THE SHELL-FISH OF THE COAST. 91 
Ce 
coast, where it is extensively used as an article of 
food, and as fish-bait) by dropping dead cod in a 
wicker-basket to a muddy bottom, where the ani- 
mals are easily attracted. The whelk-fishery of 
Whitestable flat, England, is said to have yielded 
£12,000 yearly immediately prior to 1866. 
The whelk is a favorite article of food with many 
fishes, particularly the cod, and as many as 30 and 
40 of its shells have been taken 
from the stomach of a single 
fish. Eventually these shells 
may become the habitations of 
one of the numerous species of 
hermit crab. - Indeed, on the 
New England coast it is rather 
a rarity to meet with a fresh 
shell of the Buccinum which is 
not already tenanted by a hermit. 
Cast your eyes for a moment from the glistening 
sands towards the mud-flats and tide-pools which 
have been left by the retreating waters. Here, in 
these quieter realms, you are almost sure to meet 
with a number of interesting molluscan forms, 
among which are two or three near cousins of the 
whelk. They are small snails, whose shells barely 
measure three-quarters of an inch in length. They 
are figured on Plate 1, Figs. 5, 11, 6, and are known 
as dog-whelks (Nassa trivittata, Nassa vibex, and 
Nassa obsoleta). It will be seen that, while the 
shells differ considerably from those of the true 
whelk, they still have much the same general char- 
acter, especially noticeable in the form of the aper- 
EGG-CAPSULES OF WHELK. 
