74 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA. 



have found several in one shell, and again, I have 

 opened many, and not been successful. 



A species of freshwater mussel, Anodonta ci/gnea, is 

 said to be eaten in the county of Leitrim by the 

 peasantry, and Unionidce are eaten in the south of 

 Europe, either roasted in their shells and drenched 

 with oil, or covered with bread-crumbs, and scalloped ; 

 and, according to Dr. Wilhelm Gottlob Rosenhauer, 

 Unio Hequienii, and TJnio litoralis, which are found near 

 Granada, in the river Jenil, are often brought to the 

 market; but when the fish are taken out of their shells 

 and cooked, they are described as very tough food. 

 Anodontce and TJnionidce (Anodontes et Mulettes), are 

 employed by the fishermen in the neighbourhood of 

 Nantes for bait;* and I have occasionally used Dreis- 

 sena polymorpha, for the same purpose, which seemed 

 to be greatly appreciated by the fish in the pond where 

 I was fishing, as they greedily sucked off the bait as 

 fast as it was put on the hook. The Dreissence were 

 brought from the canal at Sawley, Leicestershire, and 

 turned into the ponds, where they have thriven 

 wonderfully, and are the favourite food of water-rats, 

 if one may judge from the number of empty shells 

 deposited on the banks, amongst the rushes, in small 

 heaps sometimes two or three inches deep. In some 

 countries the shells of the large Anodontce are used for 

 skimming milk. In China, in the province of Nanking, 

 Anodonta edulis (Heude) is said by M. R. P. Heude to 

 be cultivated in the large canals of Song-kiang-fou for 

 eating purposes/]- and in the Chinese market atTa-kou 

 Anodontce are brought in basketfuls from the Pei-ho 



* ' Catalogue des Radiaires,' etc., par Frederic Cailliaud, de Nantes, 

 f ■ Diagnoses Molluscoruin in fluminibus provinciae Nankingensis 



