MACTRIDiE. TROUGH-SHELL. 
153 
not considered very good^ and are full of sand ; though 
the former is eaten in Devonshire ; and Mr. Dennis (as 
quoted by Mr. Jeffreys, in his ^British Conchology^) 
says that the people of Newhaven, near Brighton, eat 
the Mactra stultorum also. It appears that in 1861, the 
steam dredging-machines were at work at the mouth of 
the harbour, and that they turned up Mactra stultorum 
in great numbers, so that the beach at high-water mark 
was covered by them.* They live buried in the sand not 
very far from low-water mark, and at no great depth 
from the surface. In Holland the shells of Mactra stul- 
torum are used for making roads and footpaths ; they 
are also burnt for lime, and the fish is eaten there. Ac- 
cording to Poli, it is known in Italy by the name of 
mezzana, and at Naples, gongola. In German, Mac- 
tree are called trogmuscheln. Our rare Mactra glauca, 
or helvacea, which is a much larger shell than either of 
the other kinds above-mentioned, and is at least three 
inches long by four broad, with longitudinal rays of a 
pale fawn, or a drab, colour, resembling slightly Mactra 
stultorum, is sold in the market at Brest ; and at Gran- 
ville is known by the name of schias. It is also found 
at Naples, and Poli speaks with evident satisfaction of 
its sweet and excellent flavour. It is taken in the 
Channel Islands, but we seldom find more than single 
valves upon our coast. Mr. King, of 190, Portland 
Hoad, sent me a magnificent specimen alive, some time 
since, wMch enabled me to examine the fish, and admire 
the beautiful colouring of its two short thick tubes, of a 
pale-yellow, shading to a rich orange ; round the orifices 
were dark streaks of crimson, the cirri of the same 
colour as the tubes. The animal, however, varies in 
* ‘ British Conchology,’ vol. ii. p. 424. 
