THE GIZZARD OF THE PHOLAS. 239 



fully packed in his pocket, he would again mount 

 guard, and remain until night. At dusk of evening 

 he shut up shop, that is, he swept the dirt over 

 the parallel path that he had all day kept scrupu- 

 lously clean, and then marched off to enjoy his dinner 

 at a fashionable hour, in private. 



Are not these cases palpably alike ? Passing by 

 certain details, were not the pawkiness and cunning 

 of the epicurean beggar fully equalled by our dimin- 

 utive friend, 0. mcenas ? 



'But/ you ask, 'what then was the opal stick?' 

 Ay, there's the rub, for even the greatest naturalists 

 cannot positively agree as to the use and purpose of 

 this mysterious organ. Yet it is to be found (as we 

 have seen) in the foot of the Pholas, in the Mussel, 

 the Cockle ; and, in fact, it occurs in almost all bivalves 

 both great and small. It is termed the ' hyaline cylin- 

 drical stylet/ and is very lucidly and scientifically 

 described as 'an elastic spring to work the corneous 

 plate or attritor, and by the muscular action of the foot 

 and body, to divide and comminute the food, and espe- 

 cially the minute crustaceous and testaceous alimen- 

 tary matters received into the stomachial cavity. 

 It appears then that this appendage acts as a gizzard, 

 and the bivalve mollusca are thus supplied with a 

 masticatory apparatus very analogous to the gizzards 

 of some of the gasteropoda/ 



Now, the simple fact that I have stated above, 

 of the hyaline stylet being found in the foot, a,nd not 



