposed that, during the operation 
of perfecting his first receptacle, he himself in- 
creases in dimensions, till it be with difficulty that 
he is contained within it : when this is the case, 
he squeezes himself through the narrow aperture, 
perhaps with considerable pain, as the whole 
cavity of the shell was insufficient for his ease ; 
and committing his unprotected body to the briny 
element, is, doubtless, agreeably irritated, till his 
secreting powers are enough awakened to lay the 
foundation of a new testaceous covering. These 
circumstances are rendered still more extraor- 
dinary, by observations which may be made upon 
the genus, very much at variance with them. Had 
they not, indeed, been announced as from ocular 
demonstration, they might be suspected of having 
originated in some accidental occurrence, or ima- 
ginary habit. 
In the first place, analogy concludes against any 
such wandering propensity ; for it is not even sur- 
mised that the congeners of the animal possess it ; 
and it is difficult to conceive why this Limax alone 
should grow disproportionably, after the comple- 
tion of his first shell. We find, in general, that 
