is the habit of this particular snail to leave the water occasionally
and take a stroll in the fields. Thus the _cercariae_, escaping from the
snail, find themselves on the grass, whereupon they promptly drop their
tails and stick themselves to the grass-blades. Then comes the
unsuspecting sheep to take his frugal meal, and, cropping the grass,
swallows it, _cercariae_ and all. But the latter, when they find
themselves in the sheep's stomach, make their way straight to the
bile-ducts, up which they travel to the liver. Here, in a few weeks,
they grow up into full-blown flukes and begin the important business of
producing eggs.

"Such is the pathological romance of 'liver-rot'; and now what is its
connection with this mysterious discovery? It is this. After the
outbreak of 'liver-rot,' above referred to, the ground landlord, a Mr.
John Bellingham, instructed his solicitor to insert a clause in the
lease of the beds directing that the latter should be periodically
cleared and examined by an expert to make sure that they were free from
the noxious water-snails. The last lease expired about two years ago,
and since then the beds have been out of cultivation; but, for the
safety of the adjacent pastures, it was considered necessary to make the
customary periodical inspection, and it was in the course of cleaning
the beds for this purpose that the present discovery was made.

"The operation began two days ago. A gang of three men proceeded
systematically to grub up the plants and collect the multitudes of
water-snails that they might be examined by the expert to see if any of
the obnoxious species were present. They had cleared nearly half the
beds when, yesterday afternoon, one of the men working in the deepest
part came upon some bones, the appearance of which excited his
suspicion. Thereupon he called his mates, and they carefully picked away