48 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION. 
This extraordinary shell is flat, pellucid, and of 
the purest white; of a sub-orbicular shape, and 
minutely and elegantly punctured, in such a manner 
as to present the appearance, under a common pocket 
lens, of the finest shagreen. It is also varied with 
obscure concentric wrinkles; the inside is smooth, 
glossy, and white, with obscure striz radiating from 
the hinge. 
The Shell Collector lately discovered this extraor- 
dinary specimen at Salcomb Bay; it was perfectly 
clear and pellucid, and being very flat, resembled the 
scale of a fish. 
The remembrance of this interesting spot will long 
continue impressed on his mind; for who does not 
preserve a fond predilection for the place where he 
has first collected those rare or costly specimens, 
which he had never before beheld, excepting in the 
cabinets of his friends. 
The animal inhabitant of the Solen, though incapa- 
ble of moving forward horizontally, digs a hole nearly 
two feet deep in the soft sand, into which he can 
descend at pleasure; this is effected by means of a 
fleshy and cylindrical leg, which is capable of being 
drawn out to a considerable length, and made to 
assume the shape of a hook or spade. Thus, when 
the Solen is preparing to form a dwelling in the sand, 
this singular appendage takes the form of a shovel, 
