Following this thread, I remember a little story which Georges Markens wrote
in an article in "Informationen" the magazine of the German shell club. Must
have been somewhere in the mid eighties. I was just starting to collect
shells and remember beeing very impressed (and of course amused) by it. Here
is the story in short, as I recall it:
During a stay in a North African country, a friend of George collected some
small land snails.  The snails (still alive and closed by an operculum) were
put in alcohol and stayed there for three weeks. After that they were thrown
into a bleach solution and forgotten. Again three weeks went by untill the
owner of the little snails remembered them, took them out of the bleach and
put them into a box to let them dry. After some days he finally wanted to
take a close look to them for identification and found the box empty. The
snails were all gone! He then discovered them - sitting on the wall of his
livingroom!
 
So my conclusion is: when put in alcohol, snails may die "with a smile on
their faces", as Carol said - unless they come from an islamic country!  :)
 
Christa