578 Anatomy of the Lamellibranchiata. 



Art. II. — On the Anatomy of the Lamellibranchiate Conchiferous 

 Animals. By Robert Garner, Esq. F.L.S.* 



Whilst the study of Conchology, or of the differences of the 

 testaceous coverings of the molluscous classes, with a view to 

 their recognition, independently of all consideration of the 

 animals which inhabit them, has been cultivated with great 

 ardour, the anatomy of the soft parts or organs contained in 

 the shells, the study of their functions, and of the varieties of 

 form in the animal giving rise to the great diversity of the co- 

 verings, has been comparatively neglected. Thus in the la- 

 mellibranchiate Conchifera, the subjects of this paper, no 

 addition, with the exception of the partial labours of Cuvier,t 

 Bojanus,t Home,§ and Blainville,|| has been made to our 

 zootomical knowledge, since the publication of the great work 

 of Poli.H Whilst the shells of every locality, and of every 

 geological formation, are collected and studied, the inhabit- 

 ants of many of those of our own country are unknown : and 

 foreign shells are seldom brought hither in an unemptied state, 

 or, if so, are consigned unexamined to our museums. Hence 

 the errors seen in most conchological works, and the imper- 

 fect understanding we have of the remarkable forms of many 

 fossil shells. A minute attention to the differences of shells 

 is of the greatest importance, particularly in a geological 

 point of view ; but the organization of the soft parts is equally 

 interesting. The character of all the genera of recent shells 

 might, and should be mainly derived from internal structure. 

 From such considerations alone can they be well arranged. 

 There is an organization of the soft parts peculiar to each im- 

 portant difference of the calcareous envelope. 



The class of Acephala — those Mollusca destitute of a head, 

 having the mouth situated in a more or less closed cavity, 



* Communicated by the author. An abstract of this memoir has appear- 

 ed in the ' Transactions of the Zoological Society,' vol. ii. pt. 2, p. 87. — Ed. 

 f ' Le§ons d' Anatomie Comp.' and 'Regne Animal,' t. iii. 

 I' Journal de Physique,' t. lxxxix. 

 §'Phil. Transactions,' and 'Lect. on Comp. Anatomy.' 

 ||' Manuel de Malacologie,' * Journ. de Physique,' t. lxxxix., and 'Annales 

 des Sciences Naturelles,' t. xiv. 

 U* Testacea utriusque Sicilise.' Of the older anatomists the following may 

 be mentioned. Dicquemare, on the oyster, 'Phil. Trans.' 1786; Heyde, 

 'Anatomia Mytuli, &c.' 1684 ; Lister, 'Exercit. Anat. tert.' and 'Anatomy 

 of the Scallop, Pectunculns, Oyster, Pholas, &c.' 1696; Mery, sur la Moule 

 &c. 'Acad, des Sciences,' 1710 ; Pinel, sur 1' Huitre, ' Bull. Soc. Phil.' No. 

 20 ; Poupart, sur les Bivalves, ' Mem. Acad. Sciences Par.' 1706 ; Reau- 

 mur, id. loc. 1710-11-17 ; Willis, ' De Anima Brutorum.' 



