
286 = RAMBLES IN FLORIDA. 






























The skates and dog-fishes are not the only marine animals 
that make curious egg-cases. We have here three species 
of univalve shells, called by the Floridians, Conchs* ( Busy- 
cont), which also make egg-cases. Each case is round and 
flat, about one-half to three-fourths of an inch in diameter, 
and one-sixth of an inch in thickness; the edge of each flat 
case is coarsely ribbed or milled, and numbers of them. are 
strung together, only they are immovable upon the string, 
which is situated upon one side or edge, instead of being 
central as in a bead necklace. These egg-chains are some- 
times two feet in length, and the cases are frequently bored 
into by different species of carnivorous mollusks to obtain 
the contents for food. These Conch animals were probably 
eaten by the aborigines, as we find the shells quite numerous 
in their Kjekkenmoeddings; they are now sometimes eaten 
by both the whites and negroes of Florida, but from appeal 
ances they must be tough chewing, and as indigestible as à 
rubber boot. 
At the edge of the beach, rolling in the surf-ripples, 4 
large fleet of Ark shells is coming ashore; these prettily 
ribbed bivalves look like the Cockles (Cardium), but the 
animal and the hinge are quite different. The velvety epi- 
dermis which generally covers the surface has been worn 9 
by the friction of sand and water in the surf, exposing the 
clean white fabric of the shells; lighted by the sun they 
look like a squadron of little dismasted hulls. Two 9 : 
the three species that we have here obtained are widely 
distributed, and may be picked up near Galveston, on the 
. Gulf of Mexico. Some of the family may be found 1n 
. every sea, and many species are used for food. The an" 
mal of Arca grandis, which is found in the Bay of Panam 
is eaten by the natives; a single valve of this giant Ark | 













.. *Indiseriminately used when reference is made to any species of the Pyrulid®s 
Strombidze, Fasciolaridze, ete., found here. 
canaliculatum and B. carica of Linnszus, also collected by me as far sob © 
B. gibbosum of Conrad, the latter considered by many a5 OMY * 
h Eu ing p^ marked I peculiarities, $ ] 

