Historical Account of Testaceologica! Writers. 143 
The ova of some species of Ostrea were treated of in the same 
work by 
BRACHIUS, 
whose observations, however, were very scanty, the account of 
them not extending beyond three pages. 
DU MOLINET, 
author of " Le Cabinet de la Bibliotheque de Sainte Genevieve," 
is scarcely entitled to a place among the writers who form the sub- 
jects of this paper, his work treating almost wholly of antiquities. 
Among the plates, however, (which are finely executed,) there is 
one containing twenty-one figures of shells, which are accompa- 
nied by names and concise descriptions in the French language. 
In the 17th volume of the Philosophical Transactions we find 
some communications on the subject of shells addressed to Dr. 
Lister by a naturalist of the name of 
BANISTER, 
who resided many years in Virginia ; but his descriptions are too 
vague to enable us to ascertain what species he alludes to. In 
the same volume is a " Description of certain Shells found in the 
East Indies, communicated to Dr. Lister" by 
WITZEN, 
who figured many of them, but was not sufficiently precise in his 
description to enable the reader to determine all the species. The 
best figure in the plate is that of an Ostrea found at Goa. 
A similar work to Du Molinet's was the description of the mu- • 
seum of Christian V. king of Denmark, whose librarian, 
OLIGER 
