56 



MUSSEL AKD COCKLE. 



call any tiling of the same kind or genus, only it is some- 

 what plainer, and more deeply ribbed and indented. The 

 inside is of a glossy -whiteness, and it is frequently used as 

 a basin for garden fountains, or the reception of rills or 

 little jets of water, which sparkle in its stainless hollow. 

 In the church of St. Salpice, at Paris, is a shell of this im- 

 mense Clam, the valves of which are used as receptacles for 

 holy water; it was presented to Francis the First, by the 

 republic of Yenice. Fancy the clapping to of such a pair of 

 valves, when the animal closes its shell in alarm, and the 

 strength of the cable required to moor it to the rocks or 

 coral reef. The spotted species here figured has a solid and 

 hea^T shell, very elegantly shaped, and beautifully marked, 

 as will be seen; the greatly reduced size of the figure pre- 

 vents anything like justice being done to the original. 



The above is a figure of the Heart Isocardea, (Z cor,) which 

 is also a member of the Clam family, and one of the most 

 elegantly- shaped shells in the whole range of Conchology. It 

 is a native of the Mediterranean and other seas of Eui^ope, 

 and has been taken in deep water on the "V^^est coast of 

 Ireland. We complete this group with a representation of 

 the curious Arcadm family, or Ark shells, as they are com- 

 monly called, because one of the species was thought to 

 resemble the ark built by Koah. Mr. Swainson tells us that the 

 animals of these shells afiix themselves to other bodies by a 



