MOLLUSCA. 229 



Laelius and Scipio to the present time ; and it is to their 

 exertions as collectors, that the science is principally in- 

 debted for its present state of improvement. The colours 

 of shells are often so intensely vivid, so finely disposed, and 

 so fancifully variegated, that, as objects of beauty they rival 

 many of the esteemed productions of the vegetable king- 

 dom. In their forms they likewise exhibit an infinite va- 

 riety. While some consist merely of a hollow cup or a sim- 

 ple tube, others exhibit the most graceful convolutions, and 

 appear in the form of cones, and spires, and turbans ; and 

 in another division, shaped like a box, all the varieties of 

 hinge are exhibited, from that of simple connexion by a 

 ligament to the most complicated articulation. The forms 

 of shells are indeed so various, and many of them so ele- 

 gant, that a celebrated French conchologist warmly recom- 

 mends them to the attentive study of the architect. " Or," 

 says Lamark, " comme 1'extreme diversite des parties pro- 

 tuberantes de la surface de ces coquilles, ainsi que la regu- 

 larite et 1'elegance de leur distribution, ne laisse presque 

 aucune forme possible dont la nature n'offre ici des exam- 

 ples ; on peut dire que 1'architecture trouveroit dans les 

 especes de ce genre (C&rithium) de meme que dans celles 

 des pleurotomes et des fuseaux, un choix de modeles pour 

 1'ornement des colonnes, et que ces modeles seroient tres 

 dignes d'etre employes." (Annoiles du JHus. vol. iii. p. 269) 

 In this country, however, no such recommendation is ne- 

 cessary, as many of our beautiful ornaments of stucco, par- 

 ticularly for chimney-pieces, are copied from the univalve 

 testacea, and are greatly admired. 



But shells, even with all their beauty and elegance, would 

 never have acquired so much importance in the eyes of 

 amateurs, had their forms been as difficult to preserve as 



