GUPPY EDIBLE MOLLUSKA. 
29 
cc 
Martinique. However this mollusk, like all others except the 
oyster, requires to be well cooked to he palatable. Some other 
bivalves are common in the market, notably Mytilus brcisiliensis 
and Venus granulata. These are plentiful on muddy bottoms in 
the Gulf. Other species of Venus are eaten, but are not found in 
quantity. The North American clams belong to the genus Venus, 
though placed by some systematists in a separate division ”(or 
subgenus) from our species. The chipchip (Donate) miscalled 
Tngonia by E. L. Joseph and (following him) by Kingsley, is 
largely harvested on sandy beaches. The origin of the error in 
the name doubtless is that one of our bivalves common on the 
east coast but rare in the Gulf belongs to a group called Trigona, 
but I have not ascertained that it is eaten nor does it live between 
tide marks as the Donate does. A portion of the sea beach 
between the Nariva Cocal and the mouth of the Ortoire is chiefly 
composed of fragments of this bivalve washed up from below low 
water mark. It is a very different shell from Trigonia which in 
the living state is confined to Australian seas though in former 
geologic ages its distribution was world-wide, including the West 
Indies and Europe. 
The large bivalve named Pinna is collected for food chiefly 
in the neighbourhood of San Fernando. I have never met with 
anyone who could give me any account of its qualities. The 
commoner bivalves of which I have already spoken though not 
great delicacies, yet are sufficiently palatable to form an occa- 
sional dish at our tables. Some of them are greatly improved by 
being kept in salt water for a time that they may rid themselves 
of the sand they ingest with their food. 
Among univalves those most commonly used as food here 
are Pyrula melongcnci and P. morio. I do not And that these 
are as good eating as the bivalves. 
Nearly all the freshwater molluska And consumers. The 
large Ampullaria urceus is devoured in quantities by the country 
people and if the smaller kinds such as Amp. effusci and cornu - 
