C O N C H O L O G Y. 



Ill 



in point of size, some species of European Helix ex- 

 ceed those of the warmer latitudes ; the Tcstacclla may 

 be said to live almost underground ; and hot springs, 

 and the bituminous waters of the Dead Sea, are not 

 without testaceous inhabitants. Extremely interest- 

 ing conclusions will, sooner or later, be drawn, as the 

 science of malacology becomes better understood ; 

 respecting the diminution of species, the limits of 

 their variations, and to what extent the individuals 

 are modified by local circumstances in the places they 

 inhabit. Many shells are of a very large size, while 

 others are invisible to the eye. In the formation 

 and arrangement of collections of shells, merely as 

 objects of natural beauty, they cede to no portion of 

 nature's productions ; and, unlike every other branch, 

 they possess this immense superiority, that with a 

 very moderate degree of care, they may be preserved 

 comparatively uninjured for centuries, losing nothing 

 of their substance, and but little of their colour. 



How truly the naturalist, Pliny, says " What can 

 be more wonderful than to view nature in all her 

 irregularities and sports in her variety of shells ; such 

 a difference of colour and of figure do they form, flat, 

 concave, long, lunated, drawn round in a circle, the 

 orbit cut in two ; some are seen with a rising on the 

 back, some smooth, some wrinkled, toothed, striated, 

 the point variously intorted, the mouth pointed like a 

 dagger, folded back, bent inwards ! All these 

 creatures, and many more, furnish at once novelty, 

 elegance, and speculation. While I thus contem- 

 plated nature, she wrought in me a persuasion that I 

 should look upon nothing as incredible that related 

 to her." What, indeed, can surpass the freaks and 

 vagaries exhibited by nature in this portion of the 

 creation ? For, whether we admire the graceful 

 symmetry of some, or the grotesque deformity of 

 others, the delicate sculpture, or the rude furrows, 

 the exquisite pencilling and vivid tints, or the bold 

 marking and sombre hue of shells, we are lost in 

 admiration, and the contemplative mind is roused to 

 adore the infinite wisdom that has called all these 

 creatures into existence, and the interest they excite 

 induces us to attempt in some degree to account for 

 their uses. Thus conchology is raised to a more 

 important rank in the march of intellect than it has 

 hitherto occupied in public estimation. We hourly 

 begin to develope new features in its study leading 

 to philosophical results never before contemplated ; 

 and though our progress is so much restricted by 

 circumstances, it will be rendered the more secure 

 from being progressive, and founded upon repeated 

 observation ; we are involuntarily led to assign 

 causes for the effects, and some insight is gained 

 into phenomena that at a first glance appeared most 

 marvellous. Marvellous in truth they must always 

 remain as regards the power and wisdom that gave 

 them life, and invested them with given functions in 

 the scheme of creation. It is, however, to their 

 mechanical structure, if we may be allowed the 

 expression, that our remark applies. In this the 

 exercise of that most invaluable of all gifts, common 

 sense, combined with the tolerably accurate observa- 

 tion of our visual organs, is all that is necessary to 

 those who have not had the additional advantages of 

 an education directed to the improvement of these 

 observations upon anatomical data. This is, how- 

 ever, of the less importance in conchology, treating it, 

 as we now do, as a separate science, and solely 

 applicable to shells, in which point of view nine-tenths 



of our readers will value it, if they value it at all ; 

 but they must not forget that, as a science, it is most 

 incomplete, imperfect, and artificial ; if the animals 

 themselves are not to be studied in connexion with 

 their coverings, for they ought not, and cannot pro- 

 perly be separated., without violating every principle 

 of natural history, and rendering this branch no more 

 than a classification of differently-shaped pieces of 

 carbonate of lime. 



It being demonstrable that shells are formed on 

 the model or naked body of the animal construct- 

 ing them, every portion or inequalty of surface these 

 bodies present must necessarily cause either depres- 

 sions or protuberances on the exterior of their shells 

 corresponding with them ; whereas, in the simple 

 snail, these do not exist, or in other shells which have 

 only little elevated knobs, or regular grooves, bands, 

 &c., we easily may conceive how the surface of the shell 

 corresponds with the exterior of the animal's body : and 

 when we examine shells constructed like the Scalaria 

 preliosa (Wentletrap), or the Harpa (Harp), and 

 others of a similar character, we observe the cover- 

 ing of an animal whose periodical increase is distinctly 

 marked by the lip or termination of each addition to 

 its original size. This forms what may, for the sake of 

 description, be termed ribs, when placed longitudinally 

 from the apex to the base, as in the Harpa, or rings, as 

 in the Scalaria ; and here we only want the opportunity 

 of ascertaining the time occupied in constructing each 

 of these additional portion?, to determine the age of 

 the shell. This remark also applies both to bivalve 

 and univalve shells. But when we examine a shell set 

 with spines, or foliated processes, we for a moment 

 hesitate to believe that such was formed in the 

 animal's body ; and here the exercise of common 

 sense is necessary to explain, in the absence of the 

 animal, that which appears inconsistent with the 

 theory laid down ; our reasoning faculties are called 

 into action, and we observe, that in the early stage 

 of growth, many species of shells differ widely from 

 their mature formation, many instances of which may 

 be named in the genera Strombns, Ptcroceras, Ranellrt, 

 CuprcEa, &c., not to mention numerous bivalve shells 

 whose valves are variously provided with spines, 

 arched scales, &c. When such are met with, it is 

 obvious that their formation has been caused by the 

 necessity the animal feels of having certain corre- 

 sponding organs protected, either wholly or partially. 

 In the first period of growth, these organs, not having 

 reached the full term of their development, the shelly 

 matter extended no further than was required, for 

 nature, in her operations, never squanders the mate- 

 rials she employs to cany them into effect ; she 

 always adopts the shortest way of going to work, 

 having no ulterior object to guide her course than 

 necessity ; but that hard taskmaster never drives 

 her from an uniform progress. Combined with the 

 strictest economy both of time and matter, everything 

 in creation hastens on, by regular stages, to iis 

 utmost state of perfection or maturity there stops 

 ever after sinking into gradual decay. The purposes 

 of its animal existence daily become more feeble, till 

 they are altogether extinguished by death. Thus, in 

 the genera we have just named, the claws, spiny 

 processes, or terminal bands, could not have been 

 formed from a calcareous deposit on the body of the 

 animal, properly so called ; but we can easily account 

 for their formation, particularly if we have the advan- 

 tage of examining the young and the adult shell at 



