CHAPTEE VI. 



THE MOLLUSCS, ETC. 



The curious floral forms of the Zoophytes have, 

 as yet, attracted the greatest degree of attention 

 among the constructors of marine Aquaria ; yet other 

 forms of ocean life offer equal, if not superior, 

 opportunities for curious observation, and are equally 

 well calculated to bear the confinement of the tank. 

 Among them all, none more than the Molluscs, 

 especially the shell-bearing division, which merits 

 the careful attention of the student of Nature, as 

 forming some of her most singular manifestations. 



The knowledge of the nature and structure of 

 many of the most curious shell-bearing Molluscs is of 

 very recent date, with the exception of those which 

 possess obvious qualities which have fitted them for 

 articles of diet or commerce; such as the Oyster, 

 Mussel, Cockle, &c., as eatable species — and the 

 Purples, Sepias, and Cuttle-fish, as containing valu- 

 able dyes. With the exception of such as these, the 

 pearl-yielding Bivalves, and a few others, nothing 

 was known, with a few remarkable exceptions, of 



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