Historical Account of Testaceological Wi-iters. 187 



discovery had augmented the number of known species to a won- 

 derful degree ; and from remarking the large portion of the chain 

 of organized life occupied by these creatures, naturalists were ne- 

 cessarily led to turn their attention to facts as well as to names, 

 and to presume that many curious and important analogies, illus- 

 trative of the phnenomena of life and sensation, might be col- 

 lected from an examination of the structure and habits of so ex- 

 tensively varied a tribe. In the Mem. de I'Acad. des Sciences (a 

 work which we have so frequently had occasion to mention with 

 respect, as a repository of information highly valuable totheTes- 

 taceologist) we find a paper entitled. '' Eclaircissemens sur VOvga- 

 nizationjusqu'ici inconnue d'une Quant it e considerable de Productions 

 Animales, principakment de Coquilles des Animaux" by 



HERISSANT, 



who has subjoined to it eight excellent plates, three of which re- 

 late entirely to shells, and the other five to Madrepora, &c. The 

 matter is not wholly original; but, when we mention that it occu- 

 pies upwards of thirty pages, it Avill naturally be imagined that 

 the reader may derive advantage from its perusal : there are cer- 

 tainly many facts and speculations which have not less merit for 

 their novelty than for the utility of their application. 



The extensive collection of natural curiosities formed by 



M. DAVILA 



is described in three octavo volumes. The first of these relates 

 to the Testaceological part of the collection, which is treated gf 

 pretty conformably to the Linnean system, but wholly in French, 

 and divided into three distinct portions, viz. " Coquilles de Mer, 

 d'Eau douce, et terrestres." There are twenty-two excellent plates, 

 containing several species never before figured, and in a great 



2 B 2 measure 



