130 SOLENIDA. 
you, and it calls for all their energies. Fishermen entice them 
out of their holes by a pinch of salt, making (as they say) 
the razor-fish believe that the tide is coming in. Reaumur, 
however, considers that the salt irritates them, and causes a 
painful pricking sensation in the mantle. which induces them to 
rise to the surface and endeavor to get rid of the annoyance by 
expelling the salt backwards. Healso noticed the blind instinct 
which the Solen has when taken out of its hole, and held between 
the fingers in the open air, suspended vertically : it protrudes its 
foot several times in succession, as if it were in the act of bur- 
rowing into its native sands. The account given by Poli of 
Solen-fishing in Naples is curious. We know that the flow and 
ebb of the tide there are very slight, and different from what 
takes place on our own British shores. He tells us that the 
lurking-place of the Solen is betrayed by a hole in the sand, 
agreeing in shape with the apertures of its tubes or siphons. 
Where the water is shallow the fisherman sprinkles some oil on 
the surface, in order to see these marks more clearly. He then 
steadies himself by leaning on a staff with his left hand, and 
feels for the Solen with his naked right foot. This he catches 
and holds between his big toe and the next; but although his 
toes are protected by linen bands, the struggles of the Solen to 
escape are so violent, and the edges of the shell so sharp, that 
very often a severe wound is inflicted by it, When the sea is 
five or six feet deep, another mode of fishing is adopted. It 
consists in the fisherman diving or swimming under water with 
his eyes open, and, after having found the holes, digging with 
his hands for the razor-fish. Sometimes the Solen So forcibly 
resists being taken, that it will suffer its own foot to be torn 
away, or will even die rather than surrender. Their power of 
locomotion is not limited to burrowing; they can dart from 
place to place in the water as quickly asa ‘scollop, and apparently 
in the same way.” 
SOLENA, Brown, 1756. (Hypogella, Gray. Plectosolen, Conr.) 
Shell rounded at each extremity; hinge nearly terminal; ante- 
rior muscular impression rounded. Scarcely distinguishable 
from the typical group. 3 sp. Cuba, Philippines, Panama. S. 
obliqua, Spengler (evi, 7). 
Ensts, Schumacher, 1817. 
Syn.—Ensatella, Swains., 1840. 
Distr.—14 sp. U. 8., Europe, Patagonia, Philippines, Aus- 
tralia. #. ensis, Linn. (evi, 8. SZ. stliqua, Linn. (evi, 9). 
Shell elongated, transverse, gaping and rounded-truncate at 
its extremities, straight or somewhat curved ; hinge composed 
of two teeth in one valve and three in the other ; anterior mus- 
cular impression elongated, horizontal; pallial impression with 
a short truncated sinus; siphons short, divided. 
