MYTTLID^. MUSSEL. 
49 
in repair by mortar^ owing to the rapidity of the tide. 
The corporation^ therefore, keep boats to bring mus- 
sels to it, and the interstices of the bridge are filled by 
hand with these shellfish, and it is supported entirely 
by the strong byssus or threads these mussels fix to the 
stonework.^^* 
This byssus proceeds from a gristly shaft, which, Mr. 
Jeffreys states, appears to support the bundle of filaments 
like the handle of a broom ; and Aristotle mentions this 
shell-fish in his list of cartilaginous fish. 
So valuable are mussels towards the protection of the 
shores from the inundations of the sea on some parts of 
our coasts, that it becomes necessary to prevent their 
being gathered in some places (see Times,^ August 7th, 
1865). An action for trespass was brought some time 
ago for the purpose of establishing the right of the lord 
of the manor to prevent the inhabitants of Heacham 
from taking mussels from the seashore. The locality is 
the foreshore of the sea, running from Lynn in a north- 
westerly direction towards Hunstanton, Norfolk ; and 
the nature of the shore is such that it requires con- 
stant attention, and no little expenditure of money, to 
maintain its integrity, and guard against the serious 
danger of inundations of the sea.^^ A large quantity of 
shingle, seaweed, and mussels is always to be seen, and 
beds of mussels extend for miles along the shore, and 
mix with the seaweed and shingle, which get fixed on 
the artificial jetties running into the sea, attaching them- 
selves by means of the byssus to these embanking de- 
fences, thereby rendering them firm, and thus acting as 
barriers against the sea ; therefore, while it is important 
for the inhabitants, who claim a right by custom, to 
* ‘ Grlimpses of Ocean Life,’ p. 179. 
r. 
