Wed^e-shells^ Veyuis-shells, and Cockles i 3 i 



margins, which are round - edged, and perfectly 

 smooth. The concentric lines are so slight that they 

 at first sight appear to be more due to colour than to 

 sculpture ; and the character of the epidermis is such 

 that it resembles a coat of varnish. The animal is 

 flesh-coloured with a tendency towards orange. The 

 mantle is slightly scalloped along the lower margin, 

 and has a few tentacles at the front. The orano-e 

 tubes of this species are not united all the way, and 

 their mouths are fringed with black-tipped tentacles. 

 The large, thick foot is dark flesh-tinted. It is not 

 generally distributed, its range in our waters being 

 confined to the south and west, 

 where it dwells in sand at 

 depths between 12 and 25 

 fathoms. It is a good edible 

 species, not only for man, but 

 is also appreciated by fish and 

 bird ; hence its thick hard 



valves, which probably are interior of smooth venus 

 needed not only to resist the 



jaws and palate teeth of big fishes, but to prevent 

 injury from rolling about in great commotions of the 

 lower watere. We ha\'e seen it washed up on Cornish 

 beaches after continued heavy gales, and have seen 

 the Razor-bills and Puffins attack it with their 

 powerful bills, nipping off" a little of the shell at one 

 end to admit the point of their beak in order to 

 sever the adductor muscle which keeps the valves 

 closed. It is to these muscles and the exceedingly 

 powerful hinge-teeth that the inviolability of the 

 shell is due, for there are no cogs along the margins 

 by which the valves may interlock. 



