114 POPULAR CONCHOLOGY. 



long, fine, shining, and abundant : of this they 

 fabricate a species of cloth, very remarkable for 

 its warmth and softness, but which will not take 

 any dye. In the British Museum there is a 

 pair of gloves made of this material, in a case 

 with some large specimens of the shell ; and it 

 is recorded in history, that Pope Benedict XV. 

 had a pair of stockings presented to him in 

 1754 made of this material ; they were enclosed 

 in a very small box, and were extremely fine in 

 texture. 



Family 3.—Mallezdce* 



The shells of this family are foliaceousf, 

 and have the interior highly iridescent and 

 pearly ; indeed they comprise amongst their 

 number the pearl oyster : there are five genera, 

 and nearly all adhere by a byssus. 



72. Crenatula. — Shell nearly equi valve, 

 irregular, foliated, flattened ; hinge straight, 

 marked with a few semicircular excavations; 



* Les Malleacees s Lamarck. 



f Composed of thin plates of shell, laid one upon the 

 other, each successive lamina projecting beyond its pre- 

 decessor. 



