PREFACE 



Every person interested in shells has felt the need of a man- 

 ual of the shell-bearing animals of sea and land, comparable to 

 |he comprehensive manuals provided for those who wish to study 

 ^irds or insects or trees. Small hand-books serve as guides to 

 the seashore, but they treat only detached portions of the great 

 kingdom, Mollusca. What is needed for more serious study is 

 a larger book in which the families of mollusks are arranged 

 in their proper order, to give a general idea of the size and scope 

 of the important genera, and their natural relationships. Such 

 a popular guide should give precedence to the accepted English 

 names of the families and of the individual species described, while 

 attaching to each its scientific name. It is quite possible to give 

 the general reader the information he desires in his own language, 

 without sacrifice of scientific accuracy. 



A book of this kind must be the outgrowth of extensive 

 acquaintance with living mollusks in their natural surroundings, 

 or it will be as dead as the shells in a cabinet, and dry as the 

 dust on the old shell catalogues. It must bring together as much 

 as can be found out about the habits of the mollusks described, 

 and the uses people make of them, if they have any economic 

 value. Many shells have never yet been seen alive ; others are 

 practically unknown. It is astonishing how little is known 

 about many species of mollusks. 



The standard literature of conchology has a limited circu- 

 lation. The classics are rare and sumptuously illustrated volumes 

 locked up in glass cases in the great libraries. These are out 

 of date, of course. The newer treatises are expensive and very 

 technical. Many facts of the highest interest and value are 

 hidden away in official reports of scientific expeditions, not easily 

 obtainable nor easily read by anyone untrained in the sciences. 



If I have failed in my attempt to make an interesting and 

 useful shell book, it is not because conditions were unfavorable 

 for my purpose. Everything and everybody worked together 

 to help me. 



