On the occurrence of Genus HMercenaria 
in.) in the Estuary of the Bee, 
BY GEORGE W. SHRUBSOLE. 
N Wednesday, September 27th, 1882, I visited Hilbre Island, 
for the purpose of collecting Natural History objects, for 
the Conversazione of our Society. I noticed at various points 
along the margin of the current, which runs by the side of the 
Island a shell of the Venus type, like a great cockle, as large as 
an average sized orange. It was new to me, and I accordingly 
sent a specimen to Mr. F. P. Marrartt, of Liverpool, who 
informed me that it was the Venus Mercenaria, a North 
American species, the Wampum Clam of the North American 
Indians. 
Its occurrence at Hilbre was an interesting fact, which 
needed some explanation. It was not a stray shell brought 
there by some accident, since I obtained over 100 specimens of 
either one or both valves. I found on enquiry, that 14 years 
ago Mr. T. V. Moors, F.Z.S., of Liverpool, deposited some 
live Clams on the various sandbanks in the estuary of the 
Mersey. So far as is known, this attempt at acclimatization | 
proved a failure, and cannot be connected with the present 
find. In December, 1879, a Mr. BRANDRETH laid down, for 
store purposes, a barrel of Clams, in the shallow water around 
the Island. This, I consider, gives the clue to my finding the 
shells. The interesting point to be here noticed is that there 
is good reason for inferring that the Clam has bred on our 
Cheshire Coast. The evidence for this we have in the size of 
some of the shells (certainly only a few months old), and the 
circumstance that the last dispersion of live Clams was two 
years and ten months prior to the time of my finding them. 
Further, the fresh appearance of the shells, the absence of 
erosion, the ligament still perfect, shewed that the Clam must 
have been living within a week or two. These attempts at 
acclimatization we can only regard as more or less a failure ; 
