in which no transpiration from them takes place, or at least during which the quantity of what transpires is so inconsiderable, that it cannot be restored by aliment, without their lives being endangered."

The following humane observations, in a recent publication, are well worthy of attention, and we strongly recommend to bee-breeders the practice of Mr. Nutt, as detailed by this author, by which the cruelty he deprecates may be avoided, even with profit.

"The usual practice of obtaining honey from domestic bees, was one of great, and, as it should seem, wanton and unnecessary cruelty. The little creatures, after they had toiled throughout the whole season, were not only deprived of all the winter store which they had accumulated, but they were smoked with sulphur in the hive, by means of which both old and young were entirely cut off. There is a degree of unfeeling cruelty in this, at which the mind revolts; because, though all creatures are, in some way or other, adapted for the use of man, the destruction of the creatures is no part of man's legitimate occupation. He has, undoubtedly, a right to his share of every production of the earth, which can in any way contribute to his comfort; but it is his duty and his interest to take that share, in wisdom, not in wantonness; and he could, upon every occasion, so manage matters, as that the quantity which he takes, might benefit that which is left; and thus, while he uses, he might ameliorate and improve all that grows and lives around him; and so be the adorner of creation, and not the destroyer.

"Many plans have been resorted to, for the preservation of bees, and the leaving of as much honey as shall support them during the winter. One of the most recent, and, perhaps, the best of these, is that introduced by Mr. Nutt, a cultivator of bees in Lincolnshire, In this method, three boxes are placed together, with a door for entrance in the central box only, but with a communication between it and each of the lateral ones. By means of ventilation, the two side boxes are kept at a heat which is well adapted for laboring bees, but below that at which the young are hatched. The bees are placed, at first, in

the central box only; and when the first swarm of the season is produced, and would depart, admission is given. to one of the side boxes; and, when that is filled, similar admission is given into the other. The temperature of these is regulated by means of ventilators; and, when it is ascertained that one of them is full, as much ventilation is given to it, as drives all the bees into the central box; the communication between them is closed, and the box is removed, without the destruction of a single bee.

"This is not the only advantage gained; for the honey is purer, and altogether of superior quality. The low temperature of the side boxes not only prevents a queen bee from taking up her abode in them; but none of the eggs, the young, or the substances required for their nourishment in the larva state, are ever deposited in those boxes. Thus they contain only honey-cells and honey; and as those cells are constructed only as they are required, the combs are always full.

"By this means, from one swarm of bees, cultivated for five years, Mr. Nutt obtained 737 lbs. of honey, and left 712 lbs. during the currency of the time for the maintenance of the bees, the increase of which was regularly progressive during the whole time, which, from its superior quality, would be worth fourteen guineas, on the average of every year, besides the expense of bringing it to market. There are very many situations in this country, where every cottager might cultivate one such establishment of bees, the profits of which would suffice to furnish himself and his family with comfortable clothing, and also to replace their household furniture."*

* Mudie's edition of Wesley's Natural Philosophy, vol. ii. pp. 264-266.

SEVENTH WEEK-FRIDAY.

HYBERNATION OF THE SNAIL.

THE garden-snail is admirably adapted to its mode of life, and is furnished with organs almost as complete as the largest animal; with a tongue, brain, salival ducts, glands, nerves, stomach, and intestines; with liver,heart, and blood-vessels. These it possesses in common with other animals, but it has some striking peculiarities,—one of which is, that, of four flexible horns with which it is furnished, the two uppermost are gifted with eyes, which appear like black spots on their extreme ends, and which it can hide, by a very swift contraction, in the interior of its body. Every Every one knows, that another peculiarity, which distinguishes it from other land animals, is its shell, which it carries on its back wherever it goes, and which serves at once as its house for lodging, and as its armor for defence.

The history of this animal, so far as it suits our present purpose to advert to it, is as follows:-It lays its eggs. in shady and moist hollows, which it excavates with a member which is called its foot, as by this it has the power of locomotion. These eggs are hatched, sooner or later, according to the temperature, producing little snails, exactly resembling their parent, but so delicate, that a sunstroke destroys them, so that few, comparatively speaking, reach the end of the first year, when they are sufficiently defended by the hardness of their shell. The animal, at its first exclusion, lives solely on the pellicle of the egg from which it was produced. "Providence," as Kirby justly observes, "which, in oviparous and other animals, has provided for the first nutriment of the young in different ways, appropriating the milk of the mother to the young of quadrupeds, the yolk of the egg to those of birds, tortoises, and lizards, and the white of the egg

to frogs and toads, has made this pellicle, or coat, the best nutriment of the young snail. In fact, this pellicle, consisting of carbonate of lime, united to animal substance, is necessary to produce the calcareous secretion of the mantle, and to consolidate the shell, as yet too soft for exposure." When this natural envelope is eaten, the young snail finds its nourishment in the vegetable soil around it. After the concealment of a month, it appears on the vegetable productions of the garden or meadow, which it seems indiscriminately to devour,-its house still growing with its growth, till it has completed five convolutions, by which time the animal has attained its full size.

These snails cease feeding, when the first chills of autumn are felt; and, generally associating in considerable numbers, on hillocks, in the banks of ditches, or in thickets and hedges, they set about their preparations for their winter retreat. They first expel the contents of their intestines, and then, concealing themselves under moss, grass, or dead leaves, each forms, by means of its foot, and the viscid mucus which it secretes, a cavity large enough to contain its shell. The mode in which it effects this is remarkable; collecting a considerable quantity of the mucus on the sole of its foot, a portion of earth and dead leaves adheres to it, which it shakes off on one side; a second portion is again collected and deposited, and so on, till it has reared around itself a kind of wall, of sufficient height to form a cavity that will contain its shell; and then, by turning itself round, it presses against the sides, which renders them smooth and firm. The dome, or covering, is formed in the same way; earth is collected on the foot, which it then turns upward, and throws off by exuding fresh mucus; and this is repeated, till a perfect roof is formed. Having now completed its winter house, it draws in its foot, covering it with the mantle, and opens its spiracle to draw in the air. On closing this, it forms, with its slime, a fine membrane, interposed between the mantle and extraneous substances. Soon afterwards, the mantle secretes a large portion of very white fluid over its whole surface, which instantly

sets uniformly, and forms a kind of solid operculum, like plaster of Paris, about half a line in thickness, which accurately closes the mouth. When this is become hard, the animal separates the mantle from it. After a time,

expelling a portion of the air it had inspired, and thus being reduced in bulk, it retreats a little further into the shell, when it forms another leaf of mucus; and it continues repeating this operation, till there are sometimes five or six of these leaves, forming cells filled with air between it and the operculum. Respiration ceases during the period of hybernation.*

The mode in which these animals escape from their winter confinement is singular :-The air which they had expired, on retiring into their shell further and further, remains between the different partitions of the mucous membrane above-mentioned, which forms so many shells hermetically sealed; this they again inspire, and thus acquiring fresh vigor, each separate partition, as they proceed, is broken by the pressure of the foot, projected in part through the mantle; when arrived at the operculum, they burst in by a strong effort, and finally detaching it, then emerge, begin to walk, and to break their long fast!

"In all these proceedings," observes Mr. Kirby, after recording the above details, "the superintending care and wise provisions of a Father-Being are evident. This creature can neither foresee the degree of cold to which it may be exposed in its state of hybernation, nor know by what means it may secure itself from the fatal effects it would produce upon it, if not provided against.

"But, at a destined period, often when the range of the thermometer is high, not stimulated by a cold atmosphere, except perhaps by the increasing length of the night,—at the bidding of some secret power, it sets about erecting its winter dwelling; and, employing its foot, not only as a shovel to make its mortar, but as a hod to transport it, and a trowel to spread it duly and evenly, at

*Goldsmith is mistaken when he says, that the snail opens an airhole into its shell.-Gaspard and Bell; Zoological Journal, i. 93;

ii. 174.