SOLENIDiE. RAZOR-SHELL. 
39 
Cockle Soup. — After tlie cockles have been well washed^ 
place them in a stewpan over a slow fire till they open^ 
and then take them out of their shells. Put an ounce 
of butter or lard, some finely-chopped parsley, a sliced 
onion, a little pepper, and a teaspoonful of anchovy, 
into a saucepan, with a little flour, and fry till it be- 
comes brown. To this add a pint of water, or a pint 
and a half of milk, and, when it boils, place in your 
cockles. Let it boil again for half an hour, then serve. 
The cockles, being large, will require to be cut in halves 
or quarters, previous to their being put into the soup ; 
and the quantity required would be about 2 lb. weight. 
In the Bay of Naples, where these cockles abound, 
they are eaten, as we are told by Poli,* either raw or 
cooked with oil, pepper, salt, herbs, and bread-crumbs, 
and are called cocciola at Naples, and cappa tonda at 
Venice j and Major Byng Hallf speaks of cockles stewed 
in oil as being greatly prized by the natives of Madrid. 
Fam. SOLENID^. 
^SfOLEN.—BAZOR-SHELL. 
SoLEN siLiQUA, Linnseus. Razor Shell. — Shell 
straight, open at both extremities. Two teeth in left 
valve, and one in the other ; exterior covered with an 
olivaceous epidermis, concentrically striated. Breadth 
1 inch, length from 7 to 8 inches. 
The razor or spout-flshes are all good for food, but 
Solen siliqua, which is the largest of our British species, is 
the one generally collected for that purpose. Solen ensis 
* ‘ Testacea utriusque Siciliae,’ 1795. 
t ‘ Queen’s Messenger,’ p. 341. 
