Marvell Jamar, aged 15, of Inglewood, Calif. for her question:

What are slugs?

The little garden slug hatches from an egg. He is a small, dark, dewy copy of his parents. Right from the start he belongs to the huge clan of mollusks. He is therefore a remote relative of the clams and oysters. His family name is Gastropods which makes him first cousin to the snails. In fact, he is really a snail without a shell.

The little fellow grows as he feeds on moist and moldy leaves. In the woods he is one of Nature's garbage men. He helps keep the place tidy by removing old vegetation,

In the garden he may be a nuisance. Let's face it ‑ he generally is. For the slug is mighty fond of lettuce ‑ our lettuce. He can do a great deal of damage to the truck farmer's crops. What’s more, this salad eater has an amazing sense of smell. He can smell our lettuce from afar. Then he slowly but surely creeps up to do his damage during the dark night.