NOTE ON VENUS MERCENARIA. 369 



Mr. J. Chard, of the Museum staff. " Over a hundred single 

 and double valves came into Mr. Shrubsole's possession." 

 On these Mr. Marrat remarks (and I thank him for permis- 

 sion to quote from his paper) that, " although none of the 

 specimens contained the living animals, yet the condition of 

 the shells found as above is that of fresh and not of dead 

 specimens, the ligapaents being unbroken, and the interior 

 glassy ; and many of them were so small, as not to be likely 

 to have been worth importing for table use." 



There was no evidence to induce the supposition that 

 these specimens were descended from the 1869 distribution. 

 On the contrary, personal testimony was given by Mr. F. T. 

 Paul, F.R.C.S., that a recent resident, Mr. H. D. Brandreth, 

 carrying on business in Liverpool, and living on Hilbre 

 Island, which he rented for a time, had certainly laid down 

 Clams (as well as American oysters) in the sea near Hilbre. 



On the 28th of April, 1884, I communicated to the 

 Literary and Philosophical Society {Proceedings, vol. xxxviii, 

 p. xc), the following particulars of another distribution : — 



In the month of May, 1883, a barrel of living specimens of the 

 Quahaug or American Hard-Clam, Venus mercenaria, was sent to the 

 Museum, from New York, by Captain J. H. Mortimer, Premier 

 Associate of the Society, through the kind offices of Capt. Hamilton 

 Perry, K.M.S.S. "Britannic," for the purpose of laying down on the 

 neighbouring shores with a view to naturalization. A few specimens 

 were placed in the Museum Aquaria, and, notwithstanding the 

 extremely limited accommodation afforded by the small glass vessels 

 in which they were placed (only twelve inches in diameter with three 

 inches depth of sand), several are still living, and prove that the 

 Molluscs were in healthy and favourable condition on arrival. 



In reference to the planting of these Clams, Mr. F. P. Marrat kindly 

 accompanied me, on the 19th May, to the Hoylake shore, at low water, 

 with a view to distributing a portion there, but not thinking it suffi- 

 ciently promising, we contented ourselves with casting a number into 

 the stream beyond the bridge above the Great Float, or Birkenhead 

 line of docks. 



AA 



