on bizarre secrets. manuscripts. history. monsters. escargot pods.

Traponee, f. 60v: “Solinus says that among the progeny of Traponee grow the biggest snails that exist in the world, and they move so quickly that it is a marvel, and the men of the country hunt and chase them as we over here hunt wild animals. And the people of the region live on their flesh. And the shells are so big that the men and women of the country live inside them, and they have no other houses or habitations. – from Kristen Figg and John Friedman’s translated transcription of the manuscript.