PORCELAIN AND COWRY SHELLS. 319 



scallops are now almost as much eaten as oysters, but re- 

 quire cooking first. 



The giant clam of the Indian Ocean, the shell of which 

 often weighs upwards of five hundred pounds, contains an 

 animal sometimes weighing twenty pounds, which has been 

 found to be very good eating. The rock-limpet is much used 

 by fishermen for bait. In the north of Ireland they are eaten. 

 The whelk is also employed for bait, and many tons' weight 

 of these, cockles, and winkles, are consumed by shell-fish 

 amateurs. 



The mention of cockles remindes me of a statement in 

 Drake's *' Voyage round the World, the quaint style of 

 which is amusing : 



'* Our sta3^ being longer than we purposed (in Patagonia) 

 our diet began to wax short, and small mussels were good 

 meat, yea, the sea-weeds were dainty dishes. By reason 

 whereof we were driven to seek corners very narrowly 

 for some refreshing, but the best we could find was shells 

 instead of meat. We found the nests, but the birds were 

 gone — that is, the shells of the cockles on the sea-shore, 

 where the giants had banqueted, but could never chance 

 with the cockles themselves in the sea. The shells were so 

 extraordinary that it would be incredible to the most part; 

 for a pair of shells did weigh four pounds, and what the 

 meat of two such shells might be may be easily con- 

 jectured." 



The shells called Porcelain-shells by the French and 

 Germans are almost entirely composed of lime, are richly 

 enamelled, and are often very beautiful. They are most 

 abundant and attain their largest size in the seas of warm 

 climates. Only a few species are found on the British 

 coasts. The Cowry-shell, to which we have alluded as a 

 substitute for money, is not of great beauty, being yellow or 

 white, often with a yellow ring about an inch long, and 

 nearly as broad as long. In Bengal three thousand two 



