58 CONCH 
ftraint, however, in their works; but ufe the moft violent 
methods, fo as often to deftroy all the beauty of the Ihell. 
They file them down on all Tides, and often take them to 
the wheel,-when it mult deftroy the very characters of the 
fpecies. Nor do the)' Itop dt this: but, determined to 
have beauty at any rate, they are for improving upon na¬ 
ture, and frequently add i'ome lines and colours with a 
pencil, afterwards covering them with a fine coat of var- 
nifli, fo that they feem the natural lineations of the fhell: 
the Dutch cabinets are by thefe means made very beauti¬ 
ful, but they are by no means to be regarded as inftruc- 
tors in natural hillory. There are fome artificers of this 
nation who have a way of covering (hells all-over with a 
different tinge from that which nature gives them; and 
the curious are often enticed by this artifice, to purchafe 
them as great curiofities. There is another kind of work 
bellowed on certain fpecies of (hells, particularly the nau¬ 
tilus ; namely, the engraving on it lines and circles, and 
groups of figures, ftats, and other things. This is too 
obvious a work of art to fuffer anyone to fuppofe it na¬ 
tural. Buonani and Seba have figured feveral of thefe 
wrought fhehls ; but they are now principally done in the 
Eall Indies. 
Shells are fubjeft to feveral imperfections ; fome of 
which aie natural, and others accidental. The natural 
defeCls are the. effcCt of age, or difeafe in -the filh. The 
greateft mifchief happens to (hells by the fifh dying in 
them. The curious in thefe things pretend to be always 
able to diltinguilh a (hell taken up with the filh alive from 
one found on the litotes : they call the firlt a living, the 
fecond a dead, fnell; and find that the colours are always 
much fainter in the dead fhells. When the Ihells have 
lain long dead qn the lliores, they are lubjeCt to many 
injuries, of which the being eaten by fea-worms is not 
.the leait: age renders the finelt Ihells livid or dead in 
their colours. 
Befides the imperfections a riling from age and ficknefs 
in the -filh, ihells are fubjeCt to other deformities, fuch as 
morbid cavities, or protuberances, in parts where there 
fhould be none. When the Ihell is valuable, thefe faults 
may be in (ome degree removed, and much added to the 
beauty of the fpecimen, without at all injuring it as an 
objeCt of natural hiftoi v, which lliould always be the great 
end of collecting thefe articles. The cavities may be 
filled up with maftic, dilfolved in fpirit of wine, or with 
ilinglals: thefe fubltances mult be either coloured to the 
tinge of the Ihell, or elle a pencil dipped in water-colours 
mult finifh them up to the refemblance of the rell; and 
then the whole (hell being rubbed over with gum-water, 
or with the white of an egg, fcarcely any eye can perceive 
the artifice : the fame fubltances may alfo be ufed to re¬ 
pair the battered edges of a Ihell, provided the pieces 
chipped off be not too large. And when the excrefcences 
of a (hell are faulty, they are to be taken down with a 
fine file. If the lip of a Ihell be fo battered that it will 
not admit of repairing by any cement, the whole mull be 
filed down, or ground on the wheel till it becomes even. 
It is important alfo to thofe who ftudy conchology, to 
know in what countries the finelt Ihells are produced. 
The (bores ofAfia furnifh us with the pearl-oyfter and 
efcallops, in the greatelt perfection. About Amboyna 
are found fome beautiful fpecimens of the Venus fnell, 
the ducal mantle, and the coral oylters. Here alfo are 
found a great variety of extremely beautiful mufcles, 
tellince, andvolutx; many fine buccina, and the Ethio¬ 
pian crown. The dolia, or tuns, the murices, and the 
caflides, are likewii'e found on this coalt in great beauty. 
Many elegant cochleae and fcrew-lhells are alfo brought 
from thence, and among them the wentletrap and fpider 
i f.’.eils. The Maidive and Philippine Illands, Bengal, and 
the coafl of Malabar, abound with the moft elegant of all 
the fpecies of fnails, and furnilh many other kinds of 
fit e 11 s in great abundance and perfection. China abounds 
in the finelt fpecies of porcelain (hells, and has alfo a 
great variety of beautiful (nails. Japan furnilhes all the- 
OLOG Y. 
thicker and larger bivalves; and the ifie of Cyprus is- 
famous above all other parts of the world for the beauty 
and variety of the patella or limpets. 
America affordsmany very elegant Ihells, but neither 
in fo great abundance nor beauty as the (bores of Alia. 
Panama is famous for the cylinders or rhombi, and we 
have befide, from the fame place, I'ome good porcelains, 
and a very fine fpecies of dolium, or concha glohofa, called 
from this place the Panama purple Jbeil. One of the moft 
beautiful of the cylinders is alfo known among ohr natu- 
ralilts under the name of the Panama camp. About Braid, 
and in the gulf of Mexico, there are found murices and. 
Venus Ihells of extreme beauty ; and alfo a great variety 
of porcelains, purpuras, peftens, neritas, bucarditeor heart- 
(haped Ihells, and elegant limpets, The ifie of Cayenne 
affords one of the moft beautiful of the bucciivum kind, 
and the Midas ear is found principally about this place. 
Jamaica and the ifland of Barbadoes have their Ihores 
covered with porcelains, chamje, and buccina ; and at 
St. Domingo there are found almoft all the fame fpecies 
of Ihells that we have from the Ealt Indies; only they are 
lefs beautiful, and the colours more pale and dull. The 
pearl-oyfter is found alfo on this coalt, but Smaller than 
in the Perfian gulf. At Martinico there are found in 
general the fame (hells as at St. Domingo, but yet lefs 
beautiful. About Canada are found the violet chamas, 
and the lakes of that country abound with muff les of a 
very elegant pale blue and pale r$d or pink colour. Some 
fpecies of thefe are remarkably light and thin, others are 
very thick and heavy. The great bank of Newfoundland is 
barren in Ihells : the principal kind found there are muf¬ 
cles of feveral fpeties, fome of which are of confiderable 
beauty. About Carthagena there are rpany mother-of- 
pearl Ihells, but they are not 1 of fo brilliant colours as 
thofe of the Perfian gulf. The ifland of Magellan, at the 
fouthern point of America, furnilhes us with a very re¬ 
markable Ipecies of mufcle called by its name; and feve¬ 
ral very elegant fpecies of limpets are found’ there, parti¬ 
cularly the pyramidal. 
In Africa, on the coalt of Guinea, there is a prodigious 
quantity of that fmall fpecies of porcelain or cowry which is 
ufed there as money; and there is another fpecies of porce¬ 
lain on the fame coalt which is all over white ; the wo¬ 
men make bracelets of thefe, and the people of the Levant 
adorn their hair with them. The coalt of Zanguebar is 
very rich in Ihells ! we find there a vaft variety of the 
large porcelains, many of them of great beauty ; and the 
nux maris, or lea-nut, is very frequent there. Befides 
thefe, and many other Ihells, there are found on this coalt 
all the fpecies of nautili, many of which are very elegant. 
The Canary ifles abound with a vaft variety of the mu¬ 
rices, and finite other good Ihells ; and we have from Ma¬ 
deira great variety of the echini, or fea-eggp, different 
from thofe of the European leas. Several fpecies of muf¬ 
cles are alfo common there; and the auiis marina is no¬ 
where more abundant. The Red Sea is beyond all ocher 
parts of the world abundant in Ihells, fcarcely any kind is 
wanting there; but what we principally have from thence 
are the purpura, porcelains, and echini marini. 
The Mediterranean and Northern Ocean contain a great 
variety of Ihells, and many of very remarkable elegance 
and beauty ; they are upon the whole, however, inferior 
to thofe of the Eaft Indies. The Mediterranean abounds 
much more in (hells than the Ocean. The gulf of Taren- 
tum affords great variety of purpura, of porcelains, nau¬ 
tili, and elegant oyfters; the coalt of Naples and Sardinia 
afford alfo the fame, and with them a vail number of the 
folens of all the known fpecies. The ifland of Sicily is 
famous for a very elegant kind of oylter, which is white 
all over; pinnae marinse and porcelains are alfo found in 
great plenty there, with tellinse and chains of many ipe¬ 
cies, and a great variety of other beautiful ihells. Co- !ica 
is famous, beyond all other places, for vaft quantities of the 
pinnae marinse; and many other very beautiful Ihells are' 
found there. About Syracufe are found the gondola fnell 
or 
