PULMONAKY GASTEROPODS. 
307 
I’he spire is generally rolled up from right to left. A helix shell, 
spiral of which follows the inverse direction, that is, from left to 
l| 8Tt, is a rarity much sought after by amateurs. 
The ancients held snails in especial esteem for the table. The 
ynians had many species served up at their feasts, which they dis- 
^guished in categories according to the delicacy of their flesh. 
ll &y tells us that the best were imported from Sicily, from the 
Balearic Isles, and from the Isle of Capri, the last dwelling-place of 
aged Tiberius. The largest came from Illyria. Ships proceeded 
^ the Ligurian coast to gather them for the tables of the Boman 
Wricians. The great consumption led to the establishment of parts 
' °chlearia, Varro; Cochlearum vivaria , Pliny), in order to fatten 
11(5 animals, as is now done with oysters. They were fed for this 
tli( t upon various plants mixed with soup; when it was desired to 
'Tfove the flav our a little wine and sometimes laurel leaves were 
j l lded. These parks were formed in humid shady places surrounded 
r y a fogs or a wall. Pliny has even transmitted to us the name of 
inventor of the Coclilearim, a certain Fulvius Hispinus. Addison 
^escribes with details one of these establishments kept up by the 
^ a puchins at Friburg in Switzerland, in imitation of the ingenious 
u,lr ‘an gourmet we have named. 
p Among the Bomans, snails were served at the funeral repast, 
j^tain heaps of their shells, which are found in the cemetery of 
. '' lQ peii, are the remains of those funeral festivities with which the 
'''habitants of the buried city honoured the tombs of their friends and 
viatic 
Tlx 
"Ten, 
H 
aons. 
e practice of eating snails had fallen into disuse in Europe 
in the seventeenth century, John Howard, the philanthropist, 
,,'A'an to collect them with the view of reintroducing them as human 
0< T He chose Helix Varronis, which was probably the species culti- 
v, ded by the Bomans ; it surpasses all those of Europe in size, and 
| v,ls found plentifully in the district of Bagnes, in tho Valois. Howard, 
* av ' u g procured the breed from Bagnes, found their increase so 
ta P'd that the crops were likely to be devoured by the swarms of 
Pluses thus brought together, and steps were at once taken to 
estr °y them. In other parts of Europe the snail continues to be 
Q ght for as an article of luxury. They are consumed at Vienna in 
