58 



CONCHOLOGY. 



ftr.,int. however, in their worVs ; but ufe the mod violent 

 iiiethoiis, ib as often to dellroy all the beauty of the (liell. 

 T!ey tile tb.eni down on all fides, and often take them to 

 thj wheel, when it mull deltioy the very charai>eis of the 

 fpt-cies. Nor do they Hop at this: but, determined to 

 have beauty at any rate, they are for improving upon na- 

 ture, and frequently add fome lines and colours with a 

 pencil, afterwards covering them with a fine coat of vnr- 

 nilh, fo that they ieemthe natural lineations of the fliell : 

 the Dutch cabinets are by thefe means made very beauti- 

 ful, but they are by no means to be regarded as iiiftruc- 

 tors iji natural hiitorv. There are fome artificers of this 

 nation who have a w.iy of covering lliells all over- with a 

 difierent tinge from that which nature gives them; and 

 the curious are often enticed by this artifice, to purchafe 

 them as great curiofities. There is another kind of work 

 beltowed on certain fpccies of fliell?, particularly the nau- 

 tilus ; namely, the engraving on it lines and circles, and 

 groups of figures, Itais, and other things. This is too 

 obvious a woik of ait to luiTer any one to fuppoii; it na- 

 tural, Buonani and Seba have figuied feveral of thefe 

 wrought ihells ; but they are now principally done in the 

 Eall Indies. 



thicker and larger bivalves; and the ifle of Cyprus is 

 famous above all other parts of the world for the beauty 

 and variety of the patella or limpets. 



America affords many very elegant fliclls, but neither 

 in fo great abundance nor beauty as the Ihores of Alia. 

 Panama is famous for the cylinders or rhombi, and we 

 have befide, from the fame place, fome good porcelains, 

 and a very fine fpec4es of dolium, or comha globo/'a, called 

 from this place the Pn}m!!:n furptc Jhell. One of the luolfc 

 beautiful of the cylinders is alio known among our natu- 

 ralirts under the name of the Panama cnmp. About Bralll, 

 and in the gulf of Mexico, there are found murices and 

 Venus fliells of extreme beauty ; and alfo a great variety 

 of porcelains, purptiras, peiStens, neritie, bucardi^or heart- 

 ftiaped fliells, and elegant limpets. The ifle of Cayenne 

 affords one of the molt beautiful of the buccinum kind, 

 and the IMid.is ear is found principally about this place. 

 Jamaica and the illand of Barbadoes have their ihorts 

 covered with porcelains, chaniK, and buccina j and at 

 St. Domingo there are found almofl ail the lame Ipecies 

 of fliells that we have from the Ealt Indies ; only they are 

 lefs beautiful, and the colours more pale and dull. The 

 pearl-oylter is found alio on this coalt, but Imaller than 



Shells are fubieS to feveral impeifeftions ; fome of in the Pcrfian gulf. At Mirtinico there are found in 



■ ■ ' ■ general the fame Ihells as at St. Domingo, but yet lefs 



beautiful. About Canada are found the violet chatuas, 

 and the lakes of that country abouml with niufcles of a 

 very elegan.t pale blue and pale red or pink colour. Some 

 fpecies of thel'e are remarkably light and thin, others are 

 very thick ami heavy. Tlie great bank of Newfoundland is 

 barren in llielh : the principal kind found there are muf- 

 cles of feveral fpecies, lor.ie ol which are of confi-.lerable 

 beauty. About Carthagena there are many mother-of- 

 pearl fliells, but they are not of fo brilli.iiit colours as 

 thofe of the Perfian gulf. The ifland of Magellan, at the 

 fouthcrn point of America, furniflics us with a very re- 

 markable fpecies of mulclc called by its name; and feve- 

 ral very elegant fpecies of limpets are found there, parti- 

 cularly the pyramidal. 



In Africa, on the coafl of Guinea, there is a prodigious 

 quantity of that fmall fpecies ot porcelain or cowry which is 

 uled there as money ; and there is another Ipecies of porce- 

 lain on the fame cojlt which is all over white ; the wo- 

 men make bracelets of thefe, and the people of the Levant 

 adorn their hair with them. The coalt of Zanguebar is 

 very rich in fliells : we find there a valt variety of the 

 large porcelains, many of them of great beauty j and the 

 nux maris, or fea-nut, is very frequent there. Befldcs 

 thefe, and m.iny other fliells, there are found on this coaft 

 all the ipccies of nautili, many of which are very elegant. 

 The Canary ifles abound with a vail variety of the mu- 

 rices, and fome other good fliells j and we have from Ma- 

 deira great variety of the echini, or fea-eggs, difl'crent 

 from thofe of the European feas. Several fpecies of muf- 

 cles are alfo common there; and the auris marina is no- 

 where more nburuiant. The Red Sea is beyond ail other 

 parts of the world abundant in Ihelis, fcarcely any kind is 

 wanting there; but what we principally have from thence 

 are the purpuix, porcelains, and echini marini. 



The Mediterranean and Northern Ocean contain a great 

 variety of fhells, and many of very remarkable elegance 

 and beauty ; they are upon the whole, however, inferior 

 to thole of the Eafl Indies. The Mediterranean abounds 

 much more in Ihells tlun the Ocean. The guif of Tarcn- 

 tum affords great variety of purpur3E, of porcelains, nau- 

 tili, and elegant oyfters ; the coalt of Na))les and Sardinia 

 afi'urd alio the fame, and with them a valt number of the 

 folens of all the known fpecies. The ifland of Sicily is 

 famous for a very elegant kind of oyller, which is white 

 all over; pinna? manna' and porcelains are alfo found in 

 great plenty there, with tellinae and cliama: of many fpe- 

 cies, and a great variety of other beautiful fliells. Coilica 

 is famous, beyond all other places, for valt quantities of the 

 pinns mannas; and many other very beautiful Ihells are 

 found there. About Syracufe are found the gondola fliell 



or 



which are natural, and others accidental. The natural 

 dcfefls are the c(l\6l of age, or difeafe in the fifli. The 

 greatelt mifchief happens to fliells by the fifli dying in 

 them. The curious in thefe things pretend to be always 

 able to dillinguifli a fhell taken up with the fifli alive from 

 one found on the fho es ; they call the tirll a If-viiig, the 

 fctond a t/eaJ, Ihcll ; and find thai the colours are always 

 much fainter in the dead Ihells. When the Ihells have 

 lain long dead on the fliores, they are Uibjei5t to many 

 injuries, of which the being eaten by fca-wurms is not 

 the leall : age renders the fineft Ihells livid or dead in 

 their colouis. 



Bcfides the imperfertions arifing from age and ficknefs 

 in tlie fifli, (hells are fubjcfl: to other deformities, liich as 

 morbid cavities, or protuberances, in parts where there 

 fliould be none. When the fliell is valuable, thefe faults 

 may be in fome degree removed, and much added to the 

 beauty of the Ipecimen, without at all injuring it as an 

 objeft of natural hiltoiy, which fliould always be the great 

 end of collecting tliele articles. The cavities may be 

 filled up with niaftic, diflolved in fpirit of wine, or with 

 jfinghils: thel'e fubflanccs mult be either coloured to the 

 tinge of the fliell, or elfe a pencil dipped in water-colours 

 mull finifh them up to the rtlcmblance of the rell ; and 

 then the whole fhell being rubbed over with gum-water, 

 or with the white of an egg, fcarcely any eye tan perceive 

 the artifice : the fame iubltances may alfo be ufed to re- 

 pair the battered edges of a fliell, provided the pieces 

 chipped oft" be not too large. And when the excrefcences 

 of a fliell are faulty, they are to be taken down with a 

 fine rile. If the lip of a fliell be fb battered that it will 

 rot admit of repairing by any cement, the whole mult be 

 filed down, or ground on the wheel till it becomes even. 



It is important r.li'o to thofe who ftudy conchology, to 

 know in what countries the fineft fliells are produced. 

 The fliores of Afia furnifli us with the pearl-oyiler and 

 efcallops, in the greatelt perfeftion. About Auiboyna 

 are found fome beautiful fpeciinens of the Venus fliell, 

 the ducal mantle, and the coral oyfters. Here alio are 

 found a great variety of extremely beautiful niufcles, 

 tellinx, and volulEe; many fine buccina, and the Ethio- 

 pian crown. The dolia, or tuns, the munces, and the 

 caflides, are likewile found on this coaft in great beauty. 

 Many elegant cochleae and fcrew-fliells are alio brought 

 from thence, and among them the wentletrap and I'pider 

 fliells. The M ildive and Philippine IflanJs, Bengal, and 

 the toalt of Malab.u', abound with the moft elegant of all 

 the fpecies of fnails, and furnilh many other kinds of 

 Ihells in great abundance and ptrfeiilion. China abounds 

 in the nneft fpecies of poicelain (hells, and has alfo a 

 great variety of beautiful fnails. Japan furnifhes all the 



