MELVILL: JBRITISH PIONEERS liST CONCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE. 21 7 



Mr. Samuel Porter Woodward, born 1822, son of an 

 eminent Norwich antiquarian, early took interest in geology, 

 and more particularly fossil mollusca. He succeeded Searles 

 Wood in his position at the British Museum, and accepted 

 many important posts, amongst others the Secretaryship of the 

 Geological Society. In 185 1 he commenced his " Manual of 

 the Mollusca," which was completed in three parts in 1856. His 

 work was immediately accepted as the best text book for the 

 science, having run through four editions, the latter being 

 augmented, with an appendix by Prof Ralph Tate. The system of 

 classification followed was that advocated by Prof Edward 

 Forbes, and the same scheme was employed by Prof (now Sir 

 Richard) Owen in his articles on " Mollusca," in the viii. ed. 

 Encyclopcedia Britannica, 1858. M. Paul Fischer's "Manual de 

 Conchyliologie,' 1887, may be considered the latest exponent, 

 with many emendations and alterations in systematic arrange- 

 ment, of Mr. Woodward's treatise. Prof Woodward died at 

 Heme Bay, at the early age of 44, June nth, 1865, just two 

 months before Mr. Hugh Cuming. 



The principal Indian malacologist of this period was Mr. 

 W. H. Benson, who between 1842 and 1865 described many 

 land and fluviatile shells from that country, Burmah, and 

 Ceylon, also several from Western and Tropical Africa. 



To the Rev. Richard T. Lowe is due the differentiation 

 of the land molluscs and marine shells of the Madeiras, Porto 

 Santo, and the Desertas; likewise in company with Mr. Vernon 

 Wollaston of many species of land shells in the Canary Isles 

 and Morocco. He was, unfortunately, lost with all on board 

 on his return to Madeira from England in April 1874, aged 72 

 years, having left unfinished his "Flora of Madeira," (complete 

 so far as the Solanaceae) and one other work, " Primitise et 

 Novitise Faunae (Malacolog.) et Florae Maderte et Portus 

 Sancti" (185 1). 



In 1855 Mr. W. Clark published "British Marine Tes- 



