ROCKED IN THE CRADLE OF THE DEEP. 95 
“The giant clam, Zridacna gigas, would 
make a ‘sliding chariot’ large enough for a 
very good-sized sea nymph. This shell, which 
is said to be the largest in the world, has been 
found with its valves nearly two yards long 
and weighing over five hundred pounds. 
Should you ever go to Paris and visit the 
Church of St. Sulpice you will there see two 
—_ valves of this tridacna which are used for hold- 
ing ‘holy water.’ 
“One of the most elegant bivalves is that 
tridacna known as ‘bear’s paw.’ It is from 
the Indian Ocean, and is beautifully mottled 
with yellow and red. 
“These are only a few of the many varieties 
of clams suggested by this cradle rocking in 
the waves. All do not belong to the Venus 
family, howsoever much by their beauty they 
may deserve the honor.” 
Tom had compared the rocking clam shell 
to a “mermaid’s cradle.” In her hall of shells 
Undine had a dainty chiton, the C. Katherina, 
of which she was very fond. It was really a 
gem of a cradle. 
The chitons are curious specimens when 
alive, and death invests them with charms 
which in life they failed to possess. The shell 
is made up of eight different pieces so united 
