372 
MOLLUSCA. 
Mollusea- he points his arrows, and forms his fish-hooks. Even when 
=>’ farther advanced in civilization, the canaliculated univalves 
Bivalves. 
Oyster. 
Mussel. 
sometimes constitute the rustic lamp, while the larger scal- 
lops. are employed by the dairy-maid to skim her milk and 
to slice her butter. From the mother-of-pearl shell many 
useful and ornamental articles are fabricated ; and calcined 
shells were formerly esteemed by physicians as absorbents; 
and are still regarded by the farmer as furnishing a valua- 
ble manure. 
Shells thus appear to be of some importance in the arts 
of lite; but the animals contained in these shells are of far 
greater value. As articles of food, shell-fish are extensively 
employed by the poor, and even hold a conspicuous place 
at the tables of the rich. In many places, they in a great 
measure support the children of our maritime population, 
and, in the Western and Northern Islands of Scotland, have, 
in years of scarcity, prevented the death of thousands. 
The kinds chiefly used in this country, as articles of sub- 
sistence, are bivalves, belonging to different genera. Among 
these the Oyster (Osirea edulis) holds the most. distin- 
guished place. This shell-fish is very widely distributed in 
nature, being found in the seas of Europe, Asia, and Africa. 
But, since the days of the luxurious Romans, the oysters of 
Britain have been held in the highest estimation. They 
are found on various parts of our coasts, from the southern 
shores of England, to the sheltered bays among the Zetland 
Islands. They prefer a rough or rocky bottom, in from 
five to twenty fathoms water. They are fished up with a 
dredge and an open beat; sometimes, when in shallow 
water, with a rake or tongs. They are either conveyed 
directly to the market, or are placed in artificial ponds of 
sea water, where they increase in size, and acquire a fine 
green colour. In England this process of fattening, as it is 
termed, is chiefly conducted at Colchester, but the oysters 
are obtained from the little creeks between Southampton 
and Chichester. This fishery on the coast of England is 
supposed to give employment to ten thousand people, so 
that, independent of the addition which it makes to the 
articles of subsistence, it must be regarded as a valuable 
nursery for seamen. As an article of food, oysters are 
‘light and easy of digestion, and may be eaten in great num- 
bers without inconvenience. They are used either raw or 
when pickled. In the last form, they are sent to different 
parts of the country, and even constitute an article of ex- 
port. In Scotland, the principal oyster fishings are in the 
Firth of Forth ; ‘but we trust the period is not far distant, 
when the proprietors on the western coast of Scotland and 
the Hebrides will propagate this shell-fish more extensively 
on their shores and sheltered bays. Places fitted for their 
growth are every where to be met with; they require no 
superintending care; they would soon furnish an esteemed 
dish to their tables, and form a valuable addition to their 
trade. 
The next shell-fish, in point of importance, as an article 
of food, is the Mussel (Mytilus edulis). This animal is 
equally widely distributed as the oyster, and is found upon 
our coast in the-greatest abundance. It is gregarious, being 
found in extensive beds, which are always uncovered at low 
water. It is found likewise in the crevices of the rocks. 
In this fishery women and children are chiefiy employed, 
and they detach the mussels with an iron hook from the 
beds or rocks to which they adhere by means of fine carti- 
laginous threads. In this country they are conveyed di- 
rectly to the market; but in some places of France they 
are kept for a time in salt ponds, to fatten like the oyster, 
into which, however, they admit small quantities of “fresh 
water. The flesh of the mussel is of a yellowish colour, 
and considered very rich, especially in autumn, when it is in 
season. It is eaten in this country either boiled or pickled, 
seldom in soup. To the generality of stomachs it is diffi- 
cult to digest, and to many constitutions it is deleterious. 
It is, however, in the spring, during the spawning season, Mollusca. 
that the greatest danger is to be apprehended. This nox-—\-—= 
ious quality was long considered as occasioned by the pea 
crab, which is often found within the shell of mussels. It 
is now with more propriety attributed to the food of the 
mussel, which, at certain seasons, consists chiefly of the 
noxious fry of the star-fish; and likewise to a disease to 
which the animal is subject in spring, under the influence 
of which it melts away, and falls from the rocks. Besides 
being useful to man as an article of subsistence, the mussel 
supplies the fisherman with one of hismost convenient and suc- 
cessful baits. It is keenly taken both by cod and haddoek. 
To the cod-fish, however, the animal of the horse-mussel 
(Modiola vulgaris) is more acceptable. 
The following unsuccessful attempt to plant a colony of 
mussels is recorded by Mr. Stevenson in his interesting 
work, (p. 73,) in which he gives the details of the erection 
of the light-house on the Bell-Rock: “ When the work- 
men first landed upon the Bell-Rock, limpets ofa very large 
size were common, but were soon picked up for bait. As 
the limpets disappeared we endeavoured to plant a colony 
of mussels, from beds at the mouth of the river Eden, of a 
larger kind than those which seem to be natural to the 
rock. These larger mussels were likely to have been use- 
ful to the workmen, and might have been especially so to 
the light-keepers, the future inhabitants of the rock, to 
whom that delicate fish would have afforded a fresh meal, 
as well as a better bait than the limpet; but the mussels 
were soon observed to open and die in great numbers. For 
some time this was ascribed to the efiects of the violent 
surge of the sea, but the Buccinum lapillus, (Purpura,) 
having greatly increased, it was ascertained that it had 
proved a successful enemy to the mussel. The buccinum, 
being furnished with a probosces capable of boring, was ob- 
served to perforate a small hole in the shell, and thus to 
suck out the finer parts of the body of the mussel; the 
valves of course opened and the remainder of the fish was 
washed away by the sea. The perforated hcle is generally 
upon the thinnest part of the shell and is perfectly circular, 
ofa champhered form, being wider towards the outward side, 
and so perfectly smooth and regular as to have all the ap- 
pearance of the most beautiful work of an expert artist. It 
became a matter extremely desirable to preserve the mus- 
sel, and it seemed practicable to extirpate the buccinum. 
But after we had picked up and destroyed many barrels of 
them, their extirpation was at length given up as a hope- 
less task. The mussels were thus abandoned as their prey, 
and in the course of the third year’s operations, so success- 
ful had-the ravages of the buccinum been, that not a single 
mussel of a large size was to be found upon the reck; and 
even the small kind which bred there are now chiefly con- 
fined to the extreme points of the rock, where it would 
seem their enemy cannot so easily follow them.” 
The Common Cockle (Cardium edule) would deserve a Cockle. 
place in preference even to the mussel, were it not exclu- 
sively confined to our sandy coasts and bays. It is found 
lodged in the sand, a few inches below the surface, its place 
being marked by a small depressed spot. Women and 
children easily dig up’ this shell-fish with a small spade. 
Cockles are sold by measure, and eaten either raw, or boil- 
ed, or pickled. They are deservedly esteemed a delicious 
and wholesome food in this country, although in France 
they are little regarded. They are in season during March, 
April, and May, after which they become milky and insipid. 
They are not generally used as a bait. 
Two kinds of Razor-fish (Solen siliqua and ensis_) are in Razor-fish. 
many places of this country used as food. In Scotland they 
are indiscriminately termed Spout-fish. They are found 
upon most of our sandy shores, buried about a foot or two 
below the surface, and near to the low water mark. Their 
place is known bya small hole in the sand. As it is rather 
