166 BIVALVES. 



and letting it drop upon rough or craggy rocks, 

 it is broken in the fall, and the animal becomes 

 their prey. The mollusca of the Yenus have two 

 siphons formed by the mantle, and a lamellar 

 foot. 



VENUS Mercenaria. 

 MONEY VENUS. 



Specific character. Shell ponderous, obliquely 

 heart-shaped, slightly striated transversely ; pos- 

 terior depression cordiform ; inner margin cre- 

 nated ; the outside is greyish or brownish, the 

 inside is white, with a violet-coloured spot at 

 the anterior side ; the length is about two inches 

 and three quarters, the breadth about three inches 

 and a half. 



The Indians of North America cut these 

 shells into beads, some white and some black : 

 of these they form their wampum, or treaty-belts, 

 which are symbolical of friendship. They also 

 string them together and use them for money. 

 The females cover the shoes they wear in 

 dancing with these shells, which in their move- 

 ments being struck together produce a sound 

 resembling the tinkling of the bells used by the 

 Israelitish women, and mentioned in Isa. iii. 16. 



