MACTUA-KNEADING-TROUGH. 163 



with twenty-one ribs, the anterior ones having 

 sharp tubercles, and the posterior thick trans- 

 verse scaly plates ; colour, pale brown, with 

 darker transverse bands ; breadth not quite four 

 inches, and rather exceeding the length. 



This shell, and the Cardium Echinatum, 

 which it greatly resembles, are found in abund- 

 ance on the Paignton sands in Torbay, where at 

 low tide they may be observed with their fringed 

 tubes just appearing above the surface of the sea. 

 The neighbouring cottagers collect them in 

 baskets, and after cleansing them in cold spring 

 water, fry the mollusks in a batter made of 

 crumbs of bread, which make a wholesome and 

 savoury dish ; they call them Red Noses. 



Genus. MACTRA.* P/wraL Madras. 



KNEADING-TROUGH. 



Generic Character. Shell bivalve, equivalve, 

 inequilateral, sometimes gaping ; shape generally 

 nearly triangular ; hinge with the cardinal tooth 

 complicated, f and an adjacent cavity filled by 



* Plate VIII. figures 3, 4. 



+ Complicated, folded together, from the Latin con, with, 

 together, and plica re, to fold. 

 M 2 



