152 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSKS. 



open ; but do not let them be heated more than neces- 

 sary. Clean them nicely, and then mix them with a 

 white sauce. To give a piquant flavour, add a little 

 lemon-juice or vinegar. 



Spanish way of Cooking all kinds of Shellfish. — Chop 

 up a good quantity of garlic, onions, parsley, and red 

 peppers (which last must be prepared by throwing them 

 into boiling water, and rubbing off the skins with a dry 

 cloth) ; scald the fish, and pick them out of their shells, 

 then put all together in an olla (or round earthen-pot), 

 with plenty of oil ; fry them till a deep yellow. They 

 mav either be served thus, or when finished add some 

 broth, boil it up, and serve it like thick soup. 



The genuine Cadiz lovers of shellfish, however, con- 

 sider that scalding the fish spoils it ; they therefore 

 prefer the raiv fish being put at once into the oil and 

 vegetables, and the dish is then sent to table with the 

 shells in it. 



Fam. MACTRIDiE. 

 MACTRA.— TROUGH-SHELL. 



Mactra solida, Linnseus. Trough Shell. — Shell 

 thick and opaque, of a yellowish-white colour, nearly 

 equal-valved, covered at the sides with a brownish or 

 drab-coloured epidermis ; nearly triangular in form ; 

 ligament short and internal ; beaks small ; a V-shaped 

 cardinal tooth in one valve, with a long lateral tooth 

 on each side, and fitting in the opposite valve into deep 

 grooves, with toothlike edges. 



Of the Mactridse, both Mactra solida and Mactra 

 stultorum are sometimes eaten in England, but they are 



