FOOD FROM THE CRUSTACEANS AND MOLLUSCA. 407 



shell-fish is frequently used, and its juice obtained by 

 boiling, mixed with oatmeal, is held in high estimation. 

 It is considered in season about the end of May. At 

 Naples they are made into soup. 



Periwinkles and whelks and all the species of sea 

 snails are comparatively tough and indigestible. 



Whelks (Buccinum undatum, Lin., and Fmus antiquus), 

 though not much used by the higher classes, are of the 

 greatest public importance ; first as a favourite food 

 dainty for the poor people, and secondly, as bait for the 

 deep-sea lines of the fishermen. 



On many a street-vendor's stall in London, Liverpool, 

 etc., saucers of whelks in vinegar may be seen. A 

 quarter of a century ago Mr. Poole stated that 24,300 

 bushels of whelks (about 600 tons), worth £2,500, were 

 sold yearly in Billingsgate. The quantity now must be 

 larger. The whelks are sent in bags and sold by the 

 " wash," or three-quarters of a bushel, for 4s. About 

 £8,000 a year is paid to the fishermen in the estuary of 

 the Thames for whelks for bait for the cod fisheries. 



The common periwinkle {Litorina litorea, Lin.), is in 

 this country more extensively used as food than any 

 other of the testaceous univalves. They are in general 

 eaten after being simply boiled, and are consumed in 

 large quantities by the poor inhabitants on the coasts 

 and in London. About 3,000 tons, valued at £15,000 

 or £16,000, are consumed in the metropolis. Large 

 quantities are received from Scotland and Ireland. 



Strombus lAchuanus is eaten by the fishermen in India. 



Syria corrugata, Sow., H. avicularis, Lam., and Cas' 

 talia ambigua are eaten in different quarters. Neritina 

 zebra is often seen in the markets of Para, being eaten by 

 the negroes. Modiola lithophaga, vulgarly called the 

 " Deltao dealld.," is introduced at most tables at Nice, 

 and esteemed. The ovaries of the Brunnion, a snail 

 without a shell, are also eaten in Nice. The Pyrula 

 mehngena, and P. patula, inhabiting respectively the 

 Atlantic and Pacific shores of tropical America, are eaten 

 by the natives. The Cymbas are also eaten for food under 



