The "winkle" which you pick out of its shell with a pin and eat is a sea-snail. But we have now to talk about the common land-snail, which creeps about our gardens. It has a "house on its back, " in the shape of a spiral or coiled shell, which is all in one piece, and has a smooth edge. Have you noticed how the shell is marked with pretty bright bands of colour? The shell protects the soft body of the snail, and provides a shelter into which it can retreat in time of danger, and in which it sleeps.

The snail has a heart, a stomach, a lung, and many nerves inside its soft body. It creeps along by means of the lower portion of its body, a long, fleshy part called the "foot. " Have you ever seen the snail's eyes? They are placed at the ends of the two long feelers or "horns" which stick out from the creature's head. When a horn is extended, the eye is seen at its point; when it is withdrawn, the eye disappears within it. Under these horns are two much shorter feelers. Below these again is the mouth.

The snail has a long tongue like a ribbon, which is covered with tiny teeth. It also has a sort of horny upper jaw. With its teeth and its upper jaw the snail cuts off bits of the young plants for food. On this account gardeners do not like the snail.

The snail lays its eggs in damp places in the ground;they look like tiny beads of jelly. When the little snails come out of these eggs, each one has its own little shell. As they grow larger, more of the hard shell forms round the edge; and so the snail and its shell grow together, until the animal has reached its full size.