Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/203

 S N A S N A 187 was the tutelar goddess of the city. The plain towards the sea was too low to be properly drained, and hence in rainy weather the streets were deep with mud and water. The river Meles, which flowed by Smyrna, is famous in literature and was worshipped in the valley. The most common and consistent tradition connects Homer with the valley of Smyrna and the banks of the Meles ; his figure was one of the stock types on Smyrnaean coins, one class of which was called Homerian ; the epithet " Mele- sigenes " was applied to him ; the cave where he was wont to compose his poems was shown near the source of the river ; his' temple, the Homereum, stood on its banks. The steady equable flow of the Meles, alike in summer and winter, neither swollen after rain nor dry during drought, its pleasant water, its short course, beginning and ending near the city, are celebrated by Aristides and Himerius. The description applies admirably to the stream which rises from abundant fountains, now known as Diana's Bath, some way to the east of the city, and flows into the south-eastern extremity of the gulf. The common belief that the torrent, dry except after rains, which flows by Caravan Bridge is the ancient Meles flatly contradicts the ancient descriptions. In the Roman period Smyrna was the seat of a conventus which included southern ^Eolis and great part of the Hermus valley. It vied with Ephesus and Pergamum for the title " First (city) of Asia." A Christian church ex- isted here from a very early time, having its origin in the considerable Jewish colony. POLYCAKP (q.v.} was bishop of Smyrna. The bishops of Smyrna were originally subject to the metropolitan of Ephesus ; afterwards they became independent (avroKe^aAoi), and finally were honoured with metropolitan rank, having under them the bishops of Phocasa, Magnesia ad Sipylum, Clazomenae, Sosandrus (Nymph- itum ?), Archangelus (Temnos 1), and Petra (Menemen 1). When Constantinople became the seat of government the trade between Anatolia and the west lost in import- ance, and Smyrna declined apace. A Turkish freebooter named Tsacha seized Smyrna in 1084 and maintained himself there for some time, but it was recovered by the generals of Alexius Comnenus. The city was several times afterwards ravaged by the Turks, and had become quite ruinous when the emperor John Ducas Vatatzes about 1222 rebuilt it. The famous chieftain Aidin conquered it about 1330 and made his son Amur governor. Soon after- wards the knights of Saint John established themselves in the town, but failed to conquer the citadel. In 1402 Timur stormed the town and massacred almost all the in- habitants. The Mongol conquest was only temporary, but Smyrna has remained till the present day in Moham- medan hands. It is now the greatest commercial city in the Levant ; its population is about 200,000, of whom nearly half are Greeks. It is the terminus of the railway system which is gradually spreading over Anatolia. Two lines start from Smyrna : one ascends the Hermus valley by Magnesia and Sardis to Alashehr (Philadelphia), about 110 miles; the other goes south by Ephesus to the Mseander valley beside Magnesia on the Mteander and then ascends the valley to the neighbourhood of Laodicea on the Lycus, 143 miles. Since the revival of the Levant trade by the Genoese and Venetians Smyrna has been the emporium for the whole produce of Anatolia ; the chief raw pro- ducts exported are valonea, figs, raisins, opium, madder, liquorice, cotton, sponges, emery, <kc. ; almost the only articles of native manufacture which are exported from Smyrna are the carpets woven at Geurdiz, Coula, Ushak, and other places in the interior. Smyrna has frequently been partially destroyed by earthquakes ; that of 178 A.D. is the most famous, and in 1688, 1768., and 1880 the town suffered severely. (w. M. HA.) SNAIL. In England the word " snail " in popular lan- guage is associated with Gasteropods which inhabit land or fresh water and which possess large conspicuous spiral shells ; terrestrial Gasteropods in which the shell is rudi- mentary and concealed are distinguished as "slugs." In Scotland the word " slug " is absent from the vernacular vocabulary, both shell-bearing and shell-less inland molluscs being known as snails. Marine Gasteropods are occasionally termed "sea-snails," and the compounds "pond -snails," "river-snails," "water-snails" are in common use. The commonest land-snails are those species which constitute the family Heliddae-, order Pulmonata, sub -order Stylommato- phora. The other two families of the same sub -order, Limacidse, and Onchidiidee, include all the slugs. In the first of these are comprised all the slugs known in Great Britain, and indeed in Europe. The Onchidiidx are entitled to the name " sea-slugs," as they are shell-less Pulmonates living on the seashore, though not actually in the sea. The term "water-snails" includes the whole of the remaining sub-order of the Pulmonata, namely, the Sasommatophora, in which the eyes are sessile. This division comprises two families, Limnseidse and Aumculidx ; some of the members of the first are amphibious, some entirely aquatic ; the snails of the second family are found near but not in the water. Thus the whole of the l^idmonota which breathe air, are destitute of gill-plumes and operculum, and have a complicated hermaphrodite reproductive system are either snails or slugs. But there are a considerable num- ber of snails, both terrestrial and aquatic, which are not Pulmonates. The land-snails which have no gill-plume in the mantle-chamber and breathe air, but have the sexes separated, and possess an operculum belong to the order Azygobranchia, of which they form a distinct sub -order, the Pneumonochlamyda, containing three families, Cydosto- midse, Helicinidse, and Aciculidx. The fresh-water snails which are not Pulmonates are the Paludinidx, Valvatidee, and Ampullaridte, together with Neritina, a genus of the Neritidse. These all possess a fully developed gill-plume and are typical Azygobranchiates of the sub- order Holo- chlamyda, most of the members of which are marine. The family Hcliddas has a world-wide distribution. In Hclb- the spire forms a more or less obtuse-angled cone ; there are above 1200 species, of which 24 are British. Helix ncmorctlis, L., of which //. hortcnsis is a variety, is one of the commonest forms. Helix pomat'm, L., is the largest species, and is known as the "edible snail" ; it is commonly eaten in France and Italy, together with other species. It was formerly believed to have been introduced into Britain by the Romans, but there is no doubt that it is a native. In Succinea the cone of the spire is acute-angled ; three species are British. In Vitrina the spire is very flat and the surface glassy. In Bulimus the spire is elongated with a pointed apex. Pupa is named from its resemblance to a chrysalis, the apex being rounded. The shell of Clausilia is sinistral and its aperture is provided with a hinged plate. The commoner European slugs of small size all belong to the genus Limaa; in which the opening of the mantle-chamber is posterior. L. flavus is the cellar slug. L. agrcstis, L. arborum, L. maximus, occur in gardens and fields. The larger black slugs are species of Arion, of which two are British, A. atcr and A. hortensis. Tcstacella haliotidea is common in Great Britain and throughout Europe. The Limnxida occur in all parts of the world. Limnxus contains the largest species. L. peregcr, Miiller, is ubiquitous in Great Britain and common all over Europe. All the species are usually infested with Cercarise and Rcdiee, the larval forms of Trematode parasites of vertebrates. L. trunmtulus harbours the Ccrcctria of Fasciola hepatica, the liver-fluke, which causes rot in sheep. Ancylus, which occurs in rivers, has a minute limpet-like shell. Planorlis has the spire of the shell in one plane. Physa is smaller than Limnszus and has the upper part of the spire much shorter. In the Auriculidx the aperture is denticulated. Auricula is confined to the East Indies and Peru. Carychium minimum is British. Of the Cydostomidse only one species, Cydostoma elegans, Miiller, is British ; it hides under stones and roots. The Helicinidse are exotic, ranging from the West Indies to the Philippines. Of the AciculidsB, which are all minute, Acicula lincata is British. The Ampullaridie are confined to the tropics. Ampullana has very long tentacles and a long siphon formed by the mantle.