82 



CLASS CONCHIFERA. 



and formerly they were considered sufficiently valuable 

 to form a present to a king; those in St. Sulpice, at 

 Paris, were given to Francis the First by the Republic of 

 Venice. They have been found in India, as it is related, 

 of so extreme a size, that more than one hundred per- 

 sons have made a meal on the liesh of a sinole Tridacna 



Tridacna ghu<s. 



gigas, but this, no doubt, is an exaggeration. These 

 shells adhere to the rocks by their short and strong 

 byssus with so much tenacity, as to require the assist- 

 ance of a mallet and chisels, in the task of separating 

 them from the rock. 



ORDER BIMUSCULOSA, (Shells with Two 

 Pairs of Muscles.) 



This Order contains by far the greatest portion of the 

 bivalve shells, all interesting to the naturalist, from the 

 variety and beauty of their structure, but few possessing 

 a' claim to notice on account of their use as food for 

 mankind, not but that many are equally wholesome 



