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BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
D.— THE USES OF THE GIANT SCALLOP. 
14.— THE FOOD VALUE OF THE SCALLOP. 
Scallops in general have always been highly esteemed for their edible qualities, 
and in many localities are regarded as among the choicest products of the water. 
Although such a comparatively new article, the size of the giant scallop, as well as its* 
flavor, has already secured for it a steady and growing demand, and it seems destined 
to maintain a prominent place in the estimation of the epicurean and the public. Un- 
fortunately, the usual retail prices are so high that the great mass of the people have 
never been permitted to partake of this luscious food. 
As will be seen in the paragraph giving quotations of the wholesale prices of scallops 
in the Boston market, the Maine species appears to be regarded somewhat less favor- 
ably than the smaller mollusk taken in Rhode Island and the vicinity of Cape Cod. 
Mr. James E. Benedict found that specimens secured in deep water off Cape Cod 
by the Albatross were not so delicately flavored as P. irradians, although he considered 
them very fine. He explained that these individuals were bound together on the 
bottom in great crowded masses by the worm-tubes and boring sponges, so that 
growth, reproduction, and feeding were interfered with and the animals were unable to 
avail themselves of the function of swimming, the exercise of which would u 
have tended to improve their quality. The beds found in shoaler water are not so 
seriously affected by these parasites and shift from time to time, as has been shown. 
The scallops are therefore of better quality. 
Prof. W. O. Atwater, in an elaborate paper in the Report of the United States 
Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries for 1883, on the chemical constituents of marine 
food products, gives tables showing the relative food value of fish, shell-fish, crusta-. 
ceans, etc., as indicated by the percentage of protein, fats, carbo-hydrates, and min- 
eral matters which they contain. The protein compounds or albuminoids have a 
threefold function in the economy, to quote Professor Atwater: (1) They form the 
basis of blood, muscle, connective tissue, etc.; (2) they are transformed into fats and 
carbo-hydrates, and are stored as such in the body ; (3) they are consumed for fuel. 
The fats are (1) stored as fat and (2) consumed for fuel, and the carbo-hydrates 
(starches, sugars, etc.) are (1) transformed into fat and (2) consumed for fuel. Pro- j 
tein, representing the essential portion of food, performing the functions in part of 
both fats and carbo-hydrates, in addition to forming the basis of blood, muscle, and 
other tissues, is to be taken as the standard in comparing the food values of different 
substances. 
Reference to the following table, adapted from Atwater, showing the proportion ' 
of watery and solid constituents in all the common edible mollusks and the percentage 
of protein, fats, carbo-hydrates, and ash in the solids or nutrients, discloses the fact , 
that scallops* surpass all of the other shell-fish in the total percentage of nutrients 
and in the proportion of protein. It is also somewhat interesting to observe that 
oysters rank last in the list. 
*The analysis is that of the small scallop (P. irradians), which can not differ materially from the 
giant scallop, for which no analyses are available. ] 
