I'm just casually flicking through an 1861 bound volume of the 'Leisure Hour' magazine*, reading the odd article when I stumbled upon this amongst a piece about the study of mosses...
"A charming quality of this moss order is the power of revivification in the plants: pieces that have been dried and laid away for years still retain their vitality, thus rivalling the snail in the British Museum which, having been cured and glued to a slab for years, found one happy morning that the glue had given way, upon which it stretched forth its horns, as if after a long, long sleep, protruded its broad foot, and had travelled half over the case when its movements attracted the eye of the curator of the department".
Now I know certain microscopic critters can survive all sorts of hardships such as tardigrades able to survive for decades without food or water....but a snail?
Maybe this particular article was published 1st April?
Regards,
Jay.
*An educational weekly published by the then very popular Religious Tract Society; cost was 1d.
"A charming quality of this moss order is the power of revivification in the plants: pieces that have been dried and laid away for years still retain their vitality, thus rivalling the snail in the British Museum which, having been cured and glued to a slab for years, found one happy morning that the glue had given way, upon which it stretched forth its horns, as if after a long, long sleep, protruded its broad foot, and had travelled half over the case when its movements attracted the eye of the curator of the department".
Now I know certain microscopic critters can survive all sorts of hardships such as tardigrades able to survive for decades without food or water....but a snail?
Maybe this particular article was published 1st April?
Regards,
Jay.
*An educational weekly published by the then very popular Religious Tract Society; cost was 1d.