240 LITTLE FOLKS 
Snails are not only eaten in soup, and roasted over a fire ; they 
are also mashed and mixed with milk to make it taste like cream — 
at least, Mr. Wood tells of one old woman who did it. He tried it 
so far as to prepare the cream, but he did not taste it. 
There are many kinds of Snails, the largest of which is called 
the Agate Shell, lives in Africa, and is eight inches long. The 
eggs of this member of the family are an inch long. 
Another Snail — the Boring Snail — is thought to make holes 
in a solid rock, for its Winter home. 
The Pond Snail is a droll little fellow, who lives in fresh water, 
and has a comical way of making a boat of his shell, and sailing 
about without trouble. He does it thus : first he climbs up a water 
plant, till he reaches the edge of the water, then turns himself 
upside down, so that his shell is under him, and hollows out his 
foot so that it is something like a boat shape. He then lets go of 
the plant, and floats off with the current. Sometimes you will see 
hundreds of these odd little Snail boats sailing off together, and if 
you throw a stone into the water, the feet jerk in, the shells flop 
over, and down goes the whole party to the bottom of the pond. 
The Apple Snail is another one who lives in the water. His 
home is in the hot parts of the world, and when the river or pond 
in which he lives is about to dry up, he buries himself deeply in 
the mud, and waits for the water to come again. Sometimes he 
lives thus for years. 
A pretty little fellow, called the Violet Snail, from the color of 
his shell, lives in the sea, and has some curious ways. He is 
famous for making a raft, which floats him about on the sea, 
wherever the winds blow him. This raft is made larger than he 
is, and is made of a great many little bubbles of air, which, of 
course, makes it very light. When floating about on the ocean, 
the Snail rides just under water, and if the weather is rough, his 
frail little raft is often broken off, and he sinks to the bottom. He 
can draw the raft partly into his shell, but whether he can make a 
new one is not known. 
But the drollest use of the raft is to carry about the baby 
Snails. The eggs hang from the lower side of it, like a row of 
balls. When the eggs hatch out, the baby Snails start off in life 
for themselves, and never, I suppose, even see their mother — if, 
indeed, they see anything. They eat small creatures which they find 
floating about. The whole raft is not more than an inch long, of 
