AVICULID^E. SEA-WING. 85 



and upon them a fire is kindled. When they are suffi- 

 ciently heated, the ashes are cleared away, and shell- 

 fish are heaped upon the stones, and covered first with 

 leaves or straw, and then with earth. The fish thus 

 baked are exceedingly good and tender, and this mode 

 of cooking them is very superior to any other, as they 

 retain within the shell, all their own juiciness. "* Meat 

 dressed in the same manner is most delicious. 



Lithodomus lithophagus, a Mediterranean species, 

 which also belongs to the "Mytilidae," is generally eaten 

 in Spain, and is called Datil de mar. It is also much 

 esteemed as food on the eastern shores of the Adriatic, 

 and the Italian names for it are Dattolo di pietra 

 and Dattolo di mar.f Area Noe, Area barbata, and a 

 species of Pedunlulus are eaten in Italy and Spain. 



FAM. AVICULID^E. 

 PINNA. SEA-WING. 



PINNA PECTINATA Linnaous. Sea-wing. Shell 

 wedge-shaped, gaping at one end, and tapering to a 

 point at the other, equi valve, horn-colour ; hinge, tooth- 

 less, straight, and long ; ligament, linear, strong and 

 elastic and internal, sometimes smooth, and at others 

 with delicate ribs which radiate from the beaks, which 

 are straight and pointed. 



The Pinna is the largest of our British bivalves, 

 and specimens are found twelve inches long and seven 

 broad at the gaping end. Many pairs of this shell were 



* King's * Adventures of the Beagle/ vol. i. p. 291. 

 f Faber's * Fisheries of the Adriatic.' 



