THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



CONCHOLOGICAL JOTTINGS. 



By ALBERT H. WATERS, B.A., M.C.S., &c. 



Deftly wrought by Hand invisible, 

 Painted and sculptured by th' unseen Power which works 

 In all things living, and fashions out their shapes. 

 The calcine atoms drawn by that mysterious Force, 

 Through which th' Almighty works, each to its proper place 

 Builds up by slow degrees, the shell whose shape 

 And beauty we admire. 



The Science of Conchology is one which possesses great charms for me, and 

 I have been a shell collector the greater part of my life. I am thinking that 

 possibly there may be a few Conchologists among the readers of the Young 

 Naturalist, and if so, the few random notes contained in the present paper 

 may be of interest to such ; possibly, moreover, I may induce some Young 

 Naturalists who have not taken up the study, to do so. 



The Science of Conchology is not open to the reproach which the unthink- 

 ing portion of the public, levels at many other " Ologies," namely that it is a 

 useless pursuit, for when one considers how many molluscs, such as whelks, 

 periwinkles, mussels and oysters, are articles of food of no slight importance ; 

 and when one bears in mind the economic value of the pearl-bearing species, it 

 must be admitted that the man who studies their habits and the causes 

 which influence their increase or diminution, is. doing good service to the 

 community at large. 



I shall not enter into statistics in the present paper, or I might try to esti- 

 mate how many tons of the edible molluscs, are annually, dredged up from 

 the deep sea, or gathered by hand from the rocks at low tide, I might endeav- 

 our to reckon up how many persons obtain their livelihood by capturing them. 

 It would be all very interesting no doubt, but I forbear ; my concern is with 

 the creatures themselves. 



I think a shell -hunt on a sandy beach after a storm is a most enjoyable 

 occupation. The billows in their raging fury, have torn from the recesses of 

 the deep, many and many a cunningly wrought shell, and they lie stewn on 

 the strand with masses of seaweed, star-fish, jelly-fish, sea-anemonies, crabs, 

 and many other things, all interesting to the naturalist. I have paid many 

 a visit at the time of the equinoctial gales, to that large bay opening out of 

 •the North Sea on the eastern coast of England, and known as The Wash. 

 It is a region having a rich marine fauna and one which I believe has not yet 

 been fully described. I have been working at it myself for some time and 

 possibly when my notes are more advanced, I may give them to the world 



