PECTEN. 61 



The Rev. Dr. Landsborough has given the following 

 interesting account of their habits in an earlier stage of 

 growth : " We observed on a sunny September day in 

 a pool of sea- water left on Stevenston strand (Ayrshire) 

 by the ebbing tide, what we at first thought some of the 

 scaly brood at play. On close investigation, however, 

 we found that it was the fry of Pecten opercularis 

 skipping quite nimbly through the pool. Their motion 

 was rapid and zigzag, very like that of ducks in a sunny 

 blink rejoicing in the prospect of rain. They seemed, 

 by the sudden opening and closing of their valves, to 

 have the power of darting like an arrow through the 

 water. One jerk carried them some yards, and then 

 by another sudden jerk they were off in a moment on a 

 different tack. We doubt not that, when full-grown, 

 they engage in similar amusements, though, as Pectens 

 of greater gravity, they choose to romp unseen and play 

 their gambols in the deep." The animal of the adult 

 scallop, when at rest, is a study for a painter, with its 

 large and bright pink ovary, and its mantle studded on 

 each side with a row of brilliant eyelets, like dewdrops 

 glittering in the sun of a May morning. The trans- 

 verse plates form hollow or vaulted scales in young 

 shells ; and their surface is minutely and closely tuber- 

 cled, like the cells of Polyzoa. In the fry the upper 

 valve is much larger than the lower one and overlaps 

 it. The ribs are not then formed, but the byssal sinus 

 is well developed. Specimens from the Firth of Forth 

 and Shetland are much larger than usual, although 

 slightly differing from each other in their relative pro- 

 portions. I have one from the latter district measuring 

 3^ inches long and 3^ broad, and another from Porto- 

 bello 3~y long and nearly 4 broad. Occasional distor- 

 tions or monstrosities occur. 



