CONCHOLOGY, 



107 



ton, Wilson, and many others, without feeling all this, 

 and much more ? And though some twinges remind us 

 that years have rolled their weight upon us since we 

 brushed the morning dew, \ve are nevertheless carried 

 back to the halcyon days of youth, when, as we 

 bounded through the daisied mead, all nature seemed 

 decked in never-fading beauty, by such writers, the 

 rich, the marvellous storehouse of nature is opened, 

 her treasures displayed to our eager view, and from 

 " nature we look up to nature's God." It has been 

 gravely asserted, that wretched beings have existed, 

 called Atheists, and that the investigation of nature's 

 works has led to infidelity in some persons. We doubt 

 the existence of the one, and utterly deny the possi- 

 bility of the other ; but should such a species of frenzy 

 for a moment obscure the light of reason, paradoxical 

 as it may appear, we fearlessly prescribe, as the only 

 certain cure, the very supposed cause of the malady ; 

 and say, let the sufferer apply himself fearlessly to 

 the study of natural history, in all or any portion of its 

 branches, believing, as we most conscientiously do, 

 that a good naturalist can never be a bad man. Con- 

 chology, it must be confessed, does not, unfortunately, 

 present all those inviting charms in its study that the 

 other portions of the creation do. W r e cannot become 

 intimately acquainted with the habits and manners of 

 creatures inhabiting the profound depths of the ocean, 

 in which the works of nature, generally speaking, are 

 more known by accident than any other source of 

 information ; where, too, no regular train of reasoning, 

 from an observation of these animals in their native 

 element, can be pursued, beyond that afforded by an 

 examination under the most unfavourable circum- 

 stances, of a very small portion of the teeming 

 myriads that exist unseen ; and until the endless inge- 

 nuity of man shall have invented some sub-marine 

 mode of conveyance some omnibus, that will trans- 

 port us safely and speedily to the nethermost pole 

 and back again, enabling us to travel in " that world 

 that lies below the now smooth and glassy surface of 

 the deep, and the now wild and tremendous action of 

 its waters, to contemplate the varied forms, qualities, 

 and habits of its animated tenants, their subjection to 

 man, and their subserviency to his use," or to realise 

 the poet's dream, by beholding those scenes where 



The floor is of sand, like the mountain drift, 



And the pearl shells spangle the flinty snow ; 



From coral rocks the sea-plants lilt 



The boughs, where the tides and billows flow; 



The water is calm, and still below, 



1'or the winds and waves are absent there ; 



And the sands are bright as the stars that glow 



In the motionless iieldx of upper air ; 



There, with its waving leaf of green, 



The sea-flag streams through the silent water. 



And the crimson leaf of the dulse is seen 



To blush, like a banner bathed in slaughter ; 



There, with a light and easy motion, 



The fan coral sweeps thro' the clear deep sea"; 



And the yellow and scarlet tufts of ocean 



Are bending like corn on the upland lea, 



And life, in rare and beautiful forms, 



Is sporting amid those towers of stone, 



And is safe when the wrathful spirit of storms 



Has made the top of the waves his own ; 



And when the ship from his fury flies, 



Whore the myriad voices of ocean roar, 



When the wind-god frowns in the murky skies, 



And demons are waiting the wretch on shore, 



1 hen far below, in the peaceful sea, 



The purple mullet and the gold fish rove, 



Where the waters murmur tranquilly 



Through the bending twigs in the coral grove. 



PliRCIVAL. 



Till all this can be witnessed personally with as 

 much ease as we can depict them mentally, our pro- 



^ss in acquiring a perfect knowledge of this science, 

 in its extended sense, will necessarily be extremely 

 slow and uncertain. We must depend principally, if 

 not altogether, on the information derived from authen- 

 tic sources. This we should confirm by every pos- 

 sible opportunity, neglecting nothing likely to assist 

 our doing so, however insignificant it may at first sight 

 appear. More is really learned by the application of 

 common sense, though only to a limited extent, than 

 all the systems written could impart to beginners in 

 the study of natural history ; for, by actively exer- 

 cising our reasoning faculties, we determine, upon the 

 strongest grounds of rational deduction, many facts 

 but slightly defined, or wholly invisible. 



We have not, most of us, the opportunity of 

 examining with our own eyes some of the molluscous 

 animals that are within the reach of other persons, 

 many of whom, unfurtunately, know not how to 

 benefit from the opportunity ; we are therefore com- 

 pelled, in numberless instances, to take for granted 

 every traveller's tale, until the truth or fallacy of 

 it is confirmed by subsequent information ; but so 

 inherent is the vice of fiction, that very little reliance 

 can be placed upon many of the strange sights they 

 see. Mankind is also so fond of novelty, or whatever 

 partakes of the marvellous, that the every-day's 

 observation of nature's operations is neglected ; we 

 are even too indolent to examine and reason for 

 ourselves ; we prefer gleaning imperfect ideas from 

 fanciful accounts of nature, in our closet, to the 

 delight of perusing her works in the rich volume 

 every field opens to us. This obviously leads to the 

 erroneous conclusions entertained by book-naturalists 

 and book-makers, among which are some (and those, 

 too, professing to instruct the rising generation) who 

 have recently published a poetical description of 

 certain shells sailing together in little fleets -one 

 valve expanded to catch the passing breeze that 

 wafts them o'er the unruffled bosom of the vasty 

 deep of others that may be supposed to pass their 

 leisure moments in playing at leap-frog with each 

 other. But these, like all other tales conjured up by 

 the magic wand of fancy, are more entertaining than 

 true, and must be condemned in works whose object 

 should be to clothe facts in the simplest garb, divest- 

 ing them of the tinselled ornaments of fiction, which, 

 though they may dazzle for a time, shortly sink 

 before the light of truth, and are rejected as worth- 

 less. Another serious evil arises from these pretty 

 nursery tales, that of casting a doubt upon every 

 other assertion, however well founded in truth. 



An instance may here be adduced of the ease with 

 which some of the interesting operations of nature 

 can be witnessed in the portion of creation now under 

 our consideration, and amply repay us for the trouble. 

 It is afforded by the humble, persecuted, but most 

 beautiful of our native molluscs, the snail (Heli.v 

 ncinomliiC), the little creature we barbarously crush 

 beneath our feet, considering it a common enemy to 

 horticulture. When we examine its wonderful for- 

 mation, its tenacity of life, its reproductive powers, 

 an instructive lesson may be furnished to the concho- 

 logical student, most satisfactorily explaining- ihe 

 growth of the vast proportion of similarly constructed 

 shells in other genera, and 'enabling him to under- 

 stand by actual observation, and the evidence of his 

 own reason, some of nature's steps in this branch of 

 her works ; he may easily watch the various changes 

 that take place from the slight viscous covering with 



