112 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
4 (mW dmUBOTSo 
The Doctor’s Talks. 
Here is a transition! -Last month it was some of 
the grandest scenes and the most wonderful things 
in nature—perpetual snows, seas of ice, to see 
which one must travel far and fast. Now—Snails 
Perhaps you may think it a sad falling off, to talk 
about “insignificant creatures,” so slow, that a 
“ snail’s pace ” is regarded as the perfection of 
slowness! But are snails insignificant? Looked at 
rightly they tell a part of the same wonderful story, 
and we may find that they present as many points 
worthy of our study as even those displays of na¬ 
ture in all its grandeur. I have been intending to 
answer a number of inquiries about Snails and 
Slugs, and now, just as spring is opening and these 
creatures are about to awake from their winter’s 
sleep, is a good time to do it. There are 
Land Snails and Water Snails, 
and among the last named are both fresh-water and 
salt-water snails. There is scarcely a part of the 
country where some kinds of snails may not be 
found, and there will be no difficulty in finding 
Fig. 1.— ONE OF THE COMMON SNAILS. 
specimens to study. Indeed from the very lower 
end of the continent, Terra del Fuego, up as far 
north as explorers have gone, snails have been 
found. If, when spring fairly opens, you visit the 
woods, especially if they are thick and moist, you 
may often find land snails upon the dead leaves, or 
upon the trunks of trees, and you will be still more 
likely to find them if you turn over the old logs 
and stumps both in the woods and in the moist 
meadows and pastures. It is probable that you 
will find more than one kind, and it makes no differ¬ 
ence which one you take for the purpose of study. 
Figure 1, shows one of the most common of our 
snails, of about its real size. It has a peculiarly 
slimy body, and a handsome spiral shell which it 
carries with it. In front it has upon its head two 
pail’s of what children call “horns,” but you will 
find them spoken of in the books as tentacles, which 
means the same as “feelers.” The upper pair of 
Fig. 2.— A COMMON SLUG. 
these is much larger than the lower ones, which 
are barely to be seen in the engraving. 
Where are the Snail’s Eyes ! 
In the fresli-water snails the eyes are at the base 
of the tentacles, but in our land-snails they are 
seen as little black dots at the ends of the larger 
pair of feelers. It is very curious to watch the 
motions of a snail as it 
moves along, moving its 
feelers in every direction, 
and when touched it sud¬ 
denly withdraws them, 
3.-SLUG CONTRACTED. ^ goon again they are 
slowly put forth. Below the tentacles and on the 
■underside of the head there is the mouih, and a 
curious one it is. 
The mouth of a Snail 
makes but very little show, but most of the gar¬ 
deners know to their cost that some of these ani¬ 
mals have mouths, and know how to use them, as 
sometimes sad havoc is made among their crops. 
If you tempt your snail with some of the tender 
inside leaves of a cabbage, or of lettuce, it will be 
very likely to show by its motions that it is enjoy¬ 
ing the food you have provided. In some snails, 
the upper edge of the mouth has a hard furrowed 
plate, the ridges in which serve as teeth. You 
would as soon expect to find “hen’s teeth,” as 
snail’s teeth, but the works on the microscope show 
how to prepare and mount the curiously shaped 
Fig. 4.— SIDE VIEW <?F SNAIL. 
projection or teeth found upon the tongue or palate 
of snails, and very pretty objects they are. Though 
the snail has a mouth, it does not use it in breath¬ 
ing, but has a separate opening for that purpose, 
as we can see better in some of the water snails. 
The snails manage to travel from place to place, 
though they have no legs, or such feet as most 
other animals have; they move along by the aid of a 
broad flattened part of the body, which is called 
the “ foot.” If you place one of your snails upon a 
piece of glass, and when the snail begins to move 
turn it over, you can see how it uses the surface of 
the foot in pulling itself slowly along. Place a 
number of land snails in a box with a pane of glass 
for a cover, or in a glass jar, putting in some moss 
from the woods and dead stalks and leaves, keep¬ 
ing these damp but not wet, and you can watch the 
snails and learn of their ways. After a while you 
may find some little rounded bodies, not larger 
than a pin’s head. These are the eggs of the snails, 
and if you keep the moss and the leaves properly 
moist, in a short time a crop of tiny snails will ap¬ 
pear, and you will liud it very interesting to watch 
Fig. 5.—ANOTHER FRESH-WATER SNAIL. 
their growth ; but if you keep them in confinement 
you must give them food. 
Slugs, the own Brothers to Snails, 
are less common. In the older States they are 
often too abundant as, besides the natives, there 
are those that have been brought from abroad. 
One of these foreigners is as large as and longer 
than your finger, is a savage looking fellow, but 
harmless to everything except the tender vege¬ 
tables. The common slug, figure 2, is like a snail 
without a coiled shell, though it has a small flat¬ 
tened scale upon the back; when at rest the slug 
draws itself together as in figure 3, and makes but 
little show; it is in this condition that you will 
usually find them, as they mostly travel and do 
their mischief at night and hide themselves dur¬ 
ing the day. A favorite place for them is under 
the boards or planks laid down for walks in the 
garden. Let us now look at 
The Fresh-Water Snails. 
If there is a pond near by, a ditch, or even a river, 
in which there are quiet, sluggish spots, you will 
be very sure to find snails of several kinds. Look 
along the margin, and more especially upon the 
dead sticks and the stems of plants found growing’ 
in the water. Collect a few of each of the different 
kinds that you find, and place them in a jar of 
water, and you will have something that will af¬ 
ford you a great deal of pleasure. Any kind of a 
jar will answ’er; one of those used for canning 
fruit will do very well, but the clearer the glass the 
better. If, when you collect the snails, you get a 
few of the fine-leaved plants that grow entirely 
under the water, you can make a little aquarium in 
the jar, and will not be obliged to change the water 
every few days, as would be necessary if you had 
no plants. Place an inch or so of clean gravel in 
the bottom of the jar, and nearly fill it with water 
from the place where you found the snails, or with 
rain water. Wash your plants, make them into a 
neat little bunch, tie a small stone to the lower 
end, and place it in the water, and put in the snails. 
It will be well to tie a piece of coarse muslin or 
netting over the mouth of the jar, as some snails 
are fond of travelling. You will find snails with 
shells of various forms. One of the most common 
is shown in fig. 4, which gives a side view; the 
“ foot ” of the animal is extended ; the pointed 
part of the shell is at the tail-end, and the opposite 
is the head. Most of the fresh-water snails have 
but two tentacles, or feelers, and the eyes, instead 
of being at the ends of* these, as with the land- 
snails, are at the bage, as shown by the black dots. 
The dark spot, partly hidden by the shell, is the 
opening through which the animal breathes, and, as 
already stated, the land-snails have a similar open¬ 
ing. Figure 5 shows another fresh-water snail, 
seen from above, in 
which the feelers are 
more distinct, and show 
the eye at the base of 
each. In front is the 
opening for breathing, 
and just behind the 
shell,is a rounded scale, 
which all snails do not 
have, but which you 
may find in some, car¬ 
ried, when the animal 
is moving, just behind 
the shell. If you disturb the animal, it will draw its 
body into the shell,and this scale will close the open¬ 
ing (as in fig. 6) as neatly as can be. This, which we 
may look upon as the door to the snail’s house, is 
called an operculum, which is the Latin word for 
“a cover.” In these snails it is usually thin and 
horny, but in some sea relatives, it is very large, 
almost hemispherical, and of the same material as 
the shell. If you can have the use of any glass 
jar that will hold a quart—better if larger—and will 
prepare it as I have described, you will have an 
aquarium quite as instructive as the most expensive 
one. If the snails eat the plants, as they will be 
very likely to do, never mind; it is easy to get 
more. Do not put two many snails into your jar ; 
a dozen or so will be enough for a quart jar, while 
a larger one may have more ; always try to get as 
many different kinds, as seen in the shape of the 
shell, as possible, and be especially careful to 
keep up a good supply of plants. When you have 
your little aquarium started, I will say more about it. 
The Doctor. 
JL Sixteen Point Fnzzle. 
Make upon a piece of paper or a slate sixteen 
points or dots ih a square ; that is, four lines of 
four dots each at equal distances apart, like those 
here given. The puzzle is to draw a pencil line 
around each of the sixteen points without removing 
© © sj) 
• • • 
• • • • 
® ® ® • 
the pencil from the paper; the line to be a con¬ 
tinuous one, with no retracing or “ back tracks. 
Start at one corner at one of the middle points, or 
on the side; but remember there must be a single 
iuclosure to each of the sixteen dots, no more 
and no less, when the work is rightly done. 
Fig. 6. —SNAIL DRAWN 
IN SHELL. 
