COMMON SEA-SHELLS 
-OF- 
CALIFORNIA. 
CHAPTER I.* 
SHELLS — MOLLUSKS — CLASSIFICATION — STRUCTURE OF 
GASTEROPODS AND LAMELLIBRANCIIS — PARTS OF THE 
SHELL. 
W HO has not been struck with the beauty of 
sea-shells ? The little child has them 
among his choice playthings ; boys and girls put 
them in their little cabinets ; the savage uses them 
for money; the lady welcomes them as decorations 
for her parlor ; the student carefully examines 
their structure ; and the scientist reads in them 
the history of the growing world. Few objects 
in nature have been more widely diffused or more 
universally admired. 
This general interest in shells naturally leads 
the thoughtful mind to study their nature and 
classification, and it is with a view to help those 
whose opportunities for such studies are few, that 
this little volume is prepared. 
