SCALLOP SHELLS.
Several species of Scallop Shells are found scattered about on our shores; they belong, as before stated, to the family Pectinidæ, the meaning of which term has been already explained. These shells were called by Cuvier “the Butterflies of the Ocean,” on account of the various and beautiful colours which they exhibit. Some of them are exceedingly thin, and brittle as glass; one species found in the Arctic regions, is as transparent as that substance, and is therefore called P. vitreus, from the Latin for glass, which is vitreum. One of the commonest of our native Scallops is the St. James’ Cockle, (P. Jacobœus;) this shell is found in great plenty along our southern coasts; it is often referred to by old writers, on account of having been commonly worn in the hats of pilgrims to Palestine, or the Holy Land, as the scene of our Saviour’s life and death was called. Sir Walter Raleigh, in his poem called “The Pilgrimage,” thus enumerates the different articles considered necessary for a Palmer, as these pilgrims were termed:—
“Give me my scallop shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to lean upon,
My scrip of joy, (immortal diet,)
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope’s true gage,
And thus I’ll make my pilgrimage.”
This Mollusk, it may be noticed, like many other bivalves, has a flat, and a concave or hollow shell: in early times when plates and drinking vessels were not so plentiful as they are now, one of these served the former purpose, and the other the latter; thus, in speaking of a feast, a Gaelic or Scottish bard has said—
“The joy of the shell went round.”
Sometimes the species termed Pecten opercularis, was used as the pilgrim’s badge; the specific name comes most likely from the Latin operculum, whose meaning has been explained.
This too, is a common British shell, as is also the little speckled Scallop, (P. varia,) which may be found on almost any part of the coast where the water-line is margined with a sandy ridge. The shells are generally about two inches long, of various colours, clouded, speckled, and marked with about twelve ribs. There is a foreign species called the Flounder Scallop, P. pleuronectes, which is remarkable for having the two valves of the shell of different colours, the upper one being of a rich reddish brown, and the lower one white: the specific name has reference to this, being compounded of the Latin pleura—something double, and necto—to join. The fish called the Flounder, is brown above and white beneath, hence the English name of this shell. The preceding engraving of the Common Scallop, viewed from the front, shows the flat and concave form of the two valves of this shell, and also the depth of the indentations or ridges.