UNIVALVES. 123 
exclaimed with devout admiration, ‘‘ All thy works 
praise thee, O Thou who madest the heavens and 
the earth, the sea and the fountains of water.’ The 
Conchologist is naturally led to these, and similar 
reflections, by the exquisite specimens of beauty and 
contrivance which crowd upon him at every step of 
his inquiry. His researches also tend further to 
convince him, that even in this department of 
natural history, the manifestations of that Benefi- 
cence are eminently conspicuous, which constrains 
every part of the creation to act in subserviency to 
the general benefit. 
The preceding divisions of Testaceze are extremely 
numerous, and abound in the most dissimilar situ- 
ations. Some inhabit ditches and stagnant waters, 
where they afford a constant supply of food to such 
birds as frequent their banks; others, no doubt with 
the same benevolent design, incrust marine plants in 
sandy barren places, near the sea; a large proportion 
remain concealed in the deep recesses of the ocean, 
where they furnish food to the finny tribes; others 
adhere to floating sea-weeds, and abundantly supply 
the wants of marine birds; and, lastly, exotic snails 
abound in many uncultivated regions of the globe, 
where they frequently afford a welcome repast to the 
fainting traveller. 
In some species of Univalves the forms of the con- 
