184 INTRODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY. 



of ocean. But let not him who is confined to inland 

 scenes lament that these researches exceed his fortune or 

 powers of exertion. The mossy lanes which surround his 

 quiet dwelKng;, or the river that waters liis native town, will 

 afford subjects of investigation and improvement. In the 

 shady recesses of the one, or on the margin of the other, 

 he may learn to acknowledge that the wonders of creation 

 are inexhaustible. 



For my own part, when I hear of mollusks being able 

 to suspend themselves by means of silken threads from the 

 branches of trees, in order to escape the rapacious grasp of 

 their enemies, or when I watch the common snail slowly 

 ascending the cavernous trunk of some aged tree, or climb- 

 ing up a garden wall, without the aid of wings, or feet, or 

 thread, solely by the aid of muscular contraction and dila- 

 tion, and consider the secret spark of life which is in each 

 of them, — that Avliere we look for absolute destitution, and 

 can reckon upon nothing but wants, some admirable con- 

 trivance amply compensates for every apparent deprivation, 

 preserving them, and their still more feeble offspring, — my 

 mind is carried up to the praise and adoration of that 

 Gracious Being, whose wisdom, beneficence, and power, are 

 thus conspicuous in the humblest of his works. 



