178 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 



hour by the peasants and the fishermen. It is the 

 first time that the culture of the oyster has been 

 thus brilliantly inaugurated. Some days after this 

 little fete, 320 fishing-boats,, carrying 1200 men, 

 began dredging off the same beds. Twenty millions 

 of oysters had been brought into port when I com- 

 menced this chapter. 



Among oysters, a genus of mollusca called Sjpon- 

 dylus are remarkable for their curious shells, which 

 are covered with long spines; there are about twenty- 

 five species of them, inhabiting the warmer parts of 

 the ocean, the Mediterranean, etc. They are col- 

 lected as curiosities. A host of useful bivalves, be- 

 longing all to this immense family of Lamelli- 

 branchiate Mollusca, to which the oysters and mussel 

 belong, crowd upon us. 



To begin with the least important of them ; 

 every one knows the common Cockle (Cardium 

 edule) . The genus Cardium is very widely distri- 

 buted. The species are generally found buried in 

 the sand on the sea- shore. Many of them attain a 

 considerable size. Our common cockle forms an 

 abundant and nutritious article of food, especially 

 in seaport towns. 



The curious mollusca belonging to the genus 

 Solen, or Razor-shell, are frequently picked up on 

 our coasts. They furnish us an example of a bivalve 

 shell which is many times wider than long (though 



