Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-08-18

PoULTICEs MADE OF sNAILs.
Said to be of Great Value In the Cure of
Certain Skin Diseases
From tie NetO YORK. Nqii and Erpress.

From the Neto York MaiI and Eepress.
Centuries ago, in Rome, during the
reign OF Caligula, the longing Of epIcures
for palatable novelties brought the much
abused snail to notice as an indispensable
article Of gastron0my. Nursery lore tells
us that out of four and twenty tailors
who went to kill a snail, the best man
amongst them burst them not touch his
tall" The valor of the tailOrs must Ger
tainly be questioned before the mollusk is
given tull credit for the victory. How
ever, long before Mother Goose's snail
squirmed, countless thousands of his an
cestOrs tickled the palates or Italians,
Frenchmen and Spaniards. Grown wise
after generations, the little animal learned
to shun daylight, and now goes forth to
satisfy his own palate's cravings in the
darkness Of the night. The careful
housewife, discovering his presence by
his track, seasons him plentifully with
salt and the hapless gastrOpOd dissOlYes
partnership with life in liquid form. Re-
cent developments have suggested new
use for the snail. Now, like his fellow
mollusks, the oyster and clam, he is cap
tured for the money his sale will bring,
and wanton destruction Of his tribe has
become TOO expensive.
zone dollar a pound will be paid for
live snails," was an advertisement IN
Philadelphia paper one day last week. A
jeweler on Passyunk avenue was the ad-
vertiser. The morning following his
printed offer for unscalped specimens
long line of boys, old women and colored
men stood patiently waiting for the jew
eler to open his shop.
zone dollar pound" had set thousands
to work snail hunting. The unwary crea-
lures were bounced upon in cellars and
alley-ways; all their damp, Shiny haunts
were invaded by battalions armed with
sticks, jugs and cans, and by daylight the
hunt was over. Small boys with a few
ounces of snails and several pounds of
DIRT, deposited their moist treasure In the
jewelers. hands, received dime and
left with uncOmplimentary remarks about
his weighing scales. An old colored man
dumped two pounds of assorted sizes and
grinned as o couple of silver dollars rat
tied down into his pockets. The old
women had been pretty good hunters too,
and bagged large quantities of the game.
All the morning the little Jewelry store
was besieged by snail-catcheTs, and be-
fore noon the market price had declined
30 per cent. The fall In value had little
effect, however, for the rush continued
till closing time. Before O'Clock snalls
were a drug on Passyunk avenue, and
sportsmen could not realize penny
pound on their captives.
In an interview held with the adver-
tiser and purchaser, IL was discovered
that the snails were to be used for medi-
cal purpose. Some days ago a published
article on eczema, or skin disease, men,
toned the case of prominent English
dean, who was suffering from this trouble
some maladv. While walking in his gar
den one warm day, suffering intensely
with burning, itching rash that covered
his body, a family of snails clinging 10
the under side Of a cool green leaf sug-
gested the idea of applying them to the
affected skin. Lying few upon the
singing spots, he discovered by this he
roio, though repulsive, treatment simple
remedy tor the disorder. According to
the jewelers. statement, this article had
led him to advertise for snails, having
been afflicted with troublesome case OF
eczema for 10 years. A weeks expert
ment with the novel remedy has relieved
him considerably, and the prospect is that
the snail market will recover from last
weeks collapse. Should the treatment
prove effective in this prevalent disorder,
it will be welcomed no less by the medi-
cal profession than by the sufferers.