[From the Overland Monthly for April, 1873.] 



THE PECTENS, OR SCALLOP-SHELLS, 



BY R. E. C. STEARNS. 



Ihc Ocean heaves resistlessly, 



And pours his glittering treasures forth; 

 His waves, the priesthood of the sea, 



Kneel on the shell-gemmed earth. 

 And there emit a hollow sound, 



As if they murmur'd praise and prayer ; 

 On every side 'tis holy ground — 



All nature worships there ! 



— Vedder. 



OF the many beautiful forms which 

 live in the sea, perhaps none are 

 more attractive or deservedly popular 

 than the pectens, or scallop-shells. The 

 rambler on the sea-shore rejoices in a 

 prize when tlie odd valve of a scallop is 

 detected in some out-of-the-way nook, 

 covered up and hidden like a treasure, 

 among the sea wrack, mingled in strange 

 confusion, with dead crabs, star- fishes, 

 delicate corals, and algas — the flotsam 

 and jetsam of the winter storms ; and 

 when a specimen of unusual vividness 

 of color and perfectness of sculpture is 

 obtained, an exclamation of triumph 

 mingles with the murmuring music of 

 the surf. 



The fairer sex esteem these shells 

 highly, but not from an edible point of 

 view, as do their sterner brethren ; for 

 thougli the animal, or soft part, when 

 fresh, is really a great delicacy, the 

 valves, or two pieces of which the com- 

 plete shell is composed, are utilized in 

 various ways, and with that ingenuity 

 peculiar to the sex, through which " in- 

 considered trifles" are converted into 



forms of beauty, an accession of scallops 

 is sure to be followed by a harvest of 

 pincushions and needlebooks. 



In natural history, the scallops are 

 known as Pecicns, from a fancied resem- 

 blance of the radiating ribs which most 

 of them display to the teeth of a comb; 

 but as the forms of combs are subject to 

 the caprices of fashion, the pertinency 

 of the name is not altogether apparent. 

 They are also called fan-shells, which is 

 far more appropriate. Though included 

 by the public in the term shell-fish, as are 

 also the clams, quahaugs, and cockles, 

 they are in no way related to the fishes, 

 but belong to the division of the animal 

 kingdom known as mollusca, or soft- 

 bodied animals (from the Latin word 

 inallis, soft), as do the cuttles, snails, 

 conchs, oysters, and mussels. 



The genus Pecten was established by 

 the di-'jIiiir^ii'i^^i^^J naturalist Brugit^re, to 

 distinguish these shells from the oysters, 

 with which they were formerly classed. 

 The shells of this genus, of which two 

 hundred species are known, have a wide 

 geographical distribution, being found in 

 almost every sea. In most of them, the 

 valves, as the two pieces are termed 

 which form the perfect shell, are exter- 

 nally convex, but in others one is con- 

 vex and the other flat. They frequently 

 exhibit most elaborate and exquisite 

 sculpture, and extreme brilliancy of col- 



