122 Dr. Ma ton's and Mr. Rackett's 
in those ages was very eonfined ; many of the mere appendages 
of testaceous animals, such as opercula and detached valves, were 
mistaken for distinct species ; and a variety of families were con- 
stituted on the most absurd principles. Yet, with all these 
defects, Testaceology experienced no improvement from the great 
Roman naturalist 
PLINY, 
who is chargeable with a greater fault than that of having left 
no better an arrangement than he found, for he seems scarcely 
to have adopted any arrangement at all. hi the 9th book of his 
Natural History he gives a pretty diffuse description of Testa- 
ceous animals, but in a very vague and unmethodical manner. In 
Pliny's time the Romans must have had considerable opportuni- 
ties of increasing their knowledge of shells, for their navigation 
had been much extended; and with respect to the Mediterra- 
nean in particular, their augmented acquaintance with its coasts 
must have been the means of importing into the capital of the 
world a great variety of new -species* The manner in which this 
diligent naturalist alludes to "the diversified form, colour, and 
magnitude of these beautiful objects, sufficiently shows that he 
had viewed no small number, and that he found in them ample 
sources of interest and admiration. 
It ought to be remarked, that there are commentators who have 
bestowed particular attention on that part of Pliny's works of 
which we have been treating, and whom the curious scholar may 
do well to consult. Among these L. Gronovius, Franciscus Mas- 
sarius*, and Klein, deserve respectful mention. There are also 
some annotations in the Leipsic Commentaries for 1773 rf-, illustra- 
tive of the Roman naturalist's terminology. 
* Basil, 1537,, 4to, t Fischer, p. 487. 
iELIAN 
