CONCHOLOGY. 



on the under surface of the shell. There were yet two other Harps, 

 which differed in their colours and markings from the preceding ; 

 one of these had only twelve ribs, or ridges, the other thirteen. 

 The colours in one of these were paler, in the other the zic-zac lines, 

 were more contiguous, or placed closer, and the longitudinal striae 

 less distinct or prominent. And besides these, there were several 

 others, all which differed in some peculiarities of inferior moment, 

 principally in the paleness or intensity of their colours, and variations 

 in the disposition of the dark and paler spaces with which the 

 shells were marbled. 



The above series of Davila presents us with a pretty ampld 

 elucidation of the presumed varieties of that beautiful species the 

 Linnaean Buccinum Harpa. We say, only the presumed varieties, 

 because in the present state of the Conchological Science there 

 appears to be a very strong propensity among collectors to increase* 

 the number of the species, by considering every trivial variation, or 

 accidental circumstance in the growth of shells, as so many charac- 

 teristic indications of new species ; a disposition that the best Concho- 

 logists cannot but disapprove. Experience teaches us that there is no 

 class of beings in the creation, in which nature is more sportive, than 

 the testaceous tribes ; none in which a greater caution is required in 

 the precise determination of what are species and what varieties only : 

 and among other local causes the influence of climates in different 

 regions are not the least powerful in producing those variations* 

 With the best experience, and the advantage of many years assiduous 

 application, the Conchologist may be sometimes in doubt, and hence 

 it is not likely that a slight acquaintance, only, with the subject will 

 be found sufficient to enable him to pronounce with definitive satis- 

 faction the exact distinction between approximating species and tlie 



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