66 THK ECONOMIC MOLLUSCA OF ACADIA. 



"The great Pecten tenuicos.tatus on the coast of Maine and' 

 the Bay of Fundy, was formerly highly valued by the people 

 of that region, but now is too scarce to appear on the tables 

 of even 'the rich' except at rare intervals." , . . "The 

 huge, smooth-shelled Pecten tenuicodatus of the north, as big 

 as a fruit-plate, which formally abounded on the coast of 

 Maine, has now become so rare as to be a prize in the cabinet 

 of the conchologist rather than an edible commodity — a result 

 unquestionably due to over-greedy catching." We believe 

 that while the case here stated may be true for the Maine 

 coast, it is not so for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Large 

 numbers of them still live in L'Etang Harbor and other inlets 

 both on the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia shores of the 

 Bay of Fundy. From the former locality large quantities are 

 occasionally brought in schooners to St. John. 



Mr. Willis, thirty years ago, said it was common on the 

 whole coast of Nova Scotia, and that it "furnished the 

 residents of Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, Chester, etc., with 

 many a rich treat. In these localities it is said to be very 

 abundant, and more etisily obtained than in most other parts 

 of the Province." Nicolas Denys knew of their abundance 

 there, for in 1672, he says of La Have Harbor, — "In which 

 there are countless numbers of Scallops [Conniffle], which 

 are great sLell-fish like those which the Pilgrims bring from 

 St. Michael and St, James. It is excellent eating." The 

 fishery returns for Nova Scotia give the only official notice of 

 Scallops which are given for any of the Provinces. That of 

 1886 gives 300 dozen Scallops as taken in Lunenburg County, 

 worth fifty cents per dozen, or S150; that of 1887 gives for 

 the same county 600 dozen, worth $300. In New Brunswick,, 

 a schooner occasionally brings a quantity to St. John from 

 L'Etang Harbor or Mace's Bay where they are taken by 

 dredges, and they are sold direct from the vessel. The quan- 

 tity thus sold is estimated to be about two hundred bushels 

 annually. It is frequently eaten by the fishermen of the- 

 Charlotte County coast. In the Halifax market, not many 

 are sold. The usual price is fifty cents per dozen, but not- 

 infrequently they bring much more. In Prince Edward Island' 



