Large Scallop, Size, Distribution. 191 



(1.) The LARGE SCALLOP (Pecten maximus) is that of most 

 commercial value to the Kentish fishermen. It seems to inhabit 

 the Kent off-shores, especially those of the English Channel, 

 rather than those of Essex. So far as we can learn it seems to 

 thin out and be lost northwards of Dover dead shells, however, 

 FIG. 22. have been picked up on the sands in the 



neighbourhood of the Sandwich Flats. 

 On the contrary, it is common near 

 Hastings. The average size of P. 

 maximus for sale in the Billingsgate 

 Market is 4| inches in height with a 



breadth of 5 inches, though a few may 

 Scallop Shell. be Ieg8) while larger are rare> An g inch 



diameter specimen has, however, been recorded, as well as one 

 only 2^ inch in length. We have not come across any example 

 of this species even so small as in the wood cut (fig. 22). 



For long the scallop has been justly esteemed as an article 

 of diet in the counties bordering the western parts of the 

 English Channel, and searched for accordingly. The taste for 

 it travelled westwards later on. About 1850-55 three boats 

 were engaged scallop dredging, some 11 miles south of Worth- 

 ing, on beds there found at a depth of 14 fathoms. By 1860 

 15 to 20 boats were at work in the same neighbourhood.* In 

 1877 about 40 craft from Dover, Folkestone, Rye and other 

 Sussex ports were actively employed ; even a few Brightlingsea 

 smacks joined in the occupation, for oystering was then in a 

 depressed condition. Hundreds of bags of scallops were then 

 sent to London every week, besides a large quantity sold along 

 the coast.f Folkestone and a few Dover fishermen still find 

 spring employment scalloping, but dredge towards the Varne 

 and Ridge shoals, and, as we understand, land fail- quantities at 

 the former port. The Government Inspector's Report for 1899 



* Merrifield, Natural History of Brighton (1860). 

 t Polley, on Scallop Fishery, Field, April, 1877. 



