. The popular natural history . Zoology. 5o8 WHELKS. As a general rule, there are about a hundred rows of teeth in tlie "Wltellc^ tongue ; each row contains three teeth, and each tooth is deeply cleft into several notches, which practically gives the creature so many additional teeth. Vast quantities of Whelks are taken annually for the markets, and are consumed almost wholly by the poorer classes, who consider them in the light of a delicacy. They are, however, decidedly tough and stringy in texture, and, like the periwinkle, which is also largely eaten, are not particularly digestible.
. The popular natural history . Zoology. 5o8 WHELKS. As a general rule, there are about a hundred rows of teeth in tlie "Wltellc^ tongue ; each row contains three teeth, and each tooth is deeply cleft into several notches, which practically gives the creature so many additional teeth. Vast quantities of Whelks are taken annually for the markets, and are consumed almost wholly by the poorer classes, who consider them in the light of a delicacy. They are, however, decidedly tough and stringy in texture, and, like the periwinkle, which is also largely eaten, are not particularly digestible. The mode of taking these molluscs is very simple. Large wicker baskets are baited with the refuse portions of fish and lowered to the bottom of the sea by ropes. The ever-hungry Whelks instinctively discover the feast, crowd into the basket by thousands, and are. IMPERIAL HARP-SHELL.—(Harpa imptrialU.) taken by merely raising the laden basket to the surface and emptying it into a tub. Sometimes the Whelk is captured by the dredge, but the baited basket is the quickest and surest method. Besides its use as an arti le of human consumption, it is sometimes employed by the fishermen as bait for their hooks. The reader will doubtless have observed on the sea-shore considerable masses of little yellowish capsules, mostly empty, and so light as to be drifted on the surface of the sea like so many masses of corks. These are the empty egg-cases of the Whelk. At the proper season of the year, when the unhatched egg-clusters are flung on the shores by the gales, the little Whelks can be di-covered within the capsules, several shells being found in each case. Later in the season, the egg-capsules will be seen to be split open at one end, so as to allow the young to Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original wor
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
