HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



181 



" This product was found in the seas by Bengal, 

 aud ^vas given to me, as a rarity, by the Lite 

 Reverend Chemuiter, who had it of Mr. Missionary 

 John, of Tranquebar." 



Esper gives, in Plate XIX. of the fourth vokime 

 of the same work, the figure of a group of another 

 Tubularia, which he names T. hotryoides (" grape- 

 shaped Tubularia"), and states that in structure 

 it is akin to T. clathrata. " The colour," he adds, 

 " was at first yellow, but faded into light yellow, 

 and, according to others, into white-grey." 



He had received this also from Mr. Missionary 

 John, of Tranquebar, as a very rare product from 

 the coast of the Carnatic. 



Rev. Gekard Smith. 



THE WHITE WHELK. 



{Buccinum nndatum^ 



rilHERE are few univalve shells better known 1 han 

 -■- this. Our readers who have visited the East- 

 end of London must have seen both the shells and 

 their builders exposed for sale, the latter hanging out 

 with a yellow-looking, leathery appearance, which 

 does not tempt the palate of the novice. Our 

 British liking for the Whelk is peculiar, and does 

 not seem to be shared by any other nation. How 

 far we are consumers of it is indicated by the 

 evidence on the Whitstable Oyster-fishery Extension 

 Bill in 1866, when it was stated that the whelk 

 fishery on a sandy flat in that bay yielded twelve 

 thousand sterling a year ! 



has survived have been numerous and extensive 

 but they have failed to render it extinct, probably 

 owing to the ready manner with which it seems to 

 adapt itself to varying conditions. It is a known 

 zoological rule that a species numerous in indi- 

 viduals is generally also productive of varieties. 

 Mr. Gwyn Jeffries enumerates six distinct varie- 

 ties of the "White Whelk," besides others less so. 

 Tiiat some of these varieties are permanent is 

 evident from their having been also found in post- 

 glacial deposits. Moreover, the Whelk inhabits all 

 kinds of marine ground, from the shore to the 

 greatest known depth. Much as it seems to dislike 

 fresh water, it has nevertheless established itself 

 along the mouths of rivers. All these conditions 

 point to a great antiquity to allow the species to 

 gain a footing and to assume distinct and perma- 

 nent varietal characters. This we should have 

 reasoned to, if the shells of the Whelk were not found 

 in pre-glacial beds. The genus Buccinum has a 

 still higher antiquity, dating back from the Lower 

 Cretaceous epoch. Dr. Woodward enumerates 

 about twenty recent typical species, which are 

 chiefly to be found in northern and antarctic 

 regions. This wide isolation of areas is significant. 

 No one would contend for two generic creations 

 to have occurred in seas so widely separated ; — if 

 not, then the Buccinum must have been driven 

 away from the intervening regions ; and such a 

 process would take up all the time which has 

 elapsed since the Cretaceous period. More than 

 one hundred aud thirty species are known in the 

 fossil state. 



Fig. Up. Bucchiitm undutum. 



The "White Whelk" is popularly distinguished 

 from the "Red Whelk" {Fusus a?iiiquus) hj the 

 colour of the latter, although science distinguishes 

 them by more technical distinctions. No one can 

 mistake its vertically furrowed and grooved exterior, 

 its short canal, and, except when covered by its 

 epidermis, its whitish appearance (fig. 119). It has 

 a very respectable antiquity also, dating back from 

 early Pliocene times. The physical disturbances it 



r.!i Eg-g cpses of Diicclnum undatum. 



Tlie " White Whelk" is greedily carnivorous, the 

 decaying fish placed in lobster-pots, &c., being soon 

 covered with them. On the other hand, however, 

 it is itself a choice delicacy wiih the Cod, and 

 thousands of whelks are caught for the purpose of 

 exportation to the cod fisheries. The tongue of 

 this moUusk has long been a favourite object with 

 microscopists. It possesses no fewer than oue 

 hundred rows of teeth. One of the commonest of 

 sea-shore objects is the nidamental capsule of the 

 " White Whelk," looking for all the world like a 

 large bunch of hops (fig. 120). In each of these cap- 

 sules there are inclosed at least a score of young 

 mollusks, with shells complete ; so that they come 



