— 48 — 



from the sand in great numbers and after storms they are said to 

 form windrows on the beach. They are apparently much less abundant 

 than formerly, though at all times the numbers have varied from 

 year to year. 



Use — Though so small the wedge shell was formerly abundant 

 enough to be used extensively for food, being sifted from the sand or 

 scraped up from the windrows after heavy surf and sold in Long 

 Beach and other southern towns. They were washed free of sand 

 and used entire in the making of soup ; the flavor is said to be exeel- 

 ](Mit. The following extract * is of interest in this connection : 



"Long Beach and Wilmington are connected by several ?iiiles of 

 liard sand beach. At low tide the beach at many places is strewn with 

 a small mollusk, the Dona.r calif orniciis [apparently Donax laevigata], 

 locally known as the small clam. The shells, which are prettily colored, 

 average three-fourths of an inch in length. During 1895, favorable 

 experiments having been made to utilize these clams for their liquor, a 

 company was formed under the name of Pacific Coast Extract Com- 

 pany, and the business of putting up clam extract was liegun. The 

 extract is packed in glass and stone pint and quart packages and 

 gallon jugs. The extract has met with a flattering reception, and 

 encouraged the company to enlarge the business. The clams are 

 gathered at low tide by boys, who use a small hand wagon holding 

 but a few bushels. Clams and sand are shoveled into the wagon and 

 covered with a wire screen. The wagon is then run into the surf, 

 which washes out the sand, and the clams are sacked and sent to the 

 factory. They weigh about 100 pounds to a bushel, which produces 

 1 gallon of extract. The shells are cracked and sold to poultry dealers. 

 These shellfish are so plentiful that the same ground is worked over 

 day after day ; if the beach is gleaned one tide, the next leaves a fresh 

 supply. The Donax caUfornicus is found between Santa Barbara and 

 San Diego, but not on the Atlantic coast." 



No use was being made of them during the time of the present 

 investigation (1919). 



Distribution — It is said by Dall to range from Santa Barbara to 

 Acapulco, Mexico. A living specimen was obtained much farther north 

 at Oceano but they were not common. They were more alnmdant at 

 Long Beach, near the mouth of Anaheim Slough and near False Bay. 



JACKKNIFE CLAM 



TagcUts caiifornianus Conrad 

 Plate 15, figure 1 



Other name — Incorrectly called razor clam. 



Description — This and the two species of Solcn, about to be described, 

 arc simihir in general appearance, being very elongated and roughly 

 cylindrical. Tagehis is the largest, reaching a length of from three 

 to four inches. The valves are three or more times as long as wide, 

 deeply arched so that the two together are almost cylindrical and of 



♦United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Commissioner's Report of 1896, 

 Washington, D. C, 1898, p. 646. 



