of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 34£ 



either directly or after they had been calcined and have the lime returned 

 in solution through this agency. 



What is the Value of the Clam as Bait ? — Fishermen in different localities 

 would answer this question differently. Of all baits the edible mussel 

 (Mytilus edulis) is that most commonly used and many, perhaps most, 

 fishermen would declare that it is the best bait which we have. Not a 

 few would dispute this conclusion, and among them could be reckoned the 

 fishermen of Cockenzie and Prestonpans. In these districts the unanimous 

 testimony is that clam is the best bait for the whole year, that in winter 

 it is absolutely the best, and that in summer the only thing that detracts 

 from its value is its liability to die soon after leaving the water. The 

 tenacity of life which the mussel possesses gives it an advantage over the 

 clam during hot weather, but at all times the clam can be more securely 

 fastened on the hook, because of the firmer consistence of the ' adductor ' 

 and the edges of the mantle. The clam is much easier killed than either 

 of its relatives, the mussel and oyster, these two and especially the former 

 of them having better arrangements to keep the shells closed. Their 

 valves fit more closely than do those of the scallop. It is rather unusual 

 for mussels or oysters immediately after removal from the bed to be found 

 with the valves apart and the shell open, but exactly the reverse is the 

 case with the clam. The clam by alternate openings and closings of its 

 shell cannot retain the fluid contained within its mantle chamber, and 

 thus it sacrifices its life to its ' gaping.' Not only is the escape of the 

 fluid detrimental to the life of the clam, but like the lobster it soon 

 succumbs if placed in either a too hot or a too windy place. These con- 

 ditions of weather and habits of the animal operate, therefore, against the 

 value of the clam to localities far removed from the clam breeding and 

 feeding grounds. Under favourable barometric and thermometric condi- 

 tions the clam will remain alive iu the air for two days or so, but this is 

 about the length of the animal's life out of its native element. Thus it is 

 valuable chiefly to fishing communities in whose vicinity the clam beds 

 are, but the mussel is mure valuable as it is more universally distributed, 

 and it can better resist the forces destructive of marine molluscan life to 

 which it is subjected when removed out of the sea. 



The great value of the Forth beds is apparent when the value of the clams 

 landed in this restricted area is compared with that of the mussels 

 landed on the whole of the Scottish coasts. The Fishery Board's returns 

 for 1887 (vide Appendix C.) give the following as the figures : — 



Clams, [all from Forth beds], . . . £2,320 

 Mussels, [from whole of Scotland], . . 15,411 



Thus the value of the mussels obtained from all the mussel beds in 

 Scotland is only six or seven times as great as that of the clams got from 

 the Forth beds. In questions, therefore, concerning bait and the artificial 

 or the natural propagation of it, we must not lose sight of the clam, as its 

 great breeding and multiplying powers may indicate one way in which an 

 increase of bait may be obtained. But in addition to its economic im- 

 portance as bait the scallops may supply us with a very digestible though, 

 perhaps, a somewhat sweet kind of food. The fishing communities strip 

 off the mantle, gills, and all the other organs except the adductor muscle, 

 and eat this last or ' the white part.' That is how they eat the uncooked 

 clam, but when boiled they add butter and pepper and the dish is a 

 substitute for fish when these are scarce. But there is no reason why a 

 greater population should not enjoy such toothsome morsels. 



According to the evidence of the fishermen who have been acquainted with 

 the Forth beds for the last generation or two, the clams never were more 



