FOOD FROM THE MOLLUSCA AND RADfATA. 431 



Donax trunculus is esteemed a delicacy in Italy, Spain, and 

 on the French coasts. 



Several of the borers, as species of Pholas, Lithodomus, 

 and Platyodon eancellatus, are edible, and known in the 

 United States under the name of " date fish." 



All the Pholades are edible, a large West Indian species 

 (P. costata) is much prized, and is regularly sold in the 

 markets of Cuba. In Jersey they are sold boiled ready 

 for eating. They are also met with in the markets of 

 Dieppe, La Rochelle, and other French towns. Pholas 

 dactylus is not often eaten in England, but in Spain they 

 are esteemed next to oysters, and are sometimes eaten 

 raw. 



Mussels. — Black mussels, Mytilus edulis, M. Californica, 

 and other species, serve for food in many quarters, and 

 so do the brown mussels, species of Modiola, in China 

 where they are sold dried for food. The mussel is held 

 in high estimation by our lower classes, especially in the 

 country districts. 



The common mussel {Mytilus edulis) is equally widely 

 distributed as the oyster, and is found upon our coasts 

 in the greatest abundance. In this country they are 

 conveyed direct to the market ; but in some parts of 

 France they are kept for a time in salt ponds, to fatten 

 like the oyster, into which they admit small quanties of 

 fresh water. The flesh of the mussel is of a yellowish 

 colour, and considered very rich, especially in autumn. 

 It is eaten here either boiled or pickled, seldom in soup. 

 To the generality of stomachs it is difficult of digestion, 

 and to many constitutions it is deleterious. This is 

 attributed to the food of the mussel, which at certain 

 seasons consists chiefly of the noxious fry of the star- 

 fish. In the San Francisco market mussels sell at one 

 shilling the hundred. 



The mussel, formerly disdained, has now risen in esti- 

 mation in France, and is also becoming a food luxury ; 

 it therefore behoves the food providers to turn their 

 attention to some of the more neglected mollusks, which 

 might under proper cooking and preparation be far more 



