JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 89 
MALACOLOGY—CONCHIFERA. 
BY COL. C. C. GRANT. 
Read March 30, 1900. 
It may be noticed that the writer in a former paper already 
published in our proceedings, omitted to refer to the Teredo, 
the very destructive ship worm, which at one time was looked 
upon as a univalve also. 
The shell in question proves to be a true Conchifer, with the 
valves enclosed in a calcareous tube. It is said to have been 
introduced into Northern Seas from the Indian Ocean, but this 
statement seems very doubtful. We have reason to believe the 
eastern one, which is said to attain a length of two feet at 
times, may prove to be quite a distinct species, and it appears 
improbable that a Mollusc inhabiting tropical seas would 
increase to such an extent with uncongenial surroundings in 
the course of a few centuries. A shipping agent at Halifax, 
Nova Scotia, informed the writer that he had known an instance 
of a complete destruction of the hull of a sailing vessel in har- 
bor, either there or at Quebec, in a few months after she was 
launched, by this sea pest. The Gastrochena Aspergillum, or 
watering pot shell, is also a Conchifer. A fine example may be 
noticed in Mrs. Carey’s collection. Woodward separates the 
Tubicolide, of Lamark, from the Pholadide (it may be on insuf- 
ficient grounds), and places the so-named ship-worm under the 
head of the latter. The Pholas or Pidack is used largely for fish- 
ing purposes on the Devonshire coast in the Old Country. The 
habit they possess of burrowing in stone and timber, as well as 
the phosphorescent light at an early period attracted the atten- 
tion of conchologists. The shell is thin, and is said to be brittle. 
This may account for the provision made by nature to prevent 
extinction. In the early part of the century there was no little 
disputation regarding the means employed by the Mollusc to 
