338 LITTORINIIXaE. 



a great impulse from that valuable work, ' The British Mol- 

 lusca/ wherein the learned Professor and his coadjutor have 

 boldly broken through the trammels of the old system, and, as 

 far as possible, founded the classification on natural organiza- 

 tion, and at a great expense of arduous research, though still 

 from necessity retaining hundreds of unmeaning and worthless 

 synonyms, expunged and weeded out a multitude of exotic 

 species which disfigured and almost choked up our indigena ; 

 these are great services, and every naturalist in this line will 

 feel a lively satisfaction, that by these aids he can now pursue 

 a delightful study agreeably to the order of nature. A new 

 sera has commenced in British malacology ; it stands disen- 

 thralled from arbitrary and defective dispositions, and in future 

 will march hand in hand with its elder sister, conchology. 

 And lastly, that I may not be misunderstood on the subject 

 of the varieties, I beg to state, that I consider the mention of 

 all very desirable, and of great importance as varieties, but 

 not as species, and on this point I give an extract from a 

 deservedly high authority. M. Philippi says, " Semper varie- 

 tates sedulo notavi, hoc etiam valde necessarium duxi, cum 

 auctores qui in musseis modo conchylia describunt, id minus 

 apte facere possint, quam ille qui centena specimina in maris 

 littore ipse colligit et observat ; sed nimium plerumque colori, 

 aliisque notis variabilibus, dignitatem tribuant, aut setates 

 diversas pro speciebus diversis sumant, sicut ex. gr. multoties 

 cl. Risso fecit." This opinion is expressly given sub modo, that 

 especial care is to be taken that varieties are not inserted as 

 species. 



It now remains to illustrate by examples and impress on the 

 minds of young naturalists the value and necessity of the pre- 

 ceding observations. Perhaps a stronger case of the improper 

 multiplication of species on frivolous grounds cannot be 

 brought forward than that of the genus Anomia, which, as I 

 believe, only contains a single British species, the Anomia 

 ephippium, the mere varieties of which have constituted the 

 sixteen or seventeen species that are consigned to our concho- 

 logical annals, and are based on the arbitrary and artificial 

 distinctions of colour, the various adscititious markings, and 



