The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-07-06
The teeth Of . Snail.

1T may happen to the visitor who
wanders through the museum of the
Smithsonian Institute at Washington to
be piloted by some scientific friend out
Of the public apartments to one of the
little working rooms.
Surprising ourselves to be fortunate
enough to obtain an invitation of this
sort, let us take look at the operations
of one of the busy gentlemen whom we
| find at work in one of these secluded
dens of science. He is surrounded by
a wonderful confusion of specimen"
of all sorts, and the atmosphere is pun
gent with scents of alcohol and other
mysterious substances.
The scientist is engaged with o mi.
croscope, and by his side is vial con-
| tanning some minute snails. No doubt
there is more in snail than we sus-
pect, though, literally, there is very
little of him.
Many of these specimens would
hardly make mouthful for a May
| beetle.
''Are you dissecting these snails, sir?"
we inquire.
"NOt precisely; but l am extracting
their teeth" is the reply, with grim
smile.
Now the operations of snail dentist
must be peculiar, when we reflect upon
the size of the entire creature. And
what has snail to do with teeth, any
wayP
Our investigator is at work upon the
Helm minutd, a snail which may be
found almost anywhere along the coun-
try rOadsides, ensconced beneath stone
or decayed bit of wood. Heis about as
large as the head of pin, and yet,
small as he is, he must be. picked to
pieces and studied in detail before he
can be assigned to proper place in his
numerous and respectable family.
1t appears, moreover, that the CLASH
tication of Mr.. and Mrs. Snail (who are
literally one) and the little snails is
based upon their teeth, and is deter
mined by the number, shape and ar
rangement of these useful articles.
The teeth are placed in rows upon
the upper side of the tongue. They
are very numerous, the little helir now
under examination having 1873 pre-
cisely. Some members of the family
possess several thousand: and, OH
what if they We're all to ache at once!
As the entire body of the Heir mi
nwta is so small. it will be readily be-
lieved that single tooth is wholly in
visible to the unaided eye, and hardly
appreciable if described by figures.
The whole head forms, perhaps, a
twentieth part of the body, and the
tongue is smaller in proportion to the
head of its owner than that of man.
Indeed. the tongue itself cannot be
seen by the naked eye, and yet upon il
are arranged these 1879 teeth, in sew
enty-three rows, containing twenty
three each. Of these teeth a minute
and accurate drawing has to be made,
to illustrate the species of the snail.
Suppose you are dabbler in science
and wish to undertake this task. How
will you set about it?
The heiir is snugly coiled away in his
shell, and the first operation is to coax
him out. An effort TO invite him along
with the point of a fine needle would
be like trying to shell out lobster
with crow-bar. The neadle becomes
n ponderous instrument when applied
to this minute creature, and even if he
were poked out by this means, it would
doubtless be in fragmentary or dam
aged condition. Some other method
must be reSorted to.
The snail is placed upon the bottom
of saucer, holding small quantity
of water, and the shell is cracked by
smart but delicate blow. Mr.. Helir re-
spends to the knock, and out he floats
upon the little ocean. There he is,
plainly before you; but he cannot be re-
moved by the common process of hand
ling. Take a small glass tube, open at
both ends, put your finger upon the top,
place it carefully over the snail and re-
move the finger. The fluid rushes up
into the tube, and the hclir with it.
Now clap your finger on the tube
again and you have him. You can next
proceed tC the dissection.
Place the snail upon piece of glass
and bring the microscope to bear upon
him. You behold large object dis
tinctly defined in allits parts. You en-
claim: AHA! I've got him nowr'
You select your most minute and
delicate d;Ssecting implement and
chuckle overyoGr approaching triumph
Presently the point of your instrument
appears in the focus of the microscope.
What is this? You behold huge.
bunchy thing like the end of your
finger, much larger than the object you
desire to sever. "a make push with
it against the helix, and only succeed in
moving the entire body. This will never
do.
You might compress the snail be-
tween two bits of glass, but the result /!
would be confused mass. from which !
it would be difficult to disengage the
slender ribbon which performs the
functions of a tongue. But take little !
potash water in test tube. put the /.
snail into it, and boil it for a few min
utes over spirit lamp.
The mass speedily disappears, being
dissolved by the potash. The tongue,
however, is composed of horny SUBJ
stance insoluble in potash, and although |
it is invisible you know it is somewhere |
in the tube. As it is heavier than the /
liquid, it is most probably at the bot
tom. The next thing is to find it.
Carefully pour from the tube nearly
all tue Hulu. duu eupts tle SculiHent
into watch-glass. Now apply the mi
croscope, and patient search will re-
veal the desired object.
Make a nice calculation as to the pre-
else spot in the waste of waters which
comes under the focus of the micro
scope: clap down the little glass tube
upon it as before, and YOU may with
draw the prize in triumph.
Now place the tongue between two