94 THE HALL OF SHELLS. 
what did you mean by saying that about 
Venus turning Crustacean baby tender ?” 
“The shell in which the baby crab is rock- 
ing is called Venus Californiensis,” said her 
cousin, “and all the shells of this family were 
long ago dedicated to the sea-born maiden 
Venus, whom the doctor told you about some 
time ago, only he called her Aphrodite, the 
name the old Greeks gave her. Many of the 
shells of this family are among the most beau- 
tifully colored and sculptured as well as the 
most graceful in shape, and as such were re- 
garded fitting offerings to the goddess who was 
said to surpass all others in grace and beauty. 
“Clams of different varieties are abundant 
in salt water, some with shells heavy and 
rough, others thin almost to transparency and 
beautifully tinted. The round clam, known on 
the Atlantic coast as quahog and valued as 
an article of food, furnished the famous purple 
wampum from the margin of its shell, This 
violet wampum was counted twice as valuable 
as the white by the aborigines, and its money 
value has been commemorated in the name JV. 
mercenaria, by which this clam is called. 
“The solid shells of the surf clam, Mactra 
solidissima, were used by the same Indians as 
hoes for cultivating their maize fields. 
