OSTREA OYSTER, SCALLOP. 183 



into the sea. Great Britain has for many ages 

 been noted for its oysters, which in former times 

 were sent as a peculiar delicacy to the epicures of 

 Rome. 



OSTREA Malleus* 



HAMMER OYSTER. 



Specific Character. Shell flexuous, elongated 

 at the base, often produced into two lobes giving 

 it somewhat the form of a hammer, from whence 

 it derives its name , outside imbricated with scaly 

 laminse ; the colour generally dark grey or black- 

 ish ; inside very glossy, pearly, and tinged with 

 blue ; it is about five or six inches long, and four 

 or five across from the extremities of the two 

 lateral lobes. 



This shell is much prized on account of its very 

 singular appearance. It is found in the Indian 

 Ocean : its animal forms a byssus which passes 

 through a small opening in the shell near the beaks. 

 It now is arranged in the genus Malleus. 



PECTEN Maximus. 



GREAT SCALLOP. 



Specific Character. Shell inequivalve with 

 * Plate IX. figure 8. 



