222 MOLLUSCA.« 
place is known bya small hole in the sand. As it is rather 
a laborious operation to dig them out, Bosc informs us, that 
the fishermen of France throw a small pinch of salt into 
their holes, which always remain open by the action of the 
respiratory organs ; that they speedily rise to the surface, 
and are thrown out by an iron instrument made for the pur- 
pose. The fishermen believe that it is the salt which they 
wish to avoid; but it is conjectured, with greater probabi- 
lity, that the presence of the salt water, which is thus formed 
by the solution of the salt, makes the animal suppose that 
its hole is again covered with the tide. This shell-fish was 
esteemed by the ancients as a great delicacy. When boiled 
or fried, it is certainly a very palatable morsel. When kept 
for a few days, it forms an excellent bait for haddock or cod, 
and may even be employed for that purpose in a fresh state. 
Several species of Gapers (Mya) are used as food both 
in Britain and on the Continent, as the Mya arenaria, 
known to the fishermen about Southampton by the whimsi- 
cal name Old Maids. These shells reside in the mud or 
shingle on the shore, and a few inches below the surface. 
In some parts of England and Ireland, they are much used, 
but, though common in Scotland, they are never sought after. 
Another species, the Mya truncata, isalso very common on the 
coast. It prefers a hard gravelly bottom, in which it lodges 
nearlow watermark. The inhabitants of the northern islands 
call it Smurslin, and employ it, when boiled, as a supper dish. 
It is notso delicate as some ofthe shell-fish which we have no- 
ticed, but it is by no means unpalatable. The Mya declivis 
of Pennant is, according to that author, very plentiful in the 
Hebrides, and eaten by the gentry of that country. We 
suspect that he should have referred to the Mya truncata. 
These shells furnish very good baits to the fisherman. 
