V, REPORT OF STATE BIOLOGIST. 



fifteenth day of July, and the fifteenth day of October and the fifteenth day 

 of December of each year; provided, however, that it shall not be considered 

 unlawful for any person to dig- razor clams for his or her own use. 



Section 2. If any person shall dig - any shellfish, commonly known as 

 razor clams, whose length is less than two and one half inches, they shall 

 immediately replace said clam in the place from which it was dug, with the 

 least possible injury to the clam. 



Section 3. Any person violating the provisions of this act shall be pun- 

 ished by a fine of not less than twenty ($20) nor more than one hundred 

 ($100) dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not less 

 than ten (10) days nor more than fifty (50) days. 



Inasmuch as there is urgent necessity for the protection to shellfish this 

 act is intended to afford, it shall be in effect from and after its approval by 

 the Governor. 



This bill passed the house and was reported favorably in 

 the senate by the Committee on Fishing Industries, but no 

 further action was taken, and the bill, in consequence, failed 

 to become a law. 



In January, 1899, the Astoria Progressive Commercial 

 Association, through Mr. H. G. Van Dusen, asked me if I 

 would make an examination of clams, sent me from time to 

 time, to determine the season of spawning. This I gladly 

 agreed to do, and batches of from six to ten were sent me 

 monthly from Astoria. These were given a careful micro- 

 scopical examination and the results reported to Mr. Van 

 Dusen. Before stating these results it will be well, that they 

 may be the more readily understood, to give a brief and pop- 

 ular description of the 



ANATOMY AND HABITS OF THE RAZOR CLAM. 



The name "Razor Clam," by the way, is doubtless applied 

 to it on account of its elongated and somewhat flattened shape. 

 There are other species, however, in the same family, which 

 are more razor-like in appearance than the one we are so 

 familiar with as an article of diet. 



The shell of a large individual will measure about six and 

 one-half inches, and, as every clam digger knows, they range 

 from that size down, the average being, perhaps, five and one- 

 half inches. 



From the anterior end (the end that is down when the clam 

 is in the sand) protrudes the muscular "foot," the tissues of 

 which are capable of being distended to some extent with water, 

 and the whole foot protruded several inches beyond edge of 

 shell and drawn quickly and forcibly back. This so-called 

 foot is really a part of the visceral mass or body of the clam 



