NATURAL HISTORY. 39 
other counts that brief mention must be made of 
its chief peculiarities. The most curious feature 
about this bivalve, which is also, from the sharp 
edges of its shells, known as the razor-fish, is its 
“ foot,” which it can use as a borer, anon inflating it 
to form a bulb with which it obtains a foothold in 
the wet sand, and draws itself up or down as the 
case may be. One of the best ways of procuring a 
solen is to put a little salt in the keyhole-shaped 
aperture of its shaft, when up comes the tenant to 
see what has irritated it. It must then be trans- 
fixed promptly with a barbed spear—a conger hook 
flattened out and lashed to a stick answers the 
purpose—for if missed, it will vanish at lightning 
speed, and all hope of getting that particular solen 
goes with it. Its burrows are easily found, if the 
observer has only the courage to walk backwards as 
near as possible to the edge of the receding water 
and keep a sharp look out for the two little jets of 
water that spring from the orifice when pressed by 
his foot. 
Superior in flavour to all other flat-fish except the 
sole, the turbot is as a rule only caught by the 
amateur in its juvenile stage, the allied and 
inferior brill being a still rarer catch. This 
fish, which is taken weighing as much as 20 lbs., 
has tubercles covering the body in place of scales. 
Its food consists chiefly of crustaceans, but it also 
feeds on small fish, and, as already mentioned, a 
sand-smelt is one of the best baits, and may, if not 
more than four inches long, be used whole. 
Turbot 
More often caught than desired, the fish of this 
genus require careful handling in order to avoid 
