CONCHIFERA OR BIVALVES. 65 



not being sensible to the additional irritation, 

 or perhaps from the instinct of self-preservation 

 causing it to suffer the inconvenience in pre- 

 ference to running the risk of capture : in this 

 case, the only method of securing it is to dig 

 it out of the sand with a spade or other instru- 

 ment. 



Some species are common on the English 

 coast; others come from America, India, &c. 

 One of the Indian varieties is of a beautiful 

 colour ; the shell under the epidermis being of 

 a delicate violet, striped with white. 



14. Solecurtus (De Blainville). — Shell 

 equivalve, ovately oblong, transverse, gaping 

 at both ends, and having the external surface 



covered with fine undulating lines. Two car- 

 dinal teeth in one valve, and one, rarely two, 

 in the other, but not locking into one another 

 F 



