The Saturn
Presentation of this planet and its moons, including ring and creatures
- Chapter 15 -
The Seven Snail. Practical utilization of its shell. Weight ratios on Saturn.
The fourth snail cannot compete in splendor with the disk snail, although it greatly surpasses it in size. The people of Saturn usually call it the "large seven snail" - not because its shell houses seven individual snails, but because the shell of this snail consists of seven straight-upward, tower-high spires which emerge as an outgrowth from the snail's elliptical shell. The main housing for the snail is completely oval, like an egg; the tapered end is always in the water, whereas the obtuse part is always pointing upwards. The whorl is not visible on the housing, because it is only on the inside of the shell. However, as far as the whorl is concerned, you will find an outgrowth of such a spire wherever it has completed one circle. These outgrowths are arranged in such a fashion that the largest of these spires emerges at the very top of the shell in the center, and the other spires surround the largest one in a descending order. One of these outgrowths resembles a large stick snake, but with the difference that these spires are considerably longer, and they are much thicker in diameter at the bottom at the main housing.
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The opening of the shell is completely round and is in a good ratio with the entire immense size of this crustacean. The body fills the large shell, so that the outgrowths can be pulled in at the animal's discretion. The snail projects the outgrowths if it wishes to dive underwater, and, if it wishes to be on the surface, it constricts itself with the outgrowths into the center of the shell, through which it rises to the surface of the water. The body of this snail, which pushes through the opening onto the surface of the water, is completely white and somewhat resembles a snail on earth, except that this snail has a large, long trunk in the front between its four large feelers which it uses very effectively to catch its nourishment.
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Its nourishment consists of all kinds of sea herbs; sometimes it eats an octopus, which it tears loose by force from the ocean floor and places in its large mouth. On the two large upper feelers it has sharp-sighted eyes which, with the aid of the feelers, it can turn in any direction. When this snail discovers any prey, it quickly rushes to the place and catches it immediately, whether it be some kind of sea-weed or an octopus. In order that it can travel, it has two strong flipper-like arms under the opening with which it catches the water and, through this motion, propels itself forward.
4
How large is this snail? It has a diameter of 3,000 feet. The diameter at the foot is often anywhere from 120 to 180 feet and tapers like a pyramid to a point at the top. The color of the shell is tinged between green and blue. From the center outgrowth run whitish-blue stripes that give the shell a tiger-like appearance. However, there are no other adornments. As far as the outgrowths are concerned, they look like a stick snail, as mentioned before, only the opening of the snail is purple.
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This snail is considered to be a good catch by Saturnites. When the meat has been removed from the shell, the shell is moved on the water, in the manner mentioned before, to an inland location, and the pointed part of the shell is immersed into the dry soil up to the level of the opening; then this type of vessel is used as a kind of container for seed or kernel fruit.
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Sometimes openings are installed on all sides of this snail house and on the inside of the shell a floor is installed. In this manner this snail house is used as a magnificent dwelling by the children of Saturn. The reason for this is that such a residential home can be kept very clean because of its extraordinary interior smoothness. The foundation of the floor consists of sand - in other words, the shell floor is filled with completely dry sand right up to the opening. White flat stones are placed upon the sand, always in the most beautiful order; these stones are plentiful in Herrifa. When the floor has been laid, then the building is ready, and it looks like large dome, above which rise the well-known spires. The tips are cut off so that light can enter, but also so that the fumes and the smoke from the fires that gather can escape.
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Since this species of snail is not too plentiful in Herrifa, such houses can usually be owned only by the patriarchs who live at the ocean shores. Because of its size and extraordinary massiveness, such a snail shell is even too heavy for the strong giant Saturnites to transport far inland. As far as the massiveness of this shell is concerned, the thickness of the walls is anywhere from 24 to 30 feet. If you take this into consideration, it might give you an idea as to its weight.
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If the ratio of gravity were the same on Saturn as on earth, then it would be completely impossible to transport such a shell, even if there were powers superior to those of the Saturnites. That which weighs 100 pounds on earth hardly weighs 1 pound under Saturn's ring. The Saturnites can even reduce this weight by artificial means, namely through the rarefaction of air in the interior. This method is employed especially when transporting the shell of this snail. The Saturnites use the dry branches of the pyramid tree, which are rich in resin, and they push them through the opening of the shell while they are burning. Through this combustion the air in the empty housing becomes so thin that it can be moved with ease. The people of Saturn are great masters in aerostatics. All of this will be explained in more detail in the chapters that follow.
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This concludes the chapter of the seven snail! Here too, awaken the power of your imagination a little and you will look with great amazement upon this animal as well as the utilization of its house from the view point of the inhabitants of Saturn, and you will be even more amazed if I tell you that such a building is of an indestructible firmness. Some of these shells on Saturn are older than your civilization; the older the building gets, the firmer it becomes. That is why the oldest of these buildings is held in high regard. Even though you might be amazed by this, keep in mind that these giant animals of this planet are only miniature creatures when compared to other animal species on Saturn. But they are even larger on Jupiter and unrivaled in size to those that exist on the sun. Contemplate what has been said thus far and look forward to what is in store for you! For today I say Amen!