MOLLUSCA. 221 



upon the thinnest part of the shell and is perfectly circular, 

 ofsichampheredform, being wider towards the outward side, 

 and so perfectly smooth and regular as to have all the ap- 

 pearance of the most beautiful work of an expert artist. It 

 became a matter extremely desirable to preserve the mus- 

 sel, and it seemed practicable to extirpate the buccinum. 

 But after we had picked up and destroyed many barrels of 

 them, their extirpation was at length given up as a hope- 

 less task. The mussels were thus abandoned as their prey, 

 and in the course of the third year's operations, so success- 

 ful had the ravages of the buccinum been, that not a single 

 mussel of a large size was to be found upon the rock ; and 

 even the small kind which bred there are now chiefly con- 

 fined to the extreme points of the rock, where it would 

 seem their enemy cannot so easily follow them." 



The Common Cockle (Car Alum edule) would deserve a 

 place in preference even to the mussel, were it not exclu- 

 sively confined to our sandy coasts and bays. It is found 

 lodged in the sand, a few inches below the surface, its place 

 being marked by a small depressed spot. Women and 

 children easily dig up this shell-fish with a small spade. 

 Cockles are sold by measure, and eaten either raw, or boil- 

 ed, or pickled. They are deservedly esteemed a delicious 

 and wholesome food in this country, although in France 

 they are little regarded. They are in season during March, 

 April, and May, after which they become milky and insipid. 

 They are not generally used as a bait. 



Two kinds of Razor-fish (Solen siliqua and ensisj are in 

 many places of this country used as food. In Scotland they 

 are indiscriminately termed Spout-fah. They are found 

 upon most of our sandy shores, buried about a foot or two 

 below the surface, and near to the low water mark. Their 



