New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-12-20

THE ODD OCCUPATION OF A SAN FRAN
CISCO SCIENTIST WHO HAS MANY
VARIETIES.

From The San Francisco Chronicle.
The word snail" almost invariably calls TO mind
that long. Shiny. yellow creature III gardens anu
morning one is too likely 10 confuse this UNI
prepossessing slug with the little animal that ear
will be seen that While they both belong TO the
same family. there are as many and as great OH, ~
ferences between them as there are between me
members OF any other family or animals. the
snail with ito wonderful power 10 construct deli
cate even and beautifully tinted smell, seeiis o.
a much higher order than the slug. Ana so the
bur- be ei rs ad f@' Of mo-. bow, it.
had occasion 10 visit conchoosi>t in his den
dTawcr of SEA and land shells he suddenly led M
10 an adjoining conservatory. ana pointing TO a
my sDoe t S'G0n looked into the box and saw
hundreds OF shells all shades Of brown and pail
upon the bottom.
HOW THE SNA1LERY LOOKS.
The cage, if one may cali it by that name, was a
redwood box 3 by feet and foot deep. u "as
which Was planted with canary seed that had
Closely into this miniature grainfeld | could
snails moving about. nibbling the tender green
also lettuce leaves scattered at random. and
wherever snail had crawed upon one OF these
h, was eating voraciousy. The Enclosed litte ami
mails were prevented from escaping by screen
covering the whole top OF The BOX, and dark-
TO preclude the light for -naiis thrive only in
that IN moNlis they travel away from the h5ht.
and IN the darkest corner Of the box was the
Temperature
snas. Extremes Of heat or cold prove detrimental.
and TO produce rapid and successful growth
even ana moderate CONDITION OF atmosph'r. II cs-
seni.4L The scientist visits his snailcry" every
small watering pot for the purpose. t. supply fresh
r'uGe Sr the more endcr parts OF the caoeage
fond. and 10 remove any snals that may have died,
for snais are more dainty than ono suppOscS. and
dccomposing material kills them very rapidly.
Vow, 70 have reached the present successful con-
diion. the "snail,ry'' mas undergone many expert
en- ST
humidity was OF prime Importance. and only b.
killing some from dr3ness and almost drowning
others tho correct medium reached.
Another difficulty 10 be overcome was in I'll,
treatment OF the snails Of cannibaisiic tendencies
one morning. after having placed some OF ;he=c
his dismay. that dozens OF the shells other spe-
cies OF snails Were empty. And 50 he had To- pre-
then ,hcy were so carnivorous in their habits that
they often consumed their own Kind.
YOUNG sNAILs ARE ACTIVE
When young snails are y,fy active. and IL IL
necessary to observe the greatest care TO keep
them In captivity. II the screen top j. once left on
the box the sn".ls VIII cra~i out aud though the
species OF The United States ar" less gr~gariors
than those o. Europe Ond the largest number ia
and escape imprisonment. Imagine tho consierna-
ton Of tie ~nal-rser to enter his conservatory ai
evening and find the box almost empty and snails
the table. flower pos. leaves. windows and cur
tans. Tnis Is what did happen. and VIII always
happen unless the necessary precautions are AIKEN.
one of III nrst questions that presents itself 70
is How many snails are H. the box az one time; ~
rourn guess the scientist viii ell YOU that Their,
". nav" ,yi'' '.o't a. VIZ ." ~. L o,h.,
dozen. from ~ many different states. ana about
The same number az" natives Of san Francisco.
This enthusiastic collector Of ~utl's when passing
80 IN ,hc window H. won't IN and asked H..
His pricc o. - crnis The sc.cni.st gladly placed
l.r Il f4l
lie Immediately made study % The animal and
found that T. belonged To- Mexican edibl" variety.
HELM 1pOmaiial bunonilnn. II was very large.
measuring nearly three inches when stretched to
When making mis- daily visit to the 'snalery. ono
morning he discovered dozens - tiny. yellow shells
moving about the box very actively Upon count
ing them he found that th'r" wcre sN'y-two tn "ll
Of this odd Mexican variety. They w"r" not 80
large II small pea. and some wcr" even then
just making their "pp"arancc "eo'" The ground
whore the parent snail had bored a hol" ana De
posted the minute
II was then the owners special car" 10 watch
the growth OF the" littl" creatrc= u" found thti
they developed faster than any other species IN ms
collection. and that while some gre" to Dee qliie
large. none have yet reached maturity. Inc ofisi.
nal snail lived Tor many months afi"rward and
may then have been several years OF ag".
There Is one other interesting species Bullimuiur
Paidior from Lower california. prcsenied 10 IA.
owner by the Academy OF Sciences. This - on" or
,en sem pTli' 1T. li Is T he Il r"r WIKI,
,piral. pointed an inch long and greater I'm length
than In breadth. II resembles very closely a ..n
she'll Tho animal IS inactive and has been IN the
'sratisry' only lew months
Thc mos, common of the San Francisco species
IS the Lysno, Nckliniana variety rcticulata II Is
about IS large ~ meiiurn-s.@cd button; ana may
be- found on doorstcls or garden walls II do'S ho'
HELIX Gysiuoe) Arrora. * found only In the south
ern portion near the county line II is banded With
The llp OF this snail white IN" purcst china.
and the size OF the animal compares WIN nat OF
walnut although fullgrown ones may DE much
smaller. II is found under and around lupin
bushes.
sNAILS WITH LITTLE WHITE TEETH
Tho Tupa California;. found Lone Mountain.
also infests upln bushes principally. Bu, this little
creature Is rs small ~ plnh"hd, ana j. there-
Dr. Rowcll.
Another rare she'll OF which there are only two
living has hairy epdcrmis 1t j. dark colored
large and fat and Is catalogued AT % cents 1t may
BE- found in Marin County. ....,...
The snails OF the Helix Armigera variety attract
some attention. perhaps because We are told that
they sometimes have little white tooth In the
aperture. and perhaps because they are rarity IN
the 'snailcry." The scientist has not discovered
why they do not seem TO thrive we'll They are
found IN very moist places. usually along the
banks OF streams. and are very modest creatures.
Withdrawing into their shell AT the slightest touch.
and not issuing from II again Tor II long time.
Freaks in nature appear among snails as they
do in any other form OF natural life; and we have
lemon color with band and arc found about one
in every thousand specimens You may see only
about half a dozen albinos In inc snailery u,
prcsent and many hundreds OF reticulata have
been raised to produce this small number OF
The scientist will show YOU the shells OF his
"cannbals' Also but he has mono living now The
Sclenies Nancouverensis IS leaden- colored shell
with a whitish body, and may be found on tho
banks of the stream leading out or Mountain Lake
I'm the vicinity OF the Children's Hospital lf you
place this animal on your hand you Will feel Its
bite which Is Ike the prick OF "A pin
There are only two other cannibai varieties round
I'm san Francisco and II il question with con-
biologists which Is form OF the other Ionifes
Celarius was introduced from the East, and may
DO found In gardens. Zontes Iucidus Is native
OF France and Is found on leaves. not In gardens
Roth feed upon everything. and among themselves
II Is a matter OF survival OF the fittest for they
will devour one another
THE DEMAND IN MARKET.
The demand for snn!s In the markets Is slowly
Increasing and II would not be an unwise plan Tor
some one to raise edible snaiis for the purpose OF
supplying the merchants. . ,.
IN The Chinese markets you may buy at almost
bov Lc,n mi rfedf