556 
SOLEN. 
little animals are confined to sinking or rising a cer- 
tain depth in the sand, and many of them may be 
observed near low water mark with their bodies pro- 
truded out of the shell in search of food. When 
any thing approaches to disturb them, they imme- 
diately shrink back, and sink sometimes two feet 
beneath the surface. A small dimple ofi the top of 
the sand marks the place where they are to be found, 
and betrays them to the fishermen, who either dig 
them out of the sand with a shovel, or suddenly 
strike a bearded dart into them. These people 
chiefly use them for baits, but in Ireland they are 
said to be eaten, particularly in Lent and Dr. Lister 
affirms that they are nearly as rich and palatable 
as the lobster. 
None of the species of this genus are capable of 
moving in any but a perpendicular direction ; they 
are not provided with the means of leaving the spot 
where they are placed, though they are furnished 
with a kind of tongue which is greatly assistant to 
them in their ordinary motions. This useful in- 
strument is fleshy, cylindrical, and moderately 
long ; it is protruded through the end of the shell 
whenever the animal has occasion to use it, and the 
extremity is capable of being formed into different 
shapes : sometimes it assumes the figure of a 
knob, and at others is moulded into the form of 
a shovel, terminating in a point. These different 
appearances in the tongue occur at the pleasure of 
the animal, and both contribute to assist its mo- 
tions. With the tongue extended from the inferior 
