62 RusseWs Familiar Notice of some of ihe 



ogical specimen. Its ciliated foot furnished with two apertures 

 (called mouths) bear no unapt resemblance to a small zoophyte. 

 This is protruded from the burrow of the animal on the approach 

 of the tide, and receives with the wave the minute objects which 

 constitute its food. A variety of tints may be discovered in the 

 valves, from a deep blue, to a yellowish and even pure white. 

 The latter color obtains when the shell is found in clay. 



Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil., vol. ii. p. 313. Blainville's 

 Manuel, pi. 77, fig. 1, Bosc. Coquilles, pi. 41, fig. 2. 



ANATINA. Greek. 

 LEAN A. Lea's Jinatina. 



A. small, whitish shell, with rounded ends, the anterior rather 

 shorter than the posterior, elliptical, fragile, resembling a small 

 Mya,but differing in the teeth, "having two spoon shaped teeth 

 instead of one ; " each tooth in each valve precisely alike, the 

 ligament inserted between. Named in honor of I. Lea of Phil- 

 adelphia, by Mr. Conrad, its discoverer. 



Lynn beaches and the shores of Essex County. 



Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil., vol. vi., p. 263, pi, xi., fig. 11. 



Cabinet of the Society. 



MACTRA. Latin, a kneading trough. 



GIGANTEA. Latin, gigantic, large. 



SYN. MACTRA SOLIDISSIMA Say. 



Shell thick, very large ; covered with a pale yellow epidermis, 

 which becomes more or less destroyed, as the shell grows older. 

 The prettiest specimens are the young, and these according to 

 Du Ravenel have been mistaken for a distinct southern species. 

 M. Similis, (see his observations in "Catalogue of recent 

 shells," Charleston, S. C. 1834.) 



Known in some places as the "Hen Clam," and considered 

 excellent food. The valves are often used in dairies for skim- 

 ming milk. Found after a severe storm, and taken from the 

 sand only at low tides. Nahant and other sandy beaches. En- 

 cyclopedic Methodique, pi. 259, fig. 1. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. 

 Phil., vol. vi., page 257. 



