The rarities now offered to the Public were the fruits 
of a long and zealous search, principally made in those 
southern latitudes, where the formation and colouring of 
the Testacea are of the most elegant and singular de- 
scription. ‘To any voyager fond of this beautiful branch 
of Natural History, or to any collector resident on their 
shores, the South Seas offer a fine harvest; but the 
late Admiral Bligh had, from the situations in which his 
professional eminence placed him, the best opportunities 
of procuring whatever was most valuable and rare, from 
a field proverbially rich. 
In the Catalogue of a collection so extensive and select, 
constant repetitions of the words “ fine and rare” have 
been avoided as muchas possible. It has, moreover, been 
found impossible to give the scientific names of every 
species, and this difliculty has been encreased by the 
revolution which the’ science of Conchology is now 
undergoing : in very many instances, however, the generic 
and specific names of Linnaeus, together with those of 
Lamarck and other eminent modern Naturalists, have been 
given; and it is hoped, that any inaccuracies which may 
be found, will meet with the indulgence of the scientific, 
