xiv PREFACE. 
his system and his fame, we are indebted, 
according to the judgment of a large majo- 
rity, for the most perspicuous arrangement 
of testaceous animals which has hitherto 
been offered to the public. His system has 
been followed in the present treatise, not 
because it is considered faultless, or inca- 
pable of great improvement, but because, 
upon the whole, it is more simple and in- 
telligible, and less likely to deter begin- 
ners, than any other with which we are 
acquainted. At the same time it would be 
blamable servility to adhere to the very 
letter of the Linnaean law ; — some of the 
terms are decidedly objectionable, and are 
therefore totally discarded ; some few sub- 
divisions of genera are added, which appear 
requisite in order to preclude the necessity 
