CARDIUM. 73 



every condition they are considered most savoury and deli- 

 cious. 



Still, however, it is pleasant to know that many a time 

 have the cockles of our coast afforded a good substantial 

 meal in some humble cottage, whose inhabitants might have 

 perished with hunger but for this providential supply ; and 

 even in ordinary times, the utility of the esculent is attested 

 by heaps of emptied shells near the tenements of the poor. 

 This is the case in many parts of our coast, especially among 

 the northern islands of Scotland. 



All the Cockles have a very large geniculated foot, which 

 they are said to use with great dexterity in making enormous 

 leaps ; the siphons are very short and fringed, and the man- 

 tle freely open. The shells present great variety of form 

 and sculpture ; they are all more or less ribbed in a radiating 

 direction, — at least, those few species which are not distinctly 

 so still show linear traces without, and tooth-like termina- 

 tions within, of the same character. In many cases the ribs are 

 ornamented with beads or strise, or spines. The finest and 

 most numerous species abound in tropical climates, but still 

 the genus has a wide range; and although our species cannot 

 boast of much or very brilliant colouring, the ornamentation 

 is not to be despised. The British Cardia are — 



