PREFACE. 



The present Work has been undertaken with a view of af- 

 fording- assistance to those who m ish to become acquainted 

 with Conchology, although they may not possess much pre- 

 vious knowledge of Natural History in general. 



Many persons who spend a part of their time at the sea 

 coast every year, and collect a few shells, attracted frequently 

 in the first instance by the beauty of the objects, or mere 

 curiosity, afterwards become desirous of some information re- 

 specting them, which is not readily procured. For such per- 

 sons an introductory book is much wanted. In the year 1776 

 Da Costa published his Elements of Conchology, which is not so 

 much an introduction to the science in general, as an attempt to 

 introduce a new system of his own in some respects different fi'om 

 that of LinnEBUs, though founded principally on the same cha- 

 racters (see Transactions of the Linnaean Society, vol. 7. p. 200). 



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