The Scallops. Comb Shells 



full swing, and all the races of the earth are represented in the 

 throng. They stand in line before a strenuous little German 

 who skims scallops out of a pot of boiling fat, set over a coal fire 

 in the throat of an open chimney. His flustered helpmeet hands 

 him fresh scallops, rolled in cracker dust, with a dash of salt 

 and pepper. He cannot keep ahead of his waiting line of 

 customers. 



The "quin" and the great scallop are the edible species of 

 Europe. Ours is the widely distributed P. irradians. The shells 

 of all large species are used to "scallop" oysters in. They have 

 always served as drinking cups ; the flat valves as plates. Fancy 

 articles made of these shells load the shelves of curio stores. It 

 is a pity that such pretty shells should be tied and glued together 

 to make silly and impractical purses, pin cushions and "jewel 

 caskets." The souvenir hunter's appetite is incited and appeased 

 by these meaningless and inartistic things, cheap in everything 

 but price. Dead shells are put down as "clutch" in new oyster 

 beds. 



Scallops are very desirable tenants of the aquarium. It is 

 astonishing how few persons familiar with the sea know of the 

 antics of these youngsters. Show your "dancing scallops" to 

 them. Call attention to the byssus that anchors those on the 

 bottom. Show the brilliant eyes and the wonderful tactile organs 

 that fringe the mantle by putting a specimen into a tumbler of 

 water. There is plenty of food for these moUusks in fresh sea water 

 in a balanced aquarium. 



One way to catch full-grown scallops for the same purpose 

 is to troll with a fish line without hook or bait over ground they 

 are supposed to inhabit. The first scallop whose tentacles are 

 tickled by your line snaps his valves tight on it, and you pull 

 him up. Take care that in handling him you do not get a 

 severe pinch. 



The Pilgrim Scallop {P. Jacobceus, Linn.) wears a halo 

 of romantic and historic interest. No other mollusk enjoys such 

 distinction. Its renown had a very commonplace beginning. 

 Scallops are abundant on the coast of Palestine. A member of 

 the First Crusade starting home picked up a pretty shell and 

 stuck it in his hat, or pinned it to his cloak. He set the fashion. 

 Whoever wore the badge was recognized throughout Christen- 

 dom as a Crusader; he had been to the Holy Land. Orders of 



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