58 The Oa) ais 
ftrongly with aqua fortis: hence I call it. an- 
alcaline little bone. , 
I could not find out the ufe of this little 
part. I thought indeed at firft that it was the 
penis, but experience convinced me of the 
contrary. It is however certain, that it is of 
fome ufe in generation ; for after coition, fuch 
little parts are commonly found where the 
Snails have been together. I have obferved 
alfo the fame thing in other kinds of Snails, 
till at length I made ufe of it as a fign to dif- 
cover whether the bufinefs of generation had 
been over. In fome Snails which were not 
given to venery, I found this little part fo {mall, 
that it was hardly one fourth fo big as that 
already deferibed : it was like a point, flender, 
fhort, and tender. In fome it was larger, in 
others fmaller, that is, as far as I could judge, 
the nearer they approached to the time of ge- 
neration, or the further they were from it. It 
is fometimes partly yellow, but for the moft 
part it is tranfparent and very white; it feems, 
however, to be fubject to accretion, like corals, 
as I fhall demonftrate more clearly in the Snail- 
ftone. I remember to have fometimes feen in 
a Cuttle-fith, an entire little bag full of fuch 
white fimall parts, which lay there free and 
difengaged among a glutinous humor, but they 
confifted of a very foft fubftance, and were much 
larger. ‘This fith has gills likewife, and: other 
fuch wonderful parts ; fo that this animal de- 
ferves very particular confideration, though 
much could not be hitherto known or faid 
concerning it. 
The common little tube that lies between the 
penis and uterus, Tab. V. fig. x. g, is not very 
remarkable ; I only obferved that it was hollow. 
But that other, vas deferens 44, feems to fup- 
ply more ample matter for fpeculation, both 
becaufe it opens into the uterus z, and that it 
has a little ball or globe & in the form of a 
pear, which contains a fluid of a pale purple 
colour, fomewhat glutinous, and not thin. This 
little ball lies next to the heart in the body; fo 
that the great artery is carried round that pipe 
Gecabte cA 
of UN SASTOULR B- 
FOL, 
with which the ball is connected ; but what 
ufe this little part is of, I could never hitherto 
difcover. I once obferved, that the little bone 
before-mentioned, penetrated into this veffel, 
almoft.as far as its aperture into the uterus ; 
but; to the beft of my remembrance, I had 
then irritated the Snail at the time of coition, 
fo that it drew in thefe parts of generation ; for 
which reafon I afterwards ufed to diftinguifh, 
in a particular manner, thofe Snails which 
had exercifed coition. Of what ufe this little 
globe or ball is, Tam ignorant; I fhould, how- 
ever, be inclined to believe, that this is the part 
wherein the Purple-fith carries that precious dye, 
wherewith the garments of monarchs, and other 
great perfons, were coloured purple in the 
times of the Romans. -To this the facred 
writings allude, when they fay, “ that the rich 
man was cloathed in purple.” 
Tam likewife at a lofs to know of what ufe 
the curled little veffel J is. Tobferved, how- 
ever, that it is diftributed into various little 
branches z, which, like fo many tubes, arife 
from the oblong, round, and acute little part, 
placed near the extremity of the fpiral liver, 
and there joined to the liver itfelf. But if this 
little part be divided, and opened or unfolded, 
with the top of an ivory bodkin filed fharp, 
and fomewhat foftened by fteeping it in water, 
by which means it does not offer fo much vio- 
lence to the parts as a needle, it appears like 
a little tree or fhrub adorned with leaves,. 
Tab. V. fig. xv. a; with this difference only, 
that its extreme parts are ftudded, or embofled 
and {wollen, hollow on the infide, and full of 
moifture, which is probably conveyed by de- 
grees into that curled fmall veffel refembling a 
chain; but then the matter contained in this 
little part is more white and compact, and better 
digefted. 
Laftly, we muft obferve that moft. of the 
parts hitherto enumerated, are placed behind 
in the fpire of the fhell, and are there feen 
through it in feveral places. 
Pg (BS 
Of the manner in which Snails mutually perform the bufine/s of coition. 
AVING hitherto, in part, fhewn the 
method whereby Snails generate, I fhall 
now give you a full defcription thereof; fince 
it isa matter very worthy of notice that, an 
hermaphrodite little creature fhould have need 
of a companion for the purpofe of genera- 
tion. 
The Snails gather together for fome days 
before their coition, and lye quiet near each 
other, eating very little in the mean time; but 
they fettle their bodies in fuch a pofture, that 
the neck and head are placed upright. Thus, 
whilft the fhell of each refts upon the earth, 
with its double head, the Snails are raifed up- 
wards, and they fupport themfelves erect, by 
the extreme ends of the fringes and verge of 
their bodies, in the fame manner as it is faid 
Serpents engender, that is, in an erect fituation, 
and twifted about each other. 
At that time the verge, or its aperture, is 
continually open to take in the air; but the 
opening of the genitals in the neck is fome- 
times obferved to be alternately open and con- 
tra€ted. ‘This action is performed in the fame 
manner as the agitation of the outer parts of 
the vulva in Dogs and Hens, when they defire . 
coition. The Snails being thus animated, foftly 
approach each other, and apply their bodies | 
one 
