20 History of Conchology in the United States. 



trial Mollusks of the United States," he has left us a noble monu- 

 ment of his love of the science. 



Dr. Binney became early identified with the progress of Con- 

 chological science in America ; he was one of the founders of the 

 Boston Society of Natural History, and became its president. 

 He traveled much, in the cause of science, and made large col- 

 lections ; and being a man of wealth, he employed much of his 

 means in the accumulation of a library on Conchology, which, 

 at the time of his death, was unequalled in America. 



Dr. Binney was not only a student, but a passionate lover of 

 nature, and his more elaborate papers show that he possessed a 

 genuine love of his subject, which carried him much farther 

 than the mere details of scientific description, into the investiga- 

 tion of the habits and mode of life of the Terrestrial Mollusca. 



Dr. Binney's published papers consist of five articles in the 

 Proceedings, and five in the Journal of the Boston Society of Nat. 

 History. The most important of these is, "A monograph of the 

 Helices inhabiting the United states." This elaborate and excel- 

 lently illustrated paper appeared in several successive numbers of 

 that Journal, and was afterwards expanded into a separate work, 

 entitled " The Terrestrial air-breathing Mollusks of the United 

 States," &c. This work occupied several years of its author's life, 

 in its preparation, and dying before its completion, his will was 

 found to contain liberal provisions for the continuation and pub- 

 lication of the work in expensive and magnificent style. At the 

 request of the executors, Dr. A. A. Gould assumed and excellently 

 fulfilled the task of arranging the material, completing the de- 

 scriptions, and editing the work; which was soon completed so far 

 as to permit the publication of the two volumes of text, in 1851 ; 

 but so many delays occurred in the production of the magnifi- 

 cent plates, that the third volume did not appear until 1859. 

 The large sum of ten thousand dollars was expended on the 

 four hundred copies issued of this splendid work, which were 

 given away, an offering for science ; all the prominent Conchol- 

 ogists and scientific libraries here and in Europe receiving copies. 

 They are the best epitaph of their lamented author, and will 

 keep his memory green in the hearts of men, long after the sto- 

 ried marble shall have crumbled to the earth. 



At Dr. Binney's death, his collection of Terrestrial Mollusks, 

 and library, came into the possession of his son, W. G. Binney, 

 who has happily inherited and well sustains his father's love for 

 their study. 



Joseph G. Totten, Gen. U. S. Top. Engineers, is one of the 

 oldest cultivators of the science. Many years ago, he made him- 

 self acquainted with the marine Mollusca of the New England 

 States, and was one of the first to dredge and describe new spe- 

 cies from that region. He contributed two papers to this Jour- 

 nal, [1], xxvi and xxviii, 1834-5. 



