334 
THE AGATE-SHELL. 
closure of tlieir shells, and accordingly have no vestige of an operculum, as may be seen by 
looking at a common Snail. In the winter, however, when they retire from active life, and 
need that the aperture of their domicile shall be closed, the place of the operculum is supplied 
by a layer of hardened mucus, sometimes strengthened with the same substance of which the 
shell is composed, and always being perforated with a little hole to permit the inhabitant to 
respire. Any one may see this structure, called technically the epiphagus, by examining a 
Snail drawn from the crevice in which it ensconces itself during the winter months. 
The animal has a rather short head, furnished with four tentacles, the upper pair being 
the largest, and bearing at their tips the little black specks which are supposed to act as eyes. 
These tentacles are retractile ; and it is very interesting to watch them drawn back or pushed 
out like the finger of a glove, and to see the curious manner in which the eye speck is shot, as 
as it were, through the tentacle attached to the slender black thread which runs up its centre. 
The genus Helix, which is universally accepted as the type of this family, is of enormous 
extent, both in numbers and range of locality, containing more than fourteen hundred species, 
and spread nearly over the whole earth. The common garden Snail is a too familiar instance 
of this genus to need a description. I may, however, mention, that its depredations can, in 
a great measure, be checked by searching for it in the winter months, and taking it from the 
crevices in which it hides itself, or even by destroying the eggs which it lays just under the 
surface of the soil, and which look like pellucid peas. The much maligned thrush, too, is a 
mighty hunter of Snails, and, in spite of its autumnal raids on the fruit, does such good service 
in Snail-killing before the world is astir, that it ought to be encouraged by the gardener, and 
the fruit which it eats considered as the wages paid for killing the Snails. 
The great Edible Snail is largely consumed in many parts of the world, and is regularly 
fed and fattened for that purpose. It is a remarkable fact, that in many spots where the 
Romans — great connoisseurs in Snails — had fixed their establishments, the Edible Snail is still 
to be found. Regular houses were built for the purpose of fattening the Snails, which were 
bred to an enormous size by constant feeding with a mixture of meal and new wine. There 
are even now on the European continent several snaileries, where the inmates are abundantly 
supplied with food, though they are not fattened with the elaborate precaution of the 
Roman times. 
Even the common Snail is thought a delicacy by those who are sufficiently strong-minded 
to eat it ; and it is quite common to see, even in Paris, the poorer orders dressing their dinner 
of Snails on an iron plate, heated over burning charcoal. I once knew an old woman, one of 
the few surviving wearers of scarlet cloaks, who used daily to search the hedges for Snails, for 
the purpose of converting her milk into cream. This cheap luxury was obtained by crushing 
the Snails in a piece of linen, and squeezing their juice into the milk. She showed me the 
whole process, which I afterwards imitated as far as the mixture with the milk, but could not 
bring myself to test the result by taste. 
The Lemon Bulimus is an example of another large genus, containing more than six 
hundred species. These shells can be distinguished from those of the snails, to which they 
are closely allied, by the greater comparative length, the oval shape of the aperture, and the 
thickness of the outer lip. The last whorl is always very large. Some of the exotic species, 
such as Bulimus ovatus , attain a large size, and lay eggs even larger than those of the 
chaffinch, the young animal having a shell measuring an inch in length when hatched. Several 
species are very beautifully colored Many species of Bulimi are excellent food, and are sold 
in the markets. 
In the illustration on opposite page will be seen a shell as if climbing up a tree. It is the 
largest of all the land snails, and is known as the great Agate-shell (. Achatina ) of Africa. 
This Snail will attain a length of eight inches, and lay eggs larger than those of the bulimus, 
and with hard calcareous shells. The figure is drawn of the natural size. 
