hum

The chain begins when a young snail reaches sexual maturity, becomes stricken with ennui, and attaches itself permanently to some fixed object. At the same time it undergoes a complete identity crises and becomes female. Shortly afterward, another male snail comes along, then mounts and copulates with the first one. It, too, abandons the motile life and remains in permanent copulatory union with the first one for the remainder of their lives. A third snail then comes along and mounts this second snail, which in turn becomes female. This procedure continues until there are up to fourteen individuals in the perpendicular chain.