53 

 CHAPTER VIII. 



OF THE SOLEN. GENUS V, 



SOLEN. 



"Animal an Ascidia. Shell bivalve, oblong-, open at each side ; hinge with 

 awl-shaped teeth, bent backwards, often double, not inserted in the oppo- 

 site valve ; lateral margin obsolete." — Linn. 



Xhe Solenes are called in English Razor Shells, several of the 

 species being supposed to resemble a razor handle ; they are 

 open at both ends, which are called sides by Linnaeus, as he 

 calls the length of the shell the distance from the hinge side 

 to the opposite margin, which is very short in Solen Vagina, 

 &c., while the breadth is often six or eight times as much. The 

 animal of the Solen (like the animals of the Pholas and Mya'y 

 has the mantle united in front, and protrudes two united tubes 

 about three or four inches from the upper end of the shell, and 

 a short obtuse conical foot from the lower end. They are 

 found buried in the sand, like the Mya. The cartilage is ex- 

 ternal, and sometimes situated near the middle of the shell, 

 as in Solen Legumen ; but often at the lower end, as in Solen 

 Vagina. There is in each valve, under the cartilage, a longi- 

 tudinal ridge, with the point or tooth erect or perpendicular ; 

 in some species the point in one valve is divided, receiving the 

 point of the other valve into the vacancy between. The beak 



