2 26 MELVILL: BRITISH PIONEERS IN CONCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE. 



the Government Museum, Sydney, finally returning to London, 

 where he died, 8th Oct., 1886. His descriptions of new shells 

 were mostly confined to the Australian fauna, also the land shells 

 of the Solomon Isles, Fiji, and other Pacific Islands largely 

 benefited by his experience. 



Mr. Arthur Adams in 1850 was selected to describe, in 

 conjunction with Mr. Lovell Reeve, the MoUusca of the 'Sama- 

 rang' voyage. In 1848 he had published ' Notes from a Journal 

 of Research with the Natural History of the countries visited 

 during the voyage of H.M.S. ' Samarang.' ' He was the son of 

 an architect at Gosport, Hants., born 1820, and derived his 

 artistic powers from his grandfather, Mr. Wheatley, R.A. and his 

 grandmother, afterwards Mrs. Pope, drawing-mistress to Queen 

 Caroline. He, with his elder brother Henry, born 181 3, was 

 educated at the Royal Naval School, afterwards becoming a 

 Surgeon in the Royal Navy. He also visited Japan and the 

 East, and wrote the well-known " Travels of a Naturalist in 

 Manchuria, Japan." His brother followed his father's profession. 

 In 1853 they conjointly undertook the publication of "The 

 Genera of Recent MoUusca, arranged according to their organ- 

 ization." This work contains a description and figure of each 

 genus, and an enumeration of all the species then known. It 

 was completed in 1858, and is in two volumes, octavo, letter- 

 press, and one volume plates, with beautiful figures of the shell 

 and animal, mostly taken from life by Mr. Arthur Adams when 

 on board the ' Samarang.' 



Messrs. H. & A. Adams, to use their own words, endeavour- 

 ed to group the genera in accordance with their natural affinities, 

 and the result was what might almost be called a new system of 

 classification, based doubtless on the Lamarckian, with improve- 

 ments on those of Professor Forbes and Dr. J. E. Gray. This 

 arrangement is in vogue at the present day, and is not Ukely to 

 be superseded. The genera are subdivided largely, and these 

 subdivisions are in nearly all cases still retained. Some thousands 

 of novelties were described by these energetic observers, either 



J.C, vi., Apr., 1S90. 



