63 



OUTLINES OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



water, but extending from low water to depths of one 

 hundred fathoms. It is very voracious, and exchisively 



Fig. 29. — Diagrammatic section of a Whellc. a Mouth, with masticatory ap- 

 paratus or tongue ; 6 Salivary glands ; c Stomach ; d d Intestine, sur- 

 rounded by the liver, and terminating in the vent (e) ; g Gill ; h Heart ; 

 / Nervous system. 



carnivorous, living upon other shell-fish or upon any dead 

 animal bodies. It usually bores its way into other shells 

 by means of the toothed tongue. It is not uncommonly 

 used by fishermen as bait, and it is also occasionally eaten. 

 The female Whelk lays its eggs in clusters of flask-shaped, 

 horny capsules, each capstile containing five or six eggs. 

 These clusters (fig. 27, C) are attached to stones, shells, or 

 other foreign bodies, and the young, after attaining a cer- 

 tain degree of development, escape from the capsules by 

 means of rounded perforations in the sides of the latter. 

 Recapitulation of Essential Characters. — Of the 



