156 BIVALVES. 



to catch them, before they again sink into their 

 retreat, and if they are successful in escaping, 

 they are not easily tempted again to the surface. 

 In many places this animal is valued as food. 

 The name Solen, is derived from the Greek <TW\VIV 

 (solen) a tube. The French, in allusion to the 

 shape of the shells, call them manches de couteaux. 

 Several species of Solen are common on the 

 coasts of Britain. 



SOLEN Siligua* 



POD RAZOR SHELL. 



Specific Character. Shell straight, subcylin- 

 drical, truncated at one end, and slightly roun- 

 ded at the other ; hinge lateral, with a single 

 tooth in one valve, and a lateral rib locking be- 

 tween two teeth in the other, which has also a 

 rib ; outside covered with an olive brown skin 

 striated transversely, each stria afterwards taking 

 a longitudinal direction ; beneath the epidermis 

 the shell is greyish white with purplish streaks ; 

 length about one inch, breadth from one open 

 end to the other, seven or eight inches. 



This shell is common on most of our sandy 

 shores ; it is found buried a foot or more in depth 

 near low water. In the neighbourhood of Belfast, 

 specimens of this shell are found more than ten 

 inches in length. 



* Plate VII. fig. 4. 



