4 



hibit ; such a difference of figure ; flat, concave, long, lunated, drawn round 

 in a circle, the orbit cut in two ; some with a rising on the back, some smooth, 

 some wrinkled, toothed, streaked, the point variously intorted, the mouth 

 pointed like a dagger, folded back, bent inward ; all these variations, and 

 many more, furnish at once novelty, elegance, and speculation." CONCHO- 

 LOGY was neglected in the darker sera which succeeded to that of classic 

 effulgence ; but in after ages as the mists of Gothic ignorance, which had 

 so long overhung the Western World, dispersed, and the light of science, like 

 the morning twilight, dawned upon the horizon of the human mind, CONCHO- 

 LOGY revived, was countenanced, encouraged, and flourished. And if in 

 later times, it resigned a preference or precedence to other sciences, in 

 conformity to the example of the great Linnaeus, who was, perhaps, less 

 favorably inclined towards the study of Shells, than any other department of 

 nature, it is pleasing to add, that since his time, this subject has been most 

 assiduously cultivated, and that by writers no less eminently qualified to exalt 

 its character than to give stability to the science itself. 



Beauty of Shells. 



The colors of Shells are often so intensely vivid, so finely disposed and 

 so fancifully variegated, that, as objects of beauty, they rival any of the es- 

 teemed production of the vegetable kingdom. In their forms they likewise 

 exhibit an infinite variety. Whilst some consist merely of a hollow cup, or a 

 single tube, others exhibit the most graceful convolutions, and appear in the 

 form of cones, and spires, and turbans ; in another division shaped like a box, 

 all the varieties of hinge are exhibited, from that of a simple connexion, by a 

 ligament, to the most complicated articulation. The forms are indeed so 

 various, and many of them so elegant, that a celebrated French Concholo- 

 gist warmly recommends them to the attentive study of the Architect. In 

 this country, however, no such recommendation is necessary, as many of our 

 beautiful ornaments of Stucco, particularly for chimney-pieces, device are 

 copied from the Univalve Testacea, and are greatly admired. 



But Shells, even with all their beauty, and elegance would never have ac- 

 quired so much importance in the eyes of mankind, had their forms been so 

 difficult to preserve, as the external coverings of the higher classes of ani- 



