34 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA. 



becoming an object of interest to the shellfish growers 

 in this country, viz., Venus mercenaria. The experi- 

 ment to acclimatize it on the French coast has already 

 been tried by M. de Broca, M. Coste, and the Count de 

 Ferussac. Breeding-beds were prepared on the coast 

 at Arcachon and Saint-Yaast-la-Hogue, and in 18GI 

 the steward of the ' Arago ' steamer brought over 

 about 200 hard clams, and also some American oysters, 

 which were deposited in these beds under the super- 

 intendence of M. Coste.* In 1863 another supply of 

 live clams was brought over, but Dr. Paul Fischer 

 stated, in 1865, that though the mollusks seemed per- 

 fectly healthy, they did not appear to have spawned, 

 as no young specimens could be found. Mr. F. G. 

 Moore, Curator of the Liverpool Museum, describes 

 (in a paper given to Professor Brown Goode, and 

 quoted at one of the Conferences held at the Inter- 

 national Fisheries Exhibition,) the successful introduc- 

 tion of the hard clam, or quahog, into the waters of 

 St. George's Channel. 



Venus mercenaria is very largely consumed in 

 America. The New York supply comes chiefly from 

 Long Island. The prices for them are as follows : 

 20 cents per dozen, and 75 cents to 1 dollar per 100. 

 Like oysters, they bear long journeys well, and can be 

 preserved alive for some time by being kept wet and 

 cool. The shell is very thick, covered with a drab- 

 coloured epidermis, and much resembles, in form, our 

 Cyprlna islandica, but it is more triangular. Inside, 

 the valves at one end are of a rich purple colour, the 

 portion used for making the ' Wampum, as we shall 

 read further on. 



* ' Utilization of Minute Life/ by Dr. T. L. Phipsou. 



