104 POPULAR BRITISH CONCHOLOGY. 



the water in this way, the reddish fringe-work is like the 

 tail of a fiery comet. The filaments of the fringe are pro- 

 bably useful in catching its prey. They are very easily bro- 

 ken ofip ; and it is remarkable that they seem to live for many 

 hours after they are detached from the body, twisting them- 

 selves like so many worms." 



The Limce of Great Britain are — 

 L. Jiians, the shell of which is oblique, about an inch long, 



and open on both sides. 

 L. Loscomhii has a fuller shell, closed, and oblique. 

 L. subauriculata is nearly straight, and equilateral. 



II. Pecten. — The large eatable Scallops, with one flat 

 and the other convex valve, are too well known to require 

 description, and they represent a large section of the genus 

 having unequal valves, but not sufficiently different from 

 the others to make a distinct genus, as some have desired. 

 The Tectens are exquisitely beautiful : the shells are gene- 

 rally ribbed with great regularity; they are nearly equal- 

 sided, and have an expansion at each side of the beaks 

 called an auricle. The animal is furnished with fringes of 

 tentacula as his mantle, and black tubercles, or ocelli, sup- 

 posed, however doubtfully, to represent organs of vision. 

 The author of ' Arran ' must again be heard : — '' The seal- 



