THEIR AGILITY. S23 



into a dish dry, as knowing that an occasional expo- 

 sure to the air is a contingency that they are not 

 unused to. By and by, as we were quietly reading, 

 our attention was attracted to the table where the 

 dish was placed, by a rattling uproar, as if flint stones 

 were rolling one over the other about the dish. " Oh ! 

 Look at the Cockles! "was the exclamation,; and 

 they were indeed displaying their agility, and their 

 beauty too, in fine style. The valves of the largest 

 were gaping to the extent of three quarters of an inch ; 

 but the intermediate space was filled up by the spongy- 

 looking, fleshy mantle, of a semi-pellucid orange hue. 

 At one end protruded the siphons, two thick, short 

 tubes, soldered as it were into one, and enveloped on 

 all sides in a shaggy fringe of cirri or tentacles. The 

 circular orifices of these tubes, — small holes perfectly 

 round, with a white border, — had a curious appearance 

 as we looked at the heart-shaped end of the valves. 

 The discharging orifice, however, was but rarely visi- 

 ble ; being usually closed, while the other remained 

 constantly open. But these things were what we 

 afterwards saw : for some time we could look at 

 nothing but the magnificent foot, and the curious 

 manner in which it was used- 



The two lips of the mantle suddenly separate, and, 

 gaping widely all along the front, recede nearly to the 

 valves ; while, at the same moment, a huge organ is 

 thrust out somewhat like a tongue, nearly cylindrical, 

 but a little flattened, and tapering to a point. Its sur- 

 face is smooth and brilliantly glossy ; and its colour a 

 fine rich scarlet, approtaching to orange ; but a beitter 

 idea of it than can be conveyed by any description 



