37 6 Pectekid^. MOLLUSCA.— — -Limad,®. 
a pool of sea-water left by the ebbing tide. He thought 
from their motions that they were small fishes. “ On 
close investigation, however,” he says, “ we found tliat 
it was the fry of P. opercularis skipping quite nimbly 
tlirough the pool. Their motion was rapid and zig- 
zag, very like that of ducks in a sunny blink, rejoicing 
in the prospect of rain. They seemed, by the sudden 
opening and closing of their valves, to have the power 
of darting like an arrow through the water. One jerk 
carried them some yards, and then, by another sudden 
jerk, they were off in a moment in a different tack. We 
doubt not that when full grown they engage in similar 
amusements, though as Pectens of greater gravity they 
choose to romp unseen, and play their gambols in the 
deep.” The ancients believed that by flapping their 
valves, by a very quick motion, thej^ could “ rise up 
from their beds in the deep and navigate the surface, 
having one valve raised and exposed with its con- 
cavity to the breeze, while the other remained under 
the water, and answered the purpose of a keel, by 
steadying the animal and preventing its being over- 
set.” — {Johnston.) The sailing part of this account, as 
Dr. Johnston observes, is no doubt an embellishment 
thrown in by way of effect ; but there is no doubt these 
animals do possess the power of leaping to a consider- 
able distance, and M. Lesson tells us that he has seen 
them leap out of the water by striking their valves 
rapidly together. When deserted, too, by the tide on 
any occasion, they will tumble forward by the same 
kind of movement, until they have regained tlie water. 
Fabricius, in the Fauna of Greenland, tells us that the 
northern species, Pecten isla7idicus, which is used as 
food by the natives, is often cooked with difficulty, for 
if the shell is put into the pot alive it leaps out of it 
again. Several species are used as food. The Pecten 
{Janira) maximus is often, in England, pickled and 
barreled for sale, and P. opercularis is a common 
article of food in Scotland. The shells, too, of some of 
the species are employed as useful articles. They are 
used as spoons ; and “ in the days when Ossian sang, 
the fiat valves of the Scallop (P. maximus) were the 
plates, and the hollow ones the drinking cups, of Fingal 
and his heroes ; hence the term shell became expres- 
sive of the greatest hospitality.” — {Johnston.) The shell 
of Pecten {Janira) Jacobceus, St. Jarhes’ shell (Plate 
11, fig. 23), was worn as the emblem of the pilgrim 
journeying to the Holy Land. It was worn fixed to the 
hat in front, and became the badge of several orders of 
knighthood ; for, as Moule in his “ Heraldry of Fish” 
remarks, “ when the monks of the ninth century con- 
verted the fisherman of Gennesaret into a Spanish war- 
rior, they assigned him the scallop shell for his ‘ cog- 
nizance.’ ” The family contains several genera — Pecten, 
Janira, Amusium, and Pedum. 
Family — LIMADHH ( The File-shells). 
The File-shells have their shells always white and 
gaping at the sides. The valves are equal, obliquely 
oval, and the beaks are apart and eared. The hinge 
is without teeth, the area triangular, and the cartilage 
pit central. The surface externally is usually grooved 
in a radiating manner, and some of the species are 
covered with a thin brown epidermis. The species 
are not very numerous. They are active creatures, 
and possessed of such locomotive power that Messrs. 
Quoy and Gaimai’d tell us they were obliged to run 
after tliem in order to catch them. Mr. A. Adams, in 
describing the habits of some foreign species which 
he had watched amongst the Philippine Islands, says 
— “The Limse usually live quietly at the bottom with 
the valves widely extended and thrown flat back, like 
the wings of certain butterflies when basking in the 
sun ; but when disturbed they start up, flap their light 
valves, and move rapidly through the water by a con- 
tinued succession of sudden jerks. The cause of alarm 
over, they bring themselves to an anchor by means of 
theii provisional byssus, which they seem to fix with 
much care and attention, previously exploring every 
part of the surface with their singular leech-like foot. 
When many hundreds of these curious bivalves are seen 
at the bottom of clear pools, .surrounded by living 
branches of party-coloured coral, their crimson-spotted 
mantles and delicate spiral appendages that fringe the 
edges cause them to exhibit a very rich and beautiful 
appearance.” Our British species are described as 
equally beautifid. Dr. Landsborough, in his delightful 
little book, “ Excursions to Arran,” tells us that he had 
an opportunity of watching the movements of the 
common Lima Mans (or tenera) in Lamlash Bay. 
When put into a jar of sea-water, he says, this Lima 
“ is one of the most beautiful marine animals you can 
look upon. The shell is beautiful ; the body of the 
animal within the shell is beautiful; and the orange 
fringe-work outside of the shell is highly ornamental. 
Instead of being sluggish, it swims about with great 
vigour. Its mode of swimming is the same as that of 
the Scallop. It opens its valves, and suddenly shutting 
them expels the water, so that it is impelled onwards 
or upwards ; and when the impulse thus given is spent 
it repeats the operation, and thus moves on by a suc- 
cession of jumps. When moving through the water in 
this way, the reddish fringe is like the tail of a fiery 
comet. The filaments of the fringe are probably use- 
ful in catching its prey. They are easily broken off, 
and it is remarkable they seem to live many hours after 
they are detached from the body, twisting themselves 
like so many worms.” These very interesting little 
mollusks also spin for themselves a nest or artificial 
burrow in which they live gregariously. This kind of 
nest is composed of sand and fragments of coral and 
shells united together by means of their temporary 
byssus. “ The coral nest,” saj's Dr. Landsborough, “ is 
curiously constructed, and remarkably well fitted to be 
a safe residence for this beautiful animal {Lima Mans). 
The fragile shell does not nearly cover the mollusk — 
the most delicate part of it, a beautiful orange fringe- 
work, being altogether outside of the shell. Had it no 
extra protection the half-exposed animal would be a 
tempting mouthful, quite a bonne bouche to some prowl- 
ing haddock or whiting ; but He who tempers the wind 
to the shorn lamb teaches this little creature, which 
he has so elegantly formed, curious arts of self-pre- 
servation. It is not contented with hiding itself among 
the loose coral, for the first rude wave might lay it 
naked and bare. It becomes a marine mason and 
