BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 21 



A VAIilTABtiE KDIBLE MOIiliUSK OF THE ^VEST €OAST. 

 By .IOHI\' A. RYDKR. 



The following extract from a list of shells sent with some specimens 

 to Mr. George W. Tryon, jr., the Conservator of the Conchological Sec- 

 tion of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, by Mr. Henry 

 Hemphill, appears to me to he of importance as a contribution to eco- 

 nomical science, and with Mr. Tryon's permission I am allowed to make 

 use of it for liublicatiou. 



" Ghjcimeris generosa. Olympia, Washington Territory. 



" I send you a fine large specimen of this species. Its flesh is, I think, 

 the most delicious of any bivalve I have ever eaten, not excepting the 

 best oysters. 



''When first dug and laid upon its back, it resembles a fat plump 

 duck. The edges of the shell do not meet, but are separated by a breast 

 of flesh [the greatly thickened mantle] abont three inches wide, one 

 inch thick, and about a foot long, including about half of its siphon. 

 This portion is cut into thin slices, rolled in meal, and fried. It is ex- 

 ceedingly tender, juicy and sweet, and about the consistency of scram- 

 bled eggs, which it resembles very much in taste. The boys at Olym- 

 pia caD them '■'■ Geoducks"; they dig them on a certain sand bar at ex- 

 treme low tide, and sell them to a merchant who ships them to Portland, 

 Oreg., where they readily sell at fair prices. The boys inform me that 

 the Indians on the Sound call them Quenux, and dry them for food with 

 the other clams." 



To give the reader some idea of the animal, let him suppose that he 

 has before him a huge soft-shelled clam, with a very thick mantle, and 

 a very stout siphon i^rojecting from between the valves. From the habit 

 ■of the animal it is clear that its propagation is eflected in very much 

 the same way as our own clam, and that the fiy burrows into the sand 

 and keeps the oi)en end of the siphon projecting just above the surface. 



The same methods of propagation would apply to both species. Arti- 

 Hcial impregnation, which has been accomplished by the writer in the 

 €ase of the clam, could no doubt be eflected in this case. Then, with 

 the proper incubator or hatching-box, provided with a bibulous mem- 

 brane interposed before the outlet, the water could flow through and 

 •out, without losing the eggs; shallow pans of sand could also be pro 

 Tided at the bottom of the box for the young to bury themselves in, 

 just as has already been proposed in the case of the clam. This is a 

 subject which merits the attention of all interested in keeping up the 

 j)roductiveness and richness of our American shell fisheries. 



