PLATE XLVI. 



Solen major, subfuscus, rectus. H. Conch, tab. 409. fig. 255. 

 Solen unguis ; the iheath, razor, or spoutfish. Grew Mus. p. 143. 



—MerretPinp. 193. 

 Solen sive concha tenuis longissimaque ab utraque parte naturaliter 



hians ; the spout fish. Wallace Orkneys, p. 45. 

 Solen noftras vulgaris. Muf. Petiv. p. 87. No. 844. 

 Solen major subfuscus rectus. Siliqua. Da Costa, tab. 17. fig. 5, 



p. 235. sp. 59. 



This shell is found in abundance on many of the English shores, 

 especially the northern and western coasts, and those of Scotland 

 and Ireland. 



The antients esteemed this fish a delicious food, and Dr. Lister 

 informs us he thought it nearly as rich and palatable as the Lobster. 

 In England and Scotland it is at present mostly used for baits, and 

 not for the table ; but in Ireland is much eaten in Lent. — It is ip 

 season in spring. 



From the hinge to the opposite margin the length is about half an 

 inch, and its breadth from five to seven inches ; but some shells are 

 found much larger. The outside is covered with a thin transparent 

 yellow-brown cuticle or epidermis, like glue, which peels off soon 

 after the fish is dead or exposed to the shores. Under this epidermis 

 the shell is smooth, very glossy, and marked with manv concentric 

 transverse wrinkles from the middle to one extreme, the other half is 

 striated lengthways. Inside white and glossy. 



