naturalist’s calendar. 
523 
degree of heat and moisture. From the time of the Romaus who fattened these 
animals as an article of food, they have been eaten by various European na¬ 
tions, dressed in various vrays. At one period it seems they were admitted at our 
tables, after being boiled first in spring water, and then seasoned with oil, salt, 
and pepper. But the Romans took great pains in rearing these snails. They 
kept them in sties called cochlearia, which were generally constructed under 
rocks or eminences, moistened by a passing stream. If, however, the sty was 
not sufficiently humid, a water-pipe, bored full of holes, like a watering-pot, was 
introduced, by which means it was continually sprinkled and kept in a favoura¬ 
ble state. Here the snails required little attendance or food, but when it was 
wished to fatten them, they were fed on bran and sodden wine. It has been 
thought these animals were introduced about the middle of the sixteenth cen¬ 
tury, but Dr. Turton considers them as indigenous. It is probable that this is 
the species mentioned by Sallust so instrumental in the capture of the castle 
near the river Malaga in Spain, and which effected the termination of the Ju- 
gurthan war. This castle was besieged by Marius the Roman General, who, 
from its strength and resistance began to despair of reducing it. One Ligus, a 
mercenary of the army, wandering to procure water from the camp to the foot 
of the castle, found some snails crawling among the rocks; and having gathered 
first one, then another, and anxious to get more, was by little and little con¬ 
ducted to the summit of the mountain, at the back of the castle, by a rugged 
and unknown path. Perceiving the enemy busied in defending themselves in 
the front of the castle, with their backs towards him, Ligus stole down undisco¬ 
vered, and informing his general of the circumstance, Marius sent a chosen band 
under the guidance of Ligus by the same path, who rushing unexpectedly on the 
besieged, shortly took the castle. The Valvata obtusa (5) is not a common shell, 
but may occasionally be found in ponds and canals, it is about a quarter of an 
inch long and as much broad, and of a light horn colour, having the mouth also 
closed with a lid. In similar situations to the last, and more common, may be 
found the Paludina impura (6). This shell is about half an inch long, and 
three-tenths wide, of a yellowish horn-colour, but often covered with a blackish 
foul coat. This also possesses a lid. A very common and destructive snail the 
Helix aspersa (7) may be found in almost all gardens under thick hedges, and 
about old walls, when, during the winter, they cling to each other in large clusters 
The shell is an inch and a half in diameter, of a dull olive colour, with generally 
four interrupted brown bands, one and rarely two of them penetrating the 
mouth, it is covered with a creased or coarsely wrinkled skin, by which it may 
be readily known. 
Birds. —The preparing of a collection of specimens being one of the most 
seductive modes of fostering a taste for natural history, it appears of importance 
to facilitate as much as possible the formation of museums. Birds are too often 
rejected as not worth preserving, from being bloody or otherwise soiled; but they 
can be perfectly restored to purity of plumage in the following manner. Hav¬ 
ing mounted the bird in the attitude designed, wash the soiled parts gently in 
the direction of the feathers, with a sponge and cold soft water, which if care¬ 
fully performed, will not discompose the plumage. Then having made a mix¬ 
ture of raw-starch and cold water, of the consistency of thin mortar, lay a coat 
of it about the eighth of an inch thick over the parts to be cleansed, and in 
about twenty-four hours, when it is dry, it may be removed by a few taps of the 
