319 



Mr. SAVILLE KENT had listened with great interest to 

 this Paper, and thought the statistics would be of the utmost 

 service ; he also felt indebted to Mr. Earll for his notice 

 of soft clam, which there was no doubt did exist abundantly 

 on the coast of England, and might be utilised as it was 

 on the coast of France. There were also half a dozen 

 other species on the east coast, and which might be equally 

 utilised as the food of man. They were mostly bivalve 

 molluscs, and amongst them might be mentioned the 

 bastard oyster, which was generally considered an enemy 

 to the other oysters, because it filled up the places where 

 they were cultivated. It was used, however, on the south 

 coast of France, and might be equally used here. There 

 was also the Donax pentaculus and Venus mercenaries, and 

 the razor shell, which were all estimable food, and were 

 appreciated on the coast of France and most parts of 

 America. 



Professor BROWN GOODE said the remarks of his col- 

 league, Mr. Earll, about the distribution of the soft shell 

 food clam, and the manner of its capture, reminded him of 

 a subject which was frequently proposed for discussion at 

 the debating societies and schools in America, viz., Is 

 digging clams fishing or agriculture ? It was the fact that 

 along the entire coast of New England the agricultural 

 population in many instances derived half their support in 

 digging, with hoes and shovels, clams of various species. 

 Mr. Earll had spoken of the My a arenaria, but there was 

 another species on the coast equal in abundance, the round 

 clam, called also by the Indian name quahang, and some- 

 times called the wampum clam, because it was the shell 

 from which the Indians made money ; broken fragments of 

 the shell were strung on bits of skin, and used as a medium 

 of exchange. Then the Venus mercenana also occurred 



