In article <9n0dc9$192e$1 / rivage.news.be.easynet.net>,
Bernard DelmñÆ <bdelmee / advalvas.be> wrote:
>[...]
>> > I think, unfortunately, it's too late.  It always be.
>> > But I can't help expressing my feeling of disappointment.  sigh.
>> >
>> > matz.
>
>
>[...]
>> look, camels walk strangley, and probably do not smell good; python snakes
>> are very unfriendly and dangerous. Animal is animal, and every animal has
>> it's own beauty, it's own advantage, that made it survive and thrive.
>>
>> amike via Henning
>
>Besides, not all snails are ugly, see:
>http://www.malakos.com/Journal/imageplates/polyhall.html

Quite true, many are quite beautiful.  And it does look as though the 
cover has one of these types of snails.  There are in the ocean many 
very lovely snails which create intricate shells (the murex comes to mind, 
but I think OReilly already used it) - and some of the sea snails are in 
fact preditors which attack various bivalves and other snails by drilling 
into their shells (Perhaps some might attack oysters which as we all know 
create pearls :-). 

In fact here's a bit I found on the web about moon snails:

"Moon snails drill holes in shells by using teeth on their tongue and 
spitting acid. Drill, spit, drill, spit... Yes, now there's a hole in the 
shell and I can eat up the yummy body of the clam that lives inside."

And from another site: 
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/biodiverse/moon_snail.html

"Relative to other snail species in the Maritimes, moon snails are giants 
-about the size of a child's fist. They move surprisingly fast for a snail 
and are major carnivores of shellfish. -Even on clams who may be tucked 
well out of sight in the ocean floor. Its not uncommon to see only a fleck 
of shell in the sand, while the rest of the snail heads for supper."


But, if I'm not mistaken they've used the moon snail on one of their 
covers before.  If they haven't, and they're set on using a gastropod on 
the cover, perhaps this would be a better one to use.

>We'll get used to it, I am sure !-}

It's not the end of the world.

PHil