BUCCINUM. 179 



sioned by an annelid occupying the suture ; but the epidermis in 

 such cases may be traced covering that part, and the distinction 

 between poxt hoc and propter hoc may apply to the opinion of the 

 above naturalists, as well as to the arguments of lawyers. The 

 shell is the ' roaring buckle ' of Scotch bairns. Wordsworth 

 has amplified this idea in the following pretty lines : 



' I have seen 



A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract 

 Of inland ground, applying to his ear 

 The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell ; 

 To which, in silence hush'd, his very soul 

 Listen' d intensely, and his countenance soon 

 Brighten' d with joy ; for murmurings from within 

 Were heard, sonorous cadences, whereby, 

 To his belief, the monitor express' d 

 Mysterious union with its native sea.' ' : 



u Whelks are taken in great numbers in wicker baskets baited 

 with offal. Billingsgate Market is chiefly supplied from Harwich 

 and Hull ; and some of the steamers from the north bring six or 

 seven tons at a time. They are sold at Is. 6^. to 2s. a measure ; 

 are in season from August to September, though they are really 

 good to eat at any time. Whelks are very troublesome to the 

 lobster-fishers, for they often devour the bait, and I have seen, at 

 St. Margaret's-at-Cliffe, on the 'Kentish coast, the lobster pots 

 drawn up, one after the other, baitless, and full of these greedy 

 mollusks ; most trying to the poor fishermen, especially when 

 bait was scarce, and they had been obliged to walk some miles 

 in the morning to purchase it. On some parts of the coast the 

 fishermen use the Buccinum for bait for the long-line fishing, and 

 they know it by the following names, viz., the conch, buckie, 

 whelk-tingle, or sting-winkle ; and at Youghal they call whelks 

 ' googawns,' and ' cuckoo shells.' " LoveWs Edible Mollusks^ 

 125. 



Mr. Lovell gives the following recipes for preparing whelks 

 for table-use : I copy them because, notwithstanding its abun- 

 dance on our northern coast the whelk is rarely eaten in the 

 United States. 



Dublin Method of Cooking Whelks Cleanse them well, boil 



