CARDIADiE , — COCKLE . 
27 
yolk of eggs. The snail-shells are filled with this stuff- 
ing, then placed before the fire, and served very hot. In 
some countries Blainville states, that snails are eaten, 
smoked and dried. 
Fam. CARDIAD^. 
COCKLE. 
Cardium edule, Linnsens. Common Shell 
equivalve, subcordate, with twenty-four or more ribs 
radiating from the beaks, which are bent inwards ; um- 
bones prominent; the internal margins of the valves 
fluted or indented. Ligament external, strong, and of 
a dark horn-colour. Four teeth in each valve ; the two 
primary teeth close together, the lateral teeth remote. 
Colour yellowish-white. 
The common Cockle (the ruocane or bruvane of the 
Irish; la hucarde, sourdon, rigardot^ or coque of the 
French, the berizon of the Spaniards) is found all round 
our coasts, burying itself in sand, or sandy mud, in the 
neighbourhood of estuaries; and at low tides num- 
bers of people may be seen busily engaged filling their 
baskets, as it is everywhere much sought after for food ; 
and during times of scarcity in some of the northern 
islands of Scotland, the inhabitants might have perished 
with hunger, if it had not been for this useful little shell- 
fish. The quantity of shellfish, particularly of cockles, 
on the shores of most parts of the Long Island (Western 
Isles) is almost inconceivable. On the sands of Barra 
alone, scores of horse-loads may be taken at a single 
tide. Cockles are considered by the people very nutri- 
