EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA. 



the animal, doubtless by muscular contraction, exerts 

 a strong force upon the contained water, while it re- 

 laxes the forced contact of the lips at any point of the 

 circumference, according to its pleasure. The result 

 is, the forcible ejection of a jet of water from that 

 point, which, by the resilience of its impact upon the 

 surrounding fluid, throws the animal in the opposite 

 direction, with a force proportioned to that of the jet 

 d'eau." Again, Mr. Gosse adds, " That the Pecten 

 widely opens and forcibly closes its valves if left un- 

 covered by the water, is, doubtless, correct. I have seen 

 my specimen perform such an action, and perhaps it 

 might by such means jerk itself from place to 

 place, with considerable agility. But I do not 

 think so rude a mode of progression could enable 

 it to select the direction of its leaps, which, under 

 water, appears to me to be determined with so much 

 precision."* 



Scallops are found pretty generally distributed in 

 all seas, and are much sought after for food. At 

 Weymouth, the average produce of the trawlers is 

 five bushels of scallops per week. They have been 

 sold at two-pence per hundred, 700 going to the 

 bushel ;f but they appear to have become scarcer 

 lately, if one may judge by the price at which they are 

 now sold, viz., four-pence a dozen, and two-pence per 

 dozen for the shells, without the fish, for making 

 shell ornaments. The fishermen suppose that they are 

 taken in the greatest numbers after a fall of snow. In 

 Cornwall they are called Frills, or Queens ; on the 

 Dorset coast, Squinns, and in the north of France, 



* ' Devonshire Coast,' by P. H. Gosse, pp. 50, 52. 

 f ' A Year at the Shore/ by P. H. Gosse, p. 25. 



