Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1881-12-08

The great vine snail has quite his
tory, and its lease of life should be a
long one, if that may be measured by
the powers of endurance. In 1774 the
members of the Royal society in Eng
land could not be brought to believe an
Irish collector, who averred that certain
white snails that have been confined for
! fifteen years came out of their shells
upon his sons putting them III hot
water; but the possibility of the thing
was proved in 1850, when after four
years somnolence in the British muse
um, an Egyptian desert snail woke up,
none the worse for its long rest and absti-
nence. 1t fed heartily on lettuce leaves,
and lived for two years longer. Spal-
lanzain asserted that he had often behead-
ed snails without killing them, and in
few months they were as lively as
ever, having grown new heads in retire
ment.
Snail-eating has been in vogue for
many centuries, and was considered by
the ancient Romans one of their table
luxuries. In PGny's time Barbary snails
stood first in repute, those i'll Sicily
ranking next; and it was the custom to
fatten them for the table by dieting them
on meal and new wine. In modern
Rome fresh gathered snails are hawked
from door to door by women, who
boil them in their shells, stew them,
or fry them in oil. Snalls are gathered
off the vines by the peasantry in the
wine district of France, and are sent up
in cases and wicker baskets to Paris
halls, where they are sold by auction,
and are purchased by people who make
it their business to prepare them for the
restaurants and chan cutters. They are
killed by being placed in scalding water,
and after being removed from their
shells by the aid of piece of wire, are
thrown into an immense copper and
boiled for three-quarters of ali hour In
mixture composed of water. vinegar, salt
and herbs. They are then replaced in
their shells, the mouths of which are
closed with butter and parsley, and are
ready for sale. To prepare them for the
table, it suffices to place them in a fry
ingpan for a few minutes with a small
piece of butter, and without removing
them from their shells. They are sold
at the wine shops and charcutiers at
thirty to forty centimes the dozen.
A century ago some 4, ZOO, 900 of snails
were annually exported from Ulm in
,.'cags" of 10. 900, fetching from twenty.
nNe To forty AoLaGAG- t.nan " In tho
Tyrol youngsters of both sexes are en-
ployed during the summer months col
lecting snails as stock for small gardens
small plats of land cleared of trees and
covered with heaps of moss and pine
twigs, separated from each other by
moats, having gratings at their outlets
to prevent any truants that may get into
the water from being carried beyond
bounds, The prisoners are supplied
daily with fresh grass and cabbage leaves
until their appetites fail and they retire
into the moss heaps fer their winter
sleep-the last one they will enjoy for
when spring comes they are routed out
of their beds, packed in straw lined
boxes, and sent on to market. In a
favorable season one of these gardens
will turn out 10000 snails. The con-
sumption of them in South Tyrol must
be great. Snails are often used, boiled
in milk, for diseases of the lungs, and
are sent to this country as delicacy;
they are very indiscrlminste in their ap-
petite. and even devour the dead of their
own kind. SnaiIs delight in warm moist
weather in dry weather their chief time
of activity is in the night, and they hide
themselves 10y day but after rain they
come forth at any hour in quest of food.
At the approach of winter. or in very
dry weather, they close the mouth of the
shell with a membrane formed by the
drying of the mucus substance which
they secrete, and become inactive and
torpid.
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