42 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA. 



eqnivalve, subcordate, with twenty-four or more ribs 

 radiating from the beaks, which are bent inwards ; 

 umbones prominent ; the internal margins of the 

 valves fluted or indented. Ligament external, strong, 

 and of a dark horn-colour. Four teeth in each valve ; 

 the two primary teeth close together, the lateral teeth 

 remote. Colour yellowish-white. 



The common Cockle (the Ruocane or Bruvane of the 

 Irish ; la Bitcarde sourdon, Rigardot, or Coque of the 

 French, the Berdigones, Berberichos, Croques, Carneiros, 

 Romeas, and Escupinas de gallet, of the Spaniards) is 

 found all round our coasts, burying itself in sand, or 

 sandy mud, in the neighbourhood of estuaries ; and at 

 low tides numbers of people may be seen busily en- 

 gaged filling their baskets, as it is everywhere much 

 sought after for food ; and during times of scarcity in 

 some of the northern islands of Scotland, the inhabi- 

 tants might have perished with hunger, if it had not 

 been for this useful little shellfish. The quantity of 

 shellfish, particularly of cockles, on the shores of most 

 parts of the Long Island (Western Isles) is almost 

 inconceivable. On the sands of Barra alone, scores of 

 horse-loads may be taken at a single tide. Cockles 

 are considered by the people very nutritious, especially 

 when boiled with milk.* It is astonishing how quickly 

 an expert cockle-gatherer will fill his basket; and 

 sometimes they make use of a piece of bent iron, or half 

 an old hoop, to scrape the shells out of the sands. 

 At Starcross, they have small "cockle-gardens," 

 where the shellfish are kept, and the flavour of these 

 cockles is considered superior to those which are 



* ' Visits to the Seacoasts : Shipwrecked Mariners/ vol. xii. p. 32, 

 1865. 



