THE NAUTILUS. 91 



gibbus (Solecurtus gibbus} has been called the Short Razor Shell. 

 The fishermen at St. Augustine, Fla., call it the " Longarone," 

 probably a Spanish term referring to its length. 



The term Mussels usually applies to the family Mytilidae, 

 but is also used in connection with the fresh-water clams 

 ( Unionidae). Mytilus edulis is universally known as the Edible 

 Mussel ; Modiolus modiolus as the Horse Mussel and M. demissus 

 and var. plicatulus as the Ribbed Mussel. The scallops are 

 somewhat unfortunate in their scientific names. The Common 

 Scallop (Pecten irradians of authors) is now known as P. gibbus 

 var. borealis Say. If we have to call our large species P. magel- 

 lanicus, we need not emphasize the fact by calling it the 

 "Magellan Scallop." It is known by our fisherman as the 

 Big or Deep-water Scallop ; the latter seems quite appropriate. 

 P. islandicus has been called by Dr. Mayer the Arctic Scallop. 



Piddock is a well-established English name for the species 

 of the family Pholadidae, but it has not been generally adopted 

 in this country, although used in most of the popular works. 

 The name Rough Piddock is applied to Zirfaea crispata (Zir- 

 phaea crispata}, the Truncated Piddock to Barnea truncata 

 (Pholas truncata) and "Angel's Wings' 1 to B. costata. For 

 uniformity the name Ribbed Piddock seems more suitable for 

 the latter. The Wood-eating Piddock figured in the Shell Book 

 is a Martesia, probably M. cuneiformis Say. 



It seems hardly worth while at present to attempt more than 

 to give popular names to the common or conspicuous species. 

 It also seems inexpedient to make it general. The idea is to 

 create a greater local interest in the subject ; therefore a provin- 

 cial or faunal list of the common names of the species of the 

 Atlantic coast of the United States seems all that is necessary, 

 leaving the west-coast conchologists to improve their list of 

 common names if they think it desirable. With no national 

 association to take it up, this will have to be done by those in- 

 terested in the matter, and I shall be very glad to confer with 

 any one taking up the subject. 



