PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



IT has been objected to these Lessons, that 

 the children are instructed in the system of Lin- 

 naeus, one confessedly imperfect, instead of that 

 of Lamarck, which has been drawn out since the 

 science has been enriched by modern discoveries. 

 This objection would be most reasonable if the 

 chief aim proposed in the work had been to 

 teach the science of conchology, but it is in 

 fact simply what its name imports, LESSONS ON 

 SHELLS ; having for its object, to develope 

 children's powers of observation, comparison, 

 and classification : and to cultivate habits and 

 tastes, which may in after life lead to a more 

 correct and scientific study of the subject. In- 

 tellectual power and not knowledge, being the 

 desideratum, that system should be pursued, 

 which the children can work out ; and there can 

 be no doubt that the Linnrean is the best adapted 

 for this purpose. The genera of Lamarck are 

 principally determined by the animal which the 

 children could not, with the exception of a very 



