The Cambridge natural history . gers stall. Thatstarvation did not promptthe crime was proved hjthe fact that during thepreceding night the slug had been supplied with, and had eaten,a considerable quantity of its favourite food. On two otheroccasions the same observer found one of his slugs deprived ofits slime and a portion of its skin, and in a dying adult L. maximus, kept for thirty-three days in captivity witha young Avion ater, attacked it frequently, denuded it of its slime,and gnawed numerous small pieces of skin off the body andmantle.^ The present writer has found no bet
The Cambridge natural history . gers stall. Thatstarvation did not promptthe crime was proved hjthe fact that during thepreceding night the slug had been supplied with, and had eaten,a considerable quantity of its favourite food. On two otheroccasions the same observer found one of his slugs deprived ofits slime and a portion of its skin, and in a dying adult L. maximus, kept for thirty-three days in captivity witha young Avion ater, attacked it frequently, denuded it of its slime,and gnawed numerous small pieces of skin off the body andmantle.^ The present writer has found no better bait for thisspecies on a warm summer night than the bodies of its brethrenwhich were slain on the night preceding; it will also devourdead Helix aspersa. Mr. Gain considers it a very dainty feeder,preferring fungi to all other foods, and apparently doing no harmin the garden. 1 Zoologist, iv. p. 1504 ; iii. p. 1038 ; iii. p. 943. - H. W. Kew, /. c. Zoologist, xix. p. 7819. ?• Naturalist, 1889, p. 55. ^ H. W. Kew, I. Fig. - Limax maximus : x \. PO, pulmonary II FOOD OF SLUGS AND SNAILS 33 Limax Jiavus, which is fond of inhabitiug the vicinity ofcellars, makes its presence most disagreeable by attacking articlesof food, and especially by insinuating itself into vessels containiiigmeal and flour. ^ It is particularly partial to cream. Slugs will sometimes bite their captors hands. Mr. Kewrelates that a Limax agrestis, on being stopped with the finger,while endeavouring to escape from the attack of a large Arion,attempted to bite fiercely, the rasping action of its radula beingplainly felt. According to the same authority, probably all theslugs will rasp the skin of the finger, if it is held out to them,and continue to do so for a considerable time, without howeveractually drawing While Mr. Gain was handling a largeArion ater, it at once seized one of the folds of skin between thefingers of the hand on which it was placed; after the action ofthe ra
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1895
