Mollusks. 2233 



the scattered rays of light into a single point. Much, however, of the value of a mo- 

 nograph must depend on the author : he is not merely a describer, but a compiler, and 

 it is most essential that he possess an intimate acquaintance with his subject ; for to 

 describe, however accurately, without a knowledge of prior descriptions (if such exist), 

 is mere waste of time, and to compile without a knowledge of the species intended by 

 the authors cited is mere dishonesty ; for guess-work is thus put forth in the garb of 

 fact. Mr. Wood's volume is free from these errors : he is evidently master of his sub- 

 ject ; and although he seems to find a difficulty in expressing himself clearly, there is 

 sterling good sense at the bottom of all his observations. 



It has lately become fashionable to deride all attempts at the classification of Mol- 

 lusca by means of their shells ; but I incline in this, as in many other instances, rather 

 to side with the derided than the deriders, simply because the figure and structure of 

 the shell may always be ascertained as a fact, while the figure and structure of the 

 animal must often remain a matter of speculation. I am aware that it is much easier 

 to attain a superficial knowledge of the animal than an intimate knowledge of the 

 shell : in the one case a few vague descriptions have to be perused ; in the other, a 

 multitude of individuals must be carefully and critically examined. 



Mr. Wood observes that " considerable difficulty has been experienced in selecting 

 an order of arrangement for the shells described. An immense mass of information 

 regarding the soft parts of Mollusca has been obtained within the last few years ; and 

 the animal inhabitants of no less than five thousand species are now known and have 

 been examined; yet notwithstanding this additional information, we are still without 

 a natural classification to which anything like a general concurrence appears to have 

 been given ; and it is only necessary to compare such as have been most recently pub- 

 lished on the Continent with those of our own naturalists in England, to observe the 

 great dissimilarity between them. It has therefore been thought most advisable to em- 

 ploy the old artificial arrangement, with some slight modifications." This shows 

 plainly enough that the knowledge of the animal is not yet sufficiently advanced to be 

 available even to a practical naturalist like Mr. Wood. 



In speaking of the tendency to evade the labours of science as fashionable, I must 

 admit that we have many honorable exceptions : there are men now living and 

 working who know of no short cut to proficiency in knowledge, — who labour with a 

 zeal and earnestness of purpose that has rarely been equalled, never surpassed: 

 these, the working bees of science, stand out in happy contrast to the sybaritic 

 mass, the show-philosophers, who annually perambulate the country with parade 

 and feasting. Mr. Wood is one of the working bees, and his volume is evidently the 

 result of great labour and research, — a fact that will be sufficiently manifest to my 

 readers, when I state that one hundred and fifty works are referred to, more than six 

 hundred figures given, and the species which they represent carefully and minutely 

 described : of course the number of figures considerably exceeds that of species, as in 

 many instances the same shell is given in different positions and under different con- 

 ditions of age and size. The figures are by G. B. Sowerby, whose name alone is a 

 voucher for their excellence. 



The following quotations set forth the plan of the work : — 



" The first portion of the present work contains descriptions of univalve shells, or 

 the calcareous remains of Gasteropodous Molluscs. The great variety of forms pre- 

 sented by the testaceous coverings of this class of animals depends upon the height or 

 length of the cone. This ranges through every degree of angularity, from the nearly 



