Acclimatisation of Edible Mollusks

Abstract

A RECENT and interesting notice by Mr. F. P. Marrat of Liverpool, who is an excellent conchologist, mentions the introduction into the Cheshire coast of what he calls the “wampum clam,” or Venus mercenaria of Linné; and he concludes that there is “a fair prospect of the naturalisation, on the extensive shallow shores of Lancashire and Cheshire, of an extremely nutritious and highly esteemed food-product, new to Great Britain.” The late Prof. Gould says that this mollusk is known in Massachusetts under the name of “Quahog,” given to it by the Indians. According to him and other American writers on the subject, the true “clam” par ezcellence is Mya arenaria of Linné. I was present as a guest at one of the fashionable “clam-feasts”; but the muddy flavour derived from the habitat of that mollusk does not agreeably commend itself to my palatable recollection. However, chacun à son goÛt! Mya arenaria inhabits the western coasts of the North Pacific as well as both sides of the North Atlantic.