MOLLUSCA. 373 
seldom brought to market in this country. Among the Mollusca. 
Mollusca. a laborious operation to dig them out, Bosc informs us, that 
villages along the coast of Scotland this shell-fish is fre-—\—— 
\\-=’ the fishermen of France throw a small pinch of salt into 
My. 
Seallops. 
Dnivalves. 
their holes, which always remain open by the action of the 
respiratory organs ; that they speedily rise to the surface, 
and are thrown out by an iron instrument made for the pur- 
pose. The fishermen believe that it is the salt which they 
wish to avoid; but it is conjectured, with greater probabi- 
lity, that the presence of the salt water, which is thus formed 
by the solution of the salt, makes the animal suppose that 
its hole is again covered with the tide. This shell-fish was 
esteemed by the ancients as a great delicacy. When boiled 
or fried, it is certainly a very palatable morsel. When kept 
for a few days, it forms an excellent bait for haddock or cod, 
and may even be employed for that purpose in a fresh state. 
Several species of Gapers (My) are used as food both 
in Britain and on the Continent, as the Mya arenaria, 
known to the fishermen about Southampton by the whimsi- 
cal name Old Maids. These shells reside in the mud or 
shingle on the shore, and a few inches below the surface. 
In some parts of England and Ireland, they are much used, 
but, though common in Scotland, they are never sought after. 
Another species, the Myatruncata, isalso very common on the 
coast. It prefers a hard gravelly bottom, in which it lodges 
nearlowwatermark. The inhabitanisof the northern islands 
call it Smurslin, and employ it, when boiled, as a supper dish. 
It is notso delicate as some ofthe shell-fish which we have no- 
ticed, but it is by no means unpalatable. The Mya declivis 
of Pennantis, according to that author, very plentiful in the 
Hebrides, and eaten by the gentry of that country. We 
suspect that he should have referred to the Mya truncata. 
These shells furnish very good baits to the fisherman. 
There are several bivalve shells, besides those which we 
have mentioned, employed on our coasts as articles of sub- 
sistence. The Scallop (Pecten) was held in high estima- 
tion by the ancients, and still is sought after in Catholic 
countries. The Pecten maximus is frequently used in Eng- 
land. It is found gregarious in moderately deep water, 
and is taken up by the dredge. It is pickled and barrelled 
for sale, and esteemed a great delicacy. The fishermen 
suppose that they are taken in the greatest quantity after a 
fall of snow. Another species, the Pecten opercularis, is 
employed for culinary purposes in Cornwall, where it is 
known by the name of Frills or Queens. In the Firth of 
Forth this species is frequently dredged up along with oys- 
ters, but it is thrown, by the Newhaven fishermen, to the 
dunghill, along with sea urchins and star-fish. To this list 
we might add the Mactra solida, which is used as food by 
the common people about Dartmouth ; and the Venus pul- 
Jastra, called by the inhabitants of Devonshire, Pullet, and 
eaten by them, and known to the inhabitants of the North- 
ern Islands by the name of Cullyock, and there used as a 
bait. According to Bruguiere, the Anomia ephippium is 
used as food at Languedoc, and is there considered as pre- 
ferable to the oyster —But it is now time that we turn our 
attention to the univalve shells, in order to ascertain their 
value in an economical point of view. 
The common Periwinkle (Turbo littoreous,) is, in this 
Periwinkle country, more extensively used as food than any of the other 
Limpet. 
testaceous univalves. This shell is easily gathered, as it is 
found on all our rocks which are left uncovered by the ebb- 
ing of the tide. Children are principally employed in this 
fishery, and the shells are sold by measure. They are in 
general used after being plainly boiled, and are consumed 
im great quantities by the poor inhabitants on the coast. 
The Nerita littoral is also frequently gathered along with 
the periwinkle, as it frequents the same situations. It is, 
however, much smaller, and its flesh is. not reckoned equally 
ood. 
The Limpet (Patella vulgata) is equally abundant as the 
periwinkle, and frequents the same situations on the rocks. 
Although used by the ancients as an article of food, it is 
quently 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. The chief’ excellence of the 
limpet, however, is as a bait. It is very easily obtained 
from the rocks, from which the fisherman detach it with a 
knife, and it is eagerly seized by all the littoral fish which 
are sought after. To the haddock it is very acceptable. 
Several species of Snails (Helix) are employed for culi- Snails. 
nary purposes. The largest of these, the Helix pomatia, 
was a favourite dish among the Romans, who fattened them 
with bran sodden with wine. They are still used in many 
parts of Europe during Lent, after having been fed with 
different kinds of herbs. This species was originally im- 
ported into Britain from Italy, and turned out in Surry, 
where it has readily multiplied. The Helix hortensis has 
also been employed as feod. But, we believe that these 
two species are chiefly used medicinally, being administered 
in consumptive cases. The small species of the genus are 
the favourite food of the birds. of the thrush kind, either in 
a wild or confined state. 
The other univalves which we shall notice are of inferior Welks. | 
importance as articles of subsistence. The Fusus antiquus, 
the largest of the British turbinated shells, is frequently 
dredged up with oysters, and, according to Pennant, “is 
eaten by the poor, but oftener used for baits for cod, and 
ray.” \ It is probably the same species which is noticed by 
the Rey. William Fraser, in his view of the Parish of Gigha 
and Cara in Argyleshire, vol. viii. p. 48, of the Statistical 
Account of Scotland. He says it is a large white welk call- 
ed buckie or dog-welk, and used as a bait for cod. The 
methed of obtaining these shells for bait being ingenious, 
and making us acquainted at the same time with several 
new habits of the animal, we shall here insert it. ‘ At the 
beginning of the fishing (says Mr. Fraser) a dog is killed 
and singed, and the flesh, after rotting a little, is cut 
into small pieces, and put into creels or baskets made of 
hazel-wands: for the purpose. These creels are sunk by 
means of stones thrown into them. The flesh of the dog, 
in its putrid state, is said to attract the welk, which crawls 
up round the sides of the basket, and getting in at the top, 
cannot get out again, owing to the shape of it, which is 
something like that of the wire mouse-trap. After the first 
day’s fishing, the heads and entrails of the cod, with scate 
and dog-fish, are put into the creels, which are visited every 
day, the welks taken out, and fresh bait of the same kind 
put in, their being no more occasion for dog’s flesh.” The 
Buecinum undatum, and the Purpura lapillus are also em- 
ployed as bait, and in years of scarcity as food. 
This list of culinary shell-fish is far from complete, even 
in so far as it is a British list. The uses of these mollus- 
cous animals have seldom been taken notice of by concho- 
logists since the days of Schonvelde, more attention having 
been directed to the formation of new systems. of arrange- 
ment, and to the discovery of new species, than to the habits 
and uses of those already known. 
Independently of the food which we thus obtain from Pearls. . 
testaceous animals, they furnish us with the pearl, one of 
the most beautiful ornaments of dress. This substance, 
equally prized by the savage and the citizen, is composed, 
like shells, of carbonate of lime, united with a small portion 
of animal matter. Pearls appear to be exclusively the pro- 
duction of the bivalve testacea. Among these, all the shells 
having a mother-of-pearl inside, produce them occasionally. 
But there are a few species which yield them in greater 
plenty, and of afiner colour. The most remarkable of these 
is the Avicula margaritifera. This shell, which was placed 
by Linnzeus among the mussels, is very widely distributed 
in the Indian seas ; and it is from it and another species of 
the same genus, termed Avieula hirundo, found in the Eu- 
