Genus 2. 

 SOLEN. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Animal Ascidia. 



Testa bivalvis, oblonga, utroque latere hians. 



Cardo. Dens subulatus, reflexus, saepe duplex ; non insertus testae op- 

 posite. 



Animal an Ascidia. 



Shell bivalve, oblong, open at both ends. 



Hinge with an awl-shaped reflex tooth, often double; not inserted in the 

 opposite valve. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 



The soft animal contained within the Solen, or Razor- 

 shell, has at one extremity, a muscular subcylindrical 

 foot, and at the other a short double tube. It lives 

 constantly buried in the sand, and never, of its own 

 accord, comes entirely upon the surface. It is capable 

 of moving only in a perpendicular direction, and the 

 form of its shell, which is long and slender, is admi- 

 rably calculated for such a purpose. The hole which 

 the common species of our coasts make, is two or three 

 feet in depth ; the animal descends to the bottom, on 

 the ebbing of the tide, and returns towards the surface 

 as it flows. They may be seen near low water mark, 



