THE 



CONCHOLOGISPS TEXT-BOOK. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



CoNCHOLOGY or Testaceology, is that department of Natu- 

 ral History which treats of animals with a testaceous covering 

 or shell. 



The richness and variety of colours, the fine polish, the beauty 

 and elegance of form exhibited by shells, have always excited 

 admiration, and procured for them a conspicuous place in the 

 cabinet of the curious collector. But whatever interest the pursuit 

 of this branch of knowledge may have excited, in this point of 

 view, and the singular folly and extravagance of mankind, in the 

 high prices which have been paid for rare and beautiful shells, 

 this is the least striking feature of their history. Other and 

 more important reasons render the study of Conchology au 

 agreeable pursuit. The animals of many kinds of testaceous 

 shells furnish an excellent and nutritious food. Some tribes 

 supply the table with, a delicate luxury. Other shells, as those 

 of mother of pearl, afford materials for ingenuity and art, in pre- 

 paring it for various purposes : and the pearl itself, often the 

 rival of the most precious gems in the estimation of mankind, is 

 the production of testaceous animals. Its nature and mode of 

 formation, therefore, cannot fail to be objects of curious investi- 

 gation. Even the pernicious effects of some species of this 

 tribe of animals, demand the attention of man, in studying their 

 nature, tracing their history, and in providing a remedy against 

 their poisonous properties. The Snail ravages the garden and 

 the field, and marks its progress with the destruction of some of 

 the fairest of the vegetable kingdom ; and the Ship-worm, the 



