Page:Natural History, Mollusca.djvu/269

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MUSSELS.
257

account of the quantities of this animal destroyed annually in the neighbourhood of that city. "As an article of food," he states, "there cannot be used fewer than ten bushels per week in Edinburgh and

MUSSEL.

Leith, say for forty weeks in the year; in all, 400 bushels annually. Each bushel of mussels, when shelled and freed from all refuse, will probably contain from three to four pints of the animals, or about 900 or 1,000, according to their size. Taking the latter number, there will be consumed in Edinburgh and Leigh about 400,000 mussels. This is a mere trifle compared to the enormous number