314 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



As I have said in the introduction, soft clams form upon the coast of 

 New England immense banks, upon which constant demands are made 

 by the people, without any apparent diminution in the products. The 

 places where the mollusks are found in the greatest abundance are the 

 emergent sloping beaches of the counties of Barnstable and Essex, in 

 Massachusetts. Farther south they are more rare, and if the information 

 given me is correct, they are not found below the latitude of the mouth 

 of the Delaware. They are so numerous in Boston Harbor, that I have 

 myself seen more than a hundred of different sizes taken from a single 

 square foot of ground, on the shores of Governor's Island. 



The soil which suits them best is sandy, with a large proportion of 

 mud, in which they can bury themselves to a greater or less depth, 

 according to the season. In pure sand, or in too compact gravel, they 

 do not develop as well, and attain a size of only about two inches and a 

 half in length ; while in mud they generally grow full three inches and 

 a half long. Dr. Gould had a specimen which measured five inches and 

 a half in length. 



The color and thickness of the shells vary greatly, according to the 

 surroundings of the animal. In sand, they are almost white. If gravel 

 predominates, they are more yellowish ; while in mud, on the contrary, 

 they take a bluish tint, more or less deep. 



Soft clams are, in the full acceptation of the word, inhabitants of the 

 beach, living as Solans, Tellinas, and Donaces, in banks which are un- 

 covered at low tide. In certain localities they are found only a few feet 

 from the point reached by the waves at the highest tide. The conse- 

 quence is, that during the great heat of summer they are exposed for a 

 part of the day to a very high temperature. During the winter, when 

 the shores of New England are often covered with ice for several weeks, 

 the fishermen say that the clams leave the higher banks, and move 

 nearer the sea. I was not in possession of the data by which I could 

 refute this statement, but I am inclined to think that the clams, instead 

 of changing their locality, only bury themselves more deeply in the 

 sand during the continuance of the cold weather. A fact strongly con- 

 firmatory of this is, that they can be obtained during the winter season, 

 if the ice is broken. Whatever may be the truth in regard to their 

 moving away in cold weather, it is certain that they can bear a very 

 low temperature, since Professor Agassiz has frequently found in the 

 shells of these mollusks icicles, which did not seem to incommode them 

 in the least. 



The spawning season occurs, according to the fishermen, during the 

 months of June and July. How much time they require to attain full 

 size is not known, the American naturalists not having studied the 

 subject. Judging from the almost imperceptible difference there is be- 

 tween specimens differing considerably in age, their development must 

 be very slow. 



Clam-beds are generally found in sheltered parts of the coast, or at 



