THE ECONOMIC MOLLUSC A OF ACADIA. 
37 
land and Scotland, and is esteemed as a luxury by the poorer 
classes of London. To show the importance of this Mollusc 
in Great Britain, it may be said that a sandy flat in Whitstable 
Bay was estimated in 1866 to yield <£12,000 worth of Whelks 
annually, a part of the product being sold in London markets 
for food and the remainder sent to the cod-fishing banks for 
bait. The Great Grimsby fishery is valued annually at £22,- 
500. For food, they are best in August and September, but 
are in season all the year round. It is said they should be 
used the day after being captured, but if boiled they will 
keep several days. Many vessels are engaged in their capture. 
In the United States it does not appear to be eaten, and is 
used to only a limited extent, if at all, for bait. Dr. Robert 
Bell tells us, however, that it has been used for bait along the 
lower St. Lawrence. 
In Acadia it does not appear to be known at all as food. 
Mr. Willis says that though abundant in Nova Scotia, it was 
rarely used as food.* He tells us further that, — “It is said 
to be quite as nutritious and delicate, by those who have used 
it, as the species which is found on the British coast.” It is 
never exposed for sale in our markets, and is unknown even 
by name to dealers in St. John. We do not find that it is 
used by our fishermen to any extent as bait. 
In Europe, the fishermen call the eggs “sea-wash balls,” 
and as they form a lather with salt water, use them, when 
found, instead of soap for washing their hands. The shells are 
sometimes used as a decoration for the borders of flower beds 
and for other similar purposes in places near the sea. It is 
asserted in the “ Natural History of Useful Aquatic Animals,” 
(p. 699), that this species has been the subject of successful 
experiments for the obtaining of dyes, though we are not 
given any particulars. 
Is it not a remarkable fact that a fishery of so great value 
in Europe should be entirely neglected here? There can be 
no doubt, however, that in the course of time the Whelks 
will come to be extensively used in Acadia. This will come 
*Recip-s for cooking B. undatum may be found in Tryon’s Manual of Con- 
•chology, Vol. III., pp. 179, 180. 
