VENUS. 



1C5 



Venus notata. 



Fig. 



Shell ovate-orbicular, inequipartitc, posterior end truncated ; surflxce with con- 

 centric sharp ridges, mostly wanting on the disk ; color yellowish or grayish- 

 white, and Avith fliwn-colored zigzag markings; interior wholly white. 



Vt7iHS notata, Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. So. ii. 271 (1822); Binnky's reprint, 94.— 

 Gould, Inv. Mass. 1st ed. 87. — I'hiuppi, Abbild. ( Venus) 128, pi. 2, H.l;. 3. — De 

 Kay, Nat. Hist. New York, 218, pi. 27, fig. 278. 



Venus merceiiaria, var. SowEunY, Thes. 733, pi. 162, fig. 200. — Ueeve, Comh. Icon. 

 ( Venus) pi. 2, fig. 4 a. 



Mercenaria notafa, Desiiayes, Rr. Mas. Cat. Riv. Shells, 114 (IS-W). 



Venus obi [qua, AxTO^, Wic^ni. Archiv. 1837, and V. C///miioi</cs, Anton, Vor/A'icli. (fide 

 Philippi). 



Venus prcepavca. Say, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. ii. 271 (1822) ; Rinney's reprint, 9.5. — De Kay, 

 Nat. Hist. New York, 219. — Hanley ( V. notata, var.), Descr. Cat. 1 17 ; in Wood's 

 Suppl. pi. 13, fig. 41. — Desuayes {Mercenaria notata), Cat. Br. Mus. (Biv.) 11.5. 



Shell very similar to the preceding-, and perhaps merely a local 

 variety. The differences 

 which I shall mention 

 appear, hoAvever, to be 

 constant. The shell is 

 less heavy and coarse. 

 The hinge slope declines 

 less rapidly, so that the 

 posterior side is broader, 

 and its extremity broad- 

 ly truncated ; the area 

 about the ligament is 

 much more smooth, and 

 usually colored brown or 

 purplish. The concen- 

 tric ridges are more reg- 

 ular in their distances, are somewhat undulated, and frequently arc 

 lost in each other ; on the centre of the shell the ridges seem to 



a round, thick shell-fish, or, to speak more properly, worm. It does not hurv itself but a 

 little way in the sand ; is generally found lying on it, in deep water ; and is gathered u]) 

 by rakes made for the purpose. After the tide ebbs away, a few are picked up on the 

 shore below high-water mark. The quahaug is not much inferior in relish to the oyster, 

 but is less digestible. It is not eaten raw ; but is cooked in various modes, being roasted 

 in the shell, or opened and boiled, fried, or made into soups and jiies. About half an 

 inch of the inside of the shell is of a purple color. This the Indians broke off and con- 

 verted into beads, named by them anrkauhork, or black money ; which was twice the value 

 of their wonrpom, or white money, made of the niPtauhock, or periwinkle (Pj/rnla). 



" Poqnaliock, corru])ted into qunhaug or quauhog. is the word with a plural termina- 

 tion." — History of Orleans, in Collections of Mass. Hist. Society, VIII. 192 (1802). 



