14 CONCHOLOGIA CESTRICA. 
physical, sciences, the watchword is— Onward. The 
form, the sculpture, the painting, of the shells have not 
changed; but the inquiry has gone forth —Who are 
the artistic builders of those beautiful forms? and what 
is their organic, and “fe history? To answer these in- 
quiries, they have been interrogated in every sea, on 
every shore, on the land, and in the water, and sub- 
jected to the severest microscopic scrutiny. The stores 
of information, thus brought back, whether in its vast- 
ness, or its minuteness, of detail, has been applied to 
extend, and to improve, what was already known re- 
specting the shells. This knowledge now constitutes 
CONCHOLOGY. 
But the end is not yet. The heaven-aspiring mind 
of man will not rest here, satisfied. Having thus traced 
the creature, so far as his finite powers can go, he will 
be irresistibly led, by the spiritual aspirations of his 
being, 
“To look through nature, up to nature’s God,” 
and to worship, and adore, that great, and good, Being 
whose wisdom planned, and whose power created, all 
those evidences of His omnipotence. To his mind, 
“Each moss, each shell, 
Each crawling insect, holds a rank, 
Important in the plans of Him 
Who fram’d their being.’ — Sz7/lingfleet. 

