LITTORINIDjE. PERIWINKLE. 137 



Athenaeus, in his ' Deipnosophists/ mentions several 

 kinds of periwinkles. He says, " Of the periwinkle, 

 the white are the most tender, and they have no dis- 

 agreeable smell, . . . but of the black and red kinds the 

 larger are exceedingly palatable, especially those that 

 are caught in the spring. As a general rule, all of them 

 are good for the stomach, and digestible when eaten with 

 cinnamon and pepper." 



There is a large consumption of these little mollusks 

 in London ; and Billingsgate market is supplied from 

 various parts of the British coast ; the largest supply is 

 in May and June, and they sell at one shilling a 

 measure. Mr. Patterson, of Belfast, states, in his ' In- 

 troduction to Zoology/ that quantities of periwinkles 

 are annually shipped from Belfast for London, and in 

 1861 the amount was 3394? bags, each containing about 

 three bushels, and weighing 3 \ cwt., so that the peri- 

 winkles exported in that year exceeded 10,000 bushels, 

 and weighed nearly 600 tons. 



In the Orkneys, at Stromness, I am told that they 

 are collected in sacks, and sent south to the different 

 markets. 



Professor Simmonds states that the annual consump- 

 tion of periwinkles in London has been estimated at 

 76,000 baskets, weighing 1900 tons, and valued at 

 £15,000; further, that the inhabitants of Kerara, near 

 Oban, gather them, and get sixpence a bushel for col- 

 lecting them, and forward them from Oban to Glasgow, 

 thence to Liverpool, en route for London. About 30 

 tons are sent up to London from Glasgow. 



Mr. A. Morton tells me that in Jersey the market is 

 supplied with periwinkles brought from Southampton, 

 those found in the island being very small ; and occa- 



