MURICIDjE. — WHELK. 207 



and Purpura lapillus is said by M. Cailliaud to be used 

 for food in the spring (after the fish have spawned) by 

 some of the inhabitants of St. Michel- Chef- Chef, in the 

 department of the Loire Inferieure. In March, 1865, I 

 saw Purpura lapillus sold at Hastings ready boiled 

 for eating at Id. per pint; but the name given to 

 them, was not one to encourage a trial, viz., Man- 

 suckers; though I was assured they were very good, 

 and tasted like periwinkles. The Spanish names for 

 it are Minchas, and Corn de fel. 



The Almond Whelk, or Red Whelk, as it is some- 

 times called — Fusus antiquus — is eaten in Liverpool, 

 and great quantities are taken on the Cheshire coast. 

 In Dublin the fishermen use them principally for bait 

 for the larger kind offish, such as cod and ling, and only 

 occasionally eat them, boiled or pickled. The beautiful 

 large white variety is dredged off the Irish coast. My 

 largest specimen from Dublin measures six and a half 

 inches in length, and three and a half inches in breadth, 

 and Dr. Jeffreys saw the shells used as lamps in the 

 Shetland Isles by the northern fishermen. They are 

 suspended from a nail in the wall or ceiling of the hut, 

 by means of a piece of string, which is fastened round 

 the shell in a triangular form. The inside is filled with 

 fish-oil, and a wick of cotton or tow is put into the 

 canal at the extremity of the mouth.* The Chinese use 

 a large shell, a species of Fusus> for their fog-horns. 



In ' Antiquitates Culinariae/ it is said that at the 

 enthronization feast of William Warham, Archbishop of 

 Canterbury, in 1504, 8000 whelks were supplied at five 

 shillings a thousand, and they were served up as an 

 accompaniment to sturgeon ; and amongst the dishes 

 * ' British Conchology,' vol. i., Introduction, p. ixviii. 



