172 



THE MUSSELS. 



delicate. The epidermis near the hinge end is dark 

 brown and glossy; in front it is light brown, with 

 numerous chaffy hairs; internally the shell is white. 

 The length is three or four inches, four times its 

 breadth. It is found from Puget Sound to San 

 Diego. 



In many places along the coast the mussels are of 

 the kind shown in Fig. 146, named Mytilus Califor- 

 nianuSj Conr., Cal-i-for-ni-a'-nus, California Mussel. 

 The shells of this species are 

 found covering the rocks over 

 which the breakers dash the 

 wildest. Moored by its strong 

 cable, it enjoys the rush of air 

 and water, and fears no danger. 

 This species can easily be dis- 

 tinguished from the last one by 

 its brown, glossy epidermis and 

 its conspicuous ribs. The shell 

 is purple, though its thicker por- 

 tions are partly white. The 

 animal is orange-colored. 



This shell is one of the first 

 on our coast that received atten- 

 tion in Europe. In 1789, Cap- 

 tain George Dixon published an 

 account of his voyage round the 

 world, and speaks of finding this 

 Fig. 146. species on the northwest coast of 



America, in the following words : 



We saw, also, on this coast, a kind of muscle, in color 

 and shape much like the common eatable muscle of Europe, 

 but differed in being circularly wrinkled, and a great deal 

 larger. One valve I saw at Queen Charlotte's islands meas- 

 ured above nine inches and a half in length. With pieces of 



