10 SOLEN. RAZOR-SHELL. 



running down the back from the hinge : valves convex, 

 one end obliquely cut off, with a strong indenture or liga- 

 ture just beneath the edge : hinge with a single tooth in 

 each valve, closing one upon the other, the upper-one 

 broad and slightly notched at the base : length three quar- 

 ter^ of an inch ; breadth nearly live inches. 

 On sandy coasts, but rather rare. v. v. 



4. Solen Ensis. Scimitar Razor-shell. Fig. 61. 

 Lister, pi. 411. f. 257 Pennant, pi. 48. f. 2 Donovan, 



pi. 50 Woody pi. 28. f. 1, 2 Dorset Cat. pi. 4. f. 3. 



Shell curved, slender, thin, brittle, transparent, covered 

 with a greenish horn-colored skin, spotted with brown, dia- 

 gonally divided ; one of the triangles marked with pale 

 purplish and whitish bands ; both the ends rounded ; the 

 cartilage margin sloping to a fine edge : hinge with a sin- 

 gle tooth and lateral rib in one valve, and two in the other 

 with a grooved or double rib : length about half an inch j 

 breadth four inches. Young shells are nearly straight. 



Mr. Dillwyn says that there are two teeth in each valve, 

 differing in this respect from all other authorities, and from 

 the fact itself. But Mr. Dillwyn sometimes writes care- 

 lessly. He has quoted Mr. Wood's figures 2, 3, and 4, of 

 the plate 34, both for Solen minutus, and Solen variegatus : 

 and for a figure of this shell, the S. Ensis, he has referred 

 to Mr. Wood's plate of the Mya nodulosa. 



On most sandy coasts, v. v. 



5. Solen pellucidus. Transparent Razor-shell 

 Pennant, pi. 49. f. 2 Donovan, pi. 153 Wood, pi. 28. 



f. 3. 



Shell slightly curved, oblong, thin, transparent, rounded 

 at each end, and rather flattened, covered with a greenish- 

 brown skin, striate transversely but not divided diagonally : 

 hinge with a single toolh in one valve, locking between 

 two in the other, and a slight lateral process in each : 

 length a quarter of an inch ; breadth nearly an inch. 



It differs from the last, in not being nearly so wide in 

 proportion to its length, and in not being diagonally divided 

 with one of the triangles colored. 



Cornwall, Sandwich, and Anglesea. v, m. 



6. Solen 



