TESTACEA. - 77 



SoLEN SILIQUA — Razor Shell. — Plate XVIII. 



With a view to studying the hving creature, I had, on the 19th of 

 July 1844, seven specimens brought to me ; and, with considerable sur- 

 prise, therefore, I found its nature and organization entirely different 

 from what, owing to some erroneous figures, I had supposed. 



The whole product is about five inches long, consisting of a bivalve 

 shell, slightly arched at each end, opening down the whole front, the 

 valves being connected behind. A transverse section would be an irregu- 

 lar ellipse, — broader behind than before. The shell is of twofold forma- 

 tion, divided as it were into two long triangles, of darker and lighter 

 surfaces. The former, being the back part, exhibits the accessions con- 

 spicuously by transverse edges. 



The animal inhabiting this shell is almost identical with that of the 

 Pholas dactj/lus. A broad shoulder projects above, with two promi- 

 nences, having a larger and a smaller orifice. The former, the larger, is 

 guarded by a double fringe, and forming the edge of the margin : the 

 other environing its external base. The edge of the smaller or excretory 

 orifice is smooth ; but its external base is fringed. The portion of the 

 flesh where the orifices are situated, and the orifices themselves, are dark 

 from speckling, exactly as in the Pholas. 



A long, very active, thick, obtusely pointed foot protrudes from the 

 opposite extremity of the shell, as if searching or penetrating downwards. 



Colour of the shell grey and dingy yellowish, — of the animal white. 



Water is squirted as from the Pholas, whence, perhaps, the vernacu- 

 lar name — Spout fish. 



Dwells in the sand. 



The animal seems to consist of a long white fleshy body, like the 

 finger, extending at least two inches, which is closed in by the shell as it 

 shuts. The whole shell seems lined with a fleshy investing substance, 

 forming a wide arch about the middle, wherein the body hangs down. 

 It is close upwards, and the shoulder with the orifices is invested bv it 

 above. 



