434 
EXORCISM AGAINST AND AUGURY BY SNAILS. 
tlie sea, as the sacred shell when blown is believed to have power to 
still the W8,ves and thus ensure safe voyages. 
Snails have, however, at times fallen under the ban of the Church, 
and a prayer of the holy martyr, Trypho of Lampsacus, who lived 
about the tenth century A.D., contains the following quaint exorcism 
directed against them. 
“0 ye Caterpillers, Worms, Beetles, Locusts, Grasshoppers, 
Woolly-Bears, Wireworms, Longlegs, Ants, Lice, Bugs, Skippers, 
Cankerworms, Palmerwornis, Snails, Earwigs, and all other crea- 
tures that cling to and wither the fruit of the Grape and all other 
herbs, I charge you by the many-eyed Cherubim and by the six- 
winged Seraphim, whicli fly around the Throne, and the holy Angels, 
and all the Powers, etc., etc., hurt not the Vines nor the land nor 
the fruit of the trees nor the vegetables of , the servant of 
the Lord, but depart into the wild mountains, into the unfruitful 
woods, in which God hath given j'ou your daily food.” 
Augury or Soothsaying, to foretell the result of any impending- 
conflict, is practised in Japan and other places by means of Vivipara 
japonica, specimens of which are ])laced at opposite corners of a tray 
to represent the belligerents and those advancing reveal the con- 
quering party. 
The Sea Dyaks of Sarawak similarly establish the guilt or innocence 
of accused persons, by the accuser and accused each selecting a land 
shell, upon which lemon juice is squeezed, the one moving first shows 
the guilt or innocence of its owner, according as rest or motion has 
been agreed upon to prove the case. 
Divination, even at this day, is said to be practised by the rustic 
English and Irish maidens who believe that, if on May-day morning, 
the small white slug (Agriolimax agrestisT) be placed upon the 
hearth or other smooth surface lightly sprinkled with flour or fine 
dust, it will by its track describe thereon and thus reveal the initial 
of their unknown lover’s name. 
LITERATURE 
(Additional to the works enumerated on page 383 et seq.)- 
Beneden, P. J. van. — Animal Parasites and Messmates. — 1876. 
Bell, K. G.— Land Shells of the Bed Crag. — Geol. Mag., 1884, pp. 262—4. 
Carpenter, G. H. — Tlie Problems of the British Fauna. — Nat. Sci., Dec., 
1897. 
Cobbold, T. S. — Entozoa, an Introduction to the Studj' of Helminthology. 
1884. 
Cossmann, M. — Catalogue d. Coquilles Fossiles de I’Eocene de Environs 
de Paris.— Bruxelles, 1886-1889. 
Edwards, F. E. — A Monograph of the Eocene Mollusca. — Pak-eont. Soc., 
1852. 
Gardner, J. Starkie. — On the Land Mollusca of the Eocene. — Geol. Mag., 
June, 1885. 
