There's Been A Little Snail On My Window

I can't see the snail anywhere.

So how do I know?

The window has a uniform, thin coating of dew in which a wiggly, looping path of clear glass shows the gastropod's wanderings.

I don't know if it the animal had ambled around in the dew, or if it had already done that and its mucous trail had shown by being water-repellant. (The basis of lithography even before Caxton, or possible the ancient Chinese, had invented press-printing!)

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ninalanyon · 70-79, T

There must be a business opportunity there for unique luxury goods: silk screen printing by snails.

The ultimate eco-fabric. You could use woad for the ink. And if you use the right snails you can eat them afterwards!

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@ninalanyon There's a thought.

Best not eat the snails though. That'd upset the animal-rights lot, losing their potential custom... though come to think of it they'd not wear silk anyway. (Nor synthetic fabrics, as those are made from petroleum-derivative materials.)

ninalanyon · 70-79, T

@ArishMell There's a downside to every fabric. Linen is time consuming to produce, growing cotton isn't exactly eco-friendly, wool is remarkably expensive yet when sheep that are raised for meat are sheared the fleeces are worthless.

I've heard of people making thread from nettles but I think it has similar problems to linen.

I wonder if Rayon might be the best compromise if the process energy comes from wind and solar as it is made from cellulose which is essentially infinitely renewable. and the Rayon can also be recycled.

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