376 



Pecteniu-e,- 



-MOLLUSCA.- 



-LlMAD.E. 



a pool of sea-water left by the ebbing tide. He thouglit 

 from their motions that they were small fishes. " On 

 close investigation, however," he says, " we found that 

 it was the fry of P. opercularU skipping quite nimbly 

 through the pool. Their motion was rapid and zig- 

 zag, very like that of ducks in a sunny blink, rejoicing 

 in the prospect of rain. They seemed, by the sudden 

 opening and closing of their valves, to have the power 

 of darting like an arrow through the water. One jerk 

 carried them some yards, and then, by another sudden 

 jerk, they were off in a moment in a different tack. We 

 doubt not that when full grown they engage in similar 

 amusements, though as Pcctens of greater gravit}' they 

 choose to romp unseen, and play their gambols in the 

 deep." The ancients believed that by flapping their 

 valves, by a very quick motion, they could " rise up 

 from their beds in the deep and navigate the surface, 

 having one valve raised and exposed with its con- 

 cavity to the breeze, while the other remained under 

 the water, and answered the purpose of a keel, by 

 steadying the animal and preventing its being over- 

 set." — [Johnston.) The sailing part of this account, as 

 Dr. Johnston observes, is no doubt an embellisbment 

 thrown in by way of effect ; but there is no doubt these 

 animals do possess the power of leaping to a consider- 

 able distance, and M. Lesson tells us that he has seen 

 them leap out of the water by striking their valves 

 rapidly together. When deserted, too, by the tide on 

 any occasion, they will tumble forward by the same 

 kind of movement, until they have regained the water, 

 f ahricius, in the Fauna of Greenland, tells us that the 

 northern species, Pecten islandicus, which is used as 

 food by the natives, is often cooked with difficulty, for 

 if the shell is put into the pot alive it leaps out of it 

 again. Several species are used as food. The Pecten 

 (Janira) maximus is often, in England, pickled and 

 barreled for sale, and P. opercularis is a common 

 article of food in Scotland. The shells, too, of some of 

 the species are employed as useful articles. They are 

 used as spoons ; and " in the days when Ossian sang, 

 the flat valves of the Scallop [P. maximus) were the 

 plates, and the hollow ones the drinking cups, of Fingal 

 and his heroes ; hence the term shell became expres- 

 sive of the greatest hospitality." — [Johnston.) The shell 

 of Pecten [Janira) Jacobccus, St. James' shell (Plate 

 11, fig. 23), was worn as the emblem of the pilgrim 

 journeying to the Holy Land. It was worn fixed to the 

 hat in front, and became the badge of several orders of 

 knighthood ; for, as Moulo in his " Heraldry of Fish" 

 remarks, " when the monks of the ninth century con- 

 verted the fisherman of Gennesaret into a Spanish war- 

 rior, they assigned him the scallop shell for his ' cog- 

 nizance.' " The family contains several genera — Pecten, 

 Janira, Amusium, and Pedum. 



Family— LIMAD^ ( The File-shells). 



The File-shells have their shells always white and 

 gaping at the sides. The valves are equal, obliquely 

 oval, and the beaks are apart and eared. The hinge 

 is without teeth, the area triangular, and the cartilage 

 pit central. The surface externally is usually grooved 

 in a radiating manner, and some of the species are 



covered with a thin brown epidermis. The species 

 are not very numerous. They are active creatures, 

 and possessed of such locomotive power that Messrs, 

 Quoy and Gainiard tell us they were obliged to run 

 after them in order to catch them. Mr. A. Adams, in 

 describing the habits of some foreign species which 

 he had watched amongst the Philippine Islands, says 

 — "The Limse usually live quietly at the bottom with 

 the valves widely extended and thrown flat back, like 

 the wings of certain butterflies when basking in the 

 sun ; but when disturbed they start up, flap their light 

 valves, and move rapidly through the water by a con- 

 tinued succession of sudden jerks. The cause of alarm 

 over, they bring themselves to an anchor by means of 

 their provisional byssus, which they seem to fix with 

 much care and attention, previously exploring every 

 part of the surface with their singular leech-like foot. 

 When many hundreds of these curious bivalves are seen 

 at the bottom of clear pools, surrounded by living 

 branches of party-coloured coral, their crimson-spotted 

 mantles and delicate spiral appendages that fringe the 

 edges cause them to exliibit a very rich and beautiful 

 appearance." Our British species are described as 

 equally beautiful. Dr. Laudsborough, in his delightful 

 little book, " Excursions to Arran," tells us that he had 

 an opportunity of watching the movements of the 

 common Lima hians (or tenera) in Lamlash Baj'. 

 When put into a jar of sea-water, he 6a3-s, this Lima 

 " is one of the most beautiful marine animals you can 

 look upon. The shell is beautiful ; the body of the 

 animal within the shell is beautiful; and the orange 

 fringe-work outside of the shell is highly ornamental. 

 Instead of binng sluggish, it swims about with great 

 vigour. Its mode of swimming is the same as that of 

 the Scallop. It opens its valves, and suddenly shutting 

 them expels the water, so that it is impelled onwards 

 or upwards ; and when the impulse thus given is spent 

 it repeats the operation, and thus moves on by a suc- 

 cession of jumps. When moving through the water in 

 this way, the reddish fringe is like the tail of a fiery 

 comet. The filaments of the fringe are probably use- 

 ful in catching its prey. They are easily broken off, 

 and it is remarkable they seem to live many hours after 

 they are detached from the body, twisting themselves 

 like so many worms." These very interesting little 

 moUusks also spin for themselves a nest or artificial 

 burrow in which they live gregariously. This kind of 

 nest is composed of sand and fragments of coral and 

 shells united together by means of their temporary 

 byssus. " The coral nest," says Dr. Laudsborough, " is 

 curiously constructed, and remarkably well fitted to be 

 a safe residence for this beautiful animal [Lima hians). 

 The fragile sheU does not nearly cover the mollusk — 

 the most delicate part of it, a beautiful orange fringe- 

 work, being altogether outside of the shell. Had it no 

 extra protection the half-exposed animal would be a 

 tempting mouthful, quite a honne bouche to some prowl- 

 ing haddock or whiting ; but He who tempers the wind 

 to the shorn lamb teaches this little creature, which 

 he has so elegantly formed, curious arts of self-pre- 

 servation. It is not contented witli hiding itself among 

 the loose coral, for the first rude wave might lay it 

 naked and bare. It becomes a marine mason and 



