534 Mollusca. 
snail lays eggs, which are about the size of small peas, 
semi-transparent, and of a soft substance. By closely 
examining with a magnifying lens the eggs which a 
Water Snail, kept in a bottle of water, had deposited 
against the glass, the young Snail was seen in the egg, 
with its embryo shell on its back ; two have also been 
observed in one egg, each of them with the rudiments 
of the shell. 
The Garden Snail is extremely tenacious of life, and 
remains in a state of torpor during the winter. It is 
said, indeed, that it can remain in this state for many 
years, and the following instance is probably without 
parallel in any other animal : — Mr. S. Simon, a merchant 
of Dublin, whose father, a Fellow of the Eoyal Society, 
and a lover of natural history, left him a small collection 
of fossils and other curiosities, had, among them, the 
shells of some Snails. About fifteen years after his 
father's death, he gave to his son, a child of ten years 
old, some of these Snail-shells to play with. The boy 
placed them in a flower-pot, which he filled with water, 
and the next day put them into a basin. Having occa- 
sion to use this. Mr. Simon observed that the animals 
had come out of their shells. He examined the child 
respecting them, and was assured that they were the 
same which had been in the cabinet. The boy said he 
had a few more, and brought them. Mr. S. put one of 
these into water, and, in an hour and a half afterwards, 
observed that it had put out its horns and body, which 
it moved but slowly, probably from weakness. Major 
Valiancy, Dr. Span, and other gentlemen, were after- 
wards present, and saw one of these Snails crawl out ; 
the rest being dead, probably from their remaining 
some days in the water. Similar observations have 
since been so frequently repeated, that there is now no 
doubt that Snails of various kinds may retain their 
vitality for years when preserved in a dry state. 
THE SMALL GREY SLUG, (Umax cinereus,) 
Resembles a Snail in all points except that it has 
no shell, consequently the brown skin of the back is 
