7 
The London bushel is equal to ten gallons. The quantity of whelks is, therefore , 
370,000 gallons. Assuming a gallon to hold 150, the total number would be 
55,500,000. 
The largest specimens are found in deep water outside the Dogger Bank. I 
have a specimen which measures nearly six inches in length, and my friend Mr. 
Leckenby, of Scarboro', has one six and a half inches — the largest example 
known. The giants belong to the variety pelayica, which has a larger spire and 
smaller mouth than the typical form, and is thinner. 
Cod, ling, haddock, and other fishes devour enormous quantities of whelks, and 
were it not for its astonishing fecundity it would speedily become a rare shell. 
The empty shells are generally occupied by a soldier crab, such as Pagurus bern- 
hardus and Pagurus prideauxii. 
There are several ways in which whelks are caught. At Tenby, and many 
other places, a hoop is crossed each way with cord, on this is laid a piece of dead 
skate or other fish. Many of these which are called "traps" are taken to sea in 
a boat and lowered to the bottom. Every six or twelve hours at slack tide they 
are pulled up, and the whelks thrown into the bottom of the boat. Sometimes 
several hundreds are taken by one "trap," on which they are found piled one on 
the other, their probosces sticking into the bait. At other times and places they 
are caught by means of a dredge, which is towed by a boat over the oyster beds 
and sand banks. Considerable numbers are caught by the cod fishing lines ; in 
sucking the bait they are caught by the hook, which they richly deserve for such 
cannibalism as eating their own kind. 
It is interesting to consider the vast quantity of carbonate of lime which is 
secerned by mollusca for the formation of their shells (to say nothing of zoophytes^. 
At Ferryside, a village at the mouth of the Carmarthen River, about 500 tons 
weight of cockles are yearly obtained. As many as forty tons are despatched by 
rail in a week. If the shell be half the entire weight this would give 250 tons as 
the quantity of carbonate of lime secreted by cockles in this small locality every 
year. Then there are whelks, oysters, muscles, periwinkles, and a host of other 
mollusca which have heavier shells, and live in wonderful profusion. To Billings- 
gate market alone 5000 tons of mollusca, such as winkles, whelks, cockles, and 
muscles, are yearly taken. This would give 2500 tons of carbonate of lime. I 
have not the slightest hesitation in saying that the mollusca in the British seas 
yearly secrete millions of tons of carbonate of lime for their shell structure. Pro- 
fessor Liebig has determined that carbonate of lime constitutes l-12400th part of 
the weight of the ocean ; a very small proportion truly, but when we consider 
that 350 feet cube of sea water would, if my calculations are correct, weigh in 
round numbers 12,500 tons, and contain over one ton of carbonate of lime, we 
can easily realize what an all bountiful store of house making material the mollusca 
and other lime secreting animals possess. Near the mouths of large rivers, and 
the shore, no doubt a much larger proportion of lime than l-12400th part would 
be held in suspension in the marine water. A great deal of the lime is washed 
from our hills by heavy storms, and carried far out to sea by the rivers, and a 
great deal is doubtless derived from the waste of the cliffs. 
