658 



SGIENGE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 278. 



It was first detected on the eastern shore of 

 the bay, in November, 1874, by Mr. Hemp- 

 hill, and was soon after described from his 

 specimens, which were about two-thirds the 

 average adult size, by the late Dr. Wesley 

 Newcomb, as Mya Hemphillii. It has mul- 

 tiplied wonderfully and is found every- 

 where in the Bay region, and has appar- 

 ently crowded out certain indigenous forms 

 like Macoma nasuta, before the advent of 

 Mya, one of the commoner clams ; it is now 

 comparatively scarce. While the shells of 

 Macoma are abundant in the kitchen-mid- 

 dens and aboriginal shell-heaps and mounds 

 that are so numerous on the adjacent shores, 

 not a sign of Mya has been detected. There 

 is not the slightest doubt of the introduc- 

 tion of the latter form in the way indicated. 



Some fifteen or twenty years ago, it 

 happened that I was an invited guest at a 

 clam-bake on the Sausalito shore, and made 

 the acquaintance of the presiding genius of 

 the culinary department, himself an inter- 

 esting specimen, a cross between fisherman, 

 clam-digger, cook and sea-dog, a sort of 

 'alongshore jack-at-all-trades.' We had 

 a prolonged confab about clams and clam- 

 bakes. The discussion closed with the re- 

 mark by him, " what a heap o' shekels I 

 could have made in early days, if these 

 squirt-clams had been in the bay." 



Notwithstanding the great increase in 

 the population of San Francisco, Oakland 

 and other cities and towns in this general 

 region and the consequent increased de- 

 mand, the clam-beds exhibit no hints of 

 depletion. They furnish an abundant sup- 

 ply of wholesome and nutritious food, and 

 that, too, at an exceedingly low price, for the 

 solid meats are retailed in the markets at 

 fifty cents per gallon. 



Plantings of Mya have been made at 

 Santa Cruz and perhaps elsewhere in the 

 south, and in Shoal water bay in the north. 

 The latter by Captain Simpson, of San 

 Francisco, many years ago, who informed 



me that his experiment was a success and 

 had resulted in an ample harvest. It has 

 also been planted elsewhere on the coast of 

 Washington and in Coos Bay near Marsh- 

 field, Oregon. 



The fusiform species, Urosalpinx cinereus 

 Say, the oyster-drill of the Atlantic coast, 

 was discovered on the oyster beds near 

 Belmont on the westerly shore of the San 

 Francisco bay as long ago as 1889, by Mr. 

 C. H. Townsend, of the United States Fish 

 Commission. It was detected last year 

 by Mr. E. E. Smith, of Stanford University, 

 near Redwood City, on the same side of the 

 bay, to the south of Belmont. 



Mr. Hemphill collected it in 1898 on the 

 old oyster beds on the Alameda flats of the 

 Eastern Shore, a dozen or more miles from 

 the other localities. At the last named place 

 Mr. Hemphill has recently detected the 

 'slipper shell,' Crepidula convexa Say var. 

 glaum, Say. The familiar form, Modiola pli- 

 catula Lam., was found, living, at a point 

 three miles north of Stanford University, in 

 1894, by Mr. N. F. Drake. This species 

 which ranges on the Atlantic side, from Nova 

 Scotia to Georgia, was particularly abun- 

 dant fifty years ago in that part of the city 

 of Boston known as the Back-bay district, 

 now travei'sed by beautiful streets and ave- 

 nues and exhibiting many fine examples of 

 architecture. By the filling in of this ex- 

 tensive area several hundred acres of wet 

 and dry marsh-land and mud-flats, count- 

 less thousands of this Modiola were buried 

 alive. It remains to be seen, whether at any 

 point on the Pacific Coast, this form will 

 become approximately as abundant. 



It will be noticed from the foregoing that 

 twelve exotic species of Mollusks occur or 

 have been detected in California. 



1. Helix aspersa Miill. 



2. Amalia Hewstoni Cp. 



(= A. gagates). 



3. Zonites (^Vitrea) cellaria Miill. 



4. Zonites ( Vitrea) Drapiarnaldi Beck. 



