ing an inch in length, many of them being much under this dimen- 

 sion. The animal is very rapid in movement, and leaves a distinct 

 track in the mud, which will frequently end at a little pellet of mud, 

 which upon examination will disclose the little animal nicely con- 

 cealed' beneath. In the water the animal is exceedingly active, gliding 

 about easily with its long, tail-like foot. It may be frequently seen 

 with the foot applied to the under side of the surface of the water, 

 the shell hanging downward, as has been observed in the pond snails. 

 There are about one hundred and thirty species of Nassa, which are 

 found in all parts of the world. The genus is mostly littoral in habit, 

 living between tides, or at low-water mark, but a few have been 

 dredged at great depths. The name basset, signifies a narrow-necked 

 wicker basket, which is used for catching fish. The application of this 

 name to these shells will be easily understood when once a reticulated 

 specimen is examined. One species, the Nassa mutabilis, is used as 

 food in Italy. The JVassa is one of the best molluscan scavengers 

 known ; but it is also a carnivorous animal, as the oysterman, whose 

 beds it devastates, well knows. The JVassas of France, especially the 

 Nassa reticulata, are very destructive to the 

 oyster beds of that country, one adult u borer" 

 being able to perforate the shell of an oyster in 

 a single night. So numerous are these pests 

 that a single acre has yielded over a thousand 

 individuals. Should our native JWassa obsoleta, A basket shell, with the 

 of which a thousand individuals could be found ^4^' in locomotion - 

 in an area five feet square, change its diet from 



dead fish to oysters, an oysterman would be compelled to go into 

 bankruptcy, ruined by the basket shells. As a result of the depre- 

 dations to the French beds, the oystermen carry on a relentless war 

 against the JVassa, destroying many thousands annually. But with 

 all this persecution the mollusk still exists and increases in numbers. 

 The dead shells of this genus are a favorite home for the hermit crab 

 of small size, and it is suspected that sometimes other than dead 

 shells are appropriated. We fear that a sort of piracy is resorted 

 to by the hermit crab, resulting in a kind of ' walk-the-plank ' end 

 for the mollusk, before the new tenant takes possession of the home. 



" A genus of mollusks, with light horn colored shells, and inhabit- 

 ing the cold waters of the arctic seas, is the Buccinum, or whelk. 

 In various parts of Great Britain it is known as ' buckie ' and i mutlog.' 

 The Buecmum delights to burrow in the sand, like the moon shells 

 (Natica}, and frequently nothing but the end of the siphon can be 



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