Malacology. 19 



its bones, because it lias none to break ; it has a 

 shell, however, which may be broken, at least in 

 some cases, for all Mollushs have not snug habita- 

 tions of the kind ; but wander about the watery or 

 earthy world in which they live, quite naked ; such 

 as the sea and land slugs, and some worms, leeches, 

 etc. ; but with these we have nothing to do, our 

 present subject including only a part of 



MALACOLOGY, 



another member of that queer ology family, deriving 

 its name from two Greek words signifying soft, and 

 a discourse ; hence it means a discourse upon soft, 

 or soft-bodied animals, that is mollusca. It is only 

 a part, then, of Malacology that we have to do 

 with ; that part which relates to the shell-inhabiting 

 mollusks, and strange creatures enough some of 

 these are. We will have a look at them presently ; 

 just now it will be sufficient to observe that the 

 mollusca testacea, or soft-bodied animals, furnished 

 with shells, possess the power of exuding, that is, 

 discharging from various parts of their bodies a 

 sticky kind of fluid, which mixing with the chalky 

 matter collected from the water, and becoming hard, 

 forms, in process of time, the shelly covering which 

 is at once a dwelling and a defence for the inhabitant. 



