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"Yes, Daddy, I want to know all about them."

"In the first place tree snails belong to the large family of
gastropods or mollusks. The word 'mollusk' is from the Latin word
'mollus' which means soft. So the little tree snails must have shells to
protect their soft bodies. They do not make these shells in the same way
that bees make wax in which to store their honey, or wasps that build
paper houses to live in. Instead, the snail grows its shell very much as we
grow bone.

"If we draw a sketch form the shell in your hand, Peggy Ann, it
will look like this:



"You see it has a conical shape meaning broad at the bottom, or
base, and winding in whorls, or coils, until it reaches the tip or apex. The
opening you see at the bottom is called the aperture. The joining holding
the whorls together are called sutures.