14 SOLEXID.^. 



erman sprinkles some oil on tlie surface^ in order to see 

 these marks more clearly. He then steadies himself by 

 leaning on a staff with his left hand^ and feels for the 

 Solen with his naked right foot. This he catches, and 

 holds between his big toe and the next ; bnt although 

 his toes are protected by linen bands, the struggles of 

 the Solen to escape are so violent, and the edges of the 

 shell so sharp, that very often a severe wound is in- 

 flicted by it. Where the sea is five or six feet deep, 

 another mode of fishing is adopted. It consists in the 

 fisherman di\dng or swimming under water with his 

 eyes open, and, after having found the holes, digging 

 with his hands for the razorfish. Sometimes the Solen 

 80 forcibly resists being taken, that it will suffer its own 

 foot to be torn away, or will even die rather than sur- 

 render. Their power of locomotion is not limited to 

 burrowing; they can dart from place to place in the 

 water as quickly as a scallop, and apparently in the 

 same way. Pliny instances the razorfish as a luminous 

 moUusk ] but this has not been confirmed by any recent 

 observation. The breadth of the shell is very remark- 

 able in comparison with that of any other bivalve. In 

 the west of France they are called "couteaux^^ or "cou- 

 teliers.^' Another name (" seringues ^') was suggested 

 by Reaumur as more appropriate. 



A. Shell somewhat curved, flattened and thin ; hinge near 

 one end, and furnished with cardinal and lateral teeth. 

 CuUellus, Schumacher. 



1. Solen pellu'cidus ■^, Pennant. 



jSf. pellucidus, Penn. Br. Zool. iv. p. 84, pi. kvi. f. 23 ; F. & H. i. p. 252, 

 pi. xiii. f. 3, and (animal) pi. I. f. 2. 



Body compressed, varying in colour from pale ycUowish- 

 * Transparent. 



