zoology, a genus of insects belonging to the order of vermes mollusca; the characters of which are these: The body is oblong, fitted for crawling, with a kind of muscular coat on the upper part; and the belly is plain: they have a roundish hole in the side, near the neck, which serves the purposes of genitals, and for voiding their excrements: they have likewise four tentacula or horns, situate above the mouth, which they extend or retract at pleasure. There are eight species, distinguished entirely by their colour, as the black snail; the white snail; the reddish snail; the ash-coloured snail; &c. Snails are said to be hermaphrodites, and mutually impregnate each other.