norant of any systematic mode of arranging them; the 

 consequence is, they are suffered to remain in the cabinets 

 like a collection of unknown gems, whose intrinsic value 

 their proprietor being unacquainted with, they are incapa- 

 ble of affording amusement, information, or profit to him. 



Influenced by the repeated observation of the occur- 

 rence of these difficulties, it appeared desirable, that the 

 public should be put in possession of some compendious or 

 abridged treatise on Conchology, which would at once 

 enable the young student to arrange his collection syste- 

 matically, and at the same time tend to enhance the value 

 of that science, which, for want of a proper key, or book 

 of introduction, has remained too long in neglected ob- 

 scurity. 



To accomplish this, it appeared only necessary to select 

 the choicest materials contained in more elaborate works, 

 and arrange them in such order as would afford all the in- 

 struction requisite for the information and improvement of 

 the young Conchologist, in a concentrated, perspicuous, and 

 purchasable form. 



It has been made a point, throughout the work, to ad- 

 here rigidly to the Linnsean system, on the strong pre- 

 sumption, that it would always prove the surest basis on 

 which a more modern superstructure might be raised. 



