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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40880 ***
+
+    [Illustration:
+
+    _Frontispiece._
+
+    Canon Horsley in his study examining a rare variety of whelk
+    (var. _Babylonica_) from a stall in the Walworth Road. It is now
+    in the South Kensington Museum.]
+
+
+
+
+    OUR BRITISH SNAILS
+
+    BY THE
+    REV. CANON J. W. HORSLEY
+
+
+    AUTHOR OF "SOME FOLK-LORE AND LEGENDS OF BIRDS," ETC.
+
+    LONDON
+    SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE
+    NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C.
+    43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C.
+    BRIGHTON: 129, NORTH STREET
+    1915
+
+
+    PRINTED BY
+    WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
+    LONDON AND BECCLES.
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+                                                                PAGE
+
+    Canon Horsley in his study examining a rare variety of whelk
+    (var. _Babylonica_) from a stall in the Walworth Road.
+                                                     _Frontispiece._
+
+    _H. pomatia_, half natural size                               11
+
+    Dextral _H. aspersa_ and _H. pomatia_                         13
+
+    Love-darts of _H. pomatia_, much magnified                    15
+
+    _H. nemoralis_ at rest on hawthorn                            17
+
+    Names of parts of shell and of body. _Unio_, _Limnæa_,
+      _Vivipara_, and _Arion_                                     22
+
+    Body of snail and of slug                                     23
+
+    Three specimens of _Arion ater_, showing tentacles,
+      breathing orifice, and slime gland                          31
+
+    _Testacella haliotidea_                                       35
+
+    _Helicella virgata_ at rest on thistle, natural size          45
+
+    Some of our smaller shells                                    47
+
+    _Paludina contecta_ (two) and _Limnæa stagnalis_ on
+      water-weeds                                                 57
+
+    _Neritina_ and _Ancylus_                                      59
+
+    Freshwater mussel breathing and eating                        61
+
+
+
+
+OUR BRITISH SNAILS
+
+
+It has been said that a child's education should begin thirty years
+before its birth, since what he is, or becomes, or does, depends
+largely upon what his parents were, and not solely on what he learns
+at home or in school, or from his companions and surroundings.
+
+But the principle of what is called "atavism" shows us that the
+appearance, tastes, and character of a child's grandparents may
+reappear, even more than those of his parents; and that, therefore,
+his education begins sixty years before his birth.
+
+My education, viewing me as a naturalist, began even earlier than
+that, for nearly all my ancestors of whom I know anything more than
+their names and abiding place were botanists or horticulturists, and I
+cannot recollect the time when I was not an observer of nature and a
+collector of the common objects of the field, the ditch, the seashore,
+the wood, and the cliff. My father died before I was four, and I have
+never had any remembrance of his words or looks, yet I remember his
+cutting down a tree in the shrubbery of his Kentish vicarage garden
+which forked curiously from the ground, and also of finding that
+handsome fungus which is scarlet flecked with white. This shows that
+the observation of the marvels and beauties of God's Green Bible, or
+Book of Nature, began early in me. The habits of observation, of
+comparison, and of method, are those which all naturalists and
+collectors must have; habits which are of great value in other ways as
+well. Firstly, one must have the seeing eye, and train it to notice
+what many people do not. (Get and read the old book, much read when I
+was young, called "Eyes and no Eyes.") Secondly, one must learn to
+observe the difference (sometimes very small, although important)
+between one object and others of the same family. Every one knows a
+wild rose by sight; but nearly every one would be surprised to hear
+that botanists make out twenty kinds of English wild roses, to say
+nothing of varieties and hybrids. In all departments of natural
+history a magnifying glass, for the dissection of inward parts, is
+necessary in many cases to separate two kinds which look alike. And,
+thirdly, if you want to make a collection, whether of dried plants, of
+insects, of shells, or of anything else, you must cultivate ways of
+order and method and neatness in the arrangement of your collection.
+And then your increased powers of observation, of comparison, and of
+method will stand you, and others, in good stead in higher matters of
+thought and action, and the virtues of Prudence, Justice, Temperance,
+and Fortitude will all increase in you as you learn more about what is
+in man, what man should be, and how men should be treated. Let us take
+Fortitude for example. I have known boys who collected one kind of
+thing eagerly for a while, but soon got tired of it, and generally had
+little power of "sticking" to anything. On the other hand, I was once
+admiring the magnificent collection of shells owned by a middle-aged
+doctor, and asked him, "When did you begin to collect?" "When I was
+seven," was his answer. I should expect to find more Fortitude in that
+doctor's character than in that of a boy who collected "all things in
+turn and nothing long."
+
+Yet I myself was middle-aged before I felt disgusted with myself, when
+gazing on a lad's collection of British land shells, that I should so
+long have been groping in hedges and ditches, and yet never have
+noticed the variety and the beauty of members of the snail family.
+(That lad, by the bye, is now a Professor in an American University,
+and a great authority on shells and other matters.) Since then I have
+gathered a complete collection of the British land and fresh-water
+shells, and a very large and valuable one of the _Helicidæ_--_i.e._
+the family to which the common or garden snail belongs--of every
+country in the world; and have been President of the Conchological
+Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
+
+I am now, therefore, writing about our British land shells, "slugs and
+snails" in common speech, with the hope that it may add a new interest
+to the country walks of lads and lasses.
+
+I could show you a wall-case I made for a school. It contains
+specimens of all the British land shells with the exception of the
+slugs, which (with the exception of one of which I shall speak in its
+place) have no external or covering shell, although a small sort of
+shell, or at any rate some chalky grains, is found inside most of
+them. You would see that some are as small as a pin's head although
+full grown, and they would require a magnifying glass to distinguish
+one from the other. The largest is _Helix pomatia_ (figured on pp. 11
+and 12), which often goes by the name of "the edible snail." All
+snails are edible and nutritious; but this is the one cultivated in
+snail farms and sold as food abroad. Sometimes it is called "the Roman
+snail," from an idea, probably wrong, that it was introduced by
+Cæsar's soldiers, although as a matter of fact it is unknown in South
+Italy. Sometimes also it is called "the apple snail," partly because
+it is as large as a middle-sized apple, and partly because people
+thought the name _pomatia_ came from the Latin _pomum_, "an apple,"
+whereas it really comes from the Greek [Greek: pôma]. This word means
+a lid, or closing arrangement, and this mollusc makes a hard front
+door for itself when it hibernates, _i.e._ suspends active life and
+buries itself in the winter.
+
+[Illustration: _H. pomatia_, half natural size.]
+
+It is much to be regretted that in most cases scientific names fail to
+give much information to the young student, and in some cases they
+give none at all. The first or generic name is supposed to be formed
+from Greek, the second, or specific, from the Latin, but there are
+some hybrids and many mere "nonsense names" to puzzle beginners. Thus
+the slug Limax gets its name from _limus_, "mud"; but a scientist, who
+ought to have known better, when wanting a name for another kind of
+slug, transposed the initial letters and made Milax! Vitrina is a
+sensible and descriptive name, the Latin for glassy, given to a shell
+like thin glass; but the Greek Arion recalls either a certain musician
+or a certain swift steed, neither of whom naturally suggests a slug.
+For Balea at least four derivations have been suggested--none of them
+probable. Two facts concerning the life or appearance of a mollusc we
+should learn from its two names, but this is not the case with
+_Agriolimax agrestis_, which is by interpretation "the field slug
+inhabiting fields." Nor are we helped by the specific name _virgata_
+or striped when so many land shells are striped or banded, and still
+less by _terrestris_ for one land shell when all land shells are
+terrestrial.
+
+You would note, however, in this wall-case that the species are not
+many (a good many of the specimens are varieties, not separate
+species), and that, therefore, one can collect with the hope of
+speedily forming a complete collection without that inevitable absence
+of finality found when one collects postage stamps, or, still more,
+picture postcards, of which one might secure thousands, only to find
+that fresh thousands were brought out next year. Here, however, is no
+impossible ideal of perfection. There are but eighty-two land and
+forty-five freshwater shells in Britain.
+
+[Illustration: Dextral _H. aspersa_ and _H. pomatia_. The right-hand
+shell at the bottom shows the winter epiphragm of _H. pomatia_.]
+
+Let us imagine we are starting for an afternoon snailing near London.
+Which way? To Oxshott? To Caterham? To the latter for choice, since it
+is on the chalk, whereas the former is on the sand. Snails require
+lime to make shells, and only on chalk or limestone will you find an
+abundance. Here, too, as at Box Hill, we shall find the big _Helix
+pomatia_, only found in a few English counties, and very local there.
+If we were very fortunate, we might find a sinistral, or "left-handed"
+specimen. In the case of the _pomatia_ on the right hand there is
+shown the thick epiphragm which the mantle secretes before the mollusc
+hibernates. It hardens on exposure to the air like plaster-of-paris;
+but is not a true operculum, for that is a constant possession of the
+shells which have it. Opercula are mainly found in marine or
+fluviatile shells, and may be either horny (like the winkle) or stony.
+Amongst our British land shells _Cyclostoma elegans_ and _Acicula
+lineata_ alone have true opercula, though others form some thin
+epiphragm for the exclusion of cold air and enemies when they
+hibernate.
+
+Most shells grow to the right, and a freak which does the contrary is
+so rare that of the millions of the common _H. virgata_ that I have
+seen and handled, only one delighted me with its left-handedness. If
+it is early summer (nearly all snails hide, burrow, and sleep during
+the winter), look about on the grass for some half-chalky, half-stony
+shields, which are the winter front doors of _H. pomatia_, now
+discarded; while sharper eyes might even descry the flinty little
+darts with which they have been love-making. The illustration on p. 15
+shows three of these darts, much magnified. Only the most highly
+developed Helices possess these courting weapons, not unlike bayonets
+in form, sometimes rounded and smooth, and sometimes with two or even
+four lateral blades, so that the section of the dart of _H. pomatia_
+is in the form of a Greek cross. Not many British shells have these
+darts, but in one case their study is useful, since _H. nemoralis_ and
+_H. hortensis_, though so closely allied that early conchologists
+considered them to be of the same species, have darts remarkably
+distinct one from the other, so that they become a court of final
+appeal if from outward appearance it is difficult to distinguish, say,
+a white-mouthed _nemoralis_ from a dark-mouthed _hortensis_.
+
+[Illustration: Love-darts of _H. pomatia_, much magnified.]
+
+Whenever you see a stone, a brick, a branch of dead wood, or even an
+old boot or a piece of newspaper in the hedge or on the grass, turn it
+over, for many of the smaller shells are thus found, and "leave no
+stone unturned" is eminently a motto for the conchologist. Some of the
+shells will be tiny, and must be studied under a magnifying
+glass--which all naturalists should always have in their pockets--or
+even under a microscope at home, in order to discover, not only their
+beauty of marking or sculpture, but even to what species they belong.
+
+When you see a man sweeping herbage with a net, or beating hedges and
+shrubs over an inverted umbrella, he is probably an entomologist in
+search of caterpillars or beetles; but the same methods will often
+reward the snail-hunter.
+
+Especially in the hedges will you find the two allied species _Helix_
+(_Cepea_) _nemoralis_ and _hortensis_, to which the attention of
+beginners should first be directed, inasmuch as they are so common, so
+beautiful, and so varying both in colour and the number of the
+chocolate bands they usually bear. See the illustration of some of
+these at rest on hawthorn, p. 17. Canary-yellow, flesh-colour,
+chocolate, and almost white, are the prevailing ground-colours. Five
+is the normal number of bands on the largest or body-whorl, although
+sometimes all run into one, and often one, some, or all are wanting.
+Where only one band is found--throughout the Helicidæ--it is usually
+that on the periphery or middle of the whorl, and a shell in which
+this band is wanting, while others are found, is a rarity. People are
+usually astonished, on seeing a good series of the colour and
+variations of these two shells, how they vie with those of warmer
+regions.
+
+[Illustration: _H. nemoralis_ at rest on hawthorn.]
+
+Next search trunks of trees, and especially the smooth boles of the
+beeches. The rough bark of the elm or oak is not congenial to slugs or
+snails. Where trees are moss-covered at their foot, or walls at their
+top, many of the smaller shells may be expected; while handfuls of
+dead leaves may be shaken over something white, or taken home in a
+large bag to be treated there. Hurdles leaning against a hedge are
+often found to bear a good crop of snails. Damp places must be sought
+in dry weather; but a rainy day, that troubles some kinds of
+naturalists, sends the conchologist forth rejoicing, especially if a
+warm evening follows a wet day. A night search with a lantern will
+often be profitable. Where they will be undisturbed, traps may be set,
+such as flat pieces of wood (the older the better), or cardboard,
+lying on the grass; while most of those species that belong to the
+group which seems to prefer the sun, _e.g._ _H. itala_, _virgata_,
+etc., are fond of a newspaper for food rather than for shelter.
+
+During the hibernating season, which extends from November to April,
+we turn rather to ditches than to hedges, and, armed with a perforated
+scoop at the end of a long stick, we dredge among the water-weeds, or
+sift, like gold-washers, the sand or mud in ditches, ponds, and
+backwaters of rivers. Here we are introduced to the great bivalve
+family which is unknown on land, and our trophies range from the
+freshwater mussels, as large as our hand, to others hardly larger than
+a pin's head. These must be sought at the bottom; but on the weeds, or
+on the bottom, will be found not a few species of gasteropods or
+univalves, some of which we may have noticed in a freshwater aquarium.
+These, of course, are closely connected with the land shells, which
+the bivalves are not. They can be brought home alive in a tin box with
+a little moss, whereas for the land shells a calico bag with a little
+foliage therein is best. In both cases some small glass tubes with
+corks should be brought in a tin box in order to keep safely and
+separately the tinier kinds. You can often discover what small shells
+inhabit a particular ditch or pond by noticing the cases of
+caddis-worms, some of which are formed almost entirely of shells
+instead of vegetable fragments.
+
+Using the precious gift of observation, we have found our shells; at
+home we exercise the other gifts of comparison and order, in the
+preparation and arrangement of our collection. A dash of quite boiling
+water kills instantaneously any molluscs whose shells we want to
+preserve, and then the body is extracted after the fashion observed
+with regard to winkles at tea. Be careful to get out all the body of
+the animal, and then it is well to wash out any slime or particles by
+directing a fine but strong jet of cold water into the shell. This can
+be done by holding your thumb nearly over the mouth of a watertap,
+while the shell is held in the left hand. Only adult shells should
+usually be taken, and those which are weather-worn or bleached should
+be neglected. In most the lip, or opening, of the shell will be hard
+if adult, and membranous if young; but experience alone will enable
+you to discriminate, especially where the young of one species is like
+the adult of another.
+
+Get into the way of carrying a note-book with you to record not only
+what shells, or varieties of a species, are found in any particular
+spot, but also anything you observe as to the habits or peculiarities
+of the objects of your search. Notes as to protective colouring or
+mimicry; the influences of a wet or a dry season on the relative
+thickness of shells; the difference in size caused by abundance or
+scarcity of diet; what plants are preferred and what avoided as food
+by particular helices,--are some of the points of interest, apart from
+the earliest and latest dates at which certain species are abroad and
+active.
+
+If you possess, or borrow, a microscope, many new wonders and fresh
+lines of inquiry will open out. I know one professor who devotes
+himself to the study of the teeth of molluscs. A snail may possess
+over twenty thousand tiny flinty teeth set on a ribbon so as to make a
+mowing-machine for the vegetable matter on which it feeds. With its
+aid also you might study the life-history of a mollusc from the egg
+onwards, and be able to determine by minute anatomical points whether
+two molluscs were of the same species or not--a matter in which the
+shape or appearance of the shell is not always a safe guide.
+
+Here, then, is a new hobby for some of my readers, or, at any rate, a
+fresh source of interest when they are in the country. If any
+collector lives near you, I am sure he or she would be delighted to
+have your company during an expedition, and you would learn more by
+sight and hearing than by reading. If, however, you must fall back
+upon a book, get _The Collector's Manual_ by L. E. Adams, published by
+Taylor Bros., Leeds. This is invaluable both to the beginner and to
+the owner of a good collection.
+
+From this I borrow by leave the plate on p. 22, which will enable the
+beginner to understand from the first certain names of parts of the
+shell or the body of the bivalve, univalve, or slug which otherwise
+might not be clear. The "muscular scars" are indents in the shell
+which mark where the muscles were fixed whose function was to bring
+close together the two valves of the shell when it has need to exclude
+air or enemies.
+
+[Illustration: Names of parts of shell and of body. _Unio_, _Limnæa_,
+_Vivipara_, and _Arion_.]
+
+The figures of the snail and the slug below are introduced to give
+further knowledge of the soft parts. B is the body, soft and with a
+surface generally wrinkled or covered with small tubercles. F is the
+foot or muscular pad which forms the foot by the wavelike contractions
+of which it moves. H is the head, bearing the tentacles T_{1} and
+T_{2}, of which the upper pair have the eyes, E. The mantle, M, makes
+the shell by secreting lime, etc. In it is the breathing orifice, BO,
+obvious in the slug, but in the snail nearly hidden by the shell. L in
+the snail is the spiral part, the liver, and it occupies a large part
+of the shell.
+
+[Illustration: Body of snail and of slug.]
+
+Without going into details of classification and anatomy, which would
+only deter or puzzle a beginner, let me take two typical molluscs of
+those which we shall find in England, the common garden snail _Helix
+aspersa_, and a freshwater mussel, _Unio margaritifer_, and see where
+they come in the scale of creation and what are their powers and
+peculiarities.
+
+Molluscs (_mollis esca_, soft food--boneless creatures) are below the
+aristocracy of the vertebrates or backboned creatures, and so they
+come just below the Fishes, but above the Insects. They are divided
+into those possessing a head and those possessing no head (although
+with some sort of a brain or organ of sense), the snail being of the
+former class and the mussel of the latter. The former are univalves
+and the latter bivalves having two shells for protection. The latter
+also are restricted to life in water, whereas the former are found
+both on land and in water, _e.g._ the snail and the whelk, although
+for ages probably no molluscs were air-breathing land dwellers. In the
+class of Cephala, to which our snail belongs, there is the sub-class
+of Gasteropoda, or stomach-footed, because on the ventral side of the
+body a sole-like disc or foot exists, by the wave-like expansions and
+contractions of which the animal progresses.
+
+In this sub-class there is a division according to their having or not
+having an operculum, or means of closing and protecting the orifice of
+the shell. Most gasteropods which live in water have this; most which
+live on land (only two exceptions in British molluscs) have not. Here
+again we must trace our snail down to the sub-order of Pulmonata, or
+lung or air-sac breathers as distinct from its sisters which inhabit
+water and breathe by gills. This sub-order is again divided into
+various families, Arion, Limax, Testacella, Vitrina, Zonites, Helix,
+etc., and Helix again is divided into various genera, of which Helix
+is one, and even this is subdivided into sub-genera, Patula, Punctum,
+Acanthinula, Vallonia, Chilotrema, Gonostoma, Pomatia, Tachea, etc.,
+and to the sub-genus Pomatia our garden snail as well as the "Roman
+snail" belongs. Looking backwards we, therefore, place our friend as
+the species _aspersa_, of the sub-genus _Pomatia_, of the genus
+_Helix_, of the family _Helicidæ_, of the sub-order _Pulmonata_, of
+the order _Inoperculata_, of the sub-class _Gasteropoda_, of the class
+_Cephala_, of the sub-kingdom of _Mollusca_, of the kingdom
+_Invertebrata_ or backboneless animals.
+
+It belongs by origin not to the earliest form of snail, but to the
+most highly organized group in the world, especially characteristic of
+the European region, and possessing in their superiority the power to
+colonize and dispossess the original native snails of other lands. The
+shell is globular in form with five whorls (the Greek word "helix"
+means a coil), each usually marked with five bands of pigment. It is
+mainly a vegetarian, and by habit a lover of the twilight and of
+moisture. With the exception of _H. pomatia_ it is the largest of our
+native shells, and is too common to satisfy gardeners. A powerful
+animal of its kind, it can travel a yard in twelve minutes, or at the
+rate of a mile in a fortnight, can bear or draw on level ground a
+weight fifty times its own. It breathes about four times a minute, and
+its heart-beat varies from sixty to eighty per minute according to
+temperature, or its activity. It takes its winter rest in clusters,
+closing its mouth with a membranous film, while if the cold increases
+it shrinks farther into its shell and makes more epiphragms or film
+curtains to keep out the cold. Not only on the Continent, but in
+several parts of England, notably about Bath and Bristol, it is
+sought, sold, and used for food, and in Belgium it is said to be
+preferred to the larger and more firm-fleshed _H. pomatia_. The eggs,
+from forty to a hundred, are laid in the earth and hatched in from a
+fortnight to a month, according to the weather. I had observed them as
+a boy, and used to call tapioca pudding "snail's egg pudding." In the
+year of their hatching they attain but half their proper size, but
+after hibernation they eat voraciously and grow rapidly, so as to
+attain full size in a little more than a year. Most die in their
+second hibernation (if not destroyed by their many enemies, gardeners,
+collectors, rats, rabbits, ducks, thrushes, and beetles); but when
+kept and protected for observation they have achieved the great age of
+even ten years.
+
+They have a great power of "homing" like pigeons, however far (for
+them) is their journey after favourite food. The slime-marked journeys
+or feeding tracks of this species (and still more of slugs) afford
+matter of great interest. As to sight the two eyes are the dark specks
+on the tip of the upper pair of "horns," but the range of vision is
+very short indeed, and the difference between light and approaching
+darkness is all that some seem able to perceive. The organs of hearing
+are two small sacs filled with fluid in which are some calcareous
+grains. They hear little which is audible to human ears, and if not
+altogether deaf they are dumb as far as we can hear. The power of
+taste they possess, as is shown by the preference of some foods to
+others. The sense of touch is acute and resides in all parts of the
+soft and moist external skin, and especially in the upper tentacles or
+horns in the _Helicidæ_. Jaws they have with which to seize and to
+bite off food, and in _H. aspersa_ and others these bear teeth, but
+the chief work is done by a sort of toothed tongue, the radula, which
+rasps off particles of food with a side to side motion of the head as
+the animal advances. Our _aspersa_ has 12,615 teeth on this ribbon,
+contained in 145 transverse rows. The organs of digestion are complex
+and practically much the same as our own. Little vegetation would be
+left in nature had not, on the one hand, snails been kept down by many
+enemies as well as by their need of hibernation and their short life;
+while on the other by numerous devices in the course of ages many
+plants have protected themselves against the moving machine of a
+snail's mouth. Cultivated plants, which generally lose their natural
+protections, have to be guarded by human guards or gardeners. Some
+plants defend themselves by prickles or hairs, some by hardening
+themselves with lime or flint, some by bitter or acrid juices. A heart
+of two chambers, veins, arteries, and blood our snail possesses, and,
+like man, the old snail has a slower pulse than the young one, and in
+both exercise increases the pulse rate and also warmth. Breathing is
+accomplished by a single chamber or air-cell, but also through the
+skin. As in the case of plants, some kinds are male and female
+separately, and as some have both powers and products in the same
+plant, so also is it with mollusca. _H. aspersa_ and most Gasteropoda
+are of the latter kind.
+
+Having now taken _H. aspersa_ as the representative of our univalves,
+let us take the "Pearl Mussel"--_Unio margaritifer_--as that of our
+bivalves, all of which live in the water, whereas of univalves some
+are "land snails" and some "water snails." It would say of itself, "I
+am a species of the genus Unio (_unio_, a pearl), which belongs to the
+family Unionidæ, which belongs to the sub-order Isomya (_i.e._ having
+muscles of equal power to close the two valves of the shell), which
+belongs to the order Lamellibranchiata (_i.e._ having gills arranged
+in leaf-like fashion), which belongs to the sub-class Pelecypoda
+(_i.e._ having a foot somewhat of an axe-shape), which belongs to the
+class Acephala (headless), which is the second of the two chief
+classes into which Mollusca are divided.
+
+"I differ from the Gasteropoda (whether they be terrestrial or
+aquatic) in that I and my near relations are exclusively aquatic and
+of a sedentary life, which makes the protection of two encompassing
+shells necessary. These shells are secreted by my mantle lobes, and
+are united by a ligament which tends to make the valves 'gape' for
+water and food and by two contracting muscles which close them in
+danger. I have a degenerate brain and no eyes. My mouth has neither
+jaw nor teeth, but possesses nervous lips covered with cilia, the
+vibration of which carries food-laden water to my mouth. My foot, when
+protruded, is seen as a large muscular appendage, and, by alternately
+expanding and contracting, it enables me to burrow or plough through
+mud or even sand, and so disturb the minute organisms on which I
+feed. I can thus travel fifteen feet a day, or about a mile in a year.
+
+"I have no eyes, but distinguish well between light and shade by means
+of the surface of my body when exposed. I breathe, that is, get oxygen
+from the water, by means of gill-plates. As regards other internal
+organs, I differ not much from _H. aspersa_, but I am either male or
+female. Outside I am black and uncomely; but within I am pearly-white,
+and but for my power of forming pearls round an irritating grain of
+sand the civilization of England would have come to pass later than it
+did, for it was the report of my pearls which brought Cæsar to
+Britain."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Now let us enumerate the species of land and freshwater shells to be
+found, (all but two) in England, and most of them in Ireland or
+Scotland.
+
+_Arion ater_ is a large (3 to 5 inches) and common slug, usually black
+(whence its name _ater_), but also red, brown, or white. In some
+varieties the foot-fringe is orange. When irritated it contracts into
+a hemispherical lump. A few chalky granules under the mantle are the
+representatives of a shell. See the illustration of three specimens on
+p. 31. That hole in the mantle is the breathing orifice, and its
+forward position is a characteristic of the group _Arion_. The body of
+slugs is kept moist by a constant exuding of slime from a gland in the
+tail.
+
+[Illustration: Three specimens of _Arion ater_, showing tentacles,
+breathing orifice, and slime gland.]
+
+_Arion subfuscus_ (_i.e._ somewhat tawny). Smaller (2 to 3 inches)
+than _A. ater_, grey or yellowish, with usually a dark stripe on each
+side. Foot-sole white, and its fringe white with dark cross streaks.
+Never very abundant.
+
+_Arion minimus._--The smallest Arion: not an inch long. Grey or
+yellowish. Feeds on fungi. Body wrinkled with microscopic spikes.
+Common. The _young_ of _A. ater_ might be mistaken for it.
+
+_Arion hortensis._--Grey with purple side bands. Foot-sole yellow. 1
+to 1-1/2 inch in length. Generally found in gardens, as its name
+indicates.
+
+_Arion circumscriptus._--Very common in fields. A dark band down the
+back, foot-sole white. Very "sluggish."
+
+_Geomalacus maculosus_ (_i.e._ the spotted earth-mollusc).--Only found
+in south-west Ireland. Probably a relic of the prehistoric time when
+Ireland was joined to Portugal and Spain. Has a solid chalky shell
+beneath the shield. Blackish with oval yellow spots. Feeds on lichens.
+
+_Amalia gagates_ (_gagates_ is Greek for "jet").--Dark lead colour.
+Foot-sole white. Length 2-1/2 inches. Local, and mainly near sea.
+
+_Amalia Sowerbyi._--Brown, speckled with black. Foot-sole yellowish.
+Length 2-1/2 inches. Local. Shell often very thick.
+
+_Limax maximus._--Length 4 to 6 inches. Grey with two dark lateral
+bands. Often found in cellars.
+
+_Limax cinereo-niger._--Ashy-black. Very like _L. maximus_, but with a
+sharp keel, and the sole paler in the middle than at the sides. Less
+nocturnal and less fond of houses; chiefly found in forests on hills.
+Local, and not common.
+
+_Limax flavus._--Yellow, with a faint dark network of markings.
+Tentacles blue. Sole cream. Length 4 inches. Only found in cellars and
+near houses.
+
+_Limax marginatus._--Semi-transparent. Grey, with two dark bands on
+each side. Foot-sole with a dark line down the middle. Shell solid,
+often a cube. Length 3 inches. Fond of tree climbing.
+
+_Limax tenellus._--Yellow. Tentacles black. Mucus yellow. Found in
+woods. Lives on fungi. Rare.
+
+_Agriolimax agrestis._--The common field slug. Swarms everywhere. Its
+milk-white slime is characteristic. Very variable in colour and
+markings.
+
+_Agriolimax lævis._--Slender. All chocolate brown. Length 3/4 inch.
+Shell may be seen through the mantle. Active. Our smallest slug.
+Usually found near ditches.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It may be useful here to give the chief differences between the genera
+Arion, Amalia, Limax, and Agriolimax. The shield in the first two is
+granulated, in the other concentrically striated. The breathing
+orifice in Arion is in front of the centre of the mantle margin; in
+the others behind. The shell is distinctly formed in all but Arion,
+in which it is absent or represented by a few granules. Arion has no
+dorsal keel. Amalia has one all down the back. In Limax and Agriolimax
+it is confined to the caudal part. Other differences are only
+discovered by dissection.
+
+One may also here note that to preserve slugs is difficult, and the
+best plan is to have a coloured drawing made of them when extended.
+Otherwise they may be drowned in cold water, cleaned of slime with a
+soft brush, and then preserved in glass tubes with diluted formalin or
+alcohol. Or, after drowning, they may be skinned and the skins dried
+on a card and varnished. Note also that most slugs have many
+variations in colour and markings.
+
+_Testacella haliotidea._--This genus of slugs forms a link between the
+naked slugs with rudimentary shells within, and the snails which live
+within their shells. The name _Testacella_, or little shell, was given
+by Cuvier in 1800, because this slug has a small shell at the end of
+the tail. Haliotidea means having a shell in the form of the marine
+shell _Haliotis_, the meaning of which again is the ear-shaped
+seashell, often called "Venus' Ear." It is subterranean in habit, and
+lives on worms. It should be looked for on the surface on damp nights,
+or is found when digging. Its length is 3 inches at most. Pale yellow
+in colour. See the illustration on page 35.
+
+_Testacella scutulum_ (a little shield).--Not so common as the former
+species, and differing chiefly in anatomy.
+
+_Testacella Maugei._--First found at Tenerife by M. Mauge. Reaches 4
+inches in length. Deep brown in colour. Shell larger. Rarer and more
+western in habitat than the other species.
+
+[Illustration: _Testacella haliotidea._]
+
+_Vitrina pellucida._--The Vitrinas in several ways afford a connecting
+link between the slugs and snails, having the same tooth-formation and
+mantle as the former, while the shell cannot contain the whole body.
+As the name indicates, the shell is like a bubble of clear greenish
+glass and very delicate. It is small, and found in damp places, coming
+out mostly at night. Omnivorous, it is often found feeding on dead
+worms, and, unlike nearly all our earth molluscs, can be found abroad
+in winter.
+
+_Vitrea (Polita) lucida._--This is the largest of our British
+Hyaliniæ, which are difficult to distinguish. The body of this species
+is cobalt blue, the apex of the shell is flat, its colour opaque, and
+the last whorl more expanded than in others. All belong to the
+sub-genus _Polita_, and have polished or glossy shells. All love shade
+and moisture, and should be sought under stones or wood or in moss.
+They only come out by day when it is wet, a habit they may have
+acquired from their being a favourite food of birds, 416 having been
+found in the crop of one nestling Stockdove; while various flies are
+very destructive to them. This species prefers animal food, and is
+more gregarious than others. Not common.
+
+_Vitrea (Polita) cellaria._--The next largest species is the most
+common of all. It is fond of cellars (whence its name), and I found it
+under the stone lid of a manhole in the drain of S. Peter's Rectory,
+Walworth--the only shell left in that part of London. It resembles the
+previous species, but is smaller and has a broader and deeper suture
+between the whorls, while the foot-sole is paler than the body.
+
+_Vitrea (Polita) Rogersi._--Local. Found in dense woods. It is much
+like both _H. cellaria_ and _H. alliaria_, and all three smell of
+garlic, but the last is much smaller than the others. The tentacles
+in the first are long, and in the third short; while in _Rogersi_ the
+upper pair are long and the lower very short. It is also the most
+glossy of all. If put in a box with other small shells it will clean
+them by cannibalism.
+
+_Vitrea (Polita) alliaria_, _i.e._ smelling of garlic.--Often confused
+by quite good conchologists with the preceding species, but the body
+is much darker, and the shell smaller and less white below than either
+_cellaria_ or _helvetica_. The always present smell is said to protect
+it from ants. Common, but local, and often a pest in greenhouses and
+ferneries.
+
+_Vitrea (Polita) nitidula._--Common. Less glossy. Marked expansion of
+the last whorl as it nears the mouth.
+
+_Vitrea (Polita) pura._--Like _nitidula_ but smaller, and edge of
+mantle white instead of dark. More common in the north. Shell thin and
+dull white.
+
+_Vitrea (Polita) radiatula._--Never abundant. Striations on shell give
+it a radiated appearance when magnified. Animal nearly black.
+
+_Vitrea crystallina._--The smallest of the genus. Shell transparent,
+pearly white. Umbilicus (_i.e._ the opening in the centre of the
+underside showing the whorls) very narrow. Subterranean in habit.
+Whorls, four; whereas _H. pura_ has five; also more compressed.
+
+_Euconulus fulvus._--Distinctively pyramidal in shape. Small. Brown.
+Common under rotten branches and moss in woods. Hardly hibernates.
+
+_Zonitoides nitidus._--Chocolate-brown, with no white round the
+umbilicus (as has _H. nitudula_). Larger than, but not unlike, _H.
+radiatula_. Gregarious. Chiefly found by water; also in damp
+hothouses. Amphibious.
+
+_Zonitoides excavatus._--Its broad and deep umbilicus is quite
+distinctive. Mainly British. Dislikes lime, and is most plentiful on
+the coal measures.
+
+We come now to the Helicidæ family and its genus Helix, in which there
+are various sub-genera of which the name is given in brackets. The
+shell in this genus can wholly contain the body; the tentacles are
+always four; the shell conical, and rarely with a depressed spire. The
+word "helix" is Greek, and means a coil.
+
+_Helix (Gonyodiscus) rotundata._--Very common under stones, moss, etc.
+Circular, flat, with a large open umbilicus. Horn colour with brown
+markings.
+
+_H. (Pyramidula) rupestris_, _i.e._ inhabiting rocks.--Small.
+Gregarious. Dark brown. Mainly on exposed dry walls and cliffs.
+
+_H. (Punctum) pygmæum._--Very small. Yellowish brown and glossy shell.
+Mainly on moist dead leaves. Not unlike _H. rupestris_ except as to
+habitat.
+
+_H. (Acanthinula) lamellata._--Small. Horn-colour. Epidermis raised
+into lamellæ or ridges in the line of growth. Mainly northern.
+Frequents dead leaves, especially beech and holly.
+
+_H. (Acanthinula) aculeata._--More common than the former; which it
+resembles in habitat. Differs chiefly by the ridges being produced
+into spines.
+
+_H. (Vallonia) pulchella._--Tiny. White. Mouth trumpet-shaped.
+Umbilicus wide. Under stones and at the roots of grass. Its variety
+_costata_ (which some make a separate species) is strongly ribbed.
+
+_H. (Helicigona) lapicida._--Circular, flattened, dark brown, strong
+white reflected rim to mouth. Large umbilicus. Marked keel, which
+distinguishes it from all other British land shells. Chiefly on chalk
+soils. Often on beech tree trunks.
+
+_H. (Gonostoma) obvoluta._--Common abroad, but confined in England to
+a few spots in Sussex and Hants. Circular, flat above, mouth
+triangular, with a strong pinkish-white rim with three denticles.
+
+_H. (Pomatia) pomatia._--Described earlier. Found in Hants, Sussex,
+Kent, Surrey, Oxford, Gloucester, and Bedfordshire; but very local.
+Elsewhere it may well be an escape from captivity, or the remains of
+an attempt (always unsuccessful) to establish a colony. Box Hill and
+Caterham are two good localities for Londoners. In Kent it has two
+centres, Charing and Shoreham with their contiguous parishes, but
+there is a great gap between them, and it is absent from places on the
+same chalk ridge which are identical in soil and vegetation.
+
+_H. (Cryptomphalus) aspersa._--The sub-generic name means that the
+umbilicus is hidden in adult shells by a fold of the pillar lip; the
+specific name means sprinkled (with brown blotches); but it may be a
+slip of the pen, for _aspera_, or rough, from the rough shagreening of
+its surface. Five banded, like so many of the Helicidæ, but usually
+the second and third band unite. No umbilicus. The variety _exalbida_
+(chiefly found in Kent and the West) is straw colour and somewhat
+transparent. Commonly sold for food on the Continent as well as
+_pomatia_, which is cultivated in "snail-farms," but not native in
+Germany or Switzerland, and in France chiefly found in the coast
+departments. Insipid; but as nourishing as calf's-foot jelly. Fond of
+gardens (whence its common name), but not of gardeners. As most
+animals are marvellously gifted with a knowledge of what food to eat
+and what to avoid, it is curious that _aspersa_ will eat voraciously
+the leaves of the spindle-tree, though this soon poisons them. It is
+said also that they share with cows and horses the ignorance that the
+leaves of the yew should be avoided on pain of sickness or even of
+death.
+
+_H. (Cepæa) nemoralis._--As already stated, this is the most
+brilliantly and variously coloured and diversely banded of all our
+English land shells with the exception of its very close connection
+_H. (Tachea) hortensis_. It is happily very common, and so the
+attention of beginners should first be directed to this. Thrushes and
+mice are its great enemies, the former smashing it on some stone which
+may be found surrounded by the broken shells. The "mouth" or peristome
+is normally black, the shell larger and stouter than _hortensis_, in
+which the mouth is white. When a white-mouthed _nemoralis_ or
+dark-mouthed _hortensis_ (both rare) is found, the shape of the
+internal flinty dart at once distinguishes them. In some places both
+live together: in most one is found and not the other. _Nemoralis_ is
+fond of sand-hills by the coast, but is chiefly a hedge-snail, and the
+edges of main roads are preferred because of the greater variety of
+food, because the traffic scares away their bird enemies, and because
+the dust gives them abundance of already prepared material for their
+shells. When, however, the collector comes to a wayside cottage where
+fowls are kept he need not waste his time in looking for snails in the
+neighbouring hedge. The more the chicken industry extends and the more
+the Bird Protection Acts operates, the worse it is for collectors of
+snails. The banding is probably protective, as in the case of the
+tiger and the zebra, and renders the shell less visible.
+
+_Helix (Cepæa) hortensis._--Rarely found in gardens in spite of its
+specific name. A hedge-snail. White forms not uncommon, though almost
+unknown in _nemoralis_. Though the weaker form, the coalescence of the
+five bands into one broad one is more common here than in _nemoralis_.
+Also the variety with only one band, and that on the periphery, is
+very common in _nemoralis_ and rare in _hortensis_. It is more
+dependent on shade and moisture than its congener. Smells of garlic
+when immersed in boiling water to be killed. _Hortensis_ is a more
+northern, and _nemoralis_ a more southern, shell by origin and
+distribution. There are 89 possible band variations in any normally
+five-banded shell, and all have been noted in the case of _nemoralis_,
+but in _hortensis_ only 61. They are distinguished, for purposes of
+record and exchange, by numbers. Thus the type is 12345, the usual
+one-banded variety 00300, the common coalescence of the second and
+third band is 1(23)45, and when all bands unite (12345). The
+unicolourous or bandless variations would be 00000.
+
+_H. (Arianta) arbustorum._--Local. Usually found in hedges and by
+ditches on chalk and limestone. Shell globose, brown or yellow, with a
+check or willow leaf pattern, and a single dark band on the periphery.
+Lip strong and white. Animal usually nearly black. Very fond of
+moisture. Anatomically related to _A. lapicida_, but no external
+resemblance.
+
+_Helix (Theba) cantiana._--First observed in Kent (where it is
+especially fine and abundant), whence its specific name, but generally
+dispersed in South and East England. A dull, creamy white shell with a
+pink tinge, sometimes becoming partially or wholly reddish.
+
+_Helix (Theba) cartusiana_ (first noticed near a Carthusian
+monastery). Much resembles _cantiana_, but is much smaller and more
+smooth. Chiefly found on the downs of Kent and Sussex. Used to be
+common on Deal sand-hills--now devastated by golf! The tint in this is
+brown, in the former red.
+
+_H. (Hygromia) rufescens._--A flattish, dark brown shell, abundant in
+the south of England, and not rare elsewhere. Has a semi-lunar mouth
+with a white internal rib. In gardens seems to prefer violet beds.
+
+_H. (Hygromia) hispida_, _i.e._ hairy.--These hairs are deciduous, and
+the hairless variety used to be considered a separate species under
+the name of _concinna_ (_i.e._ neat), but would now be the variety
+_depilata_, or bald. Broad and deep umbilicus. Common, except in
+Ireland. Usually associates with _H. rufescens_ in moist places.
+
+_H. (Hygromia) granulata_ is also hairy with white silky bristles.
+Yellowish in colour. Shell thin. Local, but abundant where found. Its
+umbilicus is very small. It falls from its food plants at the least
+shake.
+
+_H. (Hygromia) revelata._--Scantily haired. Globular thin shell. Pale
+green. Mainly found in Cornwall and South Devon. In cold or dry
+weather it buries itself rather deeply.
+
+_H. (Hygromia) fusca._--Very thin, glossy, brown shell. Local. Hardy,
+and even active in frost. Chiefly found on nettles, which many shells
+like as food, though avoiding the commonly associated horehound.
+
+_H. (Euparypha) pisana._--First noticed at Pisa. Somewhat like
+_Helicella virgata_, but larger, sub-globular, and solid shell,
+yellowish-white with dark lines or bands. Aperture or mouth yellowish
+or rosy. Most common in Portugal and Morocco, and all round the
+Mediterranean, dry places, especially near the sea. In England chiefly
+confined to Tenby and other parts of Pembrokeshire; also in the
+Channel Islands. Varies much in tint and markings. Swarms where found;
+it loves sun and heat. Seems to lend itself better to colonization
+than most species.
+
+_H. (Helicella) itala._--So named by Linnæus, who probably received it
+first from Italy. Shell almost circular, flat. Umbilicus very large
+and open. Common on heaths and downs, especially near the sea.
+
+_H. (Candidula) caperata._--(The specific name means wrinkled, like a
+goat's horn.) Careless of heat or cold. Distinguished from the young
+of _H. virgata_ by being more depressed, having a larger umbilicus,
+regular and strong striation, and round mouth with white internal rib.
+Found under stones and on grass. Common.
+
+[Illustration: _Helicella virgata_ at rest on thistle, natural size.]
+
+_H. (Heliomanes) virgata_ (_i.e._ striped).--A very variable shell.
+See the illustration above of some at rest on thistles. Local, but
+very abundant where found. Whitish shell with dark bands, but a
+yellowish and a white variety usually is found with the type. The most
+beautiful variety, _radiata_, is chiefly found in Romney Marsh, and
+from Hythe to Rye.
+
+_H. (Turricola) terrestris._--A Mediterranean species, well
+established since 1890, in one spot near Dover. A pyramidal shell,
+greyish, with one dark band on each whorl.
+
+_H. (Cochlicella) barbara_ (_i.e._ foreign).--Long, conical, whitish,
+with one dark band. By the sea-coast. In shape somewhat like a
+Buliminus.
+
+We come now to the Pupa family and its genus Buliminus and its
+sub-genus Ena. It is represented by:--
+
+_Ena montana._--A local and southern shell, conical, slightly glossy,
+brown. Lip white and deflected. Commonly found on the holes of
+smooth-barked trees, and it closely resembles the small knobs on beech
+trunks.
+
+_Ena obscura._--Like the former, but much smaller, and found nearly
+everywhere in England and Wales. Found in hedgebanks, or on beech
+trunks. Its specific name is derived from its habit of covering itself
+with a coating of earth, and so becoming inconspicuous.
+
+The plate on p. 47, gives figures of some of our smaller shells,
+enlarged in most cases so that their distinguishing marks can be seen.
+The upright line by the side of each figure gives its actual height.
+The shells as numbered are _Helix rupestris_, _H. pygmæa_, _H.
+pulchella_, _H. lapicida_, _H. obvoluta_, _H. terrestris_, _H.
+barbara_, _Ena montana_, _Ena obscura_, _Pupa secale_, _P. anglica_,
+_P. cylindracea_, _P. muscorum_, _Vertigo antivertigo_, _V.
+moulinsiana_, _V. pygmæa_, _V. alpestris_, _V. substriata_, _V.
+pusilla_, _V. angustior_, _V. edentula_, and _V. minutissima_. Without
+a magnifying glass it will be seen that it would be very hard to
+distinguish some of the minute shells, but this enlargement enables us
+to see the characteristic denticles in the mouth, and the presence or
+absence of striations on the shell.
+
+[Illustration: Some of our smaller shells. Actual size indicated by
+the upright line.]
+
+_Pupa (Abida) secale_ is named from the Latin for rye, a grain of
+which the shell more or less resembles. Conical, brown, mouth
+horseshoe-shaped with eight white denticles. Our largest Pupa. Local,
+but abundant where found. Prefers calcareous rocks or woods.
+
+_Pupa (Lauria) anglica._--Small, ovate, purplish in colour; mouth like
+that of _secale_. Lives in moss, mainly in the north of Britain.
+
+_Pupa (Lauria) cylindracea._--Small, cylindrical, paler than the last;
+thick and reflected white lip with one denticle. Abundant. On stones,
+in moss, under leaves and bark.
+
+_Pupa (Jaminia) muscorum._--Common, especially on sandy soils near the
+sea. Mouth nearly circular, whereas in the two former species it is
+horseshoe-shaped. The lip is thin and not reflected.
+
+The genus Vertigo (_i.e._ twisted, the Latin equivalent of the Greek
+Helix) contains shells even smaller than the Pupæ, about the size of a
+pin's head.
+
+_Vertigo (Alæa) antivertigo_ (_i.e._ not reversed or sinistral, as are
+_V. pusilla_ and _V. angustior_). Semi-transparent, glossy,
+horn-colour, with denticles (as have all except _V. edentula_ and _V.
+minutissima_). Found in nearly all counties in moist places.
+
+_Vertigo (Alæa) moulinsiana._--Our largest species, though only 2-1/3
+millimetres in height. Mainly in marshy places. Not common.
+
+_Vertigo (Alæa) alpestris._--Rare and local, chiefly northern. Nearly
+transparent shell.
+
+_Vertigo (Alæa) pygmæa._--Common, and often in colonies at roots of
+grass and under stones and logs. Not confined to moist places.
+
+_Vertigo (Alæa) substriata._--Local. Strongly striated.
+
+_Vertigo (Vertilla) pusilla._--Sinistral, as is also
+
+_Vertigo (Vertilla) angustior._--Both species rare and local. The
+former is the larger and broader. In the former the last whorl is
+broadest, in the latter the penultimate. In the former the mouth is
+semi-oval, in the latter triangular. In the former the outer lip is
+very slightly, in the latter very deeply contracted. The former has 6
+to 7 teeth, the latter 4 to 5.
+
+_Vertigo (Sphyradium) edentula_ is dextral and without denticles.
+Perhaps the most common _Vertigo_. Partial to bracken.
+
+_Vertigo (Isthmia) minutissima._--Dextral and without denticles.
+Smaller, narrower, and more strongly striated than edentula, but
+rarer. All the Pupæ should be examined with a magnifier.
+
+_Balea perversa_ (_i.e._ sinistral) is a much larger shell belonging
+to the Clausilia family. Thin, dark horn-colour, semi-transparent,
+glossy, 7 to 8 whorls, local, but abundant where found. Chiefly found
+on trees.
+
+_Clausilia (Pirostoma) bidentata._--All our British clausilias are
+sinistral. The clausilium (little door) is an internal contrivance
+fastened to the pillar of the shell (whereas an operculum is attached
+to the body of a mollusc) by an elastic ligament to protect it against
+insect enemies when the animal withdraws. _Bidentata_ has two
+denticles, fusiform and reddish-brown, as are all. Very common on
+walls and trees.
+
+_Clausilia (Pirostoma) rolphii._--Rare and local. Almost subterranean
+in habit. More coarsely striated than the last. The upper whorls
+nearly of the same breadth, forming a short cylinder.
+
+_Clausilia (Alinda) biplicata._--Very local. Chiefly on Thames
+willows. Larger than the two former, and streaked with white.
+
+_Clausilia (Marpessa) laminata._--Much like the former, but widely
+distributed. Usually found on beech and ash trees, and on limestone
+rocks. Smooth and glossy.
+
+In the family Stenogyra we have three genera, Azeca, Cochlicopa, and
+Cæcilioides (with also the imported _Stenogyra Goodallii_, found only
+in pine-houses).
+
+_Stenogyra (Azeca) tridens_ is a small chrysalis-shaped, solid but
+semi-transparent shell, horn-coloured, with 3 denticles. Not rare in
+moist places.
+
+_Stenogyra (Cochlicopa) lubrica_ (_i.e._ slippery).--Very common in
+moss and under stones or logs. Much like the previous species, but no
+denticles and fewer whorls, and broader mouth.
+
+_Stenogyra (Cæcilioides) acicula._--If this word is supposed to be
+Latin it would mean either "like to a blind worm" or "like to a
+lettuce"! _Cæcus_, however, being Latin for blind, the allusion is no
+doubt to the fact that this wholly subterranean species is eyeless.
+The only British representative of a large family of carnivorous
+molluscs. I have found it on Saxon bones when unearthed, and in
+crevices of limestone underground, but it is generally found dead
+amongst the rejectamenta on the banks of rivers. It is a pretty,
+glossy white shell, 5 millimetres in height by 1 in breadth.
+
+I may notice here two other land shells, although they scientifically
+are grouped amongst the fluviatile Gasteropoda.
+
+_Cyclostoma (Pomatias) elegans._--Common on calcareous soils,
+especially chalk. A spiral shell of 4-1/2 whorls, suture very deep.
+Mouth circular (whence its name) and provided with a thick shelly
+operculum which closes the orifice when the animal retires by means of
+an elastic ligament. This and the next species are our only land
+shells provided with an operculum, and this shows their derivation
+from the marine Gasteropoda (_e.g._ whelk and winkle). Perhaps all
+shells were originally marine, but some became first amphibious and
+then terrestrial. It is quite unlike any other of our land shells.
+
+_Acicula lineata_ is a very small shell, the size of the Pupæ; mainly
+northern in distribution. Feeds on liverworts and fungi. Very local; 6
+or 7 whorls. Mouth pear-shaped, with a horny operculum.
+
+The Family Succinea really ranks with the land shells, as belonging to
+the sub-order Pulmonata or lung-breathing molluscs. It is, however,
+amphibious, and hibernates in the mud at the bottom of a ditch.
+
+_Succinea putris_ (it is the mud, not the animal, which is putrid!) is
+called the Amber Snail from the colour of its shell, which is unlike
+any other. Common on flags, etc., at the edges of ditches and ponds.
+
+_Succinea elegans._--Difficult to distinguish from the former, but the
+animal is darker and the shell more slender, with a deeper suture and
+a narrower mouth.
+
+_Succinea oblonga_ is local and rare. Generally found near the sea.
+Much smaller than the other Succineas, and easily mistaken for the
+young of other species. Colour dull greenish.
+
+The family Auriculidæ is represented in Britain only by _Carychium
+minimum_; a very small, semi-transparent, white and glossy shell found
+under mossy stones and other moist places. Common, but sharp eyes are
+needed to find it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We now come to the freshwater shells, which we capture best by means
+of a perforated scoop, whether they are on the waterweeds or hidden in
+the sand or mud of the bottom.
+
+It may be noted that all freshwater shells are greenish-brown which is
+an excellent protective colouring as rendering them less visible among
+water weeds to the fish, which devour them greedily.
+
+The family of Limnæidæ (or lake dwellers) has the sub-families,
+Planorbis, Physa, Limnæa, and Ancylus. In the Planorbinæ (_i.e._
+flat-coiled) the only representative of the genus Segmentina is
+_Segmentina nitida_, a small, quoit-shaped, keeled, semi-transparent,
+light brown shell, with internal divisions like those of a nautilus
+which are visible from the outside of the shell. Local. Found in
+stagnant or sluggish water. The genus Planorbis contains the
+sub-genera Hippeutis, Gyraulus, Gyrorbis, Coretus, and Bathyomphalus.
+
+_Planorbis (Hippeutis) fontanus_ is much like Segmentina but has no
+septa, and is flatter. Common, especially on watercress. Often
+encrusted with mud.
+
+_Planorbis (Gyraulus) nautileus_ is very small; quoit-shaped, with the
+upper side flat. Grey and striated. The variety crista has the ridges
+of the epidermis drawn into points, and is beautiful when seen by a
+magnifying glass. Common in ponds and ditches.
+
+_Planorbis (Gyraulus) dilatatus_ is a very small shell imported in
+cotton bales from America, and naturalized in canals in Lancashire. No
+other of its kind is so small.
+
+_Planorbis (Gyraulus) albus_ is dull white and striated. Flattish
+above, with spire depressed. Frequently encrusted and black with mud.
+Common.
+
+_Planorbis (Gyraulus) parvus_ (but not so small as
+_dilatatus_).--Convex above with a central depression, concave
+beneath. Suture deep, and umbilicus large. Smooth and glossy. Local.
+
+_Planorbis (Gyrorbis) spirorbis._--Very flat, glossy, brown, whorls 5
+to 6. Common in ponds and ditches.
+
+_Planorbis (Gyrorbis) vertex._--Very like the last, but flatter and
+thinner, and with a prominent keel. More local than _spirorbis_, but
+sometimes found with it. Whorls 6 to 8.
+
+_Planorbis (Gyrorbis) carinatus._--Larger than _spirorbis_ and
+_vertex_. Sharply keeled in the centre of the outer margin. Mouth
+angulated above and below. Local, mainly in the south and east of
+England.
+
+_Planorbis (Gyrorbis) umbilicatus._--Like the last, but the keel is
+below and not on the centre. Mouth rhomboidal. More common than
+_carinatus_.
+
+_Planorbis (Coretus) corneus._--Far the largest species. Dark brown,
+lighter below. Mouth nearly circular. Spire sunk. In boiling water
+often exudes a crimson fluid. Common.
+
+_Planorbis (Bathyomphalus) contortus._--Small, 8-whorled, flat above,
+very convex below. Fairly common in still water. Very compact in
+appearance.
+
+The sub-family Physa has two genera, Aplecta and Physa.
+
+_Physa (Aplecta) hypnorum_ is a spindle-shaped, very glossy,
+semi-transparent, dark reddish brown, shell, with 6 to 7 whorls. Not
+common. Found in still water.
+
+_Physa (Physa) fontinalis._--More common, and found in running as well
+as in still water. Shorter and more rounded than the last. Shell very
+thin, greenish horn-colour. Lobes of the mantle expand over the shell.
+Seen in an aquarium are its perpendicular threads of mucus, up and
+down which the animals climb.
+
+_Limnæa (Amphipeplea) glutinosa._--Very local. Somewhat like _Ph.
+fontinalis_, but larger and more thin. In young specimens the mantle
+covers the shell, and in adults the animal is not wholly contained in
+the shell.
+
+_Limnæa (sub-genus Radix) involuta._--Only found in one Irish tarn.
+Whorls envelop the spire. Very thin, pale amber.
+
+_Limnæa (Radix) peregra._--The most common and variable of all our
+freshwater shells. Spire pointed. Somewhat amphibious. Found
+practically over the whole of the Eastern Hemisphere.
+
+_Limnæa (Radix) auricularia._--Mouth very large, with outer lip widely
+reflected. Very common and fine in the Thames. Spire very short, apex
+sharp.
+
+_Limnæa (sub-genus Limnophysa) stagnalis._--The largest of the genus.
+Common, except in Wales. Shell greyish, spire long and tapering to a
+point; 12210 teeth on its lingual ribbon. See the illustration on p.
+57, which also shows above two specimens of _Paludina contecta_, one
+being covered (as freshwater shells often are) by a vegetable growth,
+which obscures the marking.
+
+_Limnæa (Limnophysa) palustris._--Shell tapering, somewhat solid,
+brown, much smaller than stagnalis. Common in slow or stagnant water.
+Some varieties much darker than the type.
+
+_Limnæa (Limnophysa) truncatula._--Like the last in shape, but much
+smaller, and with a deeper suture. Common, and fond of being out of
+the water. A parasite of this mollusc causes "fluke" in sheep which
+have taken it in by drinking or by eating grass by the side of ponds
+and ditches.
+
+[Illustration: _Paludina contecta_ (two) and _Limnæa stagnalis_ on
+water-weeds.]
+
+_Limnæa (Omphiscola) glabra._--Also amphibious. About the same size as
+_truncatula_. Local. Inner lip rather thick and reflected on the base
+of the penultimate whorl.
+
+_Limnæa (Ancylus) fluviatilis._--"Freshwater limpet." Shell, rather
+limpet-like, with a hooked apex (whence its generic name), adheres to
+stones or piles in running water. Common. I once dredged a large
+water-beetle with three of these shells adhering to its wing-cases;
+thus it would be transported to fresh habitats.
+
+_Limnæa (Acroloxus) lacustris._--Like the former but more local, and
+preferring sluggish or still waters. Shell more oblong, thinner, and
+apex twisted to the left instead of to the right as in _fluviatilis_.
+
+The sub-order Pectinibranchiata (comb-like gill) contains the genera
+Neritina, Paludina, and Valvata, in all of which there are two
+tentacles with eye at the base, and an operculum to the shell.
+
+_Neritina fluviatilis._--Solid, glossy, chequered brown, white, and
+purple (but also a lemon-coloured variety). Operculum semi-lunar,
+orange, with a projection which serves as a lock to keep the operculum
+in position. Not rare in England; on stones in running water. See
+illustration below, which also shows above _L. (Ancylus)
+fluviatilis_.
+
+_Paludina (Vivipara) contecta._--Shell dark green with darker bands.
+Conical. Suture very deep. Operculum horny. Viviparous. Local.
+
+_Paludina (Vivipara) vivipara._--More common than contecta. Shell more
+oval, not so glossy, light greenish yellow, suture not so deep, no
+umbilicus, apex blunt.
+
+[Illustration: _Neritina_ and _Ancylus_.]
+
+_Paludina (Bythinia) tentaculata._--(The eyes in this genus are not on
+foot-stalks; the operculum is shelly instead of horny). Common in slow
+water and ditches. Shell semi-transparent, yellowish, mouth oval,
+angulated above. Operculum made of plates rising one above another
+formed at different stages of growth.
+
+_Paludina (Bythinia) leachii._--Much smaller and less common than the
+last. Distinct umbilicus; mouth almost circular.
+
+_Paludina (Paludestrina) ventrosa._--A brackish-water shell, swarming
+where found, _e.g._ from Erith to Gravesend, and in East Anglia. Shell
+small, thin, semi-transparent.
+
+_Paludina (Paludestrina) jenkinsi._--A larger shell, not confined to
+brackish water and spreading very rapidly. Swarms where found. A
+variety has a marked keel which sometimes bears bunches of spines at
+equal distances.
+
+_Paludina (Paludestrina) stagnalis._--Larger and with more whorls. Not
+so common.
+
+_Paludina (Pseudamnicola) anatina._--Small, sub-conical, deep suture.
+Found in brackish water, and apparently identical with _Hydrobia_ or
+_Paludestrina similis_, which I used to find by the Thames, where it
+is now apparently extinct.
+
+_Valvata piscinalis._--Globular, suture very deep, circular mouth,
+operculum concentrically spiral. In ponds and slow water. Shell
+yellowish, but commonly covered with conferva.
+
+_Valvata cristata._--Much smaller; shell disk-shaped. Frequents the
+roots of flags. Shell striated and more or less ridged, but the name
+_cristata_ refers to the plume-like appearance of its breathing
+apparatus.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We now come to the bivalve shells with leaf-like gills. The Unionidæ
+contain two genera, Unio and Anodonta, commonly called freshwater
+mussels.
+
+_Unio tumidus._--Shell ovate, very solid, dark brown; common. See
+accompanying illustration, which shows the fringed branchial siphon
+which draws in food-bearing water, and the smaller anal siphon by
+which it gets rid of undigested matter.
+
+[Illustration: Freshwater mussel breathing and eating.]
+
+_Unio pictorum._--More oblong and thinner shell, yellowish, girdled
+with brown in the lines of growth. Common. The specific name recalls
+that gold and silver paint used to be sold in these shells (or marine
+mussels) for illuminating work. It is said to produce 220,000 eggs in
+the three summer months.
+
+_Unio (margaritana) margaritifer._--Shell solid and black, beaks
+always eroded. Mainly found in mountain streams. Its pearls are few
+and poor compared with those of marine shells; but they attracted the
+notice of Cæsar and so hastened the conquest (and development) of
+Britain.
+
+_Anodonta cygnea._--(In this genus the hinge is toothless, whence its
+generic name. The specific names _cygnea_ and _anatina_ mean "swan"
+and "duck," in reference to their comparative size). This is the
+largest of our freshwater shells, reaching even 9 inches in breadth by
+4-1/2 in length. Common in ponds and slow water. Sometimes the shells
+are yellowish green with rays of the same colour.
+
+_Anodonta anatina._--Doubtful if this is a separate species or only a
+smaller form. The hinge line is raised instead of being straight, and
+the posterior side slopes abruptly instead of gradually.
+
+In the next family are two genera, Sphærium and Pisidium.
+
+_Sphærium corneum._--Very common. Shell somewhat globular, glossy,
+opaque, horn-coloured, marked with lighter bands in the line of
+growth. Usually on the bottom, but can suspend itself by threads of
+mucus.
+
+_Sphærium rivicola._--Much larger. Also flatter and more striated.
+Yellowish brown or greenish. A whole series of young of different
+sizes will be found in the animal.
+
+_Sphærium pallidum._--Local in canals and ponds. Oblong.
+Distinguished also from the previous species by the body being
+milk-white, and the shell is ashy-grey.
+
+_Sphærium lacustre._--Local. On the beaks is a calcareous nucleus
+which distinguishes it. It is thinner than _corneum_, and rounder than
+_pallidum_.
+
+_Pisidium amnicum._--(Our five _pisidia_ resemble _Sphærium_, but are
+much smaller, all but _amnicus_ being minute. Very abundant where
+found. _P. amnicum_ and _fortinale_ are triangular in shape, _P.
+pusillum_ oval, _P. nitidum_ round, and _P. roseum_ or _milium_
+oblong; but they are difficult to distinguish on account of their
+similarity and variation). _P. amnicum_ is nearly twice the size of
+the others, and this and _fontinale_ may be found in slow rivers,
+whereas the others prefer stagnant waters.
+
+_Pisidium fontinale._--Smaller and thinner, and with more prominent
+beaks than _P. amnicum_.
+
+_Pisidium pusillum._--The most common species. Distinguished from the
+last by being oval and by its beaks being blunter and more central.
+
+_Pisidium nitidum._--Rare. Very glossy and striated.
+
+_Pisidium roseum_ (from the colour of part of its body).--Like
+_nitidum_, but oblong, with a straight lower margin, and with beaks
+placed away from the centre.
+
+The last shell to be mentioned could not be mistaken for any other. It
+belongs to the sub-order _Heteromya_ (_i.e._ with adductor or closing
+muscles not equal); to the family of _Mytilidæ_ (or mussels) and the
+genus _Dreissensia_ (named after a Dutch conchologist).
+
+_Dreissensia polymorpha_ is a triangular, boat-shaped, bivalve,
+supposed to have been introduced with Russian timber (as was also
+probably _Hydrobia Jenkinsi_). It is gregarious, and attaches itself
+to objects by a byssus like our marine mussels. Shell yellowish-brown
+with wavy purplish lines, wrinkled in the line of growth. Common in
+the New River, and has been found in iron water-pipes in Oxford
+Street.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All our shells have varieties (many an albino or white form), and the
+collection and distinguishing of these varieties, which in some
+species are numerous, adds much to the interest of the collector. In
+addition there are also the variations in size or markings which can
+hardly rank as varieties. Inasmuch as none of our shells are peculiar
+to our country (which is from the natural history and the geological
+point of view only a detached portion of the Continent), it may be
+well to warn young collectors that if they receive shells from the
+Continent, mere varieties are there often named as separate species
+and variations considered as definite varieties. This is especially
+the case with _Helicella virgata_.
+
+As to the arrangement of shells in a collection before a regular
+cabinet is obtained, the tinier shells may be kept in small glass
+tubes with corks (such as used for homoeopathic medicines), and the
+medium sized ones in the trays of common matchboxes, these being
+arranged in large shallow glass-covered trays which can be obtained
+from any cardboard boxmaker at a small cost, and several of these,
+stored one above the other, form an excellent substitute for a more
+costly cabinet. In all cases the name, and the place where the shells
+were found, should be written on a small slip of card placed in the
+tube or tray. It is not well in most cases to fasten the shells on
+card, but if this is done gum tragacanth is best. The collection
+should be kept free from damp and from dust.
+
+
+        HINTS FOR COLLECTING AND PRESERVING SHELLS OF MOLLUSCS.
+
+The following notes supply a few general rules as to finding and
+preserving shells:--
+
+Of Shell-bearing Molluscs there are three classes--Marine, Freshwater,
+and Land. The first two include Univalves and Bivalves, the last only
+Univalves.
+
+1. MARINE SHELLS may be obtained, 1st, by searching on and under rocks
+at low water, or on coral reefs, among seaweed attached to them, or
+floating on the sea, or on a sandy beach. Bivalves may be found by
+digging in the sand, or mud, on a beach, or at the mouth of a river:
+their presence is generally indicated by a circular breathing hole in
+the sand. 2nd. By dredging, by which means only deep-sea shells can be
+obtained; but after a storm these may often be found upon the shore,
+before they have lost their lustre.
+
+Limpets, etc., should be detached with a thin blade passed quickly
+under the shell, taking care not to break the edges. Small shells on
+and in seaweed, and limpets, etc., adhering to stones will drop off
+and sink to the bottom in a vessel of cold fresh water.
+
+2. FRESH-WATER SHELLS may be obtained in any river, lake, pond, marsh
+or reservoir. Univalves, chiefly on the banks, on reeds and plants
+growing near the hedges, and on the under surface, leaves, and stems
+of aquatic plants. Bivalves generally at the bottom, among stones, or
+buried in the sand, or among the roots of aquatic plants.
+
+3. LAND SHELLS.--These resemble, more or less, in their habits the
+garden snail, though varying greatly in character, size, and colour.
+They mostly abound in a chalk or limestone district, and in moist and
+wooded situations. Some species inhabit low and damp spots, roots of
+trees, hollows and crevices of rocks and walls; some lie under stones
+or pieces of wood, or in the earth; others climb shrubs, and in
+tropical climates even lofty trees. Their haunts vary according to the
+weather and the season. They come out early in the morning, and after
+rain. Some bury themselves in moist places during the dry season, or
+burrow under leaves, grass, or stones, often closing the mouths of
+their shells with a white secretion to prevent evaporation during the
+period of hibernation.
+
+The smallest shells, especially of land species, and young imperfect
+shells should be collected.
+
+In all cases "live shells," _i.e._ shells in which the animal is
+alive, are to be chosen; but, when these cannot be procured, "dead
+shells," which have not lost their lustre, or their colour, especially
+those of rare species, should be preserved.
+
+
+        _With regard to the mode of Preserving Shells._
+
+1. No attempt should be made to clean them, or to remove the furry
+skin, more or less thick, with which they are often covered, beyond
+removing with a soft brush any mud or sand adhering to them.
+
+2. The animals of Land and Freshwater shells may be killed by
+immersing them for a few minutes in _boiling_ water, after which the
+bodies may be easily extracted whole with any suitable instrument,
+_e.g._, a fork or a pin, according to size. Hot water should not be
+used with marine shells: it often destroys their lustre. They should
+be buried, if time permits, in sand, or other dry material, until the
+animal dries up (in small shells) or rots (in large specimens); or
+they may be drowned in cold fresh water, and hung up in the air to dry
+or rot away. In the former case, if an operculum (with which some
+species, both marine and land, close their mouths, more or less
+partially) exists, it will, generally in the case of land shells,
+remain in its place, adhering to the shell. In the latter, the decayed
+matter should be washed out, and the operculum, if any, replaced and
+fixed, say, on cotton filling the shell. This applies equally to land
+shells.
+
+3. Care should be taken not to injure the edge or lip of the mouth of
+univalves, or the ligament of the hinge of bivalves. When bivalves
+gape on dying in water, or if the ligament be broken, the valves
+should be closed and tied together. If the ligament of a gaping
+bivalve should become dry and stiff, it can be softened by putting it
+in water.
+
+4. The localities in which each species is found should be noted, and,
+in the case of dredging, the depth of water.
+
+
+        _With regard to the mode of packing Shells for Transport._
+
+All solid shells may be wrapped in one or two folds of paper of any
+kind. Fragile and minute shells should be put, generally separately,
+into a box or bottle--with or without cotton, as required. Such
+packets may be heaped up in any box, heavy shells at the bottom,
+without pressure, and any blank filled at the top with paper or other
+elastic material. Sawdust injures the lustre of many species.
+
+Two books on shells should be procured at an early stage of the
+collector's career, which will give not only minute descriptions of
+all our land and freshwater shells and their varieties, but also
+plates of illustrations. These are the _Collector's Manual_, by L. E.
+Adams, 2nd ed., published by Taylor Brothers of Leeds; and Rimmers'
+_Land and Fresh Water Shells_, published by George Grant of Edinburgh.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+    PRINTED BY
+
+    WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
+
+    LONDON AND BECCLES.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+PUBLICATIONS
+
+OF THE
+
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+
+
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+
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+
+
+BIRDS (BRITISH) IN THEIR HAUNTS.
+
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+     systematic, common, and provincial Names. By the late C. A.
+     JOHNS. With 16 coloured Plates and many Woodcuts. Post 8vo,
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+
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+
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+
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+
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+EDIBLE AND POISONOUS MUSHROOMS: What to eat and what to avoid.
+
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+     48 species. Crown 8vo, cloth boards, 2_s._ 6_d._ net.
+
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+FLORAL RAMBLES IN HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS.
+
+     By the Rev. Professor G. HENSLOW, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S. With 32
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+
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+
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+     over 200 coloured Illustrations drawn from, and of the size of,
+     the natural plant. Large crown 8vo, cloth boards, 8_s._ net.
+
+
+FLOWERS OF THE FIELD.
+
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+     Revised by Professor G. S. BOULGER, F.L.S., F.G.S. With
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+
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+FOREST TREES OF BRITAIN (THE).
+
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+     taken direct from Nature by Photography, giving the Natural
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+
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+
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+
+
+THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
+
+     Illustrated in 27 coloured Plates containing several hundreds
+     of species. The letterpress by Dr. ZWANZIGER, of Fuerth,
+     translated by GERARD K. GUDE, F.Z.S. Large 4to, half cloth,
+     8_s._ 6_d._ net.
+
+
+THE PROCESS OF THE YEAR. Notes on the Succession of Plant and Animal
+Life.
+
+     By HENRY HILTON BROWN, F.E.S. Numerous Illustrations. Crown
+     8vo, cloth boards, 2_s._ 6_d._ net.
+
+SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE
+
+
+LONDON: NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+
+Archaic and inconsistent punctuation and spelling retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Our British Snails, by John William Horsley
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40880 ***