History of Conchology in the United Stales. 19 



own species ; those who have worked most ardently in his cause, 

 are therefore compelled to declare that they are unable to recon- 

 cile some of his descriptions with Mr. Poulson's shells bearing 

 the same names. 



Mr. Conrad has described the shells collected by Lieut. Lynch 's 

 Dead Sea Expedition, and he also edited Part 7th (posthumous) 

 of Say's American Conchology. 



We have purposely left till the last, in order to bring them to- 

 gether, Mr. Conrad's most important publications — three of the 

 most useful volumes on Conchology issued in America. They 

 are all out of print, and are highly valued by those fortunate 

 enough to possess copies. They consist of — 



1. "American Marine Conchology." Philadelphia, 1831. 17 colored 

 plates. 8vo, pp. 72. 



This volume contains descriptions and figures of many of our 

 common coast shells. The species, however, are different from 

 those contained in the "American Conchology" of Thomas Say. 



2. "New fresh water shells of the United States, with colored illustra- 

 tions, and a monograph of the genus Anculotus, Say. Also, a Synop- 

 sis of the North American Naiades." 16mo, pp. 76. Philad. 1834. 



This little volume contains descriptions of many new species 

 of Uniones and Melanians collected by the author, in the Ala- 

 bama River, &c. The book is poorly printed and illustrated, 

 but its contents are very valuable. 



3. "Monograph of the Family TJnionidse, or Naiades of Lamarck, of 

 North America." Issued in 12 8vo numbers, 1835-38, and illustrated by 

 colored plates. 



This is Mr. Conrad's most elaborate work. Its great value 

 consists in its illustrations of our most common and best known 

 species, but which are nowhere else figured in American publi- 

 cations. Mr. Conrad may be considered, next to Lea, the best 

 informed of living men, on our Uniones. Although he early 

 chose Geology as his life-time study, he has nevertheless made 

 for himself a reputation in recent Conchology. 



Mr. Conrad's descriptions, unfortunately, are generally quite 

 too brief, and bear evidence in many instances of haste or care- 

 lessness in their composition ; being sometimes so devoid of 

 characters, that the species would be totally unrecognizable were 

 it not for the accompanying plates. 



Amos Binney. While Lea and Conrad worthily succeeded 

 Say, in the investigation of the American Uniones, the late Dr. 

 Amos Binney, of Boston, continued the labors of our first great 

 zoologist among the Terrestrial Gasteropoda of this country. 

 To the study of these interesting shells he devoted the leisure 

 moments of his active life, for many years; and in his "Terres- 



