VENERID^E. PULLET. 25 



derogatory to the dignity of a man to dig clams. 

 They use a bent stick for the purpose, about four feet 

 long, and they cook them by placing the shells on red- 

 hot pebbles from the camp fire till the shells open. 

 To preserve them for winter use, a long wooden needle, 

 with an eye at the end, is threaded with cord made 

 from native hemp, and on this the clams are strung 

 like dried apples, and thoroughly smoked in the in- 

 terior of the lodge.* 



Madridce are also found in great quantities buried 

 in the sandbanks on the Coast of Chili. 



To dress Madridce. Boil them, and then eat them 

 with pepper, salt, and vinegar. 



FAM. VBNBRID^B. 

 TAPES. PULLET. 



TAPES PULLASTRA, Linnaeus. Pullet or Cullyock. 

 Shell oblong, opaque; valves inequilateral, covered 

 with concentric strise, which become coarser and more 

 wavy towards the extremities, and are crossed by 

 longitudinal striae ; ligament external, long, horn- 

 colour. Three teeth in each valve, erect, very narrow. 



Though so common a species, the Tapes is not so 

 generally eaten in England as abroad, though both 

 this and Tapes decussata are eaten in Devonshire, 

 Hampshire, and Sussex. They both inhabit muddy 

 sand or gravel, and occasionally we find specimens of 

 the former in holes which have been made by the 

 Pholas, and deserted ; and I have taken them out of 



* * The Naturalist in British Columbia/ by John Keast Lord. 



