50 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION. 
these the Deity has deviated from the construction 
of shell-fish in general, and this deviation obviously 
refers to the peculiar habits of the animal. 
The generic appellation of the Solen is derived 
from the Greek word signifying a tube. Considerable 
numbers are found in the European and northern 
seas, and especially on the coast of Normandy, where 
they bury themselves in the sand. Among these, a 
gigantic variety furnished, according to the legends 
of Scandinavia, a handle for the dagger of the Gaulish 
Cupid, who was armed, not with a bow and quiver, 
but with an enchanted cutlass. Hence, it is related, 
that when the Queen of Beauty descended on the 
Gallic coast in quest of pearls for her own dress, and 
a knife-handle for her son, a Triton, instigated by the 
envious Thetis, stole her apple from the rock, and 
bore it to the goddess of the sea. Thetis immediately 
broke asunder the golden prize, and scattered its 
seeds along the shore; whence arose the apple trees 
of Normandy, whose brilliant fruit perpetuates the 
memory of her triumph and revenge. 
The coverings of different shell-fish, both with 
regard to the variety, and the suitableness of their 
several natures, are extremely beautiful; and here 
we have occasion to observe that the former, inde- 
pendent of the latter consideration, or indeed of any 
other with which we are acquainted, was apparently 
a motive in the mind of their Creator. This 
