362 Oh the Zoology of Tenasserirn. , [April, 



seems to be new. But, as I before said, almost every reptile and fish 

 of the Tenasserirn coast must necessarily be so. 



In the Invertebrata, a still wider field opens before the enterprising 

 naturalist, in the seas, and on the coasts you are about to visit. The 

 Cephalopodous and Fteropodous Mollusca may be said to be unknown. 

 The terrestrial and fluviatile Acephalous, and G aster op odous sections of 

 the same class are equally so. So extreme is the ignorance of naturalists 

 of the Indian animals of this class, that one of the most eminent English 

 writers in a late work expresses his surprise that the rivers of the east 

 should have produced but six or seven species of shells, while those of 

 America are known to contain upwards of 150. In my cabinet there 

 are not less than 28 species of fluviatile shells, 20 of which I have found 

 ^n the tanks and nullahs in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, anoMn the 

 river Hoogly, a fact sufficient to prove the fault is not in nature. 



In marine Mollusca the rarest, and most beautiful, genera are natives 

 of our Indian " narrow seas" as well as of the Indian ocean. The genera 

 Conus, Volutn, Harpa, Scalaria, Dolium, Venus, Isocardia and many 

 others are to be found there, rich in species, which require only a careful 

 collector to bring them to notice. Many species of the genus Patella 

 and its congenera from the coast of Arracan, were presented to me by 

 Mrs. Halhed. And, not to dwell upon this part of the subject, we 

 may venture to say, that by a careful dredging for marine, a diligent 

 search for terrestrial and fluviatile shells, and by hanging out a tow line 

 on your voyage for Pelagic mollusca, you will be able to make a splen- 

 did collection of new genera, and new species in this most beautiful 

 branch of natural history. 



Of the Crustacea, Arachnida, Insects, and Zoophytes upon our coasts, 

 our ignorance is more than equal to what it is of the Mollusca, while to 

 attempt to enumerate even the genera you will meet with, would extend 

 this paper beyond all reasonable limits. Besides, my remarks must be 

 for the most part merely conjectural, and you will, of course, gather all 

 you meet with, and particularly inquire after any curious in themselves, 

 or useful in medicine and the arts. Among the former the phospho- 

 rescent Pennatulce are natives of the Straits of Malacca ; but whe- 

 ther of the European species or not, I am not informed. Of the 

 latter, some species of Cantharidse are met with, in numbers suffi- 

 cient to be used in blistering ; and other insects may be known to the 

 natives of real, or fancied, specific virtues : if so, such should be inquired 

 after: I may also mention the Cochineal insect (Coccus cacti, Linn.) 

 which some think may after all be found in India, though from its place 



