PREFACE, 
Tue tracings from which these Etchings of Molluscous 
Animals have been taken, were originally made by Mrs. 
Gray, for my use, with the view of their being added to 
my collection of figures of Shells, and to aid me in their 
arrangement. Hoping that others may find such a col- 
lection of figures (many of them copied from expensive 
works, and brought together from sources not easily access- 
ible to Conchologists in general) as useful as they have 
been to myself, I induced Mrs. Gray to make slight 
etchings of them, which afforded her an interesting occu- 
pation when she has been confined to the house by ill 
health. 
Some of the earlier figures, it should be stated, were 
taken from tracings made with no intention of their being 
copied, and intended only to represent the leading features 
of the original ; and this circumstance will explain why, in 
a few instances, the etchings do not convey all the charac- 
ters of the original figure. 
As the present work has been a labour of love, in 
order to bring it within the reach of Conchologists of 
