THE NAUTILUS. 3 



able, and his belief that that illustrious commonwealth is the 

 Banner State of the Union, in the matter of Oysters, Clams, 

 Scallops and earless Cats, and such creature comforts, is heartily 

 appreciated. I am prepared to wager — in vulgar parlance to bet — 

 a bowl of " clam-chowder " against a " pan-roast," with Mr. Car- 

 penter or any other couchologist brother, that the mollusks referred 

 to are abundant and nowhere of better quality than in Rhode Island, 

 and whether I lose the bet or not, in the spirit of fraternal sympathy, 

 to pay the bill ; but here, let us " drop a stitch," as the old ladies 

 do sometimes in their knitting, and pick it up further on ; let us 

 leave the realms of romance and come down to the simple facts of 

 terra jirma. 



If Mr. Carpenter will kindly turn to jNIr. Keep's article in the 

 January Nautilus, he will perceive ttvo facts. First, the title is 

 "Mollusks of the San Francisco Markets." Not the Edible 

 Mollusks of California. Second fact ; nowhere in ]Mr. Keep's paper 

 does the word California occur. 



Yet Mr. Carpenter, in the last three lines of his article, on page 

 137 (of the April Nautilus), says : " As we have seen, California 

 has but five species and Maine only four regulars and two occa- 

 sional, while Rhode Island can show eight every day and five irreg- 

 ular as below." The careful reader will look in vain to see any 

 such statement in ]\Ir. Keep's paper, and the species enumerated 

 named therein, are such as are usually on the stalls in the San 

 Francisco markets. 



In addition to those named by Mr. Keep I have occasionally 

 seen, and have purchased, Macoma nasuta, Saxidomus aratus, 

 Acmcea patina, Platyodon cancellatus and Halioiis rnfescens. The 

 big Cephalopod Octopus piinetatus is frequently met with, especially 

 in the Clay Street market, and is a common article of food among 

 the Italians and Portuguese. Another cephalopod, a small ten 

 footed species or squid, is frequently, if not usually, purchasable in 

 the Chinese markets, and dried Abalones or Halioiis meats, are a 

 regular article of food in Chinatown. I have supplemented Mr. 

 Keep's five species with others that pertain to the San Francisco 

 markets, and do not propose to extend the list by going outside of 

 the territory of that city, and up and down the seven hundred and 

 more miles of the sea board of California, to name the twenty-jive or 

 thirty other species, that may fairly be regarded as "edible clams" 

 and sufficiently abundant as to warrant their inclusion in a list of 



