198 



THE SOLEN OR RAZOR FISH. 



to serve as a handle. To use this 'spear,' the point should 

 be inserted in the hole (left by the Razor as it descends in the 

 sand), which should be very gently probed in 

 all directions, the flat head of the spear being 

 held with one edge uppermost till the direc- 

 tion of the hole is ascertained, when it should 

 be allowed to run down to the end ; then, by 

 a turn of the wrist, the flat of the spear should 

 at once be brought at right angles to its 

 former position, and the spear immediately 

 be withdrawn steadily from the hole, when, 

 if the operation has been properly performed, 

 the Razor will be found on the end of it, and 

 can easily be removed. The best time is at 

 low water of spring tides, and the farther from 

 the shore the more abundant the Razors 

 generally are. By this means I have frequently 

 obtained more than 300 in less than an hour 

 to be used as bait. Some little practice is 

 necessary to acquire the knack of inserting 

 the point of the spear at the proper angle, 

 which always descends in a slanting direction in the case of the 

 common species. In another species it descends vertically. 

 A steady firm pull (not too quick) is necessary to draw them 

 out of the sand, to which they firmly hold by their foot. If 

 not drawn up at once, they obtain such a hold that it then 

 requires very great force to dislodge them ; so much so, 

 that frequently in this case the edge of the spear-head will 

 cut through the shell, and the spear-head will be drawn 

 out without the Razor. When a strong wind has been 

 blowing, I have frequently seen numbers of Razors with about 

 one-half or two-thirds of their shells protruded above the 

 surface of the sand, and at such times many may be caught by 

 the hands alone ; but it requires some force to draw them out 

 of the sand, to which they firmly hold by their foot, which they 

 expand in the hole. Another correspondent (A Ballybrack 

 Boy) advises running backwards along the edge of the ebbing 

 tide (rather awkward), and when a Razor fish is pressed and 



FIG. 52. 



