THE HORSESHOE CEAB 



for, being translated, it is called tlie ^^ Ice- 

 landic Arctic." It has no common name, 

 bnt it may be called the northern quohog 

 from its resemblance to its more southern 

 relative. 



Still more common on the beach are the 

 delicate valves with greenish-yellow and 

 highly glazed epidermis of the ribbed shell. 



But perhaps the most conspicuous dead and 

 empty shells that are to be seen thrown up 

 on the outer beaches are those of the sea-clam, 

 or giant clam, as they are sometimes called. 

 These are the kind one finds in farmhouses on 

 the coast wonderfully decorated with pictures 

 of lighthouses or of vessels floating on blue 

 waves. This clam is from five to seven inches 

 long, white within and without when dead and 

 weather beaten, but covered on the outside 

 when alive with a pale brown epidermis. It 

 lives close to low-water mark and so near to 

 the surface that it is easily dug with a short 

 stick or the fingers. The clammer walks along 

 with a clam fork and prods every suspicious 

 hole or slight elevation of the sand. If the 

 clam is there, its tough, hard shell is easily 

 detected and soon brought to view. An ex- 

 pert can follow an amateur over the same 



269 



