SOLEN. 13 



are evidently sensible of vibratory movements in the 

 air^ as well as on the ground, taking alarm at greater or 

 less distances according to the state of the atmosphere 

 and direction of the wind. When the Solen is dis- 

 turbed it squirts out water in a strong jet ; and having 

 thus compressed the volume of its body, it lengthens 

 and darts out its dibble- shaped foot, and rapidly disap- 

 pears below the surface to a depth of two or three feet. 

 A Solen- hunt requires considerable alertness; for if 

 you cannot approach near enough to catch them when 

 partly exposed to view — and this is not easy, their muscu- 

 lar strength being, in proportion to their size, far greater 

 than that of a man — and you delve with your hands after 

 them, they will probably beat you in the race. The 

 stake is much more important to them than to you, and 

 it calls for all their energies. Fishermen entice them 

 out of their holes by a pinch of salt, makiug (as they 

 say) the razorfish believe that the tide is coming in. 

 Reaumur, however, considered that the salt irritates 

 them, and causes a painful pricking sensation in the 

 mantle, which induces them to rise to the surface and 

 endeavour to get rid of the annoyance by expelling the 

 salt backwards. He also noticed the blind instinct 

 which the Solen has when taken out of its hole, and 

 held between the fingers in the open air, suspended 

 vertically : it protrudes its foot several times in suc- 

 cession, as if it were in the act of burrowing into its 

 native sands. The account given by Poli of Solen-fish- 

 ing at Naples is curious. We know that the flow and 

 ebb of the tide there are very slight, and difierent from 

 what takes place on our OAvn shores. He tells us that 

 the lurking-place of the Solen is betrayed by a hole in 

 the sand, agreeing in shape with the apertures of its 

 tubes or siphons. Where the water is shallow the fish- 



