BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
' 64 
of Fundy, common, one to one hundred and nine fathoms, 
Verrill. St. Croix River, near Dochet Island, not plenty, 
Fuller. L’Etang and Chamcook Harbors, abundant in former, 
Ganong. Mace’s Bay, Perley and G. F. Matthew. Northum- 
berland Strait, Whiteaves. Between Tracadie and Shippegan, 
Perley. (In N. S.) Bay of Fundy Coast, large, VerTcruzen. 
Bear Island Bar, Annapolis Basin, extensive beds, Perley. 
Bedford Basin and Halifax Harbor, H. Piers. Whole coast? 
Jones and Willis. Prince Edward Island, Dawson. Probably 
not so abundant in Gulf of St. Lawrence as in Bay of Fundy 
and on the Atlantic coast. 
Habits. This is one of the most attractive Molluscs of our whole 
. coast. Its smooth, nearly circular valves, one flat, the other convex, 
and its large size (five to six and even eight, in an extreme case, inches 
in diameter) will readily distinguish it from any other species in our 
waters. The under or flat valve is very smooth, free from parasitic 
growths and of a white or cream color. The upper, usually of some 
reddish color, while free from the pronounced ribs that so many of this 
genus have, frequently bears many parasitic forms, Barnacles, Bryozoa, 
etc. Very many have this valve covered with a gelatinous coating which 
. can be easily removed; this is not an epidermis, but colonies of compound 
Ascidians of the genus Leptoclinum. It is really a beautiful shell, the 
interior being smooth, white and satin-like; the exterior, especially in 
young shells, presents delicate and attractive colors, some of them show- 
ing beautiful pink and white radiations; while its valves can be utilized 
for many decorative and artistic purposes. 
Our Scallop lives upon hard, sand, or mud bottoms, feeding upon 
microscopical animals and plants. It has the advantage over all others 
of our shelled Molluscs in the ease and speed with which it can move 
about. The powerful adductor muscle can bring the valves together 
with great force and quickness, ejecting the water on the side opposite 
the hinge, and thus shooting the animal several feet in the opposite 
direction. The young Scallops can swim in this way better than the 
adults, their shells being much lighter. The southern Pecten irradians 
■ often swims in schools, all together in some definite direction, but we do 
not know that this has been observed in the species we are considering. 
The young are eaten by cod and probably other fishes. 
Economics. Our Scallop is not the species which is of so 
much commercial importance in the United States. The 
latter is a much smaller species, Pecten irradians , the shell 
of which is covered with very large radiating ribs. But those 
