SHELLS AND MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 169 



We gather up those which we find, and 

 looking at their structure would fain know some- 

 thing of the inmate of such a dwelling. All 

 nature proclaims the goodness of God. We hear 

 that the bird which wings its way over our heads 

 has a song of joy ; the bee hums delightedly by 

 us ; and the little shrimp which darts in the clear 

 pool seems full of merriment. Was the inmate 

 of the shell less cared for by its Maker ? No doubt 

 the little builder had some sense of joy, as he 

 framed from his own substance the house which 

 excites our admiration. Doubtless his existence, 

 short and sluggish as it was, had its own con- 

 sciousness of pleasure ; and obscure as is his history, 

 and little calculated as such a creature might seem 

 to perform an important part in the economy of 

 creation, yet we know that he had work to do, 

 not only for the living creatures of the sea, but 

 for the well-being of man himself. 



Those living mollusks which glide along in such 

 multitudes in the waters, are among the appointed 

 messengers of death to the smaller animals, whose 

 numbers would else exceed their destined limits ; 

 they, like other inhabitants of sea and earth, are 

 the equalisers of life and death. In their turn 

 they serve as food for the rich man, and are often 

 the only meal of the peasant, or of the savage. 

 The land bird stays his song, as he descends to 

 pick up the limpet from the rock ; and the sea 

 bird, white as the foam over which he skims, dips 

 among the shell fish for his food ; while to fishes 

 they furnish the daily meal. Thus much is evident 

 to any observing person ; but science has revealed 

 to us other important uses of shells. Those shells 

 are made of carbonate of lime, which, by some 



