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THE COMMON MARINE SHELLS OF THE BOMBAY 
SHORE. 
By A. ABERCROMBIE. 
PART I, 
(Read before the Bombay Natural History Society on 6th Sept., 1893.) 
In an article which appeared in the 7th Vol. of the 4th Series of 
“Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philoso- 
phical Society,” a catalogue of about 320 species of the Marine 
Mollusca of Bombay is given; but local collectors not having all the 
advantages of museums and good books of reference cannot make much 
use of this article which is not descriptive, and the object of the present 
paper will be to give some little account of the families and species 
most common on our shore. 
The descriptions attempted must necessarily be short, and they have 
been made from as perfect and full-sized specimens as I have been able 
to obtain. Collectors must be warned against attempting the identifi- 
cation of worn and bleached specimens, and there is also often great 
variation in the colour, shape, and size of different shells of the same 
species, so that too much exactness of description must not be looked 
for. Classification proper, of course, rests upon the animal and not 
upon his shell ; but this part of the science is so intricate and so bristling 
with hard scientific terms that I leave it and content myself with an 
endeavour to deal with the shell alone. There are many shells all duly 
named and classified, the animal of which has never been seen, so that 
at least there is some excuse for the course Iam taking, and if it 
simplifies the study to beginners, it may find some favour. But if we 
set aside the question of anatomy, there is at least the live animal to 
interest us ; but here again, I am afraid, I must fail you. When obser- 
vation is possible, that is at low tides, the animal is always at rest, and 
in confinement he does not thrive, at least not under the conditions that 
I have been able to offer him. He seems also to be impressed with the 
fact that his shell has been given him by nature for protection and to 
screen him from observation, and he takes care to act up to this belief. 
I kept various specimens alive for three to four months in a small tank ; 
but what impressed me most about them was the surprising power they 
