MACTRA KNEADING-TROUGH. 63 



side, with twenty-one ribs, the anterior ones 

 having sharp tubercles, and the posterior thick 

 transverse 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 whole- 

 some and savoury dish ; they call them Red 

 Noses. 



Genus. MACTRA.* (Plural, Mactrce.) 



KNEADING-TROUGH. 



Generic Character. Shell bivalve, equivalve, 

 inequilateral, sometimes gaping ; shape generally 

 nearly triangular ; hinge with the cardinal tooth 

 complicated,! and an adjacent cavity filled 



* Plate VIII. figures 3, 4. 



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

 together, and plica re, to fold. 



M 2 



