36 THE ECONOMIC MOLLUSCA OF ACADIA. 



The "waves " or rounded longitudinal ridges on the whorls also, twelve 

 or thirteen on each, are but rarely or never seen in P. lapillus. Another 

 good distinguishing character, which fceems to remain constant for all 

 sizes and ages, consists in the shape of the lowest part of the free edge 

 of the opening, the apex being considered the upper end of the shell. 

 In r. lapillus this is more or less angular, and never lower than the 

 lowest point of the columella or central pillar around which the whorls 

 are wound. In B. undahim, on the other hand, it is always evenly 

 rounded, and always a little lower than the extremity of the columella. 

 The epidermis is generally yellowish, though variable, and the interior 

 of the shell is frequently of a beautiful golden-yellow. It has been 

 known to grow to a length of more than six inches. 



The Whelk is not at all particular as to the kind of shore or 

 bottom it inhabits, or as to its depth. Near low-water mark on our 

 coast, it may be found in mud, sand, gravel, or rocks, feeding chiefly 

 on animal food. At Oak Bay, Charlotte County, they occur in perfec- 

 tion, and their habits may there readily be studied. They are frequently 

 seen at that place feeding upon dead fish, and it is chiefly through their 

 fondness for such food that they are captured in England and Ireland. 

 There round wicker baskets, a foot in diameter, with a hole in the top, 

 baited with cod or other fish, arranged to allow them to get in but not 

 out, are lowered in from five to fifty fathoms of water, and drawn up 

 and emptied at intervals, much as our lobster-traps are. Other methods 

 are, to low^er a baited hoop-net, two feet in diameter, or a long line on 

 which small crabs are strung. The "Whelks cling to either of these and 

 are readily captured. They must be kept alive for bait. It appears 

 that its love for cod is fully reciprocated, for they are eaten in great 

 numbers by that and other fish, for which it is consequently a very 

 valuable and attractive bait. We do not know that it has been observed 

 perforating other shells as Natka and Fnrpura do. It can live in quite 

 brackish water. 



Its eggs are laid in lens-shaped capsules, one-fourth of an inch in 

 diameter, each containing many eggs. Great numbers of capsules are 

 deposited together, forming large irregular rounded masses, which are 

 attached to stones or seaweed below low-water mark. The young have 

 the shell well developed before they leave the capsules. 



Economics. This is a roud-mollusc of very great im- 

 portance in Great Britain. In Vol. VI. of the Fisheries 

 Exhibition Literature we are told, '' The edible Whelk is 

 considered a rery nutritious and strengthening food, and is 

 always free from poisonous matter. I have heard fishermen 

 say that a dish of Whelks does them as much good as a 

 beefsteak." It may be bought in all the coast towns of Eng- 



