BIVALVE SHELLS. 37 



One of the latter price was sold a second time to Lady Glenlealy, who 

 had it placed in a necklace, and refused £80 for it, which she was 

 offered by the Countess of Orraond. There was also a great fishery for 

 pearls in the river Tay, which extended from Perth to Loch Tay ; and 

 it is said that the pearls sent from thence, fi'om the year 1761 to 176i, 

 wei'e worth £10,000. It is not uncommon in the present day, to find 

 pearls in those shells, which bring from £1 to £2. It is said that those 

 in the Scottish Crown which forms part of the regalia now exhibited 

 in the Castle of Edinbm'gh, are the produce of the river Tay. 



Genus 5.— SOLEN. 



Animal an Ascidia; shell bivalve, oblong, open at both 

 ends ; hinge with a subulate reflected tooth, often double, 

 and not inserted in the opposite valve. 



Solen SiUqua The Pod Solen. Plate I. fig. 5. Shell 



linear, straight; in one valve two teeth, and one in the 

 other, having a lateral inclined tooth corresponding with the 

 opposite lamina ; the exterior covered by a fine olivaceous 

 brown epidermis, very glossy, and transversely striated, the 

 striae taking a longitudinal direction across the shell. One 

 inch long, and from seven to eight broad. Common on most 

 sandy shores of Europe. 

 M tt Length of the shell, v v breadth of the shell. 



Solen Ends. — The Sabre Solen. Plate V. fig. 5. 

 Linear, a little bent like a sabre ; with a single tooth and 

 lateral lamina, in one valve, locking into two teeth, and 

 double laminae in the other; covered with a fine olivaceous, 

 glossy epidermis; one inch long, and from five to seven 

 broad. Inhabits the coasts of Europe. 



Solen antiquatus — The Antiquated Solen. Plate 

 II. tig. 1 . Shell thin, white, and subpellucid ; moderately 

 glossy, with concentric striae ; ends rounded and gaping : 

 binge near the centre, furnished with a single tooth in one 

 valve locking in between two in the opposite; the teeth are 

 erect, oblique, and stand beyond the margin; outside covered 

 with an umber-coloured epidermis. Found on the Cornwall 

 and Dorsetshire coasts. 

 I The cartilage, n inside, p margin or limb, q hinge. 

 The Solens inhabit the ocean ; they are generally found buried about 



D 



