38 CATECHISM OF CONCHOLOGY. 



case, but modern naturalists have discovered 

 that this helpless creature is endowed with in- 

 stincts admirably adapted to its confined ope- 

 rations. 



Q. Why are Pectens called the butterflies of 

 the ocean ? 



A. From the beautiful variety of their colours, 

 and the faculty which they possess of darting 

 rapidly through the waves. In fine weather they 

 congregate together, and mount the billows, 

 forming little fleets, with half their shells ex- 

 panded to catch the breeze ; the other, which 

 contains the animal, remaining immerged below. 

 When any foe appears, or a sudden squall begins 

 to ruffle the surface of the deep, the shells are 

 instantaneously shut, and the pigmy vessels 

 disappear. 



Q. I lately observed several of these shells 

 engraven on a coat of arms : what did they 

 signify? 



A. That the ancestor of the person who bore 

 them, had crossed the sea in his way to the 

 Holy Land, or some distant object of devotion. 

 This kind of shell was also worn by pilgrims, 



<<( Who fixed the scallop jn their hats before." 



