DAMES ELE SeAND DAEITR: ALLIES 15 
which were left bare by a low tide. <A friend 
instructed me to dig where I saw little narrow 
slits in the surface of the mud. I obeyed, and 
found that the little creatures were buried in holes, 
the tips of the shells being just beneath the surface. 
A fleshy stem longer than the shell, reached down 
into the mud, and served as an anchor. In the 
picture you see a remnant of the stem, curled and 
dry. When the tide returned, I dare say the crea- 
tures rose a little and began gathering minute 
particles of food from the water. The shells are 
smooth, thin, and when freshly gathered are more 
brown than white. Exposed shells, however, soon 
bleach. Leaving now the few Lamp-shells which 
are to be found on this coast, and which have 
already been described, we turn to another class 
whose species are numbered by the hundred, and 
which, though they cannot boast quite so ancient 
an ancestry, have at least served the human race in 
a far better manner. 
They are named Peélecypods; rather a hard 
name to pronounce, but no longer than the old 
name for the same creatures, viz., Lamellibranchs. 
The latter word refers to the fact that their gills 
resemble pieces of ribbon, while the more modern 
name means ‘‘hatchet-foot,’’ and was given be- 
eause many of them dig holes in the mud or sand 
by means of an organ which bears some resem- 
blance to an axe. Moreover, some of them use this 
hatchet as an organ of locomotion, and so the term 
pelecypod has a good reason to exist, though some 
of the class have no foot at all, and still more 
never use it to help themselves along. None of 
them are blessed with a head, a lack of which 
