264 Shell Life 



as being "of the size and shape of a large split- 

 pea." The split - pea he had in mind must have 

 been abnormally large. Each capsule contains 

 several hundred eggs, but when a few have hatched 

 they begin to feed on the unhatched and on their 

 less robust fellow-fry, so that it is computed that 

 only about a score of young Whelks issue from 

 each pouch. A common form of the capsule-cluster 

 is shown in our figure, but sometimes it assumes a 

 cylindrical form. Besides their extensive use for 

 bait, Whelks form no inconsiderable item in the food 

 supplies of the poorer classes, and they are in a sense 

 trapped for this purpose, carrion being buried under 

 a heap of stones or in a basket. The Whelks have a 

 keen scent, and soon finding out the whereabouts of 

 the bait they swarm over it. They are also caught 

 by dredging for them. Five-and-thirty years ago 

 when a Bill for the extension of the Whitstable 

 Oyster- fishery was before Parliament, it was stated 

 in evidence before a select committee that the Whelk- 

 fishery on part of Whitstable Bay yielded a revenue 

 of £12,000 per annum — the Whelks being used partly 

 for London's food, and partly for baiting the lines of 

 the cod-fishers. 



The Shetland Whelk (B. huvij^hreysianuon) is a 

 small species, with a shell of more oval shape, less 

 than 2 inches long, thin, somewhat glossy, the 

 sculpturing not being visible to the unassisted eye, 

 and the epidermis being absent. It occurs among 

 the Shetland Isles and the Hebrides; also on the 

 shores of County Cork and Connemara. 



The Least Whelk (Donovania minima) has an oval 

 operculum with the nucleus at the side. The shell, 



