Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-01-14
NO. II.
Snails,

| The great vine snail has quite q history,
and its lease of life should be q long one, il
| that may be measured by the powers of en-
| durance, In l9s& the members of the Royal
Society in England could not be brought to
b Ii, We an Irish coll, ctor who averred that
| certain white snsils that had been confined
| for fifteen years came out of their shells upon
his sons putting them in hot water; but the
possibility of the thing was proved in 1880,
when. after four years somnoencc in the
British Museum, an Egyptian desert snail
woke up none the worse for its long rest and
abstinence. II fed heartily on lettuce leaves,
and lived for two years longer. Spallanzain
| asserted that he had often heheaded snai.s
| without killing them, and in a few months
| they were as lively as ever, having grown
new heads in their retirement.
Snail-eating has been in vogue for many
centuries. and the snail was considered by the
| ancient Romans one of their table luxuries. In
Pliny time Barbary snails stood first in repute
| those of Sicily ranking next; and it was the
custom to fatien 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.
| Snails are gathered of the vines by the peas
| sntry in the wine districts Of France, and are
sent up in cases and wicker baskets to the
| Paris halles, where they are sold by auction,
and are purchased by people who make it
their business to prepare them tor the res
taurants and charcntiers. They are killed by
being placed in scalding water, and after be-
| ing removed from their shells by the aid of
| piece If wir~. are thrown into an immense
| copper kettle, and boiled for three-quarters Of
an hour in mixture composed Of water, vim
| egar, salt and herbs. They are then replaced
| in their shells. the mouths of which are closed
| with butter and parsley, and they are then
ready for sale. To prepare them for the table
il sufficcs to place them in n frying pan for q
few minutes with small piece of butter, and
without removing them from their shells
They are sold at the wine shops and charcu-
;iers at from thirty to forty centimes the
dozen.
A century ago some 1000, 900 of snail.
were annually exported from Ulm in ''cags"
of 10000. fetching from twenty-five to forty
horins a "cag." In the Tyrol, youngsters Of
both sexes are employed during the summer
months collecting 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 be-
ing carried beyond bounds. The prisoners
are supplied daily with fresh grass and cab
nage-ieaSes, nn'ii thelr appetites faiI, ana
they retire into the moss heaps for their win
ter sleep-the last one they will enjoy for
when spring comes they are routed out of their
he'd, packed in straw LINED boxes. and sent on
to market. In favorable season one of
these gardens will turn out 10000 snails.
The consumption Of them in South Tyrol
must he great. Snails are often used. boiled
in milk. for diseases of the lungs, and are
sent to this country as a delicacy; they are
very indiscriminaie in their appetite. and
even devour the dead of their own kind.
>nails delight in warm. moist weather; in
dry weather their chief time of activity Is In
the night, and they hide themselves by day;
but after rain they come forth at any hour in
quest of food. At the approach Of winter, or
in very dry weather, thev close the mouth of
their shell with membrane formed by the
drying of the mucous substance which they
secrete, and become inactive and torpid.