56 MOLLUSCA. 
able that they seem to live for many hours after 
they are detached from the body, twisting them- 
selves like so many worms.’’* 
Thus we have slightly touched a few of the 
details of the history of this great division of 
animated beings; and we discover that they are 
not less rich in interesting endowments and tacul- 
ties, In various contrivances and compensations, in 
singular habits and instincts, than other animals 
higher in the scale of organization. But it is only 
when we study the Mollusca as living beings, that 
we discover these points of varied interest. The 
mere collection of shells, however curious their 
forms and brilliant their colours, would impart 
but a small amount of knowledge when separated 
from the animals to which they belong. ‘The 
shell-collector of former days looked upon his 
drawers, if they were rich in rare species or 
varieties, as containing an assemblage of gems ; 
and, indeed, the enormous prices given for fine and 
scarce shells, joined with the surpassing beauty of 
the objects themselves, almost justified the view 
which the possessor took of his cabinet of treasures. 
They were to him really ‘les delices des yeux et 
de l’esprit ;’ and the energetic zeal with which he 
collected, and the sacrifices that he made to procure 
a fine and perfect Many-ribbed harp, a Gloria 
maris, or Cedo nulli, among the cones; an Aurora 
or Orange-cowry, a Voluta aulica, or Voluta 
Junonia, &c., were only comparable to the extrava- 
gances of those visited by the tulip mania when it 
was at its height. But though they were the 
delight of his eyes, they were, in nine cases out of 
ten, little more to the owner of them: they were 
* Excursions to Arran, p. 319. 
