BIVALVE SHELLS. 37 



One of the latter price was sold a second time to Lady Glenlealy, who 

 had it placed in a necklace, and refused £80 for it, which she was 

 oifered by the Countess of Ormond. There was also a great fishery for 

 pearls in the river Tay, which extended from Perth to Loch Tay ; and 

 it is said that the pearls sent from thence, from the year 1761 to 1764, 

 were worth £10,000. It is not uncommon in the present day, to find 

 pearls in those shells, which bring fi-om £1 to £2. It is said that those 

 in the Scottish Crown which forms part of the regalia now exhibited 

 in the Castle of Edinbm-gh, are the produce of the river Tay. 



Genus 5.— SOLEN. 



Animal an Ascidia; shell bivalve, oblong, open at both 

 ends ; hinge with a subulate reflected tooth, often double, 

 and not inserted in the opposite valve. 



Solen Siliqua. — The Pod Solen. Plate I. fig. 5. Shell 

 linear, straight; in one valve two teeth, and one in the 

 other, having a lateral inclined tooth corresponding with the 

 opposite lamina ; the exterior covered by a fine olivaceous 

 brown epidermis, very glossy, and transversely striated, the 

 striae taking a longitudinal direction across the shell. One 

 inch long, and from seven to eight broad. Common on most 

 sandy shores of Europe. 

 M u Length of the shell, v v breadth of the shell. 



Solen Ensis. — The Sabre Solen. Plate V. fig. 5. 

 Linear, a little bent like a sabre ; with a single tooth and 

 lateral lamina, in one valve, locking into two teeth, and 

 double laminae in the other; covered with a fine olivaceous, 

 glossy epidermis; one inch long, and from five to seven 

 broad. Inhabits the coasts of Europe. 



Solen antiquatus — The Antiquated Solen. Plate 

 II. fig. 1. Shell thin, white, and subpellucid; moderately 

 glossy, with concentric striae ; ends rounded and gaping : 

 hinge near the centre, furnished with a single tooth in one 

 valve locking in between two in the opposite; the teeth are 

 erect, oblique, and stand beyond the margin ; outside covered 

 with an umber-coloured epidermis. Found on the Cornwall 

 and Dorsetshire coasts. 



I The cartilage, n inside, p margin or limb, q hinge. 



The Solens inhabit the ocean ; they are generally found buried about 

 D 



