156 NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
their house on their back, Mrs. Helix is the very 
queerest. Just imagine: her head is in her foot, 
her eyes are located in her horns, and her teeth 
are in her tongue! ” 
“ Honestly? ” queried Ruth, divided in what to 
believe. 
“ Cross my heart,” assured Uncle John sol¬ 
emnly, “ and that is only a beginning. Snails do 
their eating and traveling, too, almost entirely by 
night. We often find their shells, emptied by 
who knows what tragedy. But we are not so apt 
to stumble upon the snails themselves. They 
have hiding-places under leaves, rocks, and logs, 
and around the roots of trees and bushes, and 
they well know when to keep hidden. The gar¬ 
den snails thrive best in damp places and are hap¬ 
piest along shady walks in old gardens. There 
are several varieties of snails, but whether they 
live in garden, field, or woods, pond or sea, their 
general make-up is pretty much the same. 
“ The snail’s body is a jelly-like mass, and 
when it pleases can be drawn securely into the 
shell. The entire lower part of the body is its 
foot; so, you see, the snail has a very good under¬ 
standing. This foot is, in truth, a creeping disk, 
which is cleverly arranged to oil itself by means 
of a sort of mucous which issues from an opening 
in the bottom. By drawing up the foot and set¬ 
ting it down again sharply the snail manages to 
