1848-49 THE PRICE OF CUMING'S COLLECTION 317 



Broderip, Sowerby, Gray, Reeve, and other emi- 

 nent conchologists. . . . 



1 The value of a shell, as of a jewel, depends 

 much upon its rarity, and is to that extent artifi- 

 cial. The concha tmica, which to-day commands 

 the sum of twenty pounds, shall, next week, 

 when a score of specimens have come into the 

 market, fall in price to as many shillings. Still, 

 the commonest exotic shell, if it be perfect and 

 well coloured, and taken from a living mollusk, as 

 is the case with the Cumingian Collection, from 

 which "dead" shells have been strictly excluded, 

 finds its market. 



' I am given to understand, by competent 

 authorities, that the sum of 6,000/. asked by Mr. 

 Cuming in 1846 does not exceed two-thirds of 

 the most moderate estimate of the present market 

 value of his subsequently augmented collection. 



' That ten times that sum would not bring 

 together such a series as Mr. Cuming has offered 

 to the British Museum I do firmly believe, from 

 a knowledge of the peculiar tact in discovering 

 and collecting, the hardy endurance of the 

 attendant fatigue under deadly climes and 

 influences, and the undaunted courage in en- 

 countering the adverse elements and braving the 

 opposition of the savage inhabitants of seldom- 

 visited isles, which have conduced and concurred 

 to crown the labours of Mr. Cuming with a 

 success of which his unrivalled collection is a 



