VENERID^E. PULLET. 27 



in the sand or gravel (unlike the cockle, which makes 

 but one), about an inch or so apart. They are easily- 

 dug up by means of an old knife. On warm, still days 

 they appear to rise more readily to the surface ; but 

 if cold or windy they burrow about two to three inches 

 deep in the gravelly sand. Butter-fish are considered 

 very wholesome and I was assured by the cockle 

 gatherers that they might be eaten with impunity at all 

 times of the year, and never disagreed with people as 

 the mussels and cockles occasionally do. At Falmouth, 

 also, they are considered far richer and sweeter than 

 cockles, and are sold in the market at 3d. per 

 hundred. 



M. Gay says, that at Toulon it is known by the 

 name of Clouvisso, and is a favourite dish in Continental 

 seaports.* Clovisse is another name for it, and at 

 Bordeaux it sells in the market from twenty to thirty 

 centimes per hundred, and both it and Tapes pullastra 

 are called Palourde by the French, and also le Lunot. 

 At Puerto de Santa Maria, in Spain, it is very highly 

 prized, and the Spaniards say "es buena" in speaking 

 of it ; and at Vigo thousands are gathered at every 

 tide. The following names are given in Spanish to all 

 kinds of Tapes, viz. Almeixas, Almeija, Petchinas, 

 Almejas, and Escupina lliza. At Naples it is called 

 Vongola verace. 



Other species of Tapes are eaten abroad, besides 

 those already mentioned ; and we may add another to 

 our edible mollusks, viz. Tapes virginea, which is dis- 

 tributed all round our coasts. It varies very much in 

 colour, and you may gather a dozen or more specimens 

 without finding two that resemble each other. The 



* ' British Conchology,' vol. ii. p. 361. 



