LLfi AND MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS. 171 



sin -Us is riot to be procured without considerable 

 trouUe, as there are many parts of the coast on 

 which few marine shells can be gathered. They 

 are not like the wild-flowers, which grace every 

 way-side ; or the song-birds of the woodlands; or 

 th<; insects of our summer pools ; and comparatively 

 few are among the common things of earth. But 

 perhaps the study of conchology has been in 

 former times rendered uninteresting by the neglect 

 of the animal inhabiting the shell. The collector 

 had long prided himself on the beauty of the rare 

 shells brought from distant seas, or on some well 

 arranged cabinet of native species. He could des- 

 cant on their rarity and beauty of form, and tell 

 their names and classification ; but he had nothing 

 to relate of the animal within. Until the labours 

 of recent naturalists, scarcely anything was known 

 respecting the structure or habits of the shell-fish ; 

 and even yet, the details which can be given of 

 them an- very few, not only from the difficulty of 

 making observations, but from their having less 

 activity and fewer modes of life than most living 

 creatures with which we are familiar. Nor are 

 they so easy of description as are most other 

 natural objects; and the terms of science, often 

 unpleasing and perplexing to all but the student, 

 are almost necessary here, if we would convey 

 a good idea in writing, either of the animal or its 

 dwelling-place. And yet those who do examine 

 the contents of the shell find matter of deep 

 interest, and now that many are engaged in this 

 pursuit, and monographs with beautifully coloured 

 plates are publishing on different tribes of the 

 molluscous animals, we shall gradually learn more 

 of their nature and history. 



