Chap. 
134 
of Spam 
and Porta 
gal, &c 
VI. CONCH 
Of the Ha-conchae anatiferae, are alfo frequent there. At Gran- 
bitation of v jj] e? j n Lower Normandy, there are found very beau- 
Shells, foe, pedlens,, and fome of the cordiform or heart- 
133 flails. 
of Britain. Our own Engllfh coafts are not the lead: fruitful in 
(hells, though they do not produce fuch elegantly 
painted ones as the Indies. About Plymouth are 
found oyflers, muffels, and folens, in great abun- 
dance ; and there, and on molt of our fhores, are 
numbers of the aures marinse and dentalia, with pec- 
tens, which are excellent food ; and many elegant 
fpecies of the chamae and tellinse are fifhed up in the 
fea about Scarborough and other places. Ireland af- 
fords us great number of muffels, and fome very ele- 
gant fcallop-lhells in great abundance, and the pholades 
are frequent on molt of our Ihores. We have alfo 
great variety of the buccina and cochleae, fome volu- 
tae ; aqd, on the Guernfey coaft, a peculiarly beautiful 
fnail, called thence the Guernfey fnail. 
The coafts of Spain and Portugal afford much the 
fame fpecies of (hells with the Ealt Indies, but they are 
of much fainter colours, and greatly inferior in beauty. 
There are, according to Tavernier and others, (ome ri- 
vers in Bavaria in which there are found pearls of a fine 
water. About Cadiz there are found very large pinnae 
marinse, and fome fine buccina. The iiles of Majorca 
and Minorca afford great variety of extremely elegant 
(hells. The pinnae marinse are alfo very numerous 
there, and their filk is wrought into gloves, (lockings, 
and other things. The Baltic affords a great many 
beautiful fpecies, but particularly an orange-coloured 
peden, or fcallop-fiiell, which is not found in any other 
part of the world. 
The freih- water (hells are found much more fre- 
quently, and in much greater plenty than the fea 
kinds; there is fcarce a pond, a ditch, or river of 
frefh water in any part of the world, in which there 
are not found va(l numbers of thefe (hells with the 
filh living in them. All thefe (hells are fmall, and 
they are of very little beauty, being ufually of a plain 
grayifh or brownifh colour. Our ditches afford us 
chamae, buccina, neritoe, and fome patellae ; but the 
Nile, and fome other rivtrs, furnifhed the ancients with 
a fpecies of tellina which was large and eatable, and fo 
much (uperior to th common fea tellina in flavour, 
that it is commonly known by the name of telhna regia , 
“ the royal tellina.” We have a fmall fpecies of bucci- 
num common in our freih waters, which is very ele- 
gant, and always has its operculum in the manner of 
the larger buccina ; a fmall kind of muffel is alfo very 
common, which is fo extremely thin and tender, that it 
can hardly be handled without breaking to pieces. The 
large kefir-water muffel, commonly called in England 
the horfe-mujfal , mi/a margaritfera , is too well known 
to need a defeription ; and the fize fufficiently diftin- 
gui files it from all other frefh-w'ater (hells. 
23S 
Treth-wa- 
ter /lie 11s. 
Sect. II. Of the Methods of Ffbing and ColleEling 
Shells. 
13 6 
J»nd (hells. Land (hells are immediately within the reach of the 
hand of the collector, as well as many fea and river 
(hells, which inhabit (hallow waters, or attach them- 
felves to rocks or marine plants on the (bores of the 
ocean. Thofe (hells which are at moderate depths in 
O L O G Y. 479 
the fea, are to be colleded by dredging. But iii what- Of the Ha- 
ever way (hells are found, thofe are always to be pre- ^nation 
ferred which (fill contain the living animal ; for then, f 
not onfy fome information may be obtained with regard 
to its (trudure and natural hiitory, but the (hells them- 
felves are in all their natural beauty, and the full glow 137 
of their colours. Thofe (hells too ihuuld be preferred, Sea (hells, 
which are procured from the deeper parts of the ocean, 
becaufe they have then arrived at the largelf fize, and 
are in the greateft perfection. But thele are beyond 
the reach of man, and are only accidentally found on 
the Ihores after dorms, or attached to fea-vveeds which 
have been torn from the rocks by the agitation of the 
waves. I3 s 
When (hells are found with the animal alive; the Method of 
method recommended to deitroy it and feparate it en- ■'-'llmg the 
tirely from the (hell, is to boil it in water for a very ailim ‘ l * 
(hort time, and after allowing it to cool gradually, to 
lay it in cold water till it is cleaned. By this procefs, 
the attachment between the (hell and animal is de- 
ftroyed, and the latter, which has become hard and 
contracted, is eafily picked out from its covering. 
The (lit 11 , after this treatment, is ready to be placed 
in the cabinet, or to be polifiied in the way we lhall 
prefently deferibe, according to the (late in which it 
is found, or the views of the colledor. 
As the pearl has been held in high eftimation in all Pearl-tfli- 
ages of the world, and as it is an important objeCt of fry- 
commerce in many parts of it, the hiitory of the pearl 
fifhery, or of thole (hell fi(h which produce the pearl, 
cannot fail to be interefting. T ^ 0 
In different parts of Britain the pcari-fifiiery has i n Britain, 
been carried on to a confiderable extent ; and in fome 
places it has been reckoned of fuch value, that go- 
vernment has granted the right of fiihing to indivi- 
duals by patent. By a grant of this kind, Sir John 
Hawkins obtained the privilege of fiihing for pearls in. 
the river Irt in Cumberland ; and Buchan of Auch- 
macoy feems to have held, by a fimilar right, the foie 
privilege of the pearl-fifhery near the mouth of the ri- 
ver Ythan in Aberdeenfhire ; for it appears that this 
grant was refumed by government in 1633, th® hrft 
parliament of Charles I. In the fame river, at the 
diftance of 10 miles from the fea, a fuccefsful fifiiery 
of pearls has been frequently carried on ; and a 
few years ago, in the river Cluny in the fame county, 
a Jew employed a number of people to colled: the muf- 
fels which contained them, and fome large and valu- 
able pearls were found. Some years ago, in the river 
Teath in Pertbfiiire, the pearls which were got brought 
about 1 col. fterling to thofe employed in fearehing for 
them, in the courfe of one feafon. It was obferved, 
that thofe muffels only which were crooked and dilicrt- 
ed, yielded pearls. The method which has been prac- 
tiled in this river for fiihing the pearl muffel, is the 
following. The fiflierman provides himfelf with an 
inflrument formed of two iron plates or fpoons, having 
(ome thing of the fhape of the muffel. Each of thele 
is attached to an elaftic handle of the fame metal, ter- 
minating in an open tube, which is fixed to the end cf 
a long wooden handle. The concave fides. of the plates 
approach other, and are kept in clofe contad by the 
elafticity of the handles. With this inflrument the nfb- 
errnan enters the water, and direds his courfe to thofe 
places which he fuppofes are reforted to by the muf- 
fels. 
