THE

CONGCHOLOGIST'S

COMPANION.

BY

MARY ROBERTS.

AUTHOR OF ‘‘ WONDERS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM ;”
** SELECT FEMALE BIOGRAPHY; ‘‘ ANNALS OF MY VILLAGE;”’

2?

‘““A CALENDAR OF NATURE. ETC.

THE NAUTILUS.

“Light as a flake of foam upon the wind.’”?—Montgomery.

LONDON:
WHITTAKER AND CO., AVE-MARIA-LANE.

1834.

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ADVERTISEMENT.

Tue following letters have been written amid scenes
of tranquillity and beauty, calculated to inspire an
ardent love for the admirable works of nature, with
the habit of observing them. They are designed to
exhibit the rich materials afforded by the science of
Conchology for reflection and amusement, and to
lead the admirers of this elegant department of
natural history, to consider, how much it is capable

of being improved by associations of the highest

nature.

Mary RoBeErTs.

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CONTENTS.

LETTER I.

Construction of Shelis—Admirable adaptation of each, to
their respective inhabitants. — Important reflections

suggested by Conchology. - z C 4 2

LETTER II.

Description of Multivalves—Pholas, Lepas, and Chiton—
Thoughts suggested by the admirable construction of

these interesting Shell-fish, - - - - -

LETTER III.

Bivalves— Variety and elegance of their testaceous cover-

ings—Instinets of the Animal Inhabitants. - -

beet

19

35

vi CONTENTS.

LETTER IV.

Formation of Pearls—<Artificial method of producing
them, among the ancient Indians, and modern Chinese
—Linnezus’s coat of arms—Reference to the Pearl by
Eastern writers — Hafiz and Aldaramy — Extensive
trade carried on, in remote ages, with the Orientals
for Pearls—Channels of communication through which
they circulated into Europe—Ancient and modern
Fisheries—Great Fishery of Manaar, in Ceylon—
Univalves: meaning of the generic appellation of each

—Moral improvement derivable from Conchology. — -

LETTER V.

Subject of Univalves continued—Ancient mode of extract-
ing the Tyrian Dye— How used in illuminating

manuscripts. - - - . - - - -

LETTER VI.

Modern mode of extracting the Tyrian Dye — The
trumpet originally suggested by the Buccinum; used
in Wales, Italy, and Palestine, for blowing signals, and

calling the cattle from the fields— Poetry. - - -

LETTER VII.

Visit to Tenby—Description of the Nautilus and Argo-

Page

76

112

134

nauta: admirable construction of each. 5 = - 143

CONTENTS. Vii

LETTER VIII.

Page

‘Description of the Helix, or common Snail, with that of

different species; their use in various countries, - 156

LETTER IX.

Reflections at Weymouth—Limpets—General harmony

of Nature. “ - = - = = = - 75

LETTER X.

Construction of the Ship-worm—Depredations on the
dikes in Holland— Specimen from Sheppy — Appa-
rently injurious; actually beneficial.—Similar in their
operations to Termites— Reflections arising from the

subject. - - - - - = = = - 178

LETTER XI.

Fossil Shells — Important deductions arising from them
—Cuvier’s opinion—Closing observations of Professor

Jamieson = = 2 = = - = - 190

LETTER XII.

Sand-shells— Remarks by the sea side—Address to the

ocean 2 a 4 5 4 sa ts = = 20)

ERRATA.

Page 111, bottom line, read Arca, instead of Area.
— line above, read Tellina, instead of T. Minna.

LIST OF AUTHORITIES

CONSULTED IN THE COURSE OF THIS WORK.

Asiatic Researches.
Arctic Zoology.

Catechism of Conchology.
Conchology, Introduction to the
Science of, by S. Brookes.
Descriptive Catalogue of recent

Shells, by L. W. Dillwyn,
F.R.S. F.L.S. &e.
Dictionary of Arts, and
Sciences
Essay on the Theory of the
Earth, by M. Cuvier.
Encyclopedia Britannica.
Elements of Conchology, by the
Rev. C. T. Burrows.
Memoirs and Tracts of the late

Dr. Withering.

Mineralogical [llustrations, by
Professor Jamieson.

Mawe’s Conchology.

Philosophical Transactions.

Polehampton’s Gallery of Art
and Nature.

Journal of Science.

Parkinson’s Introductien to
the study of Fossil Organic
Remains.

Rees’ Cyclopedia.

Swinburne’s Sicilies.

Travels in Lower and Upper
Egypt, by M. Denon.

Yonders of Nature and Art.

Expedition to the Rocky Moun-

tains, by Dr. James.

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THE

CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

LETTER I.

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS.

——

ay aft oe iad la

Tue elegant science of Conchology, my friend, com-
prises the knowledge, arrangement, and description
of testaceous animals; a science, according to Lin-
nzeus, which has for its basis the internal form and
character of the shell, and is totally independent of
the animal inclosed within the calcareous covering,
though undoubtedly its instincts and construction
are included in the researches of the Conchologist.
Each individual is composed of two parts: one of
which is the animal itself, and though soft and bone-
less, it is furnished with organs peculiarly adapted
B

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2 CONCHOLOGIST S COMPANION,

to its nature; the other is its shell, or habitation,
which is generally hard, stony, or calcareous, partially,
or entirely covering the inhabitant, which is attached
to it by means of ligaments or muscles; and how-
ever small or unimportant some of the species may
appear, we shall certainly discover that they are as
exquisitely contrived, and as carefully wrought for
the place and station which they are designed to fill,
as the higher orders of creation. Nay, further, if
we consider, the prodigious number of individuals,
the shape and construction of their little bodies, their
motions, instincts, and to say no more, the incom-
parable beauty and lustre of the colours with which
their coatings are shaded and adorned, where shall
we discover more striking demonstration of an
Almighty Creator, than in this minute, and till lately,
neglected branch of natural history ?

Some species inhabit the sea, others fresh water,
others again the land; their instincts in general appear
superior to those of their relatives, the undefended
Mollusca; and with regard to every other class of
organized beings, there subsists, besides several points
of resemblance, a general relation of a very peculiar
kind. This is the relation of inversion, the law of
contrariety. For as in other animals the bones, to
which the muscles are attached, lie within the body ;
in shell-fish they are placed externally. The testa-

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS. 3

ceous coatings perform the offices of bones, by
furnishing to the tendons that fixed basis, without
which, mechanically, they could not act. All this
“most strikingly evinces a carrying on of the same
plan.

But how, it may be asked, are the shells of testa-
ceous animals constructed? They appear of two
descriptions, with regard to the substances of which
they are composed.

I. Shells with a porcelainous aspect, and enamelled
texture, such as the Volute and Cowry. These, when
submitted to the test of experiment, evidently consist
of carbonate of lime, cemented by a very small por-
tion of animal jelly.

II. Shells, furnished generally, if not always, with
a strong epidermis, which is principally composed
of the substance called mother-of-pearl. The Oyster
and River Muscle, furnish familiar examples. Shells
of this kind differ in their composition from the
preceding only by possessing a smaller proportion
of carbonate of lime; which, instead of being simply
cemented by animal gluten, or jelly, is intermixed
with, and serves to harden a membranaceous or car-
tilaginous substance; and this substance, even when
deprived of the carbonate of lime by infusion in
diluted nitric acid, still retains the figure of the
shell.

B2

4 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

The animals which inhabit these stratified shells,
increase them every year by a stratum of carbonate of
lime, secured by a new membrane; and thus the
age and growth of the animal may be readily ascer-
tained.

The two substances of which shells are composed,
may be separated from each other by an easy chemi-
cal experiment, in the gentle operation of which they
become exhibited distinctly to the view, without any
material alteration from the nature of the solvent
employed for that purpose. Thus, if a sufficient
quantity of nitric acid, considerably diluted either
with water or spirits of wine, is poured upon a shell
or fragment of one, contained in a glass vessel, it will
soon exhibit a soft floating substance, constituting
the animal part of the shell, and consisting of
innumerable membranes resembling a net. These
membranes retain the exact figure of the shell, and
afford a beautiful and popular object for the micro-
scope. They exhibit satisfactory proofs that this
membranaceous substance is, in fact, an appendage to
the body of the animal, or rather a continuation of
the tendinous fibres, that form the ligaments, by
means of which it is fixed to the shell. They also
prove that the shell itself owes its hardness to the
earthy particles perspired through the vessels of the
animal, which gradually incrust the meshes formed

»

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS. oO

by the filaments of which this membranaceous
substance is composed. In analysing shells of a
finer texture than such as are generally submitted
to the test of experiment, the greatest circumspec-
tion is necessary. So much so, that M. Herissant,
whose attention was particularly devoted to the
subject, after placing a porcelain shell in spirits of
wine, added from day to day, for the space of two
months, a single drop of spirits of nitre, lest the air,
generated or let loose by the action of the nitric acid
on the earthy substance, should tear the net work of
the fine membranaceous structure. This gradual
operation was attended with complete success, and a
delicate and beautifully reticulated film, resembling
a spider’s web in texture, rewarded the patience of
the operator; the organization of which, from its
extreme fineness, he was not, however, able to de-
lineate. In shells of peculiar delicacy, even five or
six months are sometimes necessary for their com-
plete development ; but, in others of a coarser texture,
the process is soon completed.

Many beautiful configurations and appearances are
afforded by the membranaceous part of different shells;
those especially which are disclosed in the lamine of
the Oyster, River Muscle, and Sea-Ear, after exposure
to the action of diluted nitric acid.

These elegant marine productions are well known

6 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

to present a constant succession of rich and changeable
colours, that—

Flying several from each surface, form
A trembling variance of revolving hues,
As the site varies in the gazer’s hand.
Thomson.
4
Nature, always magnificent in her designs, but

singularly frugal in the execution of them, produces
these brilliant decorations at a small expense. The
membranaceous substance is plaited and rumpled in
such a manner, that its interior lamine, being in-
crusted with earthy and semi-transparent matter, form
an infinite number of little prisms, which refract the
rays of light, and produce all the changes of colour
observable in these brilliant shells.

Oh! who that has an eye to see,—
A heart to feel,—a tongue to bless,
Can ever undelighted be
By Nature’s magic loveliness !

The most beautiful shells are generally brought
from the Red Sea and East-Indies. Those of the
West are less brilliantly tinted; and as we advance
towards the temperate and arctic regions, they
gradually diminish in lustre and variety, till at length
a few solitary specimens of the genera Trochus,
Buccinum, and Limpet, are occasionally found on the

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS. 7
barren shores of the Frozen sea; and these, though
extremely elegant in their construction, are plain
with respect to colour.

This remarkable difference is owing, undoubtedly,
to different degrees of solar heat, and probably the
vast seas of the equatorial regions, which are not
liable to be weakened by the pouring in of such a
“liquid weight” of fresh water, as the Oronoque,
Orellana, and “ sea-like Plata,’ continually bear
into the Atlantic Ocean, may afford a greater quantity
of nourishment to such molluscous animals as inhabit
them, and thus augment the size and brilliancy of
their testaceous coverings.

It appears from the accurate investigations of
Leuwenhoeck and Reaumur, that an infant shell-fish
is uniformly furnished with a testaceous coating,
which gradually increases by means of a viscous exu-
dation from the aperture, or hinge round the circum-
ference of each valve, and forms a coat of mail,
shed, or marine pavilion, adapted to the exigencies,
and proportioned to the shape of the wearer. ‘These,
as the animals increase in size, increase also in thick-
ness though not in length ; while the elevations,
depressions, striz, tubercles, and spines, which
distinguish individual subjects, may be attributed
to corresponding projections, tentacula, and other
irregularities in the fleshy form of the constructing

8 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

agent.* The same admirable economy, which gave
rise to the arrangement of little prisms in the mem-
branaceous part of different shells, is also apparent in
their configuration, notwithstanding the various deco-
rations with which they are frequently embellished.
This curious fact is strikingly exemplified in the
spiral form of many of these elegant receptacles.
Round or oblong cases would effectually defend the
animal inhabitants from external injury; but these
require in their construction a considerable quantity
of the viscous exudation already noticed ; whereas,
a thin coating, fitted to the shape of each individual,
answers the purpose equally as well, and enables
it to feel the vibrations of the aqueous element in
which it frequently resides.

Thus, in subserviency to this general system of
economy, as well as in accordance with the instincts
of the animals themselves, we find that different
species of shell-fish are inclosed in various kinds of
testaceous coverings. Those which defend the active
family of Donax; enable them to dart away on the
approach of danger; while the shells of their less
active relatives, the perambulating Razor-sheaths,
are admirably adapted to assist their movements
through the yielding sand. The warlike Chitones,
walk abroad in coats of mail closely fitted to their

* Burrows.

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS. 9

shapes, and surrounded with narrow belts or margins,
covered with scales. The shields of the Pholades
bristle with points resembling a file, by means of
which they are defended from external injury, when
occupied in slowly excavating the hardest substances ;
and the hospitable mansions of the peaceful Pinne,
are sufficiently large for the admission of their un-
assuming guests. The conical shaped shells of the
Patellz (limpets) remind the traveller, of Anchorites
dwelling by the sea-side in solitary tents: the
Helices, or Snails, slowly perambulate the garden
walks, with coverings that resemble the awnings of
broad-wheeled waggons ; the Cardia, or Cockles, are
provided with thick coatings, which enable them to
endure the rough beating of a boisterous sea; and the
shells of such species as are fragile, and transparent,
and scarcely able to resist the slightest pressure, are
found in still ponds and muddy ditches. A consi-
derable number of Bivalves resemble little boats, and
float upon the billows with their shells expanded to
catch the breeze; others may be compared to vessels
of a larger size, and are provided with sails, pumps,
cordages, and every requisite for navigation. Such
are those of the Pectines, Nautili, and Argonautz of
the English, Mediterranean, and Indian seas. Others
again, as the Mytilus, or Pearl Muscle, are inclosed
in diving bells of an oblong or compressed form, with

10 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

which they emerge from the deep recesses of the
ocean, or visit ‘‘ the bottom of the monstrous world,”
as instinct or inclination lead them. The Cypre are
said to throw aside their vestments when continual
accumulations render them cumbrous to the wearers;
while their brethren of the Voluta,* Strombus,+
Buccinum,{ and Nerita|| tribes, carry about their
houses with them, and are moreover furnished with
materials for repairing any accidental dilapidations in
the moving walls.

Paley has justly observed, ‘‘ that the works of the
Deity are known by expedients. Where we should
look for absolute destitution, where we can reckon
up nothing but wants, some admirable contrivance
always comes in, to supply the privation.”’

The truth of this remark is no less confirmed by
the singular adaptation of the shells which envelope
molluscous animals, to the sites of ocean or of land,
which they are designed to occupy, than in the
colours with which their Maker has invested them.
The testaceous coverings of such species as move
readily from one situation to another, and are conse-
quently able to choose their places of retreat, are
generally varied with brilliant tints. This is particu-
larly obvious in different individuals of the numerous

* Volute, or Wreath. ¢ Whelk.
+ Winged or Claw Shell. || Nerite, or Hoof-Shell.

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS. il

families of Turbo, of Voluta, of Conus, and of Cyprea,
some of which, either exhibit the glowing colours of
the rainbow, or the tints of the finest tulips, or else
resemble little marine lamps, suspended in the cre-
vices of dark rocks ; while a considerable number
appear invested with silver armour, as they walk
under the spreading shades of the madrepore.

Such, on the contrary, as seldom move from their
places of abode, or may easily be discovered, are
uniformly of the same colour as the sites which
they occupy, or the party-coloured stones, or sea-
weeds to which they cling. We may adduce, as
a familiar example, the common Snail, which is
searcely to be distinguished from the ground over
which it creeps; or the still more helpless Limpet,
that adheres to the surface of the rocks by means of
a vacuum, which it produces at pleasure, like the
inhabitants of the little cones which are seen on the
broad leaves of the pear-tree.

The same extraordinary compensation with respect
to colour is also obvious in the Oysters of the Red
Sea, which hide themselves in the fissures of the
rocks; in the Muscles, that ride at anchor in the
shallows of the sea-shore; in the Fin-shells, which
moor their fragile barks to the pebbles by means of
silken cords; in the silver-tinted Anomiz, or antique
lamps, which attach themselves to floating tufts of

2 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

sea-weed, and appear like foam upon the billows, and
lastly in the Nautili of the Sicilian seas, which often
resemble vessels on the stocks, when calmly reposing
in the little coves that are formed by the stony, tree-
like fabrics of innumerable corals.

The Shell Collector has frequently observed this
striking similarity on the coasts of the Mediterranean.
In walking over the island of Cyprus, he was particu-
larly struck with the number of brilliant Limpets for
which that classic spot is so much celebrated. A
considerable number had fixed themselves to branches
of white coral, where they resembled the delicate
blossoms of the peach; others, which appeared inlaid
with mother of pearl, opal, and amethyst, clung to
the sheltering rocks, as if fearful of being separated
from them by the agitated waves of the surrounding
element. The rocks were also gorgeously attired; and
some of the most conspicuous, streaked with lichens,
and dotted over with marine plants, appeared nearly
as beautiful as the adhering shell-fish.

St. Pierre notices the same striking effect on the
rocks of the Straits of Magellan. He observed, at
the base of such as sweep along the sea-coast of the
district of Caux, a variety of black Periwinkles,
azure-coloured Lobsters, legions of Muscles of a
deep cxrulean blue, Oysters mottled with red and
brown, and Limpets of a sober grey. Each of these

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS. 13

beautifully harmonized with a multitude of marine
plants, that fringed the black and white rocks with
tints of purple, grey, rust-coloured brown, and green,
and presented, in the variety of their forms, long
tufts of various colours, garlands, festoons, and cord-
ages, agitated by the waves in every possible manner.
Different kinds of shell-fish, such, especially, as
seldom move from their customary stations, are
clothed, obviously with the same design, either in a
brown and shaggy garment, mud-coloured tartar,
or thin epidermis, in accordance with the colours
of their respective places of retreat. This extra-
ordinary provision is particularly observable in differ-
ent species of Solen, Tellina, Patella, and Venus,
and in several individuals of the numerous division
of Univalve ; while they conceal beneath their gloomy
upper coats, pearly tints and appearances, which not
unfrequently exceed the brilliant hue of the most
gaudy shell-fish. Thus the Magellan Limpet, when
disrobed of its unsightly garment by the application
of muriatic acid, presents a polished surface resem-
bling the finest tortoise-shell, blended with burnished
gold. The Trochus-Iris conceals in like manner a
splendid metallic lustre; and numerous species of
the genus Mya, which are covered with a thick brown
or green epidermis, present a brilliant and polished
surface, glowing with the colours of the rainbow.

14 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

St. Pierre, with his accustomed elegance of
thought, conjectures that Nature has veiled the beauty
of these singular productions, in order to preserve it
for the admiration of her sons: that she has placed
them among the shallows of the sea-shore, where the
agitated element purifies them by the continued
motion of its waves, in order to throw them within
their reach ; and that, as if to excite the astonishment
of even the most untutored men, she places shells of
unrivalled lustre in regions exposed to the fury of
the elements, while at the same time she presents
the poor Patagonians with spoons and cups, the
lustre of which surpasses the richest plate of polished
nations.

But why, illustrious naturalist, did your obser-
vations extend no further? Saw you nothing in
these darkly-coated and brilliantly-tinted shells, but
an arrangement of bright colours to please the eye
of taste, or cups and spoons for the rude inhabitants
of savage districts? Saw you not, that the Almighty
Creator of the universe, without whose permission
a single hair does not fall from our heads, nor a
sparrow from heaven to the ground, nor a shell, nor
a pebble, is tossed with the billows on the shore,
by investing them in these simple colours, and
causing the waves to cast them on the most uncul-
tivated and sterile regions, provides against their

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS. 15

utter extinction, by the depredations of sea-birds
and rapacious fishes, while at the same time he
spreads abroad for these a constant supply of food,
in the desolate sites of earth or ocean which they
are appointed to occupy ?

The Roman naturalist noticed with admiration
the transformation of several species of caterpillars
from an intermediate state to that splendid investi-
tude in the Spring, when still preserving their identity,
and having passed from the baseness of a worm, they
burst the silken shroud which envelopes them, and
traverse the air in a form that is dazzling to the eyes.
The Egyptians apparently referred to this inter-
mediate state, and to the change which follows it,
in the configuration of their mummies; for the most
ancient are swathed and filleted, so exactly after the
fashion of the Eruca, or Chrysalis, that the resem-
blance could not be accidental. The sages of that
country, who expressed all their notions by symbols,
also signified the suppositious transmigration of the
soul by the transformation of the insect ; and Grecian
poets, improving on this idea, made use of the same
symbol to designate its immortality. In like manner
the botanist confesses, in the unfolding of the calyx
which covers the gaudy head of the oriental poppy,
an attractive emblem of the expanding of the human
mind, as it emerges from a state of ignorance ; or in

16 CONCHOLOGIST S COMPANION.

the gradual development of a plant, the progressive
advancement of every moral excellence.

And shall no tender, or appropriate emblem rise
on the mind of the Conchologist, when he observes
the tints of the aurora, or the colour of gold, or
purple amethyst emerging from under a rough tartar,
or shaggy epidermis? The Christian philosopher
confesses in the humble shell-fish, a striking emblem
of human nature in a savage or unconverted state ;
without beauty, without comeliness, destitute of all
those graces which exalt the man, or adorn the
Christian. But, behold! the hand of the refiner is
upon him; he emerges from the veil of obscurity
which had previously invested his moral faculties ;
or rather, to borrow the emphatic language of inspira-
tion; ‘‘he is quickened, when dead in trespasses
and sins ;” * he stands forth in all the perfection of his
nature; and remembering that he is no longer his
own, that he is bought with a price, he seeks to
glorify his Maker with his body and his spirit, which
are his.

To return from this digression to the immediate
subject of my letter. We admit that shells are
beautiful, and that they are admirably adapted to the
exigencies of the wearers: but how shall we account

* Eph. ii. L

CONSTRUCTION OF SHELLS. 17

for the endless diversity of shades and colours, vary-
ing from the sober coating of the garden snail, to the
delicate and glowing tints which are diffused over
some of the finer species, in the infinite profusion of
undulations, clouds, spots, bands, and reticulated
figures, with which these admirable architects enrich
the walls of their beautiful receptacles? The means
of producing them must be sought for in the animals
themselves. Their necks are furnished with pores
replete with colouring fluid, which blends insensibly
with the calcareous exudation already noticed, and
thus occasions that exquisite variety in their testa-
eeous coverings, which art attempts to emulate, but
can never fully equal.

Thus far is the result of observation and experi-
ment. It now remains to account for the extra-
ordinary fact, that the stony exudations of testaceous
animals condense only on those parts where they
are essential to their welfare. But here investigation
ends—the microscope has done its office. It seems
as if maternal nature delighted to baffle the wisdom
of her sons; and to say to the proud assertors of the
sufficiency of human reason for comprehending the
mysteries of creation and of Providence, ‘‘ Thus far
can you go, and no further ;” even in the formation
of a shell, or its insignificant inhabitant, your arro-
gant pretensions are completely humbled.

c

18

CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

Proud, scornful man! thy soaring wing
Would hurry towards Infinity :
And yet the vilest, meanest thing
Is too sublime, too deep for thee ;
And all thy vain imagining
Lost in the smallest speck we see.
It must be so :—for He, even He
Who worlds created, formed the worm :
He pours the dew, who filled the sea ;
Breathes from the flower, who rules the storm :
Him we may worship,—not conceive ;
See not and hear not,—but adore ;
Bow in the dust, obey, believe ;
Utter his name, and know no more.’’*

Adieu!’ 1am, &c.

* Bowring’s Matins and Vespers.

Pholas. aay Chiton.
aaa Go oh Wed Ii Db ae

MULTIVALVES.

To = Ke KO

You have frequently observed on the shore of Aber-

gelli in Denbighshire, a number of loose stones left

uncovered by the reflux of the tide; but you did not,

perhaps, imagine that they contained inhabitants, of

curious forms and instincts ; yet such is actually the

case. In each of these, a Pholas has excavated his
c2

20 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

little cell; and he who delights to contemplate the
wonders of creation, will readily acknowledge while
observing them, that as in the devices of human
ingenuity, the minuteness of the work evinces the
skill of the artificer, so in things which surpass, or
else elude his utmost comprehension, the apparent
meanness of the object enhances the wisdom of Him
who has constructed it. Where shall we look for a
clearer demonstration of this interesting truth, than
in the extraordinary fact that the indefatigable Pholas
opens an entrance into stones and wood, by the help
of a soft and pliant proboscis; having previously
softened the former, as the famous Carthaginian
general, Hannibal, is fabled to have done, not indeed
with vinegar, but by means of a peculiar secretion
with which maternal nature has bountifully provided
him.

But here you will, perhaps, inquire how it is
possible to ascertain these curious facts? By placing
a Pholas on soft clay, and observing his method of
proceeding. No sooner does the little miner find
himself at liberty, than he commences his operations
by perforating the clay with the boring instrument
already mentioned; and thus excavates an opening
in the course of a few hours, which would probably
require the labour of as many months to form in
a harder substance; for the motions of the Pholas are

MULTIVALVES. Zt

remarkably slow; and when buried in the stone, he
has no discoverable movement, excepting a very
slight one towards the centre, which is only in pro-
portion to his size. The dwelling of this solitary
shell-fish is generally oblique to the horizon, resem-
bling a truncated cone, and terminated with a roundish
cavity, which receives the body; whilst the furthest
end is filled up with a proboscis or pipe, of a fleshy
substance and conical form, truncated at the end.
This pipe the animal usually protrudes to the surface
of the stone, for the evident purpose of drawing in
the sea-water, on which he subsists, and of again
rejecting it for a fresh supply.

Thus immerged, the Pholas subsists in indolence
and plenty, and having once secured a comfortable
retreat, he continues in seclusion, apparently without
any desire to revisit the light of day. Yet the little
prisoner is not so solitary as might at first appear,
for though immured in his cell, and unable to escape
when fully grown, many of the brotherhood con-
gregate in the same rock; and their galleries, like
those of miners, frequently open one into the other.
Whether these openings are casual, or designed, few
naturalists will take upon them to decide; but it
is certain that several of these little anchorites some-
times reside in the same neighbourhood; and that

22 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

considerable numbers have been discovered within a
few inches of each other.

The pillars which supported the proud temple of
Serapis at Puetoli, are so completely perforated by
these industrious mollusc, as to present the appear-
ance of honey-combs. Strange comment on the
vanity of man! The sculptured columns of a temple,
that was once so great and flourishing, where busy
feet were heard, and active multitudes resorted, is
now desolate and overthrown, and affords a shelter
to innumerable shell-fish !

The animal inhabitant, which Linnzus calls an
ascidia, resembles a fleshy membranaceous bag,
nearly the length of the shell, and open at each end.
It is furnished at the upper part with a cylindrical
muscular tube, divided by a partition; at the lower,
with a short, obtusely conical foot. The shell, in
most species, is ovate, or oblong, formed of two large
opposite valves, with several less, and differently
shaped accessary ones, that act as substitutes for
a hinge, which in bivalves. generally determines the
generic character.

The interior is colourless, or rather of a pure or
dusky white, though it sometimes partakes of a
brownish cast; this deficiency is, however, amply
compensated by the beautiful fret-work with which

MULTIVALVES. 23

the shells of this elegant genus are usually em-
bellished.

In some species the reticulations are so delicate in
their texture, as to resemble the finest lace ; in others,
they may be compared to small basket-work; and in
the P. costata, or ribbed Pholas, the shell is covered
with regular, elevated, jagged, or scalloped ribs, grace-
fully disposed—yet, however modified or varying in
different species, the same consistency is seen in all;
the same subserviency to an especial use. The shell
of the Pholas, if constructed in a similar manner to
that of the Nautilus, Pearl-muscle, or garden Snail,
would be little adapted to the habits of an animal
which has frequently to excavate a tunnel through
hard substances. An ovate or oblong form is con-
sequently the very best that could be adopted; and,
moreover, the points with which it is covered and
adorned, are evidently designed to protect the shell!
from external injury whilst its inhabitant is thus
employed. At the same time a beautiful variety
of tints, evince that minute attention to the finishing
and decorating of his works which the Deity so con-
tinually displays.

Whenever we discover marks of an obvious design,
we are naturally referred for its cause to an intelligent
Creator; and this transition of the understanding is
founded upon universal experience. A Conchologist

w

94 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

is therefore naturally induced to consider the forma-
tion of the Pholas with a reference to tlfe state of
being for which it is designed. But why this feeble
creature is instructed to form an excavation in sand
or lime-stone, whilst others are permitted to range at
liberty, we cannot understand; or how this excavation
is effected by means of a soft and pliant proboscis,
though aided by a peculiar secretion, has hitherto
eluded our researches. We comprehend the final
cause, but nothing more. In the prouder forms of
animated being, in the towering cedar, or the turret-
bearing elephant, nature appears to act in a manner
analogous to the grandeur of her designs; whereas
these feeble creatures are often passed by, as unde-
serving the attention of the naturalist ; and yet what
tokens of beneficence and power, what exquisite
perfection is discoverable!

There is still another quality in this branch of the
family of Multivalve, which demands a particular
description. It is that of emitting a phosphorescent
liquor, which illuminates whatever it touches. Ancient
naturalists noticed this remarkable fact. Pliny, in
particular, observes, that the Pholas renders the hands
and clothes luminous, when brought in contact with
them.

This peculiarity has furnished a subject for various
observations and experiments to different learned

w

MULTIVALVES. 95

men, especially to M. Reaumur and M. Beccarius,
who particularly devoted their attention to the sub-
ject of phosphoric light.

The luminous quality of the Pholas is in proportion
to its freshness; but even when in a dry state, this
quality may be revived by the application of fresh or
salt water; but brandy immediately extinguishes it.

A solution of sea-water increases the light of the
luminous fluid; sal ammoniacum diminishes it a
little; oil of tartar nearly extinguishes it, and the
acids entirely. The luminous water, when poured
upon fresh calcined gypsum, rock crystal, or sugar,
becomes more vivid. Milk rendered luminous by the
Pholas, loses its shining quality when mixed with oil
of vitriol; but again revives it on the addition of oil
of tartar.

Differently coloured substances are powerfully
affected by this kind of light: white appears to im-
bibe and emit the greatest quantity; yellow and green
in less proportions. Such is also the case with
painted boards and glasses, when submitted to the
same experiment. In both, the red will emit hardly
any light—the yellow the most—the violet least
of all.

A single Pholas will render seven ounces of milk
so beautifully luminous, that surrounding objects are
rendered visible by its light. This luminous quality

+

26 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

entirely disappears when the milk which contains it
is excluded from the air; but again revives on
exposure to the atmosphere. In the exhausted
receiver of an air pump, the Pholas loses its light.

Various attempts have been made to render the
light of the Pholas permanent ; for which purpose the
juices of the fish were kneeded with flour into a kind
of paste. This compound afforded a considerable
degree of light when immersed in warm water: but
the preservation of the fish itself in honey answered
much better; as, by this method, the Pholas was
kept for more than twelve months, and its lumious
quality could at any time be restored by the appli-
cation of warm water.

Thus far are we indebted to the experiments of
Reaumur and Beccarius. But the reason for this
remarkable provision, as well as the purpose to
which it is applied in the animal economy, are
equally unknown. It is one of those extraordinary
facts in natural history, which, like the playful
meteors that often beautifully illuminate the solitary
woods with their agile and wandering lights, repeatedly
invite the traveller to an unsatisfactory pursuit, and
as frequently elude his vigilance.

The Greek word pholeus, from which the generic
appellation of this extraordinary shell fish is derived,
signifies, I lie concealed in a cave; therefore, Pholas,

*

MULTIVALVES. 27

She who lies concealed in caves, is a beautifully
appropriate name, and designates the retiring dispo-
sition and local habitation of the modest Pholas.

THE LEPAS, OR SEA-ACORN.

The Lepas, or Sea-Acorn, which signifies a scale,
bark, or covering, presents in its construction a most
striking instance of evident design. Here we may

*

28 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

observe a very different mode of structure from that
of the solitary Pholas, and this distinction bears an
obvious reference to a very different mode of life.
The exterior admits of considerable variety in its
colouring and shape, but the usual outline is conical,
or hemispherical, which form is acquired by a
number of immoveable valves, placed perpendicu-
larly on a base, broad at the lower margin, and
gradually tapering towards the summit, where they
are closed by a moveable lid, or covering, formed
of smaller ones. This construction furnishes, in
my opinion, a sufficient clue to the general habits of
the animal.

These extraordinary shell-fish are never found
detached from other substances. They adhere by
the base or stalk, not only to rocks and stones, but
even to marine animals, such as the whale and
turtle. They are also found on vessels, and increase so
rapidly in size and number, as sometimes to impede
their progress in sailing. And yet, though generally
fixed to other bodies by the base, in some few
instances, as those of the L. Scalpellum; L. Anseri-
fera; L. Anatifera; or Knife-like, Striated, and Duck
Barnacles, with several varieties emanating from them,
they are attached by a stem. These appendages
differ considerably both in character and substance;
they occasionally resemble a smooth film-like tube,

MULTIVALVES. 29

of a fine texture, tinged with bright red or orange ;
whilst others are of a coarser texture, darkly coloured,
and covered with little warts.

The peculiar structure of these elegant varieties
has justly caused them to be compared to the crocus,
when peeping from the mossy rocks to which they
are frequently attached.

It now remains to instance the appropriation of the
moveable lid or cover. The inhabitant of the Lepas
is a Triton. He often travels far, without, however,
moving from his shell, and is, consequently, exposed,
in many situations, to the rough beating of a bois-
terous sea. To remedy this inconvenience the Creator
has affixed to the entrance of the shell, the operculum,
or little door already mentioned, formed of four
triangular valves, which the inhabitant opens and
shuts at pleasure. The door is safely closed in
stormy weather, but thrown aside when the sea is
calm. <A feathery tube, of a brown colour, and
elegantly curled, is then projected through the open-
ing, by means of which the Triton readily procures its
food.

** God,” says an ancient proverb, “‘ tempers the
wind to the shorn lamb.’”’ When I behold His
gracious hand thus ministering to the wants, and
providing for the exigencies of such a feeble creature,

30 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

I can readily believe that He beholds and blesses
every thing which He has made.

The mention of the Lepas is further connected
with an extraordinary fact, that occurred some years
since, at Sidmouth. A small coasting vessel, with
a few hands on board, sprung a leak, and went down
within sight of several persons on the Esplanade.
It was a melancholy circumstance, and as such
excited much commiseration; but time passed on,
and the occurrence was forgotten, till one morning
the vessel gradually arose from out the water, and
was driven by the tide upon the shore. The beach
was soon covered with spectators, and on inspection,
the sides, the deck, the remains of the mast, in short
every part, was seen bristling with Barnacles. The
meal tub, especially, was so covered with them as
to present a beautiful and novel appearance. The
reason of the vessel’s reappearing was now obvious ;
the long tubes of the Barnacles, being full of air, had
rendered the sunken vessel specifically lighter than
the water, and she arose from off her watery bed,
after the lapse of nearly twenty years. The
person from whom I heard this curious incident
was one of the spectators: he had preserved some
remarkably fine specimens. It is a fact that may
possibly suggest some mode of rendering vessels so

MULTIVALVES. ol

buoyant, as not to sink in even the most tremendous
storms.

The peculiar structure of the genus Chiton, the
plait, or folded shell, readily distinguishes it from the
preceding Multivalves. The shell is generally com-
posed of eight pieces, called valves, and surrounded
by a narrow belt or margin, which is sometimes
covered with scales. But why such a different con-
formation from that which distinguishes the testace-
ous coatings of his relative the Pholas?) The back
of the Chiton is alone defended by a shell; hence
the valves are surrounded with a narrow belt, and the
cartilages by which they are united. The animal is
thus enabled to roll together into a ball, like the
hedgehog or porcupine, on the approach of danger ;
and by this ingenious expedient he is not only
effectually protected from the attacks of his numerous
enemies, but is, perhaps, enabled to elude their
vigilance, from the similarity which he bears in this
state to a pebble perforated by the waves.

The construction of the inhabitant also differs
essentially from that of the Pholas, or Lepas. He
has neither eyes nor horns, because unnecessary to
a creature that never goes beyond his shell. In
short he resembles a well known insect, often met
with in decayed timber; and when extracted, the
form of the shell is not unlike a boat.

32 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

Chitons are generally found creeping on the rocks,
or closely attached, as the Limpet, to stones or shells,
or seaweeds, and not unfrequently to Oysters, on the
coast of South Devon. But how, it may again be
asked, is this effected, for the Creator has denied
to them, the stem, or stalk, which distinguishes the
Lepas ?—By means of a gelatinous fluid, which
exudes from the under surface of the body. Itseems
the pleasure of the Deity to produce the same results
by an infinite variety of means.

The generic appellation Chiton, is derived from a
Greek word, signifying a man’s tunic, and aptly
expresses the folded appearance of the valves, which
are not unlike the lapping over of a thick warm tunic.
These curious shell-fish are met with in France,
Spain, and the Mediterranean, where they seldom
exceed an inch, whereas in the tropical rivers, they
are occasionally found of considerable length.

To extract sentiments of piety from the works
and appearances of nature, is equally the duty and
the prerogative of a Christian; it is enforced in the
Scriptures, and hallowed by the example of our Lord,
‘‘ Behold the lilies of the field: they toil not, neither
do they spin; yet your Heavenly Father careth for

99

them.” He expatiates on the wonderful construction
of a single flower, and draws from it the delightful

inference of confidence in God. He teaches that

MULTIVALVES. 30

taste may be combined with piety, and that the
breast which glows with admiration amid the love-
liness of nature, may be occupied with all that is
serious and important in religion.

But here the observation naturally arises, that
though the flowers of the field instruct us—for some
of them are beautiful, and others admirable in their
construction ; and poets and moralists refer to them
as striking emblems of the mutability of man,—
yet, what knowledge, or what instruction can we
derive from the Pholas, the Lepas, or the Chiton? I
will not further enlarge upon the obvious and im-
portant evidences which they afford of benevolence
and design. But in considering the very different
habitats of these-extraordinary multivalves, I have
been induced to remember that the same Almighty
Being who furnishes the defenceless Pholas with the
means of forming a secure abode in the hardest
substances ; who provides the dwelling of the Triton
with a door, by means of which he excludes the
rough beating of a boisterous sea; who enables the
feeble Chiton to fold himself in a coat of mail resem-
bling a perforated pebble, and thus to elude the
vigilance of his marine enemies, has determined
the bounds of our different habitations, and assigned
to every individual being, his respective sphere of

D

34 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

action; and that happy will it be for us, if we as
steadily perform our portion of allotted duty, as
these feeble creatures fulfil the purposes for which
they are designed, in accordance with their respective
instincts.

Adieu.

OYSTERS.
Toothed. Zic-zac. Gaping.

LETTER III.

BIVALVES.

To %* * *¥

Tue shell in my little packet was gathered from a

beautifully wooded cove in the Isle of Wight. It

belongs to the genus Ostrea, a well known branch

of the numerous family of Bivalve, whose habitats

and instincts are designed to form the subject of this

letter. They are, like the conies, ‘‘ but feeble folk,”
D2

36 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

and yet among the multifarious productions of nature,
I think we shall hardly discover more extraordinary
instances of that general system of compensation,
which supplies the defects of one part, or organ, by
the structure of another.

The shells of this interesting genus present con-
siderable variety in form and beauty, and are divided
into seven classes or divisions, which are again
subdivided. The first, and second, comprise the
numerous varieties of Scallop shells, and are distin-
guished from each other by the proportions of their
ears. The surfaces are usually adorned with divergent
ribs, variegated with beautiful colours, and delicate
chequer-work, and are covered with undulated and
transverse striz, which not unfrequently assume
the appearance of elevated scales, as in the Im-
bricated Oyster. But how, when inclosed in these
floating citadels, can the inhabitants either swim
upon the water or move on land? This appa-.
rent inconvenience is fully compensated by their
inherent strength and flexibility, and by the muscles
with which they are supplied. They possess the
faculty of leaping to a considerable distance by the
sudden opening and closing of their valves; and
hence they are elegantly denominated, butterflies of
the ocean: as, when darting through the sparkling
waves, and flitting rapidly from place to place, they

BIVALVES. 37

rival the glowing colours of the papilionaceous tribes.
In fine weather they congregate together and mount
the billows, forming little fleets, with half their shells
erected, to catch the breeze; the other, which con-
tains the animal, remaining immerged below. When
any foe appears, or a sudden gust of wind begins to
ruffle the surface of the deep, the shells are instanta-
neously shut, and the pigmy vessels disappear.

The curious instincts of these interesting shell-fish
most probably suggested the poetic chariots of the
sea gods, who were fabled to ride triumphantly in
shells drawn by tritons. Such was the car of Neptune,
as we find in Virgil; and on a medal of Claudius:

*¢ Hich on the waves his azure car he guides ;
Its axles thunder, and the sea subsides.
The monster whales before their master play,
And choirs of tritons crowd the watery way:
The martial powers in equal troops divide
To right, and left; the gods his better side
Enclose ; and, on the worst, the nymphs and nereids ride.”

How sterile is the imagination of the poet when
compared with the infinite variety of nature! The
loftiest inspirations of his muse are frequently sug-
gested by the humblest of her works; and from this
imperishable source, the ancients derived their most
poetic illustrations. Shell-fish are also represented

on modern coins; and amongst some of the most

38 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

curious is one with a bust of Sabastian, king of Por-
tugal, and a shell-fish floating on the ocean.

But my business is at present simply to point out
the admirable fitness of these feeble creatures to their
respective spheres of action. They journey occa-
sionally to a considerable distance from their native
element, and are frequently deserted by the tide.
How, then, is it possible that they can return? That
Being who denies to this gradation of his works those
facilities for locomotion which he assigns to almost
every other, has not left them without a substitute :
they immediately expand their valves as wide as
possible, and then close them with a sudden jerk;
an impulse is thus given, which enables them to move
to the distance of four or five inches, and by a con-
tinual repetition of this simple operation, Scallops
gradually tumble forward till they regain the water.
Nor is this all. They are sometimes exposed to the
rude tossing of the waves, and their fragile barks are
consequently liable to be broken against the rocks ;
but, to obviate the possibility of such an incon-
venience, they are endowed with the faculty of
spinning threads, by méans of which they can sud-
denly lay hold of stones or pieces of timber, and
hence they are often found securely fixed to some
projecting rock, on which they have been hurried,
like shipwrecked mariners, by the fury of a tempest.

BIVALVES. 39

Nothing, then, is wanting to this feeble creature ;
the same Almighty Being who hurls the tempest
from his hand, provides for its security amid the fury
of the storm. And yet, this is but a single member
of a numerous family, and the family itself but a small
colony of the myriads of shell-fish that extend from
the Line to the Frozen Ocean.

The remaining divisions of the genus Ostrea, consist
of those which, in substance, form, and colouring, are
more nearly allied to the common or eatable Oyster.
The individuals of this family are generally of an
irregular form ; their habitations are rough and plated
on the outside, while the interior is smooth and
glossy, and sometimes richly varied with a steel-like
blue, or metallic lustre.

Here we have again occasion to observe, that
beauty and variety, distinct from every other consi-
deration, were evidently designed by the Creator.
The O. Malleus, or Hammer Oyster, resembles a pick-
axe; but the O. Folium, or Foliated, is evidently
constructed with a different design. It appears like
a withered leaf which the wind has tossed at random
on the shore, and thus its innocent inhabitant, by a
wonderful adaptation of external structure to his
feeble circumstances, effectually eludes the vigilance
of birds of prey. The Tree-Oyster, on the contrary,
attaches himself to the roots and branches of the

40 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

mangrove as a place of refuge and security. Some
naturalists affect to treat this statement as one of un~
certain origin, but the solution is by no means difficult.
In hot countries, a great variety of shrubs and lofty
trees grow on the margin of the rivers, and even
among loose stones and sand, to the very edge of
the sea; particularly in such places as are screened
from the agitation of the waves. The sheltered
recesses of bays and harbours are therefore often
filled with abundance of lofty mangroves, which
grow up from the shallow bottom, and present the
beautiful appearance of marine forests. Wherever
they appear on the sea shore, the beach is not only
covered with an infinite number of molluscz and
different marine insects,—feeble beings which love
the shade, and a faint light,—but also with shell-fish,
that hasten to shelter themselves from the violence of
the waves amid the scaffolding of thick and inter-
twining roots, which rise like lattice-work above the
surface of the water, or the branches that dip into
it. And to these the parasitic oysters attach them-
selves in such numbers, that a branch, when cut off,
is frequently too heavy for one individual to carry.
The loaded branch is then washed, and brought to
table, where it constitutes a favourite appendage at
the banquets of the rich; for the glowing tints, which
nature so liberally scatters over the birds and flowers

BIVALVES. Al

of the tropical regions, extend even to the unassuming
oyster. Many of the species are beautifully shaded,
and the shells of such as inhabit the Red Sea are
tinted with the vivid colours of the rainbow.

The last division contains the O. Edulis, or common
Oyster, which is too well known for its nutritive and
palatable qualities to render any description necessary.
The old shells are often covered with various adhe-
sions, such as Anomie, or Antique Lamps; Serpule,
and Lepades, or Sea-Acorns; Serpularie, and other
marine productions. The interior has generally a
pearly appearance, and some specimens have been
found containing pearls.

Varieties of this interesting genus are met with
on the shores, and in the depths of almost every
ocean, either in clusters, or else affixed to the rocks.
Pilgrims gathered the shells of the O. Jacobe@a along
the shores of Palestine, and placed them in their
hats, as emblems that they had crossed the sea, in
their way to the Holy Land, or some distant object
of devotion. Hence they are still preserved in the
armorial bearings of several distinguished families.
He who muses on the muddy, flat, and desolate
shores of Hudson Bay, may observe, for the space of
at least ten miles, large numbers of the common
species deposited upon the beach. They tell him of
other days and other times, when the waters yielding

42 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

somewhat of their ancient empire, receded from the
space they occupied; though the period cannot be
ascertained, from the total absence of local infor-
mation.

They also abound in Scotland, where a gigantic
species of the same interesting genus is employed in
the Hebrides for skimming milk. Macpherson informs
us, that in the days of Fingal, it was also admitted
into the feast of heroes, as the cup of their festivity,
by the name of sliga-crechin, or the drinking-shell.

But the animal inhabitants of the Ostree are
apparently some of the most insignificant of created
beings; nay, they appear little more than a gelatin-
ous substance; and yet these feeble creatures, though
formerly supposed incapable of voluntary motion,
and scarcely superior to vegetables, are conscious of
their existence, and conscious, also, that something
exists exterior to themselves. They choose, reject,
and vary their operations with judgment; defend
themselves by adequate and complicated means;
repair their losses, and occasionally assume new
habits. They possess, when young, the faculty of
swimming rapidly, by means of an undulatory mo-
tion of the branchiz, but when arrived at full growth
this faculty or inclination ceases; and while their
active relatives are darting round them, they remain
contentedly fixed in their places of abode, surrounded

BIVALVES. 43

by a numerous and continually increasing progeny.
The movements of this clumsy species, if such they
may be termed, merely consist in turning from one
side to the other, which they accomplish more by
sagacity than by any natural agility or inherent
strength. They contrive to bolster up one side by
pushing against a deposition of soft mud, till they
stand nearly upright; then, availing themselves of
the flowing or ebbing of the tide, they open their
shells, and are tumbled over by the pressure of the
water. In this respect they differ materially from
shell-fish in general. But

“* Nature, all her children viewing,
Equal, bounteous, cares for all.”

To one she gives the faculty of locomotion; to
another the means of safely remaining in its allotted
station: and while the Solen, Donax, and Mytilus,
frequently migrate to considerable distances from their
usual places of abode, the stationary Ostrez firmly
moor themselves to rocks and stones, by means of a
bundle of small cords, denominated a byssus.

These feeble creatures likewise possess the still
more extraordinary faculty of profiting by the past.
They are frequently taken from places covered by
the sea, and placed in beds or reservoirs subject to the
ebbing of the tide, and then, should they incautiously

44 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

expand their shells, and lose the water they contain,
the consequence is inevitable death, unless revived
by a fresh supply of moisture. Here, then, is another
striking instance of their sagacity; and this neces-
sarily includes a certain degree of memory; for
neither heat nor cold, nor any external injury, will
ever induce them to expand their shells a second
time, unless overflowed by the tide.

They also possess, like many other Bivalves, the
faculty of squirting water from their shells; and this
may be readily observed, by placing one of them in a
flat dish filled with salt water. The animal finding
himself at liberty, in a situation capable of affording
a fresh supply of moisture, immediately squirts out
the portion which he had previously stored up, with
so much violence, as not only to repel the approach
of ordinary enemies, but also to give the shell a
considerable impetus forwards.

Such are the instincts mercifully assigned to the
feeblest of created beings, for his preservation and
defence; but these are not the only proofs of pro-
tecting care.

What think you of a little lamp, which lights the
darkness of his solitary dwelling? An attentive
observer* recently remarked, on opening an Oyster,

* M. De Lavoge.

BIVALVES. 45

a shining matter, or blueish light, resembling a star,
about the centre of the shell, which appeared to
proceed from a small quantity of real phosphorus.
On being taken from the animal, it extended to
nearly half an inch in length; and, when immersed
in water, seemed in every respect the same as the
phosphorous obtained from bones; but as the Oyster
was perfectly alive and fresh, the light could not
proceed from any decomposition of the shell or
animal. How then was it produced?

The microscope has been elegantly termed “a

b)

portal to things invisible,” as it opens to the natu-
ralist a knowledge of such phenomena in nature, as
are too minute to be inspected by the unassisted eye.
On submitting this apparent phosphorus to a high
magnifier, it was found to contain three different sorts
of animalcule ; one of which had no less than forty-
eight legs attached to a slender body, with a black
spot on its head, which was evidently its only eye;
while the back exactly resembled that of an eel when
deprived of its outer coating. The second insect,
Polypheme, had also a solitary eye, and numerous
feet; a nose resembling that of a dog, and a body
made up of several rings. The third was very
different, having a speckled body, with a head like
a foal’s, and a tuft of hair on both sides. Each of
these extraordinary insects was beautifully luminous,
and altogether they resembled a blueish star.

46 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

Who shall assign a limit to the wonders of creation!
A living lamp diffuses its benignant ray in the
solitary apartment of the Oyster; shines in the midst
of a humid atmosphere; nay, even in the midst of
water itself, and cheers the solitude and silence of
perpetual night. Perhaps, like the enchanted lamp
of Armida, it lures the wanderer to destruction ; or,
in other words, as insects of every description are
powerfully attracted by light, it may compensate
the Oyster for the deficiency of his moving powers.

‘* Oh, my God,” said the admirable Fenelon, ‘‘ he
who does not see thee in thy works has seen nothing.
He who does not confess thy hand in the beautiful
productions of this well-ordered world, is a stranger
to the best affections of the heart. He exists as
though he existed not, and his life is no more than a
dream.”

Thirty-five species compose the genus Solen, Razor-
sheath, or Knife-handle. Solen is a most happy
name for this genus. It is a Greek word, and sig-
nifies a channel, or tube; also that hollow case in
which a broken leg or arm is fixed, to keep it in its
place during the period of cure. In this interesting
genus, we shall observe a very different mode of
configuration, with regard to the structure of the
animal. In the first division, the breadth of many of
the shells is nearly seven times their length, resem-

BIVALVES. 47

bling the handle of a knife, or razor-sheath; and some
are curved and bent like the scabbard of a scimitar,
with their ends invariably open. A few in the
second department are of a fine pink colour; and the
S'. Castrensis is singularly marked with short broken
zig-zag purple lines, resembling Chinese characters,
which appear, though more faintly, on the inner as
well as outer surface; but in general, excepting the
S'. Squamosus, or Scaly-Solen, they have little to
recommend them.

Chama. Donax. Spondylus. Anomia.
Mya. Arca. Solen.

48 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

This extraordinary shell is flat, pellucid, and of
the purest white; of a sub-orbicular shape, and
minutely and elegantly punctured, in such a manner
as to present the appearance, under a common pocket
lens, of the finest shagreen. It is also varied with
obscure concentric wrinkles; the inside is smooth,
glossy, and white, with obscure striz radiating from
the hinge.

The Shell Collector lately discovered this extraor-
dinary specimen at Salcomb Bay; it was perfectly
clear and pellucid, and being very flat, resembled the
scale of a fish.

The remembrance of this interesting spot will long
continue impressed on his mind; for who does not
preserve a fond predilection for the place where he
has first collected those rare or costly specimens,
which he had never before beheld, excepting in the
cabinets of his friends.

The animal inhabitant of the Solen, though incapa-
ble of moving forward horizontally, digs a hole nearly
two feet deep in the soft sand, into which he can
descend at pleasure; this is effected by means of a
fleshy and cylindrical leg, which is capable of being
drawn out to a considerable length, and made to
assume the shape of a hook or spade. Thus, when
the Solen is preparing to form a dwelling in the sand,
this singular appendage takes the form of a shovel,

BIVALVES. 49

sharp at one end, and terminating in a point, by the
aid of which, a hole is dug; it then alternately
assumes the shape of a hook, and the spade already
mentioned; one serving the purpose of shovelling
out the sand, the other to assist the wary animal in
his precipitous descent. When the Solen wishes to
change his place of abode, the leg is again put in
requisition; it then takes the shape of a ball, and
is stretched as wide as possible. This ball prevents
the creature from slipping back, while the reaction of
the muscles throws him forwards.

He has also a mantle in front, a curtain before the
opening of his cell, which enables him to exclude the
rough beating of the tide; and, moreover, he is
furnished with two united breathing tubes, about
three or four inches in length, from the upper end of
the shell; and these he projects through the soft sand,
for the evident purpose of maintaining a constant
communication with the water.

Without these admirable appendages, the Solen
would be the most helpless of all shell-fish. He
can neither moor himself to the nearest rock, like his
relative, the Oyster, nor can he run upon his feet,
nor raise himself from off the ground. These in-
abilities are made up to him by the mantle, and the
breathing tubes, and above all, by the cylindrical leg,
which enables him to bore into the sand. In each of

E

50 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

these the Deity has deviated from the construction
of shell-fish in general, and this deviation obviously
refers to the peculiar habits of the animal.

The generic appellation of the Solen is derived
from the Greek word signifying a tube. Considerable
numbers are found in the European and northern
seas, and especially on the coast of Normandy, where
they bury themselves in the sand. Among these, a
gigantic variety furnished, according to the legends
of Scandinavia, a handle for the dagger of the Gaulish
Cupid, who was armed, not with a bow and quiver,
but with an enchanted cutlass. Hence, it is related,
that when the Queen of Beauty descended on the
Gallic coast in quest of pearls for her own dress, and
a knife-handle for her son, a Triton, instigated by the
envious Thetis, stole her apple from the rock, and
bore it to the goddess of the sea. Thetis immediately
broke asunder the golden prize, and scattered its
seeds along the shore; whence arose the apple trees
of Normandy, whose brilliant fruit perpetuates the
memory of her triumph and revenge.

The coverings of different shell-fish, both with
regard to the variety, and the suitableness of their
several natures, are extremely beautiful; and here
we have occasion to observe that the former, inde-
pendent of the latter consideration, or indeed of any
other with which we are acquainted, was apparently
a motive in the mind of their Creator. This

BIVALVES. 51

quality is, I think, nowhere more conspicuous than
in the forty-six different species which constitute
the genus Mytilus. And in these what endless
variety! Some are smooth, beautifully marbled, and
variegated with delicate colours; others, elegantly
radiated with white and purple; others, again, consist
only of one colour, being either black or blue, green,
brown, or yellow, coarsely ribbed, and grained with
minute tubercles.

Some of these exhibit internally a pearly appear-
ance; others, when uncoated of a shaggy or bearded
epidermis, and finely polished, display considerable
brilliancy. The M. margariteferus, especially, is
celebrated for its irridescent colours ; and is, besides,
the Pearl-Muscle of the Indian seas; though beau-
tiful and costly pearls are occasionally found in the
Mya margaritifera, or Pearl-Gaper, as well as in Col-
chester Oysters, and even under the armour of the
Sea-hare. Nor is the inhabitant of the M. lithophagqus,
which abounds in the Indian, European, and Mediter-
ranean seas, where he burrows in rock and coral, less
extraordinary for his silvery tinted shell, crossed
with delicate oblique striz. He shines like phos-
phorus in the dark, and hence the fishermen of the
bay of Naples frequently place the animal in the sun,
and afterwards rub their hands and faces with the
moisture, till they render them luminous.

gp 2

ad

52 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

Another species, the rare and beautiful M. hirundo,
or Swallow-Muscle, which inhabits the Asiatic, West
Indian, and Mediterranean seas, evinces the greatest
variety in thickness, form, and hue. One of the
most elegant of its varieties is green, with white rays;
a second is of a dusty citron colour, rayed with
brown; a third is white, beautifully dotted with
green.

The Mytilus demissus, or Silvery-Muscle, a favour-
ite decoration among the Indians of North America,
also deserves a brief description. It is called the
White-Conch, and principally constitutes the breast-
plate of their high priest. This breast-plate is worn
on the great annual festivals of the natives, when,
clothed in a white raiment of finely dressed doe-skin
which resembles the ephod of the Jews, this great
beloved man, as he is termed by his brethren, enters
the holiest division in their place of worship, and
offers the sacred fire, as a yearly atonement for the
sins of his people.

Specimens of the Cassis cornutus, or Great Conch-
shell, has been found in ancient Indian tumuli, in the
neighbourhood of Cincinnati. They were, most
probably, drinking cups, or sacred utensils, and were
used by the aborigines in connexion with the rites
of sacrifice, or in making libations. These interest-
ing specimens become of some importance as regards

BIVALVES. 5a

the Asiatic origin of the American Indians. All
recent authorities assign the shores of Asia, or those
of the contiguous islands, as the native territory of
this great species of Conch; all indeed, except Lin-
nzeus, who evidently mistook its locality. The
discovery of this shell, in one of the ancient Indian
tumuli, affords a strong presumptive proof of the
long asserted migration of the present race of Indians
from Asia: taken in connexion with other evidence,
it may, indeed, be regarded as corroborative of that
popular belief.*

Shells of this division abound in the cabinets of
the curious, or serve to embellish the apartments of
the rich: there, as well as on their native rocks, or
when deposited by the tide upon the shore, we
admire, but too frequently consider them as merely
gratifying to the eye of taste. Yet the construction
of the inhabitants is still more worthy of admiration
than the exquisite variety of the floating citadels in
which they are enclosed. Those valves which are
frequently so remarkable, close or open according to
their inclination or necessity ; and this is effected by
means of a fleshy protuberance of a reddish colour,
divided into two lobes, and answering the purpose of
feet. Thus, when a River Muscle is inclined to leave

* James’s Expedition to the Rocky Mountains.

54 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

his station, the shell is gradually opened by the help
of this protuberance, which, assuming a new form,
pushes forward and makes a furrow in the sand, into
which the shell is drawn in a vertical position. From
this position he almost immediately changes into his
former horizontal one; the tentacula shovelling back
the sand and lengthening the furrow, while the
animal journeys on his way, with a motion resembling
a continual topsy-turvy. These tracks, most pro-
bably formed by the Muscle in quest of food, may
be readily discerned in shallow clear streams, and
resemble small furrows upon the sandy bottom; they
are seldom straight, but deviate into traverses and
triangles, like the course of a vessel when contending
with adverse winds.

Muscles found in the salt springs of. Nubia,
journey during the rainy season to a considerable
distance from their usual places of abode. They
even migrate occasionally so far, that when the
rains abate, they have neither strength nor sufficient
moisture left to enable them to return to their com-
panions.

Such as inhabit the sea-shore are also furnished
with the means of progressive motion; they can
open and shut their shells at pleasure—remove to
a considerable distance—fasten themselves to the
rocks with threads similar to those of the silk-worm,

BIVALVES. 55

respire water like their finny neighbours, and even
sport upon the surface of the billows.

Now, from this we might suppose that the inha-
bitant was, at least, provided with the usual requisites
for moving his feet, in order to walk upon the sand,
or that he can swim at ease in the wide ocean by
means of such appendages as obviate in aquatic
natures the necessity of wings. Neither of these
are assigned to him. But the Creator, who varies
his means with the obstacles to be surmounted, has
contrived a peculiar and appropriate mechanism,
which answers the purpose equally well. The inha-
bitant is fastened to the upper and lower shells by
two white flat cords of muscular substance, which
extend about two_inches from the thick part of the
body, and gradually decrease in size. ‘The extremity
of each ear lies loose from the body of the animal ; it
is surrounded with a double brown fringed line, and
is capable of being moved at pleasure. Next to
these, above and below, are situated two other double
fringed moveable substances, like the bronchiz of a
fish. Now mark the purpose to which the ears and
the fringes are applied. They are joined to a
cylindrical piece of hard and muscular flesh, which is
capable of being contracted by the animal, for the
purpose of closing the doors of his impregnable
citadel; when, on the contrary, he wishes to throw

56 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

them open, he relaxes the muscle and expands the
fringes, which act as wedges, and separate the shells.
Moreover, every part of this floating pavilion is in-
laid with a membrane, or epidermis, which, after
having been saturated with water, unites so closely
as not to admit the passage of a single drop.

But what I have always the most admired in the
Mytilus is, the position of the animal itself, which is
so placed as not to interfere with the opening or
shutting of the shell. The mouth is enveloped in a
veil with a double flap, or lid, on each side, whence
the throat descends like a thread into the stomach;
and close to this appears a curved, brown, and
pointed tongue, half an inch in length; while on the
concave side is placed a furrow, which the Muscle
enlarges or shuts up, and most probably uses in the
conveyance of his food. The tongue is supposed
materially to assist the motions of the fish, as he
alters his abode in search of food, or when disturbed
by an enemy; and in the middle of this member,
as sentries to direct its movements, are two blueish
spots, which seem to be the eyes. Nor is this
all. Another extraordinary contrivance is discover-
able. The tongue is provided with a beard, or
bryssus, fastened by two fleshy roots, and consisting
of one hundred undivided, parallel lines, an inch in
length, of a dark-green tint with a metallic lustre,

ee

BIVALVES. 54

and terminated by a circular gland resembling the
stigma of several plants. But what is the use of this
singular appendage? As the tongue compensates
the want of feet, so the byssus answers the purpose
of innumerable hands. It enables the Pearl-Muscle
to attach himself to rocks and corals, and to adhere,
when young, to the parental shell. It even answers
the purpose of a line, or hook, and is capable of
being extended or contracted, in order to entrap sea
insects or small fish. There is still another admirable
contrivance, which compensates for certain deficiencies
in the animal economy. The Mytilus frequently
buries himself in the sand, in order to escape his
marine enemies. How, then, is he supplied with
air and water, for these are essential to his welfare ?
Long breathing tubes are projected through the sand,
and thus a constant communication is maintained
with both.

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard,” said Solomon ;
‘* consider her ways, and be wise.” Let the unbeliever
in the superintending providence of his Creator,
examine the structure of this insignificant creature,
and he will be constrained to acknowledge—unless
blinded by prejudice, the moral cataract of the human
mind, that the hand of Deity is conspicuous even
here.

The female of the common Muscle deposits her

4

58 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

eggs in small cavities on the outside of her shell, to
which she attaches them by means of a glutinous
substance: but it is not certain that the numbers
which are often seen adhering, are all deposited by
the inhabitant ; as this species of shell-fish, like the
cuckoo, frequently appropriates a neighbour’s shell,
for the temporary reception of her offspring.

But to proceed with our compensations. A peculiar
class of Muscles, the M. lithophagus, and M. rugosus,
Burrowing and Rugged Muscles, possess the extra-
ordinary faculty of penetrating coral, and calcareous
rocks, and thus elude the vigilance of their marine
enemies; nay, they are so firmly fixed in their holds,
that it is impossible to extract them without break-
ing the enclosing substance. Others congregate
together in immense beds or layers, and others
invariably attach themselves to extraneous sub-
stances, by means of a coarse silky byssus. The
works of the Deity are known by expedients.
These extraordinary instincts prevent the total extir-
pation of the species; for they furnish a supply of
food to different kinds of fish, marine birds, and
animals.

But are not the Muscles defended with a testaceous
coating? How, then, is it possible for a bird to
open and devour them? These instinctive creatures
pounce upon their prey, when left uncovered by the

BIVALVES. 59

efflux of the tide, and mount with it to a considerable
height; they then let go their hold—the shell is
broken by the violence of the fall, and the inhabitant
easily extracted.

Monkeys also devour Muscles, as well as other
shell-fish, in considerable numbers. They watch
the ebbing of the sea, and whenever an unfortunate
Muscle opens his shell for the purpose of imbibing
or rejecting water, a stone is immediately slipped in,
which prevents the valves from closing, and renders
him an easy prey to his sagacious adversary. Birds,
also, occasionally avail themselves of this propensity
in the Muscle to open his shell, but not always with
equal success. A crow seeing one day an Oyster with
his valves expanded on the beach, incautiously darted
her claw into the open shell, with the intention of
dragging forth the inmate; but the Oyster, aware of
her design, instantly closed her doors, and in so
doing, took the thief prisoner. A gentleman found
them in this situation, and made a double capture.

Muscles are common to the Indian, Atlantic, Ame-
rican, and Northern oceans; they are also met with
in New Zealand; in the Red, Mediterranean, and
Russian seas; and a few occasionally diversify the
inhospitable shores of Hudson’s Bay.

Large beds of a minute species have also been
discovered on the eminences of the Jouratzkaine

60 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

coast, which borders the Frozen ocean. They are
evidently a species unknown in the subjacent sea,
and were most probably brought thither by such
marine birds as resort to the Arctic flats, for the
purpose of eating them at leisure.

The genus Anomia, or Antique Lamp, a general
inhabitant of the European, American, and African
oceans, as well as the Mediterranean and Northern
seas, evinces in his construction, both an inconvenience
and a compensation. The shells are generally thin,
delicate, and semi-transparent, peculiarities rarely
discoverable, in such as inhabit the wide ocean.
But in order to remedy this inconvenience, or to
prevent their slender habitations from being ruptured
in the violent tossings of the waves, a small perfora-
tion is obvious near the beak, and through this a
strong ligament is protruded, whereby the little
sailor securely fixes himself to different marine sub-
stances, such as to fuci, crabs, the spines of echini,
and especially to the stars of the Madrepora Prolifera.
The shells evince considerable variety, and some of
them are singularly beautiful. The Snake-head
(A. caput serpentis), when seen in profile, resembles
an antique lamp, and the 4. psittacea is very similar
in its construction to the forked or curved beak of a
parrot; while the 4. placenta, or Cake-Anomia, is
capable of being rendered so transparent, that it is

BIVALVES. 61

frequently used by the ingenious Chinese as a sub-
stitute for window glass.

The excessive weight and thickness of the pon-
derous Gaper (Mya ponderosa) indicate that it is
found in rapid rivers, and cataracts; in short, shells
of this division are generally thick, and their inha-
bitants, which hide themselves in sand and mud,
constitute a large proportion of the food of birds and
land animals in some inhospitable regions of the
globe. They abound in that part of the Congo
territory, through which the Zaire flows into the
southern Atlantic, and here they are eagerly sought
for by the natives, who assemble for this purpose
with their canoes, in companies of three or four
hundred. Considerable numbers are also taken by
the women, in scoop nets made with the fibres of
creeping plants, or from the herbaceous cotton, which
is common on the Congo. In some parts of the
river they are caught in baskets placed along the
water’s edge; in others, by means of poisonous
plants.

There is One, my friend, whom greatness cannot
overpower, nor minuteness perplex. The tall um-
brageous trees that clothe the banks of the rapid
Zaire—the numerous islands that rise above the
water, mantled with thick mangroves, or covered
with Egyptian papyrus, resembling at a distance

62 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

fields of waving corn, or clumps of the majestic wine-
producing phoenix, which cluster round the native
villages, “‘plead haughtily”’ for the greatness and
magnificence of Him who called them into being;
whilst the humble Mya, enclosed in a solid and
ponderous shell, that enables it to resist the action
of rapid and agitated waters, tells us, in accents soft
as the dew of Heaven, that ‘‘ His tender mercies
are over all his works.”

The shell of the Donax resembles a wedge. It is
broad and thick at one end, and gradually tapers
towards the other: a construction which considerably
assists the animal in excavating his subterraneous
dormitory. The hinge is furnished with two small
teeth, consequently the anterior slope is generally
gaping. Now, to remedy this apparent inconve-
nience, a ligament is placed near the fissure, which
effectually prevents the valves from separating, when
the inhabitant of the Donax has occasion to expand
them. The meanest creature is in itself a collec-
tion of wonders. The peculiar construction of the
Wedge-Shell; the slight adhesion of the hinges; the
gaping of the valves; the ligament which prevents
them from separating; and the power arising from
all these, of readily procuring his food, or changing
his position, afford, when compared with the dissi-
milar construction of other shell-fish, convincing

BIVALVES. 63

proofs of new and appropriate mechanism. The
generic appellation of the Donax is derived from a
Greek word, signifying a reed; and a flying reed is,
by one ancient writer, used for an arrow. The name,
therefore, aptly describes the shape of the Donax,
which resembles the head of a javelin. This species
delights to burrow in the sand, or among loose
pebbles on the sea coast, and is found in almost
every part of the known world.

The Chama, Camp, or Gaper, signifying a gaping,
an hiatus, an opening, produces occasionally large
and costly pearls, and is believed to be thus named
from the gaping observable in two of the species,
of which the C. gigas, or Giant-Clam, is the largest
shell in the order Testacea. We are informed by
Linnezus, that a specimen once weighed four hundred
and ninety-eight English pounds; that the inhabitant
furnished one hundred and twenty men with provi-
sion for a whole day, and that the sudden closing of
its valves was sufficient to snap a cable asunder.
A manuscript in the library of the late Sir Joseph
Banks, also notices the dimensions of a specimen
brought from Sumatra, and preserved at Ano’s Vale,
in Ireland: the weight amounted to five hundred and
seven pounds; the largest valve measured four feet
six inches in length, two feet five inches and a half
in breadth, and one foot in depth. A shell of the

64 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

same species, forms the baptismal fort at the church
of St. Sulpice at Paris; it was presented by the
Venetians to Francis the First.

Ancient artists engraved a variety of figures on
different species of this interesting genus. Availing
themselves of the colours infused by nature into the
strata of the shell, they accurately expressed by the
depth of their incisions, the delicate tints of the
finest white or red complexion, or blue and yellow
drapery, according to the kind of Chama which they
selected for the purpose. Several specimens are
still extant, and to these we owe, most probably, the
first idea of that kind of engraving which is termed
a cameo.

Large pearls are occasionally found in the Chama
gigas. One, exhibited at Sir Joseph Banks’s, in
June, 1804, was valued at two or three hundred
pounds. The colour of this extraordinary shell is of
a dirty white, or yellowish or reddish brown. The
hinge is furnished with a cartilage of a dull brown
colour; but when cut and polished, is as beautifully
irridescent as the opal.

Lhave previously had occasion to observe, that the
component parts, or superficies, of many animals are
highly ornamental, and that the properties by which
they are so rendered do not apparently conduce to
any other purpose. In shells and flowers, the

BIVALVES. 65

principle of beauty holds a considerable place in their
composition, and is still more predominant than in
animals. Why, for instance, are the shells of the
genus Cardium, or Cockle, frequently of a dark
brown colour, varied with white hollow elevated ribs?
Why are those of the Tellina, or Tellen, so remarkable
for their beautiful radiations; and why are so many
species of the Venus unrivalled in the brilliant tint-
ings and lustre of their shells; the rich purple (Venus
mercenaria), or Money-Venus, especially, which is
used by the Indians of North America to form the
purple and white beads of their wampum, or treaty
belts? The purpose, so far as we can see, of animal
nutrition might have been carried on as well under
the sober coating of the garden snail. Or, if this
could not be in every species, for reasons inexplicable
to us, why break into such a variety of colours? It
is not an effect of age, or of any declension in the
vigour of the subject, for the young and active are
generally most distinguished for the prilliancy of
their tints. This property in the shell is evidently
independent of the inhabitant ; it is solely calculated
for beauty, intended for display. In none of the
numerous family of Testacea is this property more
remarkable than in the hundred and fifteen species of
this elegant genus, most of which are celebrated for
the smoothness and brilliancy, as well as the rich

F

66 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

and high colouring of their surfaces. Ancient poets
were not inattentive to their merit. They fabled that
Venus selected one of the most beautiful for the car,
that bore her in‘triumph to the shores of Paphros ;
and a modern writer, improving on this idea, has
thus elegantly described the heroine of his tale :—

E’en as the blue enamoured waves, when first
The sea-born goddess, in her rosy shell,
Sailed the calm ocean. Martyr of Antioch.

Different species of the same interesting genus are

used, in both hemispheres, for purposes of decoration.
«« And oft a scattered ornament bestow
The tinctur’d rivals of the showery bow.”

The females of the North-American Indians,
especially, cover with them the shoes which they
use in dancing, and thus produce a sound somewhat
resembling the tinkling of the little bells that were
worn on similar occasions by the Jewish ladies: a
mode of decoration noticed and reprehended by
Isaiah, in his energetic admonition to the unthinking
daughters of Zion, that the Lord would take away
‘the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their
feet, and their cauls and round tires like the moon,”
because of their haughtiness, and their forgetfulness
of him.—Isaiah 1. 16, 18.

Little is known, with certainty, respecting the

BIVALVES. 67

peculiar instincts of the animal inhabitants of the
Cardium, Tellina, and Venus, excepting that they are
admirably adapted to the various stations which they
are designed to occupy. The two former inhabit the
American, Indian, and Atlantic oceans; the Mediter-
ranean, Caspian, and Indian seas. The latter are
found in every part of the known world, and furnish
a constant supply of food to marine animals, and
birds of various descriptions.

In another species, the Pinna, Finshell,* or Sea-
wing, a beautiful and well known genus, we shall
shortly have occasion to observe a most extraordinary
compensation, not resulting from any peculiarity in
the structure of the animal itself, but supplied by the
deficiencies of another. At least twenty different
species are included under this division; and here it
is not unworthy of remark, that however different
individuals may vary in size and colour, the usual
form of their testaceous coatings uniformly resembles
that of the larger species of Muscles, being long and
tapering towards the opposite extremity. They are,
also, generally brittle and horn-like, and are occa-
sionally enriched with a steel-like blue, or copper

* Pinna, or Piuné, is the Greek name for this fish: it was
eaten by the ancients, and occasionally called the Naker,
Naire, or Nacker; a word, the meaning of which seems un-
known.

68 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

colour. Some peculiarity in the animal inhabitant
uniformly furnishes a clue to its mode of life. The
construction of the Pinna points out its adaptation to
smooth waters and sheltered bays; and, though
generally found in the Mediterranean, Indian, Ame-
rican, Atlantic, and European oceans, as well as in
the Adriatic and Red seas, they are seldom seen on
bold and rocky coasts, exposed to the furious surg-
ings of the tide. The classic shores of the Medi-
terranean are, consequently, one of their favourite
resorts; and hence the rocks under Cape St. Vido,
once celebrated for an abbey of Basilican monks,
as well as the shores of the Mare Grand, are com-
pletely studded with the interesting shell-fish.
Thousands of spinning worms,

That in their green shops weave the smooth-hair’d silk,
To deck her sons. Milton.

They are elegantly termed the silk-worms of the
ocean, in allusion to the fine silky beard, or byssus,
by means of which they moor themselves firmly to
the rocks, or allure small fish by the floating or
trembling of the filaments in the water.

This they possess in common with the Muscle.
But instead of an hundred undivided, parallel, and
flattened fibres, terminated with a circular gland,
furnished with absorbents, and growing from the
body of the animal, we have here a machine as

BIVALVES. 69

incontestably mechanical as that of a wire-drawer’s
mill, The Pinna is provided with an extensile
member, like a finger, and this contains a glue, which
the animal protrudes at pleasure, through a variety
of minute perforations in the tip. This glue, or
gum, as.in the instance of the common spider, or
the silk-worm, having passed through these apertures,
becomes threads of almost imperceptible fineness ;
and these threads, when joined, compose the silk
which is so much valued by the Sicilians. But the
animal first attaches the extremity of the thread, by
means of its adhesive quality, to some crag, or pebble,
of unusual size; and when this is effected, the Pinna
receding from that point, draws out the thread
through the perforation of the extensile member by a
process, which Paley, in describing the similar opera-
tions of the terrestrial silk-worm, justly compares to
the drawing of wire. One difference only subsists.
The wire is the metal unaltered, except in figure:
whereas, in the forming of the thread, the nature of
the substance is somewhat changed, as well as the
form; for, as it exists within the insect, it is merely
a soft and clammy glue; the thread acquiring, most
probably, its firmness and tenacity from the action
of the air upon its surface at the moment of expo-
sure. This property is, consequently, a part of the
contrivance.

70 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

The mechanism itself consists of the extensile
member, which the animal propels at pleasure; of the
reservoir in which the glue is collected, and of
the external holes communicating with it,—while
the action of the machine is seen, in forming the
thread, analogous to that of making wire, by forcing
the prepared material through holes of proper dimen-
sions. ‘The secretion is an act too subtile for our
discernment, except as we perceive it by the produce.
But one thing answers to another: the secretory
glands to the quantity and consistence required in the
secreted substance, and the reservoir to its reception;
while the outlets and orifices are constructed, not
merely for relieving the reservoir, but for manufactur-
ing its contents into a form and texture of great
external use to the life and functions of the insect.
But the texture is not only essential to the welfare
of the inhabiting Mollusca, it also constitutes an im-
portant article of commerce among the Sicilians; for
which purpose considerable numbers of Pinna are
annually fished up in the Mediterranean, from the
depth of twenty or thirty feet. An instrument, called
a cramp, is used for the-purpose: it is a kind of iron
fork, with perpendicular prongs, eight feet in length,
each of them about six inches apart, the length of
the handle being in proportion to the depth of the
water; for, notwithstanding the extreme delicacy of

BIVALVES. Pi |

the individual threads, they form such a compact tuft,
that considerable strength is necessary in separating
the shells from the rocks to which they adhere.

This tuft of silk, termed by the Sicilians lanapenna,

is then broken off, and sold, in its rude state, for
about fifteen carlini a pound, to the countrywomen,
who wash it thoroughly in soap and water. They
then dry it in the shade, straiten the threads with a
large comb, cut off the useless root by which it
adhered to the animal, and card the remainder; by
these means a pound of coarse filaments is reduced
to about three ounces of fine thread. This is
fabricated into various articles of wearing apparel,
such as stockings, caps, gloves, and waistcoats.
The web is of a beautiful yellow brown, resembling
the burnished golden hue which adorns the backs of
some splendid flies and beetles ; an effect produced
by steeping it in lemon-juice, and afterwards pressing
it with a warm iron.
A considerable manufactory of stuffs and various
articles of wearing apparel is established at Palermo ;
they are extremely elegant, and vie in appearance
with such as are fabricated from the finest silk.

In the year 1754, a pair of stockings were pre-
sented to Pope Benedict XV., which, in consequence
of their extreme fineness, were enclosed in a small
box about the size of one for holding snuff. A robe

72 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

of the same singular materials is mentioned by Pro-
copius, as the gift of a Roman emperor to the satrap
of Armenia.

It is even conjectured by some writers, that the
fine byssus produced in India, Egypt, and about
Elis, in Arabia, was no other than the threads of
this interesting shell-fish, from which the richest
apparel was anciently made, and afterwards dyed
purple, for the sacerdotal vestments of the Jewish
and Egyptian priests. Some interpreters of the
Scriptures, render the Greek word, denoting byssus,
by fine linen; but other versions, such as Calvin’s,
and the Spanish printed at Venice in 1556, explain
it by silk; though undeniably of a different kind
than the produce of the silk-worm, as appears from
the testimonies of several ancient writers. Commen-
tators usually distinguish two sorts of byssus,—one
of Elis, the other of Judea: from the latter the
sacerdotal vestments were uniformly made; the for-
mer being assigned to the Levite.

Thus elegantly has the Earl of Shaftesbury referred
to the productions of these industrious insects :—
‘* How shining, strong, and lasting are the subtile
threads spun from their artful mouths! Who beside
the All-wise, has taught them to compose the beauti-
ful soft shells, in which, recluse and buried, yet still

alive, they form those beautiful threads, when not

*

BIVALVES. 73

destroyed by men, who clothe and adorn themselves
with the labour of these sweet creatures, and are
proud of wearing such inglorious spoils ?”’

We now proceed to that extraordinary species of
compensation which supplies the deficiencies of the
Pinna Marina,—not by any contrivance in the
animal, but through the agency of a resident in the
cell. The Creator has placed the eyes of the com-
mon Muscle in the tongue. And why? Because
this member answers the purpose of feet, in enabling
her to travel from one station to another; but to
the present subject of our inquiry he has denied the
faculty of vision. The animal inhabitant of the
Pinna is therefore nothing more than a blind slug,
surrounded with innumerable enemies, and particu-
larly obnoxious to the Sepia, or Cuttle-fish.

‘*Ambushed in weeds, or sepulchred in sand!”’
he watches all his motions; and no sooner does he
open his bivalve shell, which occasionally exceeds
two feet in length, than he rushes upon him like a
lion. Now, it will naturally be asked, how such a
blind, defenceless creature, can either procure food or
protect himself from the attack of his implacable
enemies? Nature uniformly redoubles her exertions
in favour of the weak; or rather, it may be said, that
the God of nature offers, by this new and affecting
compensation, an additional reason for unreserved

74 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

confidence in him. A kind of crab, naked like the
hermit, and very quick-sighted, is the constant
companion of the Pinna Marina. They live and
lodge together in the same shell, which belongs to
the latter. When the Pinna has occasion to eat,
he opens his valves, and sends out his faithful
purveyor to procure food. If any foe approaches,
the watchful crab returns with the utmost speed and
anxiety to his blind protector, who, being thus
warned of danger, shuts his valves, and escapes the
rage of the enemy; when, on the contrary, the crab
loads himself with booty, he makes a gentle noise at
the opening of the shell, which is closed during
his absence, and when admitted, the two friends
feast together on the fruits of his industry.* This
curious fact, although well known to the ancients,
escaped till lately the observation of the moderns.
Aristotle tells us, that the Pinna kept a guard to
watch for him; that there grew to the mouth of the
Pinna a small animal, having claws, and serving as
a caterer, resembling a crab, and termed the Pinno-
phylax. In like manner, Pliny mentions a small
animal, called Pinnotheres, which, he says, is liable
to injury, and therefore prudently hides itself in the
shell of oysters. He also speaks of the Pinna as
belonging to a genus of shell-fish, produced in muddy
water, and constantly attended by a companion.
* Hasselquist.

BIVALVES. r 45)

One room contains them, and the partners dwell

Beneath the convex of one sloping shell ;

Deep in the watery vast the comrades rove,

And mutual interest binds their constant love :

That wiser friend the lucky juncture tells

When in the circuit of his gaping shells

Fish wand’ring enter; then the bearded guide

Warns the dull mate, and pricks his tender side ;

He knows the hint, nor at the treatment grieves,

But hugs the advantage, and the pain forgives ;

His closing shell, the Pinna sudden joins,

And ’twixt the pressing sides his prey confines ;

Thus fed by mutual aid, the friendly pair,

Divide their gains, and all their plunder share.
Oppian.

LEST ER. Ly...

PEARLS.

To * * & *¥

WE now pass on to a very different portion of our
subject, and have solely to consider the formation of
the Pearl, the “‘ Margaron,” or globe of light, from
which, and the Persian name Mervarid, that is, the
offspring of light, was derived ‘‘ Margarites,” the
appellation in southern Kurope.

Neither ancient nor modern naturalists have ac-
counted satisfactorily for the formation of this valu-
able gem. Pliny, and after him Solinus, struck with
its similarity to a drop of dew, imagined that the
Pearl Oyster rose every morning to the surface of the
water, and expanded its shell to imbibe the dew of
heaven, which silently descending like a liquid pearl,
entered the body of the creature, and assumed the

PEARLS. ae

texture, shape, and colour of a real pearl. This
elegant hypothesis was probably suggested by the
various transformations observable in nature; such
as the conversion of the nectareous juice of flowers
into wax and honey.

A similar opinion is still entertained by the natives
of Ceylon, and recorded in the Sanscrit books of the
Brahmans. The Persians hold the same idea, of
which the following ingenious fable is an interesting
proof. Addison introduces it at the conclusion of
one of his fine moral essays, in which he shews the
presumption of ascribing our successes to our good
management, instead of considering them as the
bounty of heaven.

‘“*A drop of water fell out of a cloud into the sea,
and finding itself lost in such an immensity of fluid
matter, broke out into the following reflection :—
‘Alas! what an insignificant creature am I, in this
prodigious ocean of waters; my existence is of no
concern to the universe! I am reduced to a kind of
nothing, and am less than the least of the works
of Omnipotence.’ It so happened, that an Oyster
which lay in the neighbourhood, chanced to gape and
swallow it, in the midst of its humble soliloquy. The
drop,” says the fable, “lay a great while hardening
in the shell, till by degrees it was ripened into a

pearl; which falling into the hands of a diver, after

78 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

a long series of adventures, is at present that famous
pearl which adorns the top of the Persian diadem.”’

Many equally wild and extravagant opinions were
advanced, to account for the formation of the pearl,
by different European naturalists, and succeeded by
others of a similar description, till the year 1717,
when M. Reaumur, in a curious paper which ap-
peared in the Memoirs of the French Academy, on
the structure of both shells and pearls, conjectured
with great probability (and his conjectures are now
generally admitted), that pearls are formed of a juice
extravasated out of some ruptured vessels, and
detained and fixed among the membranes of the
Oyster.

To evince the probability of this Ingenious sup-
position, he shews that oceanic and river shells are
formed wholly of a glutinous and stony matter, which
oozes from the body of the inhabiting Mollusca; and
that, consequently, an animal furnished with vessels
fraught with a sufficient quantity of stony juice to
build, thicken, and extend a shell, is fully capable
of forming pearl, if the juices designed for the in-
crease of its habitation should chance to overflow
among the membranes, or to fill up any accidental
cavity in the body of the animal itself.

In proof of which, he has further shewn, that
when pearls of two colours are found in the Pearl

PEARLS. 79

Muscle of Provence, the tints of each are precisely
the same with those of the shell; and that each kind
of coloured pearl is found in the corresponding
coloured part of the shell itself; thus clearly evincing
that where a certain juice had formed, and would
have continued to form, a coat or layer of a
peculiar tint, the vessel that conveyed the juice had
become ruptured, and occasioned a small deposit,
which hardened gradually, and retained the colour
of the shell. Of this, the structure of the pearl, and
the shell itself, is a convincing proof; for the silver,
or pearl-coloured part of the Pearl Muscle, is formed
of strata lying one upon another like the coats
of an onion; and also of the reddish part of a
multitude of small, short, close, cylindrical fibres ;
which peculiarity of texture is also discoverable
in the different coloured pearls of the Muscles of
Provence.

The intrusion of some heterogeneous substances,
such as particles of sand, into the stomach of the
animal, frequently produces these curious extrava-
tions. M. Reaumur elegantly terms them the nuclei,
or primary causes of the formation of these valuable
gems; as the sagacious animals cover them from
time to time with exudations of pearly matter, in
order to obviate the disagreeable friction which they
necessarily occasion; and these exudations, as already

”
80 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

noticed, form several regular lamellze, resembling the
coats of an onion, or different strata of bezoars,
though considerably thinner, and more delicate in
their construction. Loose pearls are often found
within the shelly covering of the Mytilus; but when
this occurs, they have been undoubtedly rejected
from the stomach of the animal, and have fallen
into the cavity of the shell; whilst such as are
fixed, most probably owe their origin to some inte-
rior roughness.

The exterior of the Mytilus Margaritiferus gen-
erally indicates the value of the gem which it
contains. Such as are varied and incrusted with
thick calcareous substances, and with zoophytes of
different kinds, enclose the finest pearls; those on
the contrary, which present a smooth unbroken
surface, have only begun to form these valuable
secretions, and are sometimes entirely without them.

The observation of this curious fact, most probably
suggested the first idea of forcing the Mytilus to
produce pearls. It was known in the first centuries
of the Christian era, and acted on by the ancient
people who inhabited the coasts of the Red Sea, as
we are informed by the philosopher Apollonius.
‘‘The Indians,” said he, ‘‘ dived into the sea after
they had rendered it calm, and perhaps clearer, by
the pouring in of oil; they then induced the Muscles,

PEARLS. 81

by means of some attractive baits, to expand their
shells, and having pricked them with a sharp-pointed
instrument, the liquor which exuded from the wound
was received into a perforated iron vessel, where it
hardened gradually, and formed pearls of the finest
water.”

Modern naturalists are undecided with regard to
the accuracy of this narration; yet there are various
reasons to conclude, that the people who lived on
the shores of the Red Sea were acquainted with an
artificial mode of producing pearls; and this opinion
is additionally confirmed by the method now in use
among the modern Chinese, who retain, with few
alterations, the arts and customs of their ancestors.
Pearl Oysters, at-certain seasons of the year, con~
gregate in considerable numbers on the surface of
the water, where they open their shells, and enjoy
the influence of the sun. At this period the Chinese
fishermen throw into each of them a small string of
beads, formed of mother-of-pearl, which becoming
incrusted in the course of a few months, present the
appearance of real pearls. No sooner is this curious
process supposed to be completed, than the Muscles
are drawn up, and robbed of the treasures which
they contain. The truth of this extraordinary state-
ment may be implicitly relied on; it is confirmed by
the testimony of respectable travellers, and the result

G

82 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

of various experiments; to which Professor Fabricius
adds the testimony of having seen, in the possession
of Sir Joseph Banks, several Chinese Chamez, the
shells of which contained bits of iron wire, covered
with a substance of a pearly nature. These wires
had evidently once been sharp, and it seemed as
if the sagacious Muscles, anxious to secure them-
selves against the intrusion of such unwelcome
visitors, had incrusted, and thus rendered blunt,
the points with which they came in contact. May
not, therefore, the process employed by the ancients
be still practised? And are we not authorized in
conjecturing that these bits of iron, which probably
had slipped from the hands of the Chinese workmen,
and remained in the animals, resembled the spikes
noticed by Philostratus as being used by the ancient
people who inhabited the banks of the Red Sea, for
the purpose of pricking Muscles.

The invention of Linnzus cannot, therefore, be
considered altogether new; though he was un-
doubtedly the reviver of this ancient art, in Ev-
rope. It was announced to the Swedish King and
Council in the year 1761, with an offer of disclosure
for the benefit of the kingdom. But various cir-
cumstances having prevented the acceptance of his
liberal offer, the secret was purchased by a Gottenburg
merchant of the name of Bagge, for the sum of five

PEARLS, 83

hundred ducats. The sealed manuscript containing
the receipt was afterwards disposed of, by the heirs
of this gentleman, to the highest bidder; and is
said by Dr. Stover to have passed into the hands of
our distinguished countryman, Sir J. E. Smith.

The emblematic coat of arms, which typified the
feelings of an admiring country, while it ennobled
the celebrated Swedish naturalist, is stated to have
been given in consequence of this important inven-
tion; but it appears from the historian of Linnzeus,
that the patent of nobility was granted previous to
the year 1756: and that the pearl, which superficial
observers have assigned to his arms, was in fact an
ego, designed by the blazoner, M. Tilas, as an
emblem of maternal nature, after the manner of the
ancient Egyptians. The arms of Linnzus are,
indeed, equally elegant and appropriate. They are
divided into three fields, representing the three king-
doms of nature: the red signifying the animal, and
the green the vegetable ; the whole is surmounted by
an helmet, and the beautiful Linnzea forms the crest.
The phalaena linncella, shining with its silvery
colours, is displayed around the border in preference
to festoons of drapery, and below the motto, “ Hamam
extendere factis,’ designates the active genius of
Linneus.

The appellation of Margion, or Globe of light,

G2

84 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

by which the Orientalists designate their favourite
gem, is elegantly expressive of its peculiar form
and lustre, as the true shape of the pearl is that
of a perfect round. When its contour resembles a
pear it is less valuable; and is then generally used
for ear-rings, and ornaments of a similar description.
The natives of the East, like the ancient Romans,
prefer it to any other kind of precious stone. The
finest are used for personal decoration, while those of
an inferior description are seen to sparkle on the
trappings of their horses. We are even told that,
in the magnificent hunting equipage of the Sultan
Mahmoud, consisting of four hundred greyhounds
and bloodhounds, each was decorated with a collar
set with jewels, and a covering, edged with gold and
pearls.

These beautiful productions are frequently alluded
to by Oriental writers.

Hafiz has thus admirably illustrated from them a
maxim of the ancient Arabs, which says to the
virtuous man, “ confer benefits on him who has in-
jured thee.”

‘* Learn from yon orient shell to love thy foe,
And store with pearls the wrist that brings thee woe ;
Free, like yon rock, from base vindictive pride,
Emblaze with gems the hand that rends thy side ;
All nature cries aloud—can man do less,
Than heal the smiter and the railer bless ?”

PEARLS. 85

It is customary among the Turks to send letters
to their distant friends entirely composed of various
little articles, to which some appropriate meaning is
attached; in these the Margion always holds a con-
spicuous station, and signifies “‘ fairest of the young ;”’
as a rose, “‘may you be pleased, and your sorrows
mine.” ‘There is, indeed, no kind of colour, flower,
weed, or fruit, herb, gem, or feather, which has not
some meaning assigned to it by the natives of the
East.

The Persian poet Meskin Aldaramy, in allusion to
these fanciful associations, has thus elegantly com-
pared his friends to a string of pearls ; himself to the
cord on which they are suspended.

“* With conscious pride I view the band
Of faithful friends that round me stand,
With joy exult that I alone
Can join these faithful friends in one :
For they ’re a string of pearls, and I,
The silken cord on which they lie.

<« With joy their inmost souls I see
Unlock’d in every heart to me ;
To me they cling, on me they rest,
And I’ve a place in every breast:
For they ’re a string of pearls, and J,
The silken cord on which they he.”

86 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

The following allusion to this beautiful production
of the Indian seas is certainly not inferior to the
preceding :

Farewell—farewell to thee, Araby’s daughter,
(Thus warbled a Peri beneath the dark sea);

No pearl ever lay under Oman’s green water,
More pure in its shell than thy spirit in thee.

Oh, long upon Araby’s green sunny highlands
Shall maids and their lovers remember the doom

Of her, who lies sleeping among the Pearl Islands,
With nought but the sea-star* to light up her tomb.

Farewell—be it ours to embellish thy pillow
With every thing beauteous that grows in the deep ;
Each flow’r of the rock, and each gem of the billow,
Shall sweeten thy bed, and illumine thy sleep.

Around thee shall glitter the loveliest amber
That ever the sorrowing sea-bird has wept,

With many a pearl, in whose hollow-wreath’d chamber
We, Peris of ocean, by moonlight have slept.

Moore.

* Star-fish: one of the greatest curiosities in the Persian Gulf.
It is circular, and so beautifully luminous at night, as to resemble
the full moon surrounded by rays.

PEARLS. 87

Let us now consider the Pearl, with reference to
its value in a commercial point of view.

As early as the days of Solomon, a considerable
trade was carried on by the Phenicians of Sidon and
Tyre, who, both in their manners and policy, re-
sembled the great commercial states of modern
Europe. Among the various branches of their
commerce, that with India for pearls may be con-
sidered as one of the most lucrative and most
considerable. Having wrested from the Idumzans
some commodious harbours towards the bottom of
the Arabian Gulf, they rendered them the great em-
poriums of Oriental commerce, whence they diffused
these costly productions, in common with many
others, along the eastern and southern coasts of
Africa. The distance, however, from the Arabian
Gulf was considerable, and the conveyance of goods
by land carriage attended with so much incon-
venience, that these enterprising people at length
took possession of Rhinoculura, the nearest port
in the Mediterranean to the Arabian Gulf. Thither
all the commodities from India were readily con-
veyed, re-shipped, and transported by an easy
navigation to Tyre, and by “her merchants who
were as princes, and her traffickers the honourable of
the earth,” distributed throughout the world. But
at length the declining glory of the merchant city

88 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

bore ample testimony to the validity of the prophetic
declaration, ‘‘ That the Lord had given a command-
ment against it,” to “destroy the strong holds
thereof ;”* whilst it afforded a melancholy earnest
that the period was rapidly approaching, when the
site of imperial Tyrus was destined to become as the
top of a ‘‘ barren rock, even a place for the fishermen
to spread their nets upon.”} Alexandria was erected
by the enterprising genius of the monarch whose
name it perpetuates, and at length monopolized the
advantage of supplying Europe with the productions
of the East.

Upon the conquest of Egypt by the Romans, pearls,
in common with other Oriental productions, continued
to be brought into Europe by the same channel; and,
amid all the various articles of luxurious decoration
in which the Romans so much delighted, it is re-
corded that a decided preference was given to pearls.
They were eagerly purchased by persons of every
rank, and worn in every part of the dress; the most
expensive were considered as necessary appendages
to rank and fortune; while smaller ones, of inferior
quality, displayed the taste, and gratified the vanity
of persons in an humbler sphere. Indeed, so ardent
was the general admiration, and so enormous the

* Tsaiah xxiii. 8—11. + Ezekiel xxvii. 14.

PEARLS. 89

prices given for this kind of gem, that we are in-
formed by Pliny that Julius Czesar presented Servilia,
the mother of Brutus, with a pearl, for which he
paid forty-eight thousand four hundred and fifty-
seven pounds. The famous ear-rings which the
profligate Cleopatra dissolved in vinegar, and drank
to the health of Mark Antony, were valued at one
hundred and sixty-one thousand four hundred and
fifty-eight pounds. In emulation of which, the
dissipated Clodius presented each of his guests with
a glass of vinegar in which a valuable pearl had been
dissolved.

Nor were pearls of Oriental growth the only ones
worn: the rivers of Germany and Saxony were ran-
sacked for this favourite ornament; and it is recorded
by Suetonius, that the reports which had reached
Rome concerning the British pearls, were the ac-
tuating motives which induced Czsar to attempt
the conquest of the island.

His expectations were not entirely realized; but
a buckler formed of English pearls was carried by
the conqueror to Rome, where it was dedicated to
Venus, and hung up in her magnificent temple as an
offering worthy of the sea-born goddess.

As such was the general predilection, it will not
appear extraordinary, that, while the imperial city
was filled with patricians who had scarcely any other

90 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

occupation than to enjoy and dissipate the wealth
acquired by their ancestors, the demand for their
favourite gem, as well as for every thing elegant;
rare, or costly, which exotic climes afforded, should
continually increase, in order to support their pomp,
or to heighten their pleasure. Hence extraordinary
efforts were continually made, and as the commerce
with India increased, new channels of communication
were successively opened. From the earliest ages
some intercourse had subsisted between Mesopotamia
and other provinces on the banks of the Euphrates,
and those parts of Syria and Palestine which lay
near the Mediterranean, of which the migration of
Abram, from Ur of the Chaldees to Sichem in the
land of Canaan, is a convincing proof. As the inter-
course increased, the possession of this station became
an object of such importance, that Solomon, when he
turned his thoughts towards the extension of com-
merce among his subjects, built a fenced city there.
Its Syrian name of Tadmor in the Wilderness, and
its Greek one of Palmyra, are both descriptive of its
situation in a spot adorned with palm trees. This
place was not only plentifully supplied with water,
but surrounded with a portion of fertile land, which,
though of no great extent, rendered it a delightful
residence, in the midst of barren sands and an inhos-
pitable desert. Its present state ‘‘ pleads haughtily

PEARLS, 91

for its past glories.” It rises like an island out of
a vast plain of sand, covered with the magnificent
ruins of temples, porticoes, aqueducts, and other
public works, which in splendour and extent, and
some of them in elegance, were not unworthy of
Athens, or of Rome, in their most prosperous state.
The Arabs of the desert now pitch their tents amid
the ruins; and at Palmyra, as well as at Balbec,
thousands of little lizards crawl over the ground,
the walls, and stones of the ruined buildings.

Such is the present state of Palmyra. In ancient
times it was the emporium of Eastern commerce, and
its inhabitants traded with the Romans, and their
rivals for empire, the Parthians. Indeed so great
was its power, that Zenobia contended for the
dominion of the East with the Romans, under one
of their most warlike emperors: a power, which
evidently resulted from the opulence acquired by
extensive commerce. Of this the Indian trade was
undoubtedly the most considerable and most lucra-
tive branch.

But while the merchants of Egypt and Syria ex-
erted their activity to gratify the increasing demands
of Rome, the eagerness of gain (as Pliny observes)
brought India itself nearer to the rest of the world.
Navigation began to occupy the attention and exer-
cise the ingenuity of experienced seamen. Hippalus,

92 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

the commander of a ship engaged in the Indian trade,
ventured, about fourscore years after Egypt was
annexed to the Roman empire, to relinquish the
slow and gradual course through which the commo-
dities of India had found their way into Egypt,
and stretching boldly from the mouth of the
Arabian Gulf across the ocean, was carried by the
western monsoon to Musiris, a harbour in that part
of India, now known by the name of the Malabar
coast.

The discovery of this route to India was considered
of great importance, and Musiris as well as Barace, a
harbour not far distant, were continually resorted to
by the Indian and Egyptian merchants. Hence the
splendid productions of the East, its elegant manu-
factures, spices, aromatics, precious stones and pearls,
were more readily diffused among nations possessed
of wealth sufficient to purchase them; and Rome, the
ancient capital of the empire, and Constantinople,
the new seat of government, were supplied with the
precious commodities of that country by the mer-
chants of Alexandria.

Under the Emperor Justinian, Persia became a
rival to Rome, in the Indian seas. About four-
score years after his decease, the conquests of
Mahomet occasioned a considerable revolution in
Oriental commerce; and at length the same com-

PEARLS. 93

mercial spirit which prompted the Mahomedans of
Persia to visit the remotest regions of the East, ani-
mated the Christians of that country.

But while the Christians and Mahomedans con-
tinued to extend their knowledge of the East, the
inhabitants of Europe found themselves almost
entirely excluded from any intercourse with their
Oriental neighbours. Egypt had passed from under
the Roman yoke; Alexandria shut her port against
them; and the new lords of the Persian Gulf,
satisfied with supplying the demand for Indian com-
modities in their own extensive dominions, neglected
to convey them, by any of the usual channels, to the
trading towns of the Mediterranean. The opulent
inhabitants of Constantinople and other great cities
of Europe, bore this privation of luxuries to which
they had been accustomed with extreme impatience ;
and the surprising efforts which were then made to
open fresh channels of communication with the East,
strikingly evince the high estimation in which its
commodities were held. The endeavours of the
European merchants were ultimately crowned with
success: Constantinople became a considerable mart
of Indian and Chinese commodities, and thus the
pearls of India were again circulated throughout
Europe.

It is foreign to our purpose to notice the various

94 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

commercial revolutions which the long wars between
the Christians and Mahomedans occasioned.

Amalphi and Venice, with Genoa and Portugal,
successively diffused throughout Europe the costly
productions of the East. Other nations also gra-
dually arose upon the commercial platform; and at
the present period the pearls of India, with its spicery
and rich perfumes, gold, frankincense, and myrrh,
muslins, shawls, and chintzes, are widely circulated,
through the medium of innumerable channels.

Having thus completed a general survey of the
various sources of communication through which the
pearls of India were introduced into Europe, it now
remains to shew the different places from which they
are derived, as well as to point out the pearl fisheries
of ancient times.

These, to a considerable extent, formerly subsisted
in the Red Sea, the pearls of which, are supposed by
Mr. Bruce to have been produced in the shell of a
species of Pinna. He conjectures that this kind of
pearl was the penim or peninim of Scripture, and
that the name is derived from its redness, peninim
being literally translated by the Greeks, pina, or
pinna, and the shell pinnicus. This shell abounds in
many places mentioned by Strabo, Theophrastus, and
Ptolemy. The same species is noticed by Solomon
as the most precious of all productions.

PEARLS. 95

Job also refers to them in the following memorable
passage; ‘“‘ No mention shall be made of coral or of
pearls, for the price of wisdom is above rubies.”—
xxil. 18.

The peninim is said to have been the most valued
or the best known in India; and though Pliny
acknowledges that the excellency of pearls consists
in their whiteness, yet this opinion was, to a cer-
tain degree, a local one, for those of a yellow cast
are as much esteemed in India as the peninim,
‘or reddish pearl, was in Judea, during the reign of
Solomon.

Considerable pearl fisheries formerly subsisted on
several of our rivers, particularly the Conway and
Esk. Sir Richard Wynn, of Gwydir, chamberlain to
Catherine, Queen of Charles II., presented- her
majesty with a valuable gem taken from the former
of these rivers; which was placed, and still continues,
in the royal diadem, as a beautiful specimen of the
English pearl.

The habit of wearing Oriental and other foreign
pearls has superseded those of Welch and English
growth; but the Mya margaritifera, or Pearl-Gaper,
is still common to many of our native rivers. The
Shell Collector remembers to have met with a remark-
ably fine specimen on the banks of the Conway,
within sight of its ancient castle; a most majestic

96 ; CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

ruin, rising proudly from the shelving sides of the
rock, and washed by the high tides of the river. It
was a fine evening, in the month of June. The
sun was setting in mild majesty, his tempered beams
shed a soft radiance on the aged ruin, and tipped
with silver the dark drapery of ivy and festoons
of wild honeysuckles which streamed down the
broken walls. All was silent, except the rushing of
the stream, or the gentle sighing of the wind, as it
murmured through the ruined chambers, and shook
the long fantastic tufts of withered grass, ‘‘ wherewith
the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth
sheaves his bosom.” This scene of desolation brought
to his remembrance the days of ancient times, when
the sun rose as gloriously, and set as mildly over the
proud battlements of Conway Castle, as then on its
deserted ruin. He thought, too, of the joy and grief
with which, for more than ten centuries, those must
be familiar, who were once its glory and its boast,
but are now forgotten; and his thoughts recurred
to the busy multitudes who once resorted to the
Conway in quest of its valuable gems, but whose
remembrance has passed away like the billows of its
mountain stream.

Chateaubriand preserved as memorials of his travels
the waters of the different rivers that he visited. With
the same view the Shell Collector has added to the

PEARLS. 97

Mya of the Conway, those of the rapid Teith, and
Ythan, rivers of Scotland, with a specimen from the
tranquil Elster, that waters the plains of Saxony.
Each of these rivers produces Pearl Muscles in abun-
dance; and their gems, though certainly inferior to
those of oriental growth, are used in necklaces, the
price of which is sometimes estimated at a thousand
crowns. As late as the beginning of the last cen-
tury, Ireland also boasted her pearl fisheries, and
several beautiful specimens were brought from the
rivers of Tyrone and Donegal; one of which came
into the possession of Lady Glenlearly, who wore it
in a necklace, and refused eighty pounds which was
offered for it by the Duchess of Ormond.

Modern history furnishes several instances of the
value attached to this kind of gem. One in the pos-
session of Philip II. of Spain, was estimated at four-
teen thousand eight hundred ducats: another belong-
ing to the Emperor Rudolph, was called Peregrina, or
the Incomparable. It was pear shaped, and weighed
thirty carats: a third, mentioned by Tavernier, in
the hands of the Emperor of Persia, was bought in
the year 1633, of an Arab, for thirty-two thousand
tomans; which, at three pounds nine shillings the
toman, amounted to one hundred and ten thousand,
four hundred pounds sterling.

H

98 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

The city of Nepehoa, situated on a lake of the
same name in Chinese Tartary, produces Pearls in
abundance, though of inferior quality. This fishery
occasioned a dreadful war, between the Chinese and
Muscovites, which was at length amicably concluded
towards the end of the seventeenth century, by the
intervention of two individuals, who benevolently
suggested a division of the Lake between the con-
tending parties, each of whom had laid claim to the
whole.

The Pearl fisheries of the Bornian islands were
formerly much frequented, but are now of little con-
sequence; such is also the case with those of the
South Seas.

Some historians have maintained that the abori-
gines of South America were unacquainted with these
valuable gems, but this opinion is incorrect. The
Spaniards who first landed in Terra Firma, Mexico,
and Peru, assert that the natives were adorned with
necklaces and bracelets of the finest Pearls ; and this
assertion, supported by the narratives of modern,
as well as the details of early writers, receives addi-
tional confirmation from the discovery at Basalt, of
the statue of a Mexican priestess, whose head-dress
resembling the Calantica on the head of Iris, is pro-
fusely ornamented with brilliant gems of this kind.
To which we may add the corroborating testimonies of

PEARLS. 99

Las Casas, and Belzoni, who accurately describe the
cruelties that were exercised on the unhappy Indian
slaves and negroes employed in the fisheries, and that
even as far back as the commencement of the sangui-
nary contest which marked the reign of Ferdinand and
Isabella, the beautiful little palm-encircled island of
Loche alone, furnished Pearls to the value of fifteen
hundred marks each month. In short the trade
was so considerable, that till the year 1630, the value
of these gems exported into Europe, amounted on
an average to eighteen hundred thousand piastres.
These were sought after with the more avidity as the
splendid decorations of the East were introduced into
Europe by two opposite channels; that of Constan-
tinople, where the Paleologi wore garments covered
with strings of Pearls, and that of Grenada, the resi-
dence of the Moorish kings, who strove to emulate
the splendour of the Oriental caliphs. Undoubtedly
the Pearls of Asia were preferred to those of South
America, and were generally monopolized by the
great; but still a vast demand subsisted for the
latter, while the exportation of the former scarcely
experienced the slightest diminution; and hence in
Italy, as well as at Grenada, the island of Cubaqua
became the object of numerous mercantile specula-
tions. That, especially of Lampagnano, an unfor-
tunate Castilian, who having obtained permission
H 2

100 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

from Charles V. to fish for Pearls along the coast of
Cumana, was proceeding to exert his prerogative,
when the colonists sent him back this bold answer :
** that the Emperor, too liberal of what was not his
own, had no right to dispose of the oysters, which live
at the bottom of the sea.” The ill-fated adventurer
finding himself unable to repay the merchants of
Seville, who had advanced money for his voyage,
remained five years at Cubaqua, where he at length
died insane. Alas! wherever commerce has fixed its
abode, acts of rapine and injustice invariably succeed.

The Pearl fishery of Cubaqua diminished rapidly
towards the end of the sixteenth century, and accord-
ing to the testimony of Laet, it ceased entirely
before the year 1683. Two causes operated power-
fully in producing this effect. A Venetian disco-
vered the art of imitating Pearls, so as to deceive
the most accurate observers; and in Italy, the use
of cut diamonds introduced by Lewis de Bergner,
decreased the demand for occidental Pearls, and
consequently rendered the fisheries of South America
far less lucrative.

The Pearl-producing “Muscles also gradually de-
creased in number; not indeed, as popular tradition
has recorded, because being frightened by the noise of
oars, they conveyed themselves away, but because the
vast, and often unnecessary destruction, occasioned
by the divers, continually impaired their numbers.

PEARLS. 101

Mya-margaritifera: Pearl-Muscle.

At present the Pearl fisheries of South America are
principally confined to the gulf of Panama, and the
mouth of Rio de la Plata, to the coast which sur-
rounds Cubaqua, to the vicinity of Araga, and Coche,
and to the island of Margaretta. But these, as I
have previously observed, are less productive; the
Pearls also, which they produce, are not so brilliant
as on the first arrival of the Spaniards. A fact
which has exercised the ingenuity of several distin-
guished naturalists,—for who can explore the trackless
basin of the sea? Earthquakes may have altered its
general character, or subterraneous currents exercised

102 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

some inexplicable influence on the temperature of the
sea-water, or else destroyed the mollusce on which
the muscles are supposed to feed.

When Humboldt visited the once celebrated Penin-
sula of Araga, little remained of its ancient popula-
tion, excepting a group of small dwellings, which
clustered round the ruins of an ancient castle, from
whence the prospect partook of a character rarely
found in the warm regions of the globe. Neither a
deep and gloomy forest, nor the majesty of vege-
table forms were seen to heighten the grandeur of the
ruins. They stood alone, on the summit of a base
and arid mountain, crowned with agave, columnar
cactus, and thorny mimosa, resembling less the works
of man, than such bare and unclothed masses of
primeval rock, as were ruptured in the earliest con-
vulsions of the globe. It was a seene much to be
remembered. The disk of Venus appeared at intervals
between the yawning crannies of the castle—the night
was cool—and swarms of phosphorescent insects
glittering in the air, and over the soil, appeared like
innumerable scattered and moving lights, which emu-
lated along the vast extent of the savannas the
starry vault of heaven.

There is something in the scenes of early life: which
seem to entwine themselves as with a power and a
spell around the heart, and which, in proportion as

PEARLS. 103

ulterior comforts are withdrawn, exercise a stronger
and more efficient sway. The aborigines of Araga,
are powerfully attached to their native soil. They
prefer the wild and barren spot which gave them birth,
to the attractions of more polished life; and support
themselves by catching fish, which is extremely
abundant on the coast. When asked why they have
neither gardens nor culinary vegetables,—‘‘ Our
gardens,” they reply, ‘‘ are beyond the gulf: when we
carry our fish to Cumana, we bring back plantains,
cocoa-nuts, and cassava.”

One of these was a mulatto, the sage of the plain,
who professed to know the virtues of plants, the symp-
toms of earthquakes, and the marks which distinguish
the neighbourhood of precious metals. When the
traveller entered his humble dwelling, he found him
employed in sharpening arrows, and stretching the
strings of his bow. Delighted with an opportunity
of imparting his scanty stores of knowledge, he readily
communicated some interesting particulars relative
to the Pearls of Cumana, which as objects of decora-
tion he treated with contempt ; and in order to evince
his familiarity with the Sacred writings, he frequently
referred to the patriarch Job, who preferred wisdom
to Pearls. After a long discourse on the emptiness of
human grandeur, he drew from his leather pouch, a
few small opake gems, which he desired Humboldt to

104 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

accept, enjoining him at the same time to note on
his tablets, that a poor shoemaker of Castilian race
had gratuitously resigned without a sigh, Pearls,
which on the other side of the great waters, were
anxiously sought after.

There is so much naiveté in the observation of
this honest man, that I am confident the little
digression to which the mention of Araga has una-
voidably led me, will not displease you.

But the finest Pearls are, unquestionably, not of
occidental, but of oriental growth. From the earliest
periods of authentic history, the Indian seas and
rivers were celebrated for the production of these
valuable gems. ‘‘ They are rich,” says a native
writer, ‘‘with Pearls and Ambergris ; their mountains
are stored with gold, and precious stones; their gulfs
inhabited by creatures yielding ivory; and among
the plants and trees with which they are shaded and
adorned, are ebony, red-wood, aloes, cloves, and
sandal, and all other spices and aromatics; parrots
and peacocks are the birds of the forest; musk and
civet, the productions of the land.” To these exotic
regions we must therefore look for the finest Pearls:
they are brought from the island of Bahrein, or
Baharem, in the Persian Gulf; from Catisa, on
the coast of Arabia Felix, and from Ceylon, and
Japan.

PEARLS. 105

Mytilus Margaritiferus. Pearly Muscle.

The fishery established at Manaar, a sea-port in
the island of Ceylon, is one of the most considerable.
It commences in February, and ends about the be-
ginning of April. During this period, Candatchy,
about ten miles from Manaar, presents an interesting
and novel spectacle. The bay is thronged with
vessels; the coast with an incredible multitude, from
all parts of India, consisting of persons of different
complexions, countries, castes, and occupations.
Here, are to be seen boat-owners running to the shore
with anxious faces, and looks of joy, in hopes of a
rich cargo, stepping on the rocks that project into
the sea, and wading as far as they can venture.

106 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

There, groups of jewellers, brokers, merchants,
foreigners and natives, variously employed; some
bargaining for Pearls, others separating and sorting
them; others with scales in their hands, weighing and
ascertaining the value of each; others again hawking
them about; while a considerable number occupy
themselves in drilling and preparing the Pearls for
future use.

Occasionally a few fantastic figures are seen to
mingle with the motley groups. These are conjurers,
known in the Malabar language by the appellation of
Pillal Karras, or binders of sharks. They are held
in great veneration by the credulous natives, who
firmly believe in their miraculous pretensions. Each
boat is accordingly accompanied by one or two of
these impostors, who frequently carry off the finest
Pearls ; whilst others take their stations on the shore,
where they spend the day in muttering prayers, dis-
torting their bodies, and performing a variety of
unmeaning ceremonies.

In the mean time, the bay is thronged with vessels
of various descriptions. The boats employed in
the fishery assemble at the same period, and wait
the signal for setting sail. This signal is the firing
of a gun at Arippo, which is answered by a loud
huzza; each boatman then plies his oar, the vessels
sail out together, and reach the pearl bank, twenty

PEARLS. 107.

miles distant, before day-break. Here they con-
tinue busily occupied, till warned to retire by the
sea breeze, which rises about noon. Again a signal
gun is fired, and again the respective owners hail
the arrival of their boats.

A number of people are now seen busily em-
ployed in depositing the Oysters in holes or pits,
dug in the ground to the depth of two or three feet ;
or on small square places, covered with mats and
fenced round, where they are suffered to remain till
the inhabitant of each is completely dried away ; the
pearls are then taken out, and prepared for the market.

Each boat is manned with twenty men, and a
tindal, or chief boatman, who acts as pilot. Of these,
ten are employed in rowing, and in assisting the
divers : the others go down alternately, five at a
time, and thus enable their companions to recruit
their strength, which is frequently exhausted by the
excessive fatigue of diving.

The business of a diver appears extraordinary and
full of danger to a European; but to the Asiatic, it
affords a lucrative and familiar occupation. His
chief risk and terror arises from the ground shark ;
@ common and terrible inhabitant of the Eastern
seas, and a source of perpetual uneasiness to the
adventurous Indian. It, however, rarely happens
that any lives are lost,—for the real or imaginary
appearance of a shark immediatly spreads dismay

108 CONCHOLCGIST’S COMPANION.

throughout the whole fleet; each diver then rapidly
ascends, and the boats return to Condatchy, whence
they seldom venture out during the day to recom-
mence the business of fishing.

In order to facilitate the descent of the divers, the
boats are separately furnished with five large per-
forated stones, round at the top and bottom. These
are fixed to different ropes; and each diver, when
about to plunge, seizes one of them with the
toes of his right foot; while with the other he
suspends a bag of net work; for these people are
so extremely dexterous in the use of their feet,
that they employ them, as well as their hands, for
the most common purposes, and sometimes pick up
the smallest stones or straws from off the ground.
The diver then takes hold of another rope in his
right hand; and endeavours with the other to pre-
vent the water from entering his nostrils, while he
plunges into the sea, and speedily reaches the bottom ;
where he is eagerly occupied in tearing up the shells,
and cramming them into his bag, which he sus-
pends around his neck, and in running from side to
side, in order to render the water turbid, and to elude
the vigilance of his marine foes.

As soon as the bag is full, or the appearance of any
danger warns the diver to retreat, he resumes his
position, makes a signal to those above, by pulling
the rope in his right hand, and immediately ascends.

PEARLS. 109

The fatigue attendant on the act of diving is very
great, and the men employed in the Pearl fishery
frequently discharge not only water, but even blood
from their ears and nostrils, on being drawn into the
boat. But this does not prevent them from making
forty of fifty plunges during the course of the day ;
for persons accustomed to the water from their infancy
acquire a sort of amphibious nature, and appear to
retain the same self-possession, while in this deceit-
ful element, as when on land. Savage nations, as
well as the adventurous Indians, are remarkable for
this peculiarity ; and according to the accounts of
several voyagers, the inhabitants of the South-Sea
islands are such expert divers, that when a nail, or
any piece of iron,-is thrown overboard, they will
instantly plunge into the sea, and never fail to recover
it, notwithstanding the quick descent of the metal.

Each of the Pearl-divers, generally remains under
water about two minutes at.a time, though instances
have occurred in which four, or even five have been
devoted to this dangerous employment; and a diver
from Anjanga, in the year 1797, absolutely remained
under water during the space of six minutes.

Such is the general method of obtaining Pearls;
such are the dangers connected with this adventurous
trade. Yet these costly gems have no pretensions to
any actual use,—their value arises merely from their
rarity and beauty, united to that general predilection

110 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

for ornamental decorations which appears natural to
mankind in both a savage and civilized state; for,
whilst uncultivated people adorn themselves with
feathers and with shells,—pearls and jewels, among
luxurious nations, are generally the insignia of
riches or of rank. The former are undoubtedly
the most perfect and beautiful of precious stones.
Every other description owes something to the hand
of man; but the ‘‘ Margion” emerges in full beauty
from its ocean bed, where maternal Nature silently
and secretly performs her work, and gives to it a lustre
and a perfection, which her sister Art has frequently
sought to emulate, but can never fully equal.

How many impressive recollections are associated
with this little gm! It recalls to mind hours of toil
and watching—busy days and sleepless nights—jour-
neyings over land and sea—exotic climes, and
foreign manners. But there is yet another, and far
more interesting point of view, in which this “ off-
spring of the light” may be regarded. ‘“ For the
kingdom of heaven,” said our Saviour, ‘‘ is like a
merchantman seeking goodly Pearls; who, when he
had found one Pearl of great price, went and sold all
that he had, and bought it.”—Matt. xii. 45. Thus
admirably illustrating this important truth: that the
atmost energy and devotedness ought to prompt the
exertions of a Christian, for the attainment of that
heavenly treasure, which can never fade away nor be

PEARLS. ttl

diminished—the gift of Him, whom to know is life

eternal ; and the fruits of whose Holy Spirit are love,
joy, and peace.

«« And truly are they, in the inmost heart,
As the deep waters of a hidden well ;
Whose living freshness have a pow’r to impart,
Far more than e’en the poet’s page can tell
Of pure enjoyments inexhaustible,
Valued beyond old Ocean’s rarest gem ;
For they have power to bid the bosom swell,
With feelings of delight that flow from them,
E’en as the morning’s rays from the sun’s diadem.”

Barton.

Mytilus. Venus. Cardium. T. Minna.
Area. Pinna. Mactra.

a Rd

: B)\\\\s
W tity oe
\\\ieohe \ a yuu" A\\\\ a |
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‘Wy oo ny: \\

Se St GORWAY : 5
Ss A —

Sa

Bulla. Conus. Cypreza.

LETTER V.

UNIVALVES.

To * © * *

To gather shells and pebbles on the shore, is not,
my friend, a frivolous pursuit: Cicero, whom Seneca
designates as a genius, ‘‘equal to the majesty of
Rome,” draws a delightful picture of the rural occupa-
tions of Scipio and Lelius, at Caieta and Laurentum,
when, retired from the restless pursuits of interest
and ambition, they grew young in their amusements,
and again derived pleasure from gathering shells on

UNIVALVES. 113

the sea-coast. Cranch too, the elegant and scientific
explorer of the Congo, delighted in the same pursuit.
Neither difficulties nor dangers impeded his re-
searches. He climbed rugged precipices, he was
frequently lowered down by the peasants from the
summits of tall cliffs, he waded through rapid streams,
explored the beds of muddy rivers, and sought the
deepest recesses. He would even sometimes re-
linquish the comforts of domestic life, and venture
out to sea, at Dawlish, for several days, entirely
alone, or in the small skiffs of the fishermen, during
which he dredged when the tide was full, and
examined the coast when it was out. At night, he
slept in his boat, which he drew to shore; and when
the weather was too stormy for marine excursions,
he would leave his littie skiff, and examine the
woods and fields, for birds and insects. No incle-
mency of weather, no vicissitudes of storm and sun-
shine, ever interfered with his favourite pursuits,—
the discovery of a new shell or bird, or insect, amply
repaid the most hazardous exertions.

The beautiful shores of Tenby, are equally rich
with those of Devon, in marine productions. But
venture not upon the sea, my friend, like Cranch,
in a little boat, scarcely able to surmount the bil-
lows ; rather delight yourself, as Cicero, in col-
lecting those elegant specimens which the sea

I

114 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

deposits within your reach. I cannot share with
you these pleasing labours, but mind can gravitate
to mind, through intervening seas and mountains.
Listen then to me, and while you fancy that I am
walking by your side, let me tell you something of
the numerous family of Univalve. The shells of
this division are in general extremely beautiful, with
names indicative of their origin or shape. Thus the
generic appellation of the Conus, signifies a cone;
its shells are remarkably elegant, and singularly
varied, and some of the rarer species are valued
at twenty guineas. The genus Cyprea, was early
dedicated to the fabulous divinity of Cyprus. It
admits of six divisions, of which the C. moneta is
collected by negro women of the Indian islands, three
days before and after the full of the moon, and thence
transported into Bengal, Siam, and Africa, where
it is used by the natives as a substitute for money.
Vast quantities are imported into this country, for
the purpose of traffic; and at least one hundred
tons of them are annually sent to Guinea.*

* The following cbservations are extracted from the Catechism
of Conchology. They refer toa custom which, although foreign
to the subject of this letter, the author is anxious to notice with
decided reprobation.

“‘ One thing, my young friend, I would forcibly impress upon
your mind: let nothing induce you to adopt the savage, the
barbarous custom of putting live shell-fish into cold water, and

UNIVALVES. 115

The genus Bulla is aptly named, from its general
similarity to a bubble. The form of the shells com-
posing the elegant genus Voluta naturally suggested
its appellation, which signifies rolled up cylindrically.
Of these, the V. pyrum, or Pear-shaped Voluta, an
oval, ponderous, smooth shell, about half an inch
long, and nearly half as broad, of a dusky white
colour, is held sacred in China. Shells of this species
are valued at considerable sums, and kept in pagodas
by the priests, who occasionally use them in admi-
nistering medicines to the sick, and at the coronation
of the emperor, when they hold the sacred oil.
They are sometimes elegantly carved, and used by

allowing them to boil over the fire, as the means of killing, and
then extracting them. Throwing the shells into boiling hot
water answers the purpose equally as well, and it appears that
the life of the animal is immediately extinguished, whereas a
different mode inflicts a slow, excruciating death upon these
innocent, unoffending creatures. I would also urge you to re-
commend the same mode to the shell-collectors, pointing out to
them the excessive and wanton barbarity of the method above
alluded to. I would even go farther, and refuse to purchase
any shells, the inhabitants of which had been subjected to
similar torture. I once knew a lady, whose benevolent exertions
entirely did away the barbarous custom of pegging live lobsters,
which formerly subsisted on the western coast. If ladies and
gentlemen would act with similar firmness, they would often
have it in their power to do much good, and not a little to dimi-
nish the aggregate of national cruelty, and consequently of
national crime.”

| a

116. CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

the Indians for drinking cups. The Spectre Shell,
Concha Spectrorum, belongs to the same division.
This elegant species is thus named from a variety
of strange figures on the surface, which represent
rough draughts of terrible phantoms.. The ground is
white, the figures of a reddish tint, forming three
large bands, as if encircling in a mystic dance, the
top, the base, and middle.

Se AG
Orie.

Strombus. Buécinum. Murex.

Many valuable shells are included in the genus
Buccinum, which signifies a trumpet. The rare
and beautiful Bifasciatum, or, as it is elegantly

UNIVALVES. hh

denominated, the Grass-girdled Indian Unicorn,
appertains to this division. The shell is white,
shining like alabaster, and twice encircled with a
very dark violet band, shaped like a tongue or wheat
leaf, terminating in a white point.

Buccini, of extraordinary size and beauty, abound
on the shores of the Red Sea. According to Strabo,
the natives of the country wore large collars com-
posed of them, both for ornaments and as amulets.
The same kind of shell is also mentioned in the
ancient books of the Hindoos, who eall it Sancha.

Strombus, the Greek name for a species, signifies
to turn round, and well expresses its general con-
tour. The Murex owes its designation to 4 number
of its shells, which are rough and rock-like. Several
of its species inhabit the English coasts. The Shell-
Collector has occasionally found the beautiful MM.
Subulatus, or awl-shaped Murex, among sea-sand at
Scalasdale, in the Sound of Mull. It is a rare shell,
long, slender, and white, with about fifteen slightly
elevated whirls, defined by a purplish-brown. spiral
line, and elegantly decorated with two rows of beads,
divided by a depressed line, and marked with minute
elevated longitudinal striz.

Ancient Syrian coins sometimes bear the Murex
and Buccinum, in commemoration of the Tyrian
purple.

118 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

— lh
Anil i

Nerita. Trochus. Turbo. Serpula.
Haliotis. Dentalium. Voluta.

Trochus signifies a top, of which the TJ’. conchylio-
phorus, or Carrier, is invariably covered with extra-
neous substances closely adhering to the whirls of
the shell. This singular species admits of two dis-
tinct varieties, one of which is familiarly called the
Conchologist, from its, being loaded with perfect
shells or fragments; or the Coral-Carrier, when
merely the bearer of polypiferous insects; the
second, the Mineralogist, as its adhesions consist of
stones and ores. The beautiful 7. vernalis, or Green
Trochus, belongs to this division of Testacez: it

UNIVALVES. 119

inhabits the East Indies and the Bay of Naples. <A
transverse row of nodulous belts gracefully diversifies
the surface of a shell, to the delicacy of whose
tinting the beautiful description of the poet of the
*‘ Seasons” is applicable, with a slight alteration :

“* Nor” softer ‘‘ verdure dyes the robe of Spring,
When first she gives it to the southern gale,”’
Than the Vernalis shews.

Between the nodulous belts the sutures are marked
by an elevation resembling a pearl necklace.

The solid, ponderous, and iridescent coloured
shells of the genus TJ'urbo, which has the same signi-
fication with the Greek derivative of the preceding
genus, are many of them extremely beautiful;
especially the 7. chrysostomus, T’. vitreus, T. scalaris,
or Golden-mouthed, Glassy, and Wentle-trap Tur-
bines. The first inhabits the Asiatic Ocean, Red
Sea, coasts of Amboyna, the Moluccas, and Friendly
Islands. The shell is about two inches and a
quarter long, of a yellowish white, tinged with
green, and marbled with chestnut brown; the inside
is of arich gold colour. The second is white, and
smooth, and so beautifully pellucid, as to render the
columella visible through the shell. The Shell
Collector has frequently met with them on the
Cornish coast. The third is a rare and elegant

120 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

species, of a snowy white, or pale flesh colour.
Large and perfect specimens formerly sold at very
high prices; one, in the possession of Mr. Bullock,
has been valued at two hundred guineas. This
kind of shell inhabits the coasts of Tranquebar,
Batavia, Ceylon, Amboyna, the Philippine Islands,
and Japan.

The brilliant Nerita anciently derived its generic
appellation from a suppositious power of swimming
in the ocean. The shells included in this genus are
extremely beautiful, and no art can equal the delicacy
of the miniature paintings with which many species
are adorned. The Nerita littoralis, of a bright yellow
colour, is common to the Glamorganshire coast, and
a considerable number were recently discovered with
ivory bodkins, rods, and balls in the cave of Pavi-
land, fifteen miles west of Swansea, between Oxevick
Bay, and the Worm’s Head. This exposed and
solitary cave had once, most probably, been the scene
of human labours. Fragments of charcoal, and the
bones of oxen, indicate the fact; and it was evident
that the small Nerites had either been preserved for
their beauty, or used in a simple kind of game which
is now common in that part of Glamorganshire.—
The remains of a Roman camp are also visible on the
summit of the hill that rises above the cave; a fact
that seems to throw some light on the character and

UNIVALVES. agi

date of the bleached skeleton that lay there; and
whatever might have been the occupation of the
spirit that once inhabited it, the vicinity of a camp
would afford a motive for residence, and the means
of support, in what is now an exposed and uninviting
solitude.

But to return from this digression. Haliotis, a
beautiful and well-known species of sea-shell, takes
its name from a Greek word, signifying sea-ears.
Patella is derived from a Latin word used for a dish
with broad sides, probably the origin of our platter.
It also means the knee-pan, which is not unlike the
inmate of the shell. Dentalium, from dens, a tooth ;
which aptly expresses its miniature resemblance to
an elephant’s tooth. Serpula, from serpo, to creep,
in reference to the vermiform character of some of the
shells.

Different species of this interesting genus attach
themselves to shells, stones, wood and algz ; others
are found on the Corallina officinalis; and a rare
and elegant species, the Cornu-copie, inhabits the
Mauritius, where it burrows into stone and coral,

Such are a few of the most conspicuous among the
elegant assemblage of Univalves which occasionally
diversify the shores of our own and foreign countries.

Many others are equally deserving of attention, but
it is impossible to particularize them here; and the

122 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

foregoing are merely noticed in reference to your
observation, ‘‘that the science of Conchology led,
in your opinion, to no beneficial result.”

‘¢ Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.”

To know little of a science, is frequently to dis-
esteem it; to know much, is to yield it a just tribute
of admiration. ‘The cultivation of a fine taste for
the beautiful works of nature,’ as Dugald Stewart
justly observes, in reference to a taste for general
literature, ‘‘ not only enables us to enjoy more fully
those primary pleasures which are afforded by an
appropriate object; but superadds to these a second-
ary pleasure, peculiar to itself, and of no inconsider-
able value. The secondary pleasures connected with
the study of natural history, in even its minuter
divisions, may be readily explained. They tend to
excite a predilection for intellectual pursuits, in
preference to such as are frivolous and unsatisfatory ;
and to quicken that general admiration of the wonders
of creation, which the Deity has wisely implanted in
the mind of man. The primary are of a higher
character. They are derived from a due consider-
ation of the works of nature in connexion with their
Divine artificer, and the feelings associated with them
are those of adoration and delight. They are such
as were experienced by the royal prophet, when he

UNIVALVES. 123

exclaimed with devout admiration, ‘‘ All thy works
praise thee, O Thou who madest the heavens and
the earth, the sea and the fountains of water.’ The
Conchologist is naturally led to these, and similar
reflections, by the exquisite specimens of beauty and
contrivance which crowd upon him at every step of
his inquiry. His researches also tend further to
convince him, that even in this department of
natural history, the manifestations of that Benefi-
cence are eminently conspicuous, which constrains
every part of the creation to act in subserviency to
the general benefit.

The preceding divisions of Testaceze are extremely
numerous, and abound in the most dissimilar situ-
ations. Some inhabit ditches and stagnant waters,
where they afford a constant supply of food to such
birds as frequent their banks; others, no doubt with
the same benevolent design, incrust marine plants in
sandy barren places, near the sea; a large proportion
remain concealed in the deep recesses of the ocean,
where they furnish food to the finny tribes; others
adhere to floating sea-weeds, and abundantly supply
the wants of marine birds; and, lastly, exotic snails
abound in many uncultivated regions of the globe,
where they frequently afford a welcome repast to the
fainting traveller.

In some species of Univalves the forms of the con-

424 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

structing agents are extremely curious. The inha-
bitant of the Buccinum purpurea has two horns, like
those of the common snail: but the eyes, instead of
being placed at the extremities, are situated in the
centre of each. He is by nature a rover, and one of
the most voracious inhabitants of the deep; while his
relative, the stationary Murex, generally adheres to
rocks and stones. These dissimilar shell-fish fur-
nished the gorgeous purple of imperial Tyre. It is
recorded, that the ancients were originally indebted
for this discovery to the accidental circumstance of a
shepherd’s dog having stained his mouth of such a
colour, by the breaking of one of these shells on the
sea-shore, as to excite the admiration of all who saw it.
_ Some historians assign this event to the reign of
Phoenix, second king of Tyre, who flourished rather
more than five hundred years before the Christian
era; others, to the time when Minos first reigned in
Crete, 1439 years before the advent of our Lord.
But the greatest number agree in giving the honour
of the invention to the Tyrian Hercules. This
renowned hero is said to have presented the first
efforts of his ingenuity to the king of Pheenicia, who
was so much delighted with the splendid effect pro-
duced by this new colour, that he forbad the use of
it to any of his subjects.

Others again relate the story differently. By them

UNIVALVES. 125

it is recorded that a favourite dog of Hercules having
stained his mouth with a shell, which he had broken
on the shore, Tyras, a nymph to whom Hercules was.
attached, was so charmed with the beauty of the
colour, that she vowed never to see her lover again,
unless he procured her a purple suit; and that
Hercules, anxious to gratify her wishes, immediately
gathered a considerable number of the shells, and
having extracted the colouring matter, presented her
with the robe she so ardently desired. Such are the
different traditions respecting the origin of the purple
dye, though involved in that obscurity which per-
vades the discovery of all the arts connected with the
ordinary wants and necessities of man; which have
originated in times beyond the reach of authentic
history or tradition, and are the offspring of his
natural faculties, directed by the great primitive
wants of food, shelter, and raiment.

But though neither history nor tradition has pre-
served any authentic information with regard to the
origin of this interesting art, yet, from analogy, as
well as observation on the practice of barbarous
nations at the present day, we can readily credit the
fables of the latter with regard to the rude beginnings
from which the art has sprung. The rich and gaudy
plumage of birds, the finely-spotted skins of animals,
coloured shells, stones, and such other substances.as

126 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

nature herself supplies, afford the first materials for
savage finery, and indeed suggest the idea of imita-
ting them.

Such was the case in Otaheite, before the light of
Christianity arose on that benighted country; and
Pomarre, in abjuring his idols, renounced also the
savage customs of his ancestors. The caps and
mantles of the chiefs were almost wholly composed
of feathers, richly coloured, and decorated with the
most beautiful shells. Of these a considerable num-
ber were the native productions of the country ;
others derived their lustre from the juices of herbs
and flowers.

The high antiquity of the Tyrian purple is con-
firmed by Homer, who ascribes the wearing of purple
ornaments and robes to the heroes of Greece and
Rome, and assigns the preparing of them to queens
and princesses.

This beautiful colour was held in such esteem by
the ancients, that it was, at one period especially,
consecrated to the service of the Deity. Moses used
purple stuffs for the works of the tabernacle, as well
as for the habits of the high priest; and among the
presents which the Israelites made to Gideon, the
Scriptures notice purple habits as some of the spoils
of the kings of Midian.

It is not easy to give a clear and concise idea of

UNIVALVES. 127

the process followed by the ancients in the produc-
tion of this highly valued colour. The works of
Aristotle and of Pliny contain some details, but they
are not sufficiently circumstantial; according to the
latter, the purple dye was procured from different
shell-fish. The most valuable for this purpose were
found near the island, where New Tyre was erected ;
and fishermen were also employed to obtain them in
various parts of the Mediterranean. The coasts of
Africa were famous for the purple of Getulia; and
those of Europe supplied the purple of Laconia,
which was held in great esteem.

Pliny ranges in two classes the shell-fish which
produced the purple. The first, comprehended the
smaller species, under the denomination of Bucci-
num, from their resemblance to a hunting horn;
the second, included those denominated Purpura.
These, Fabius Columna conceives to have been also
distinguished by the generic name of Murex, though
others suppose that the term included several dif-
ferent shades; and that from their compounds, other
varieties of colour were produced.

A few drops of the precious dye were obtained
from each fish, by extracting a white vein found in
the throat of the animal ; but with the smaller species
this troublesome process was avoided, by pounding
the whole fish in a mortar; a practice, according to

128 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

Vitruvius often adopted with the larger. The liquor,
when extracted, was mixed with a considerable por-
tion of salt, and suffered to remain three days; after
which it was diluted with five or six times its quantity
of water, and digested, in a moderate warmth, during ©
ten days, in a leaden or tin vessel, being frequently
skimmed for the purpose of removing all impurities,
The wool having been previously well washed,
cleansed, and prepared, was then immersed in the
fluid; after soaking five hours, it was taken out,
carded, and again returned to the boiling dye, till all
the colour was completely absorbed. To produce
particular tints, nitre, and a marine plant, called
fucus, brought from the rocks of Crete, were occa-
sionally added.

The Tyrians, by the confessions of all antiquity,
succeeded best in dyeing purple stuffs. Their process
slightly differed from the one narrated by Pliny, as
they merely used such purple shells as abounded on
the shores of the Mediterranean, and made a bath of
the liquor extracted from the fishes. In this they
steeped the wool for a certain time, then took it out,
and threw it into another boiler, which contained
an extract from the Buccinum or Trumpet-fish only;
and hence the wool which had been submitted
to this double process, was so highly estimated, that
in the reign of Augustus, each pound sold for one

UNIVALVES. 129

thousand Roman denarii, about thirty-six pounds
sterling. We need not indeed wonder at this enor-
mous price, when the tedious nature of the process is
considered, and also the small quantity of dye; not
more, on an average, than a single drop being af-
forded by each shell fish. For fifty pounds of wool,
the ancients used no less than two hundred pounds
of the liquor of the Buccinum, and one hundred
pounds of that of the Purpura, or six pounds of
liquor to one pound of wool: consequently, the real
Tyrian purple vied in value even with gold itself.
Ancient writers mention several different shades of
purple; one of which appears to have been a kind
of dark violet, inclining towards a reddish hue; an-
other, less esteemed, resembled crimson; but the
most valued of all, was a deep red purple, of the
colour of coagulated blood.
A fourth kind, of a whitish tint, has been disco-
vered in modern times.
_ The wearing of purple robes, was, in Italy, origi-
nally confined to the first officers of Rome; but as
luxury increased in the capital of the world, they
were progressively adopted into the lower ranks of
patrician society, till every one who had wealth
sufficient to purchase them, appeared in the Circus,
and at the Theatre, arrayed with these costly trap-
pings. But the Emperors could not endure that
K

130 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

plebeians should thus appropriate a style of dress,
which had hitherto designated the highest officers of
the state. A law was passed, to render it a distin-
guishing mark of imperial dignity, as well as a symbol
of inauguration; and hence to assume the purple, was
a phrase synonimous with that of ascending the throne.
Till at length, came One of prouder character than
any that had preceded him, and he not only appointed
officers to superintend the manufactories of this
imperial dye, but also denounced the punishment of
death against any of his ambitious subjects, who
dared to usurp the prerogative of the throne, though
concealed by garments of another colour. The
penalty so tyrannically denounced against this whim-
sical kind of treason, doubtless occasioned the loss
of the art of dying purple, first in the west, and after-
wards in the east, where it flourished till the eleventh
century.

The finest kind of purple preserved its brilliancy
for a considerable time, and long survived the wreck
of those for whom it was designed. Plutarch relates,
in his Life of Alexander, that the Greeks found in
the treasury of the Persian King, a great quantity
of purple, which had not lost its beauty, though
nearly one hundred and ninety years old.

The ancients also obtained from the Coccus, now
known by the name of kermes, a colour nearly equal

UNIVALVES. 131

to the Tyrian dye, with which, according to Pliny,
it was indeed occasionally confounded, under the
name of scarlet. The use of the coccus in dyeing is
very ancient, since it appears from commentators, to
be alluded to in Exodus :—

** And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they
made cloths of service, to do service in the holy
place, and made the holy garments for Aaron.

‘** And a girdle of fine twined linen, and blue,
and purple, and scarlet, of needle work; as the
Lord commanded Moses.” —xxxix. 1, 29.

In after times the lighter kinds of Tyrian purple
were used in dyeing parchments, or vellum, with the
design of rendering still more splendid the gold and
silver letters with which they were adorned; and these,
Casiri tells us, reflected objects like a mirror. But as
Tyrian robes were confined to the palace, and person
of the Emperor, so this magnificent and expensive
style of writing was appropriated to Biblical manu-
scripts and the libraries of princes. Hence Theonas
admonishes Lucian, the grand chamberlain, not to
permit any transcription upon purple vellum, in gold
and. silver letters, unless especially required by the
Prince; and hence, I entreat you, says Boniface,
Bishop of Mentz, the Apostle of Germany, in a
letter to the Abbess, Cadburga: ‘I intreat you,
send me the epistle of the Apostle St. Peter, written

K 2

132 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

in letters of gold, that by exhibiting them in preach-
ing, to the eyes of the carnal, I may procure the
greater honour and veneration for the Holy Scrip-
tures. Such is the Book of the Gospels, which Louis
the Pious gave to the monastery of St. Medard, at
Soissons, now in the Royal library of France; and
such is the Book of Prayer, written in letters of gold
upon purple vellum, bound in ivory, and studded
with gems, formerly belonging to Charles the Bald,
but now in the celebrated Colbertine library.

The fourth and fifth centuries were especially
remarkable for magnificent specimens of Chryso-
graphy, and of Illumination, or ornamental decora-
tions of Biblical manuscripts.

At the sale of the late Sir William Burrell’s library
in 1798, a manuscript Bible, beautifully written on
vellum, and highly illuminated, was disposed of;
it contained the autograph of the writer, Guido de
Jars, in which he stated that the work had taken him
half a century to execute; that he had begun it in
his fortieth, and finished it in his ninetieth year;
during the reign of Philip the Fair, in 1294.

Similar transcripts were also occasionally made in
England. The famous Wilfred, ordered a copy of
the four Gospels to be written for the church of
Rippon, in letters of the purest gold, upon leaves of
parchment, purpled in the ground, and variously

UNIVALVES, 133

coloured on the surface. But such were extremely
rare, as we learn from the observations of the Vener-
able Bede, who notices the one at Rippon, as a kind
of prodigy, before unheard of. The Gregorian Bible,
presented by a monkish missionary, and his com-
panions, to the first Christian church erected at
Canterbury, was also of a similar description. It
was written in red letters, with several splendid
purple and rose-coloured leaves inserted in the
beginning of each book.

Thus are we indebted to the Moluscous inhabitant
of the Murex, and Buccinum, for the imperishable
dye which distinguished the vestments of the Roman
Emperors, and for the brilliant decorations of our
earliest manuscripts.

134 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

Lette evs.

UNIVALVES.

et

To * £ * ®

Tue following extracts from a series of experiments
by Mr. Cole, and M. du Hamel, relative to the
method of extracting the Tyrian dye, will serve to
elucidate the brief description I have already given
you.

When the shells of the purple-producing Murex
and Buccinum are broken, and the mutilated frag-
ments carefully removed, so as not to injure the
inhabitant, the white vein already noticed as the
reservoir of this brilliant colour, may be observed
lying transversely in a little furrow, or cleft, near
the head of the fish.

The juice from which this beautiful colour origin-
ates, is perfectly white during the time that it

UNIVALVES. 135

remains in the body of the shell-fish, and while the
creature is in health; but no sooner is it exposed to
the sun, than it begins to change, and in less than
five minutes passes through several gradations of
pale, yellowish, and vivid emerald-green ; after which
it becomes of a duskier hue, then blue and red, and
finally, of a deep and very beautiful purple. Here
the action of the sunbeams terminates, but by wash-
ing the linen in hot water, and afterwards drying it,
the colour ripens to a bright and brilliant crimson.
It is worthy of remark, that if a piece of linen be
rubbed with this juice, and partially exposed to
the action of the sunbeams; that part of it only will
turn red, which is so exposed; the other retaining
the natural tint, without any alteration ; and that if a
needle, or any other opake body, be laid upon the
linen while it is yet green, the spot on which it is
laid will remain unaltered, while a rapid change has
taken place in every other part.

A plate of glass, though it be three inches thick,
will not prevent the colour from changing to purple by
being laid over it, but the thinnest metal effectually
precludes any alteration; the one being opake, and
the other pellucid, are evidently the occasion of this
difference. But if the coloured linen be successively
covered by three pieces of paper, the one blackened
with ink, the other in its natural state, and the third

136 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

rubbed over with oil, it will change colour on being
exposed to the sun in different degrees, and that
exactly in proportion to the degree of transparency
in each of the papers.

These experiments were made in the months
of January and February, by M. du Hamel, in
Provence.

The vividness of this beautiful purple renders it
particularly valuable, especially as the pieces of
stained cloth retain their colour: even if dipped
several times in different liquors.

The Buccinum as well as Murex, was used by the
ancients for purposes of dyeing. They are both
obtained in great plenty in the gulf of Tarentum, as
well as in various parts of the Mediterranean.—
Buccini of a prodigious size are also frequently sur-
prised by Sicilian fishermen, asleep and floating on
the smooth bays of the Mare Grande.

The seas of the Spanish West Indies about Nicoya,
furnish a shell-fish, which perfectly resembles the
ancient purpura, and in all probability is the same.
These fish, usually live about seven years: they
conceal themselves in the sand a little before the
commencement of the Dog-days, where they con-
tinue for several months. On their reappearance
they are collected in considerable numbers; and by
rubbing them one against another, a kind of saliva,

UNIVALVES. 137

or thick glue is obtained, resembling soft wax; but
the purple dye is situated in the throat, and that of
the finest hue, in a small white vein. The chief
riches of Nicoya consist in these shell-fish. They
are used in dyeing the cloth of Segovia, which is often
sold for twenty crowns the ell; as the wearing of it,
is entirely confined to nobles of the highest rank.

The coasts of the South Sea, near the equator, in
the neighbourhood of point St. Helena, in the pro-
vince of Guayaquil, also furnish some shell-fish of a
similar description, which are termed by Don Antonio
de Elloa, sea-snails. They adhere to such rocks and
stones as are covered by the sea at high water, and
are about the size of small nuts, containing a liquor
or juice, which has the true colour of purple. This
colour is very bright, and so durable, that washing
rather increases than diminishes its lustre; nor does
it experience any perceptible alteration in conse-
quence of use or wearing.

The Carribbee Islands have likewise their purple
fish, which resemble our perriwinkles. The shell is
of a brownish azure —the flesh white, and the intes-
tines of a bright red, the colour of which appears
through the body. On being taken from the water
the creatures exude a considerable quantity of froth,
which is received on a linen cloth, and becomes purple
as it dries,

138 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

The Purpura lives on other fish. It usually hides
itself at a small depth in the sand, sometimes even in
fresh-water rivers; and as it lies hid, it thrusts up a
pointed tongue, which wounds and kills such dimi-
nutive fish and animalcule as heedlessly approach
too near. Sea shells are frequently found perforated
with round holes, as regularly as if made with a
boring instrument; these are generally supposed to
be formed by the tongue of the Purpura, in order to
its feeding on the fish within.

Shell-fish yielding the Tyrian dye, have also been
discovered on the Somersetshire coast, and in South
Wales, where they are used by the country people for
staining their linen. ‘These are the Murex and Buc-
cimum, common deposits of the ocean, on the shores
of the Principality. Beautiful specimens of each
are frequently brought from among the magnificent
arcades, which the incessant toiling of the waves have
excavated in the rocks of Gower, a romantic little
peninsula in Glamorganshire, and as much distin-
guished for the primitive simplicity, politeness, and
intelligence of its singular inhabitants, as for the
grandeur of the sea views, ancient castles, and beau-
tiful home scenes, with which it is surrounded and
diversified.

The Buccinum undoubtedly suggested the first idea
of a trumpet, as by breaking off, or making a hole

UNIVALVES. 139

near the apex, an instrument is formed from which
a variety of sonorous sounds may be produced.
This kind of trumpet is still employed by Italian
herdsmen for directing the motions of their cattle ;
similar ones are also common in North Wales,
where I have often heard their deep and hollow
sounds, breaking on the silence of those Alpine
districts, when used by the farmers in calling to
their woodsmen. ‘Triton, the trumpeter of Nep-
tune, is generally pictured with a shell of this de-
scription in his hand, with which the ancient poets
feigned that he convened the river deities around
their monarch. It is wreathed like those called
Sicankos, or sea-horn, common to India, Africa, and
the Mediterranean, and still used as trumpets for
blowing alarm, or giving signals; a custom thus
elegantly noticed in the following animated lines :-—
‘Then the roused youth impatient flew

To the tower wall, where, high in view,

A ponderous sea-horn hung, and blew

A signal deep and dread as those

The storm fiend at his rising blows,

And there, upon the mouldering tower,

Hath hung this sea-horn many an hour,

Ready to sound o’er land and sea,

The death-dirge of the brave and free.”,—Moore.

Shells of the same description are used in Lithu-

ania and Muscovy, where they are also applied to
pastoral purposes. No sooner is a herdsman risen in

140 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

the morning than he winds his horn, and the horses,
mules, oxen, asses, goats, and sheep, immediately
leave their respective places of retreat, and assemble
round their conductor. He then advances at their
head, and leads them into such pasturage as he thinks
proper for the day; a second signal conducts them to
the waters, and a third commands them home, when
every one repairs to his shelter for the night.

Thus beautifully has Isaiah referred to this ancient
custom, which is still common in the east: ‘‘ The
ox knoweth his owner, the ass his master’s crib; but
Israel doth not know, my people do not consider.”

In Palestine, bee-masters summon their bees by
blowing a small whistle, formed of bone or shell.
They sometimes collect the humming population of a
village, who follow them as orderly as sheep obey
the voice of their shepherd, and lead them from one
meadow to another, till an impending shower, or the
approach of evening, cautions them to return. This
singular custom is noticed by St. Cyril, who flourished
in the fourth and fifth centuries, as a thing which he
had frequently seen. He also mentions, that Isaiah
refers to it in the following passage, in which the
future conquests of the Assyrian monarch are foretold.

** And it shall come to pass in that day, the Lord
shall hiss (or whistle) for the bee that is in the land
of Assyria.

** And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in

UNIVALVES. 141

the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rock, and
upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.”—vii. 18, 19.

A sort of speaking trumpet, made either from the
shell of the Buccinum, or the bark of a cherry tree,
is also used among the Alps. When the last rays of
the setting sun appear on the horizon, the shepherd
who dwells highest on the mountains, blows his horn,
and calls aloud, “‘ Praised be the Lord.” The neigh-
bouring shepherds then leave their huts, and repeat
the words. The sound lasts for several minutes,
while every cave and mountain echo repeats the
name of God. How solemn is the scene! Imagination
can scarcely picture any thing more sublime! The
profound silence that succeeds, the grandeur of the
mountains, the brilliant rays of the setting sun which
illumines their highest peaks, the deep gloom of the
valleys below—all conspire to awaken the most
solemn reflections. Meanwhile the shepherds bend
their knees, and pray in the open air; soon after
which they retire to their huts.

When varying hues of parting day,
O’er evening’s portals faintly play,
The Alpine horn calls far away,
Prais’d be the Lord !

Andevery hill and rock around,
As though they lov’d the grateful sound,
Send back, ’mid solitudes profound,
Prais’d be the Lord!

142 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

Just Heaven! has man so thankless grown,
He brings no anthems to thy throne,
When voiceless things have found a tone,

To praise the Lord !

Ah, no! for see, the Shepherds come,
Though hardly heard, the ‘*‘ welcome home”’
From toil of day—they quickly come

To worship God.

The look that taught their hearts to bow;
And childhood’s laugh, and sunny brow,
All, all by them forgotten now,

In praise to God.

How lovely such a scene must be,
When prayer and praise ascend to Thee,
In one glad voice of melody,

Eternal Lord!

All space thy Temple—and the air
A viewless messenger, to bear
Creation’s universal prayer,
On wings to heaven!

Oh! that for me some Alpine horn

Both closing eve, and wak’ning morn,

Would sound, and bid my bosom scorn
The world’s vain joys :

Its treasur’d idols all resign
That when life’s cheating hues decline
The one undying thought be mine,
To praise the Lord!

—_~

Argonauta Argo. Nautilus Pompilius.

LETTER, Vil.

oe

UNIVALVES.

——

To * ee

Tue cliffs of Tenby first rose upon the view of
your friend, on one of those delightful mornings
in July, when a fresh cool breeze gently ripples
the surface of the deep; and the distant moun-
tains, beautifully varied with light and shade, are
occasionally obscured with floating mists, which

144 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

sometimes envelope their majestic heads, and again
as rapidly disclose them. The scene was beau-
tiful and animating. Light skiffs glanced merrily
over the transparent waters, and sea-birds darted
from their coverts in the rocks, now rising in the
air, now diving into the sea, and again appearing like
foam upon the billows. In the distance, stupen-
dous masses of black granite stood forth in all their
native majesty, and on the nearest cliffs the glittering
windows of a range of houses met the view. Sud-
denly the mellow tones of the church clock, as if
inspired by the spirit of Memnon, began to strike the
hour at the moment when the beams of the now
rising sun burst in full glory on the surrounding
scene, and a long line of radiance streamed upon the
face of the waters, occasionally lost or broken by the
huge shadows of distant rocks. Meantime the vessel
advanced to the shore, and the voyager sprung on land,
‘* Seeking whate’er of beautiful or new,
Sublime or dreadful, in earth, sea, or sky,
By chance, or search, was offered to his view,

To scan with curious and romantic eye.”
BEATTIE.

A variety of sea-shells, including several fine spe-
cimens of the Turbo interruptus, or Streaked Turbo,

and the Mya declivis, or Sloping Gaper, had been
recently thrown on shore; the former, half buried in

UNIVALVES. 145

the sand; the latter attached to a group of sea-weed,
with an elegant little Rotatus, or Wheel Nautilus, a
species of shell-fish commonly found on the British
coasts, though one of the least valuable of the numer-
ous family of Nautilus. Among which the superb
N. scrobiculatus, or Sunk-spire Nautilus, and the
N. pompilius, or Great Chambered Nautilus, are two
of the most conspicuous for beauty and evident de-
sign. The shell of the latter is often converted by
the inhabitants of the East into a drinking-cup, on
the surface of which various ornaments and devices
are engraven: they also frequently remove the outer
coatings, and thus render visible the pearly appear-
ance of the shell beneath. An exquisite specimen
was exhibited among the curiosities of Fonthill.—
The decorations were executed in the first style by
Hillican ; the subject, the Triumph of Neptune and
Amphitrite. It was mounted in the most elegant
manner in silver gilt; embossed, and decorated with
finely engraved shells, with mosques, and Cupids,
and a coat of arms and helmet, beautifully pierced
and worked in gold.

These curious shell-fish differ considerably in size :
some are so exquisitely minute, that they can only
be defined by the aid of a high magnifier, others are
nearly a foot in diameter. And yet, however dissi-
milar in this respect, the same admirable arrangement

L

146 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

is conspicuous in each, the same high finishing on
the exterior, the same attention in the interior to
the comfort of the inhabitant. This, as the generic
character of the Nautilus implies, is either a Sepia
or a Clio, though most probably the former; and its
appearance, and manner of life are so singular and
interesting, that they did not escape the notice of
some among the earliest writers on natural history.

How sterile is the imagination of man, when com-
pared with the infinite variety that surrounds him!
What has he produced, that may not be found in far
greater perfection among the wonders of creation.
The N. siphunculus, or Ringed Nautilus, which is
often brought from the coral reefs of the Silician
shores; and the WN. scrobiculatus, already mentioned
as the rarest species of the genus, are conjectured to
have originally taught mankind the use of sails, from
the skill which they evince in directing their fragile
barks.

‘* For thus to man the voice of nature spake—
Go, from the creatures thy instructions take ;
Learn of the little Nautilus to sail,
Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale.”

Hence the generic appellation of this extraordinary

species, which signifies both a ship and sail.
Delightful it is to contemplate the infinite variety

of means, by which one and the same purpose is

UNIVALVES. 147

effected. The Mytilus, Pecten, Sea-snail, and innu-
merable others, are enabled to fioat on the water,
either by the assistance of strong muscles, or of
bladders, which they inflate at pleasure, or else
by adhering to such heterogeneous substances as are
borne about by the waves; but in the Nautilus a
different mode of structure, and a different process
it discoverable. We observe, accordingly, that the
testaceous coverings of this interesting shell-fish are
univalve; the partitions arched and perforated; that it
is divided into forty or more cells, which open one
into another, by means of a perforation in the middle
of each partition, and decrease in size as they ap-
proach the centre of the cell: that, further, the
animal resides in the largest apartment, and keeps
up a communication with the others by means of a
slender syphon, running spirally through the perfor-
ations of the shell.

But this is not the only purpose for which the
syphon is designed. The office of this tube, inge-
niously conjectured to be analogous to that of the
swimming-bladder in fishes, is, consequently, essen-
tial to the movements of the animal; for the gravity
of the shell is so admirably counterbalanced by its
empty apartments, that the weight of the whole
apparatus is capable of being increased or dimi-
nished, according as the syphon is filled with air

L2

148 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

or water. Thus, if the animal is stationary at the
bottom of the sea, saturated with food, and having
the syphon filled with water, we may conjecture from
analogy, that in proportion as the food becomes
digested and decomposed, detached gas will pass into
the syphon, and gradually exclude the water, and so
considerably diminish the specific gravity of the
shell as to enable him to ascend readily to the
surface. When, on the contrary, the Nautilus is
inclined to descend, he lowers a small membrane
which answers the purpose of a sail, contracts him-
self within his boat, and filling the remaining cavity
with water, immediately disappears.

The facilities for thus escaping to his native
dwelling in the fathomless abyss, are beautifully
noticed in the following animated lines, which refer
to the dangers of a sailor’s life.

‘* The tender nautilus, who steers his prow,
The sea-born sailor of this shell canoe ;
The ocean Mab, the fairy of the sea,
Seems far less fragile, and alas! more free!
He, when the lightning-wing’d tornados sweep
The surf, is sate, his port is in the deep,
And triumphs o’er th’ armadas of mankind,
Which shake the world, yet crumble in the wind.”

This ingenious little sailor is frequently seen in
fine weather, calmly riding on the billows with his

UNIVALVES. 149

sails expanded to the wind, and extending two oar-
shaped tentaculze for the purpose of rowing his fragile
bark; thus steering his course without chart or com-
pass, self-taught in the art of navigation; and at
once both vessel and pilot.

‘« No star has he to guide his way,
Or Tyrian cynosure.”

Yet still he sails along, regardless of adverse winds,
and undeterred by the perils of the deep, apparently
conscious that he contains within his shell all the
necessary requisites for navigation; rudders, sails,
oars, and cordage. In short, a vessel which no
human hand has formed, and guided by no human
skill; a striking proof, amid the terrors and the
wonders of the deep, that whilst nothing is too great
for the controlling power of Omnipotence, nothing
is too humble for his protecting care.

The human mind, even when unassisted by the
light of revelation, could arrive at this conclusion, so
wonderful and consolatory: and hence not only the
trees that covered the earth, and the fruits and flowers
that grew beneath them ; nay, even the most curious
shell-fish which the waves had placed upon the shore
were supposed under the control of, and peculiarly
favoured by some presiding Deity. Thus, while in
Syria, the Buccinum was anciently dedicated to

150 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

Astrate; in Greece, the elegant Chambered Nautilus
was peculiarly the care of the famous Egyptian
priestess Arsinoe, who was worshipped as a goddess
under the names of Zephyrites, Venus, and Chloris.
A fact which Callimachus has recorded in the follow-
ing beautiful lines, wherein he commemorates the
dedication of a Nautilus to this supposititious deity
by Silenzea, the daughter of a nobleman of Smyrna.

‘«¢ A sacred shell, Zephyrites, divine,
Fair Silenza, offers at thy shrine ;
And thus, thy Nautilus is doubly blest,
Since given by her, and still by thee possest.
Of late, small tackling from my body grew,
Thin sails I spread, when winds propitious blew ;
But when the seas were calm, to gain the shores,
I stretch’d my little feet, like lab’ring oars,
And from my busy limbs, and painted side,
Was call’d a Polyp, as I stemm’d the tide,
Till driven by winds, on Coan’s rocks I shone,
And now recline before Arsinoe’s throne.
Depriv’d of life, no more on seas I rest,
Or draw young Halcyons from the watery nest.
But be this boon to Clineas’ daughter given,
A virtuous maid, and fav’rite of high heaven;
The precious boon may Silenza gain,
When she from Smyrna, ploughs the watery main.”*

It appears from this exquisite little poem, that the

* From the Translations of Callimachus, PY mK. Vs phe
M.D. _ Fifth epigram.

UNIVALVES, 151

Nautilus was not only supposed by the ancients to
feed on the eggs of the halcyon, or kingfisher, but
that the appearance of these birds upon the water
was considered a favourable omen, and thus Silenza
propitiates the goddess, that she may be indulged
with the sight of them during her voyage.

The shells of the genus Argonauta, or Paper-
sailor, are nearly as extraordinary in their appear-
ance and formation as those of their relative the
Nautilus, and in these we observe the same extra-
ordinary configuration, the same subserviency to
an evident design. They are remarkable for ex-
cessive thinness and brittleness, and are perhaps
surpassed by none in the delicacy and elegance of
their construction. The form resembles that of a
scroll, with a very large aperture; and the surface is
ornamented with numerous channelled grooves, which
extend from the summit to the outer margin, while
the colour of the shells is commonly a bluish or
dingy white, relieved by the delicate brown tinting
of the keel. Argonautz differ considerably in size
and value. <A few of the most curious are produced
at the Cape of Good Hope, Mediterranean, and Indian
Ocean; whilst others are commonly found in the
Atlantic, Northern, and Greenland seas.

This interesting genus, the Nautilus of Pliny, has
been separated from the Chambered genus, bearing

152 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION,

that name in the Linnzan system, and is denomi-
nated Argonauta, from a favourite companion of Jason,
in the celebrated voyage of the ship Argo. The art
of navigation is supposed to have owed its origin to
the expert management of this instinctive sailor, as
well as to that of the Nautilus. Like the latter, he
frequently rises to the surface of the sea, by ejecting
a quantity of water, and thus diminishing the specific
gravity of his shell; nay, more, he guides his mimic
vessel by means of several oar-shaped tentacule, and
also expands a little membrane which answers the
purpose of a sail. These, on the approach of danger
are immediately lowered down, and by a rapid ab-
sorption of water, the Argonauta descends into the
deep. A fact, thus accurately noticed and described
by Pliny :—

** One of the greatest wonders in creation is a certain
shell-fish, called by some the Nautilus, and by others
Pompilus. When this extraordinary creature wishes
to rise above the water, he turns upon his back,
raises himself by little and little, and in order to
swim with greater facility, throws out all the water
contained in his shell. His body being thus lightened,
he lifts up his two foremost claws, or arms, and
stretches out between them a fine membrane. This
serves him for a sail above water, and with his other
he works his way beneath it, directing his course with

UNIVALVES. 1538

his tail, which serves the purpose of a helm. Thus
he traverses the ocean like a ship in full sail; and if
any thing occurs to frighten him, he immediately
fills his little shell with water in order to increase his
weight, and betakes himself to his dwelling in the
fathomless abyss.’’ Hence the sagacious little mariner
is seldom taken in the act of sailing, but is usually
drawn up from marine rocks, or entangled in the nets
of the fishermen.

Cicero refers to the ocean and its inhabitants as
affording irrefragable proofs, in connexion with the
general wonders of creation, of the existence of a
presiding deity. *‘ How beautiful,” says this enlight-
ened heathen, ‘‘ is majestic ocean! How delightful
to contemplate its vast expanse of waters, varied
with islands and continents! How innumerable and
diversified the multitudes of living creatures which it
contains: some dwelling in its deep recesses, others
sporting on the waves, others again adhering to the
rocks!” ‘* Who can observe the beauty of the
universe, the order of the celestial bodies, the rising
of the sun and moon, and the motion of the stars,
without being convinced that the world was not
formed by chance—that God alone is able to be the
creator and director of so many wonders?”

This enlightened heathen, and his equally enlight-
ened countryman, the Natural Historian, Pliny,

154 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

delighted to acknowledge in their works the shadowy
forms of Pagan superstition, which they supposed to
control, not only the passing events of life, but also
the varied wonders of creation. They brought to
bear upon the subject which engrossed their pro-
foundest contemplations, all the feeble light which
they possessed. They regarded as through a darkened
glass, the dispensations of all-ruling Providence, and
faintly looked up to the Parent of gods and men.
And shall we, who walk in the clear light of the
Gospel dispensation, refuse to acknowledge Him,
who framed this well-ordered world—who spread
the firmament above as a tent to dwell in—and who
gives to his own glorious heaven, all its unalterable
joys, and splendours which no mortal eye could
steadily behold.—Shall we be ashamed to acknow-
ledge, that once travelling in human form, he entered
this magnificent museum, and sojourned among the
wonders which his hand has made, to reveal at once
what God is, and what man ought to be? Heathens
might discover an eternal power, a surpassing wis-
dom, an indefinable benevolence, in the signs and
wonders of creation. Heathens might acknowledge
a stupendous liberality in the grant of the whole
fabric, and its garniture, and astonishing accompani-
ments for the use of man. But the Christian philo-

UNIVALVES. 155

sopher should ever bear in mind his forfeiture of them,
and the price paid to redeem them; he should accustom
himself to receive the gifts of a benignant Providence
as from the hand of an indulgent Mediator.

Section of the Chambered Nautilus Argonauta.

Helices.

LETTER VIII.

—_——

UNIVALVES.

To * * * &

Patey justly observes, my friend, that a snail-shell
is a wonderful, a mechanical, and, if we may so
express ourselves concerning the works of nature,
an original contrivance. ‘‘ Other animals have their
proper retreats, their hybernacula also, or winter
quarters, but the snail carries these about with him.
He travels with his tent; and this tent, though, as

UNIVALVES. 157

was necessary, both light and thin, is completely
impervious either to moisture or to air.” The young
Helix, like his numerous brethren of the family of
Univalve, emerges into life with a covering adapted
to his exigences, and this enlarges with his growth,
by means of a certain viscous exudation from innu-
merable pores. Now the aptness of this secretion
to the purpose for which it is designed, its pro-
perty of congealing into a firm and hard substance,
independent of any effort on the part of the inhabi-
tant, cannot be referred, as the same admirable writer
has observed, to any other cause than express design ;
and that, not on the part of the unconscious architect,
who, although he might build the house, could not
supply the materials. Moreover, the form of the
building, with its pillar and convolution, is not only
a very artificial one, but admirably adapted to the
exigences of the inhabitant; which is, confessedly,
one of the most feeble and unprovided of all artificers.
Nay more, the testaceous coverings of such as live on
land, or inhabit ponds and ditches, are scarcely able
to resist the slightest pressure; while in others, their
defensive strength suits well with the lives of those
that have to sustain the dangers of a stormy element,
and a rocky bottom, as well as the attacks of vora-
cious fish. The sealing up of the mouth, which
serves in several species as an effectual protection

158 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

against the cold of winter, is also admirably adapted
for warmth, and for security. But the cerate is not
of the same substance as the shell; evidently because
the animal would be then unable to break down the
enclosing barrier, when the return of spring invites
him from his winter quarters. In the midst of an
almost endless variety, a striking regularity is never-
theless discoverable. However different individuals
may vary in form and colour, according to the sites
which they are designed to occupy, in one point they
almost universally agree. The number of whirls in
the same species is generally, if not always, the same ;
and these, with a few exceptions, are uniformly in
one direction, that is, from right to left, like the
motion of the globe, when the mouth of the shell is
turned northward, with the base towards the ground.
- These admirable receptacles, when deserted by
their artificers, serve as temporary habitations to
insects of various kinds. The Caracol Soldato, or
Soldier-snail of Carthagena, takes up his abode in
the hollow apartment of a marine Helix. This sin-
gular creature, which resembles a snail in his general
construction, while the head and claws differ little
from those of a crab, is destitute of any kind of
covering, and from the tenderness and flexibility of
his body is peculiarly liable to injury. He, accord-
ingly, no sooner becomes sensible of his helpless

UNIVALVES. 159

situation, than he hastens to secure a safe retreat in
some empty shell. This borrowed citadel, or armour,
is borne about by the Carocol, who occasionally
deserts it in quest of food, but on the slightest
appearance of danger hastens to resume it with the
utmost alacrity. Being too bulky to turn round in
his dwelling, he obviates the inconvenience by walk-
ing backwards into it, and filling up the entrance
with his formidable claws ; where he sits looking out,
and inflicting deadly gripes upon all who approach too
near; the symptoms attendant on which are as dan-
gerous as those produced by the bite of a scorpion.
When grown too large for the comfortable occupation
of his mansion, the Soldier-snail retires to the sea
side, where he wounds some defenceless Buccinum,
the shell of which is more commodious; turns out
the owner, and occupies his dwelling.

The Caracol Soldato of Carthagena resembles in
its habits the Cancer Barnhardus, Diogenes, Soldier,
or Hermet Crab; an industrious little animal, which
commonly inhabits the coasts of Europe, and occupies
himself in clearing the sea-shore of such fragments of
small fish and marine insects as the waves have from
time to time deposited. That beneficent Being who
denies to the Larnhardus the coat of mail, in which he
has invested every other individual of the same genus,
compensates for the deficiency by instructing it to

160 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

take refuge in the empty cavity of a turbinated shell.
This species is parasitic. It affords a striking instance
of the powerful effect of instinct; of that propensity
which is prior to experience, and independent of
instruction. No sooner does the young Hermit
emerge from under the protection of its parent, than
he hastens to the deserted shell of some simple Nerite,
which he continues to occupy for a considerable time ;
but as his desires increase in proportion to his growth,
he removes from one residence to another, till at
length, like the Soldato mentioned by Don Ulloa, he
takes up his abode in the spacious mansion of a
marine Helix or Buccinum. With either of these he
can travel rapidly over the soft sand, retire at night
into its ‘* hollow wreathed chamber,” or render it an
impregnable citadel, by withdrawing to the farthest
end ; and inflicting severe pinches upon such as ven-
ture to attack him. Now mark the extraordinary
manner in which the Hermit, or Soldier Crab, is
enabled to carry his tent from one place to another ;
for as it is sometimes considerably larger than
the inmate, it must, without some peculiar expe-
dient for obviating the inconvenience, be con-
tinually left behind. The Creator of the Hermit
Crab, who consigned it to a borrowed habita-
tion, foresaw the difficulty, and admirably provided
for it. The tai] is furnished with a bent claw

UNIVALVES. 161

exactly in the form of a hook, by which the Hermit
attaches himself to any accidental projection, crevice,
chink, or roughness in his moveable habitation.
Without this admirable appendage, the parasitic Crab
would be one of the most helpless of all animals,
obnoxious to every kind of injury, and totally unable
to ward off the insults of his enemies. The want of
armour is thus completely made up to him; and while
he hooks himself by the claw to the walls of his
apartment, he travels with a thin commodious tent,
impervious to air and moisture ; which he is more-
over able to throw aside, whenever it becomes too
small for his convenient reception.

Nothing can be more amusing than to observe the
movements of this little animal when about to change
his habitation. He is seen busily parading along that
line of pebbles and of shells which is formed by the
extremest wave, and still dragging after him his in-
commodious dwelling, as if wisely resolving not to
part with one, however inconvenient, till certain of
obtaining another, more congenial to his wishes.
Then stopping at a shell, he turns it over, and
having contemplated it for a short time, he slips
out of his old mansion, and tries on the new. If
this does not appear to suit him in every respect,
he quickly re-enters that which he had left, and
moves onward in quest of another, more to his mind.

M

162 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

It is very amusing to observe one of these active
little crabs, examining and rejecting different kinds
of shells, till he has at length provided himself with
a light, roomy, and convenient habitation. Yet
it is not till after many trials, and some battles also,
that the Hermit is completely equipped ; for it some-
times happens that a warm combat ensues with a
Crab of a similar description, for the occupation of a
well-looking and favourite shell. Both endeavour
by fraud or violence to obtain an entrance. They
strike with their claws, and bite each other; till the
weakest is obliged to yield, and give up the object
in dispute. The victor then triumphantly takes
possession, and parades backwards and forwards on
the strand, as if in defiance of his discomfited anta-
gonist, who travels off to seek a habitation among the
fresh deposits of the ocean.

Nor is the construction of the common Heliz less .
deserving of attention, than that of the occasional
resident of its deserted mansion. ‘This feeble animal
is soft, spungy, and transparent, and is provided with
horns, or antenne, at the extremity of which the
eyes are situated, appearing like small dark spots,
black, sparkling, and obicular. These, on the approach
of danger, are rapidly drawn down, together with
the horns, into the head, which immediately dis-
appears beneath the shell. In the course of a few

UNIVALVES. 163

seconds the horns reappear; the eyes run up the
narrow transparent channel, down which they had
descended, and the Helix journeys on its way.

Now the reason of such a peculiar construction is
obvious. The snail is thus enabled to command a
' more extensive sphere of vision, than if the eyes were
situated in the head. Moreover, the pliability of
the antennze enables them to turn in different direc-
tions, while the ease with which they are capable of
being extended, or contracted, like a pocket telescope,
admits of the ready withdrawing of the head into the
shell; an arrangement which beautifully harmonizes
with the extreme weakness of the animal.

Shakspeare notices this striking peculiarity. “I
can tell,” said the faithful adviser of King Lear,
‘“‘ why a snail has a house.” ‘‘ Why?” replied his
unfortunate master. ‘* Why to put his head in; not
to give it away to his daughters, and to leave his
horns without a case.”

The movements of the common Helix are remark-
ably slow. How shall we account for this extra-
ordinary fact, since the snail is light, and small, and
apparently by no means incapable of comparatively
rapid motion? Probably by the viscous nature of
its juices, which are extremely tardy in their circula-
tion, and consequently produce a considerable degree
of sluggishness in the movements of the animal.

mM 2

164 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

This idea was first suggested by Mr. Braidley.
He observed their circulation in a Snail just hatched,
the body and shell of which, being quite transparent,
enabled him to discover that the pulsations of the
heart succeeded each other at intervals of three
seconds. A casual observer might be inclined to
pity the poor animal for the deficiency of its
moving powers. But let it not be forgotten, that
this defect of the Helix is amply compensated.—
The peculiar nature of its juices seems to have a
reference to its mode of life; for no degree of
natural, or artificial cold, has ever been known
sufficiently powerful to congeal them. Thus, while
the common worm, which incautiously has left its
shelter in the garden mould, is frequently discovered
in a frozen state; and even birds and small animals
fall victims to the severity of the weather, the Snail
is rendered insensible to cold, and either burrows in
the earth, or seeks the shelter of some hollow tree
till invited from his temporary retreat. Appian
beautifully notices the creeping movements of this
curious little animal, in the following characteristic
lines :— i
«* When lov’d Arcturus leaves the main to rise

A star, bright shining in the evening skies,

Then prune the vine; *t is dangerous to delay,

Till with complaints the swallow breaks the day ;

When with their domes the slow-paced snails retreat
Beneath some foliage, from the burning heat.”’

UNIVALVES. 165

Helices belong to a very numerous and compre-
hensive tribe of terrestrial animals, which are un-
provided with feet. But the want of these is
obviated by such a disposition of the muscles and
fibres of the trunk, as to render it capable of a
progressive and undulatory movement, in any direc-
tion to which the will of the animal determines it.
This undulatory motion occasions the exudation
already noticed, which not only materially assists
the common Helix in adhering to extraneous sub-
stances, and climbing walls and trees in quest of
food, but is also essential to its safety, as it has
frequently occasion to travel along ceilings with the
shell reversed. Snails, however, generally remain
quiet, and seldom move abroad, excepting when in
search of food.

But why such care to provide for the security,
and promote the comfort of an obscure shell-fish ?
Let this great truth be solemnly impressed on
our minds: God has made nothing in vain. It
is a clue that will safely conduct us through many
intricate mazes of the great labyrinth of nature,
as far, at least, as it is permitted for finite beings
to explore them. In many instances we are unable
to comprehend the intentions of the Deity with
regard to the construction of his creatures: in
others, their uses are so obvious that they cannot

166 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

be mistaken. The common Chickweed, and the
different species which constitute the genus Helix,
are apparently of little worth: yet the former, during
winter, is nearly the sole support of innumerable
flocks of birds; and, without the latter, a consider-
able proportion of the animal creation would be
entirely destitute of food. In the formation of
both, the Creator has deviated from his usual course,
to provide for their security, and to compensate for
all their various and necessary defects.

The numerous species which compose the genus
Helix; Snail, or Spiral, are principally land or fresh-
water shell-fish. A considerable number inhabit
aquatic plants; some are found on trees or shrubs ;
and others in decayed wood. They also abound
in the most unfavourable and arid situations. The
few solitary vegetables which occasionally diversify
the extensive sands on the south side of the Tagus,
are incrusted with a species of small snail. Such is
also stated by African travellers to be the case in the
deserts of Sahara.

Two hundred and fifty-three species are assigned
by naturalists to this extensive genus: some of
which are beautifully marked; and some of rare
occurrence. Of these, the H. sultana and H. hemas-
toma, Variegated and Rose-lipped Helices, are two
of the most admired; particularly the latter, for its
elegant zones and rose-coloured lip.

UNIVALVES. 167

The Helix pomatia, or Edible Snail, differs little
in appearance from the common species; it was in-
troduced into England by the celebrated Sir Kenelm
Digby, as food, or medicine for his lady, who died of
a consumption. Various attempts have been made
to naturalize them in Northamptonshire, but without
success, as they uniformly refuse to emigrate from
the southern woods of England. They are more
susceptible of cold than other species; and towards
winter, close their apertures with a calcareous lid,
and remain in a torpid state until the spring.

Edible Snails are used as food during Lent in
several parts of Europe. They are fattened for the
purpose in large reservoirs, the floors of which are
covered with herbs and flowers. These creatures
formed a favourite dish with the luxurious Romans,
who fed them on bran and wine, till they grew to such
a size, that, if we may credit the testimony of Varro,
the shells would contain ten quarts. Admitting the
truth of this account, the temperance of the younger
Pliny will no longer be a subject of admiration,
whose suppers consisted of a lettuce for each guest,
three snails, two eggs, a barley cake, sweet wine, and
snow. Fulvius Hirpinus is said to have introduced
this luxury, a short time before the wars of Czesar
and Pompey.

Several extraordinary instances of design stu-

168 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

diously directed to produce important consequences
in the animal economy, are discoverable in such
species as either inhabit aquatic plants, or are de-
cidedly oceanic.

The H. vivipara, and H. tentaculata, Viviparous
and Olive Helices, are furnished with small pieces of
shell, that answer the purpose of doors or shutters,
by means of which they close their dwellings, and
completely exclude the water.

The inhabitant of the H. ianthina, or Violet Helix,
swims at liberty in the sea. It is furnished with
four horns, or horn-shaped tentacula, and a membra-
naceous bag, consisting of small bladders, which it
inflates at pleasure, and is thus enabled to float on
the surface of the water. It is also endowed with
the property of emitting a phosphorescent light, and
stains the hand of a rich purple colour, which is not
easily removed. These small bladders mark the
character of the animal; as a creature floating in
the ocean, or as one attached to marine substances.

It is highly interesting to observe these little
Helices, either inflating their marine balloons, and
skimming the surface of the billows, or seeking, in
the hollow of the waves, a shelter from the wind:
to watch them as they slowly retire into those
sea-covered regions, dotted with plants of innu-
merable shades and colours, which, like the animals

UNIVALVES. 169

that inhabit them, never receive the rays of light
but through the medium of water: where the
valleys are clothed with elastic plants, such as the
sea-peacock, the leaves of which are perforated like
a sieve, for the evident purpose of admitting the
currents, that gush through them, as if they were
sluices: where the hills stand thick with bristly
beds of madrepore, festooned with floating garlands
of fuci, algee, and innumerable sea-weeds, the colours
of which are nearly as splendid as those of the showery
bow of Iris.

Such are the objects which amuse the leisure
hours, and occupy the thoughts of those who delight
to trace the footsteps of unerring Wisdom, as they
appear impressed on the oozy bed of ocean. Nor
let him who is confined to inland scenes, lament that
these researches are beyond the reach of his fortune,
or exertions. The mossy lanes which surround his
quiet dwelling, or the river that waters his native
town, will afford subjects of investigation and im-
provement. In the shady recesses of the one, or
on the margin of the other, he may learn that the
wonders of creation are inexhaustible.

For my own part, I confess that when I see a poor
little Muscle, who seems by her helplessness to lie
at the mercy of every passing wave, mooring her fra-
gile bark under the shelter of some projecting stone,

170 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

by means of strong tendinous threads, which she has
the faculty of spinning on every emergency ; or when
I watch the common Snail, slowly ascending the
cavernous trunk of some aged oak, or climbing up a
garden wall without the aid of wings, feet, or thread,
solely by means of the viscid humour discharged
from her skin; and consider the secret spark of life
which is in each of them; “ that where we look for
absolute destitution and can reckon upon nothing but
wants,” some admirable contrivance amply compen-
sates for every apparent deprivation, and preserves
them, and their still more feeble offspring; my mind
is carried up to the praise and adoration of that Gra-
cious Being, whose wisdom, beneficence, and power
are thus conspicuous in the humblest of his works.

Helices abound in almost every part of the known
world. They furnish an important article of food on
the shores of the Mediterranean, where they are
boiled in the shell, and served up with rice. They
possess much of the quality of oysters, and are
extremely nutritious. The use of them not unfre-
quently retards the fatal termination of that less
active form of consumption called a decline; and so
long as a sufficient quantity could be procured, many
patients have appeared convalescent, from the rapid
recovery of their strength by the use of this nutritious
food.

Limpets.

BW? TE ReOEX:

UNIVALVES.

Toss*

One of the most imposing spectacles in nature is
afforded by the ocean, when the billowy waves are
seen to toss on high their crests of broken foam: one
of the most delightful, when on a fine summer morn-
ing, the bright emerald waters sparkle and murmur
in their retreats, and gently ripple upon the shore.
What beauty is then beheld on earth! what loveli-
ness in ocean! what majesty in those immense strata

172 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

of rocks, several hundred feet in height, which seem
to have been laid one upon another in an oblique
direction, or start in bold projecting masses from the
bosom of the ocean; rocks which appear, as high as
they are washed by the tide, to be covered with the
most beautiful grey moss or lichens, but are in fact
incrusted with innumerable families of little Limpets,
which they shelter and protect like foster parents
during the recess of the tide. But these are not the
only objects deserving the attention of the naturalist.
The excavations formed by the toiling of the waves,
apparently encircle diminutive groves and gardens,
formed of crimson, green, brown, and pink-coloured
sea-weeds, and occasionally diversified with strings of
beads, which fancy pictures, as the work of invisible
fingers, for the decoration of fairy-sized sea nymphs.
Some are in the perfect form of minute trees; others
trail like ribbons, floating and trembling in the
waves, or simply expanded by the motion of the
tide. Of these, a considerable number are either
incrusted with minute shells that shine like silver; or
else afford shelter to innumerable little fishes, ‘‘ their
coats bedropt with gold,’ and varied with tints of
azure, green, and purple. For the supreme Creator
of the universe, as if wishing to communicate some
scattered rays of his glory, and his blessedness, to
this extended world, has replenished every leaf, and

UNIVALVES. 173

every drop of water, with myriads of inhabitants,
each of whom He has endowed with facilities for
enjoying the gift of life.

Such were the reflections that arose within my
mind, and such were the beautiful variety of marine
objects which attracted my attention, during a soli-
tary walk on the beach at Weymouth.

“* Whose intervening billows’ snowy foam
Rising successively, seem’d steps of light,
Such as on Bethel’s plain the angel’s clomb,
When to the slumbering patriarch’s ravish’d sight
Heaven’s glories were reveal’d in visions of the night.”’

The scene was indescribably pleasing. The earth,
the air, the water, teemed with delighted existence.
Myriads of ‘‘ insect youth were on the wing,” trying
their early pinions, and sporting in wanton mazes
with inconceivable rapidity. Shoals of little fishes
darted through the sparkling waves, or bounded from
the shallow margin of the water, as if rejoicing in
their newly-discovered faculties ; while on the nearest
rocks, a few Molluscz, in the shape of sea~-anemones,
expanded their imitative petals to the sun.

In the fore-ground, a group of dark weather-beaten
stones was covered with Limpets (patelle); the
conical summits of which, as the waves occasionally
dashed them with their spray, presented a beautiful
variety of forms and colours. They stood, like

174 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

Ossian’s ‘‘ lonely dwellers of the rock,” solitary in
the midst of numbers, and apparently incapable of
sharing in the general joy.—But softly: has not
Providence assigned to every class of being, its pecu-
liar sources of enjoyment? and is not the solitary
Limpet exempt from dangers which continually sur-
round the finny natives of the deep? Gradually, the
beams of the sun illumined the summit of the rocks.
One of the shells began to open. A kind of leg, or
foot, was carefully projected from beneath the shell,
which gently erected itself on one edge, as if to
diminish friction, and by a sudden spring, the creature
actually advanced to a considerable distance.

“This,” said a fisherman, to whom I pointed
out the movement of the Limpet, ‘‘ is their common
method of proceeding. The form of the leg which
you observed may be altered at pleasure: it answers
the purpose of a foot, or hand, by the help of which
they are able to sink into the mud, rise from it again,
and even spring, as you have just observed, from
the rocks, to which they generally adhere so closely
that it is impossible to remove them without consi-
derable force; unless, (for it seems that their sense
of hearing is very exquisite,) you come upon them
unexpectedly.”

We boast of our inventions in the arts and sciences,
forgetting, that we are frequently anticipated, by even

UNIVALVES. 175

the feeblest of created beings. The Torpedo, defended
himself from his enemies by means of an electric
shock, long before academicians thought of making
experiments in electricity. The Limpet, acted as if he
understood the pressure of the atmosphere, and
attached himself to the rock, by forming a vacuum in
his pyramidical shell, more than five thousand years
before the air-pump came into existence!

Limpets* are generally found adhering by their
base to rocks and stones, to fuci, and other marine
substances, from which, as I have before observed,
they are not easily detached. They are common on
the shores of every ocean ; but the island of Cyprus
is particularly celebrated for the beauty and variety
of its specimens. _

Shells of this interesting genus are frequently
discovered in a fossil state. The Patella mitrata of
Linneus, and the P. cornucopia and dilatata of Le
Chev. de Lamar, are each attached with a small
ligament, or muscle, to an operculum or under-
valve. By the aid of this singular appendage, they
not only fix themselves to rocks and marine pebbles,
but also rise occasionally above them, like sentry
boxes on an elevated station.

Little is known with certainty respecting the pecu-

* Seven divisions are assigned by naturalists to this extensive
genus, the distinctions of which are strongly marked.

176 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

liar habits of the Patelle, or the purposes for which
they are designed. They are placed on the boundary
line, between those shells which are furnished with a
regular spire, and those that have none; and such is the
accordance of one part with another, that the shells
of the third division, with a recurved apex, form a
natural link between the Haliotis, or Sea-ear, and
the genus Patella, of which they are an interesting
portion. For the Most High has adorned the
excellent productions of his wisdom, and so admi-
rably adjusted them, that every part of the vast
creation constitutes one beautiful and perfect whole.
To this splendid superstructure, nothing can be
added; neither can any thing be taken from it, with-
out producing a chasm in creation, which, however
imperceptible to us, would materially affect the
general harmony of nature. All things were made
by Him, and without him cannot any thing subsist;
besides, it seems as if he designed to teach us by
the admirable arrangement of his creatures, that the
different gradations in society, are designed by
his providence, and appointed for our good. Keep-
ing this in view, we contemplate with redoubled
interest, the infinite variety of shapes and species,
through which the world of life progressively ad-
vances, before a creature is formed, complete in all
its parts. Thus, in the instance of the solitary

UNIVALVES, 177

Limpet, some kinds adhere to the surface of the
rocks; others, as the Haliotis, or Sea-ear, are appa-
rently but one remove from these; a third descrip-
tion, possesses no other senses than those of feeling
and of taste; a fourth, are furnished with an addi-
tional one of hearing; a fifth, of smelling. The whole
chasm of nature is thus filled up with different
kinds of creatures, rising, in regular gradation, with
such a gentle and easy ascent, that the little tran-
sitions are almost imperceptible. Class is linked
to class, with a just and admirable precision, by
means of an order, trespassing on both; order to
order, by an intermediate genus; genera to genera,
by a doubtful species; one species to another, by
continual varieties. The mineral, and vegetable king-
doms, are united in like manner, by the Amianthes
and Lithophytes ; Zoophytes, form a connecting link
between animals and vegetables. Tube-worms unite
insects to shells and reptiles; the latter are joined to
fishes, by sea-eels and water serpents. Flying fish
connect the finny natives of the deep, with those
that skim the air; and bats, associate birds and qua-
drupeds with each other.
“« Thus the vast chain of being, though widely extended,
Unites all its parts in one beautiful whole,
In which grandeur and grace are enchantingly blended,

Of which God is the centre, the life, and the soul.”

BaRTon.
N

Ship Worm.

LETTER X.

UNIVALVES.

——

To x * * *¥

Tue perforations in the timbers of the gallant vessel
which you lately saw at Deptford, were occasioned
by the Teredo Navalis, or common Ship-Worm,
of which the generic appellation is derived from a
Greek work, signifying to bore. This singular
animal has two hemispherical, calcareous, and trun-
cated valves: with a shell, tapering, flexuous, and

capable of penetrating wood.

UNIVALVES. 179

Thus constructed, the Jeredo readily enters the
stoutest timber, and insinuates itself into lofty vessels,
which it destroys, like the evil genius so admirably
pourtrayed by Captain Morris, whose visitations no
earthly bulwarks could impede.

** Care mounts Rideaux, with four-and-twenty pounders,
Nor heeds our light troops, nor our Indian warriors,
Swifter than moose deer, or the fleeter east wind,
Pushing the crowds on.—”

Imitation of Horace, Mon. Mag.

The construction of this indefatigable insect, bears
an obvious reference, as well to the purposes for which
it is designed, as to the substance in which it is
inclosed. The head is well prepared by nature for
encountering difficulties, being surmounted with a
helmet, and provided with a tooth, adapted for per-
forating the hardest substances; the neck is also
furnished with strong muscles, which materially
assist the operations of the head; and the body is
covered with a thin, transparent horn, through which
its internal operations may be easily discovered.
The shell is composed of carbonate of lime, and a
gelatinous substance; greater in proportion than that
of the Chama gigas, but considerably less than in the
shell of the common Oyster. The heart is situated
on the back, between the mouth and the lower
part of the stomach; and admits of only a single

nN 2

180 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

circulation, as in animals respiring in an aqueous
element: an organization which clearly demon-
strates the care of a benevolent Creator. In lke
manner, the extraordinary fact, that the breathing
organs of the Ship-Worm, (in common with such
animals as are unprovided with a cavity for the re-
ception of salt-water), are placed externally, evinces
that their construction is in exact accordance with
their mode of life. This wonderful provision is par-
ticularly obvious in the Actinie, or Animal Plants, of
the West Indies. Their beautiful membranaceous
expansions, which resemble the petals of flowers, and
glow beneath the water in vivid tints of yellow, green,
or purple, are in fact, breathing organs, not merely
tentaculee for catching food.

The Yeredo navalis, or Ship-Worm, when arrived
at its full growth, closes up the end of the shell ;
and it has been inferred that the animal, by this
act, formed his own tomb, since he could no longer
destroy the wood in which he was contained. But
Sir Everard Home has ascertained, that in the
Leredo gigantea, or Gigantic Teredo, death is not
the consequence of this seclusion. He adduces a
variety of curious facts to prove that the Ship-Worm,
when arrived at its full growth, or when prevented
from increasing in length, closes up the end of his
shell, and lives a long time afterwards; being fur-

UNIVALVES. i8k

nished with food from the sea-water, which he receives,
like the Actinic, through the medium of several small
tentacule.

Teredines, turn readily in their respective shells;
to which they merely adhere, by means of a slight
connexion at one particular part; and this arrange-
ment is evidently designed to prevent the tubes from
being disturbed by the motion of the inmates, which
resembles that of boring. As the T'eredo gigantea,
or Great Bifurcated Borer, burrows in the mud, on
which he cannot be supposed to subsist, a question
has arisen, whether the 7’. navalis receives any support
from the wood which he destroys; or is solely sup-
plied with food from the sea. The latter opinion is
now generally adopted. It appears, on a close in-
vestigation, that the sawdust received by the animal,
does not experience the slightest change; as when
exposed to the action of fire, it emits the odour of
wood, and forms a charcoal, which readily consumes
into white ashes, in every respect resembling those
produced by a vegetable substance.

When the hull of a vessel continues for any length
of time in water, the Teredines appropriate it to
their use. They commence their operations by per-
forating the softest parts of the wood, and as they
have seldom at this period attained their full growth,
the perforations are frequently so small as to be

182 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION,

scarcely discoverable. As soon as they have entered,
and completed their habitations, their next care is to
beautify, and render them commodious. This they
effect, by means of a white glutinous fluid, exuding
from their bodies, like the viscous juices of the common
Snail, which hardens into a sort of crust, and forms
a thin, smooth lining to their respective cells. This
lining, by filling up the cavities, and smoothing
every inequality, protects their tender bodies from
being injured by the roughness of the wood; it also
enables them to move in various directions without
inconvenience or danger.

A social compact apparently subsists between
these shelly anchorites, as the greatest care is taken
to avoid injuring each other’s habitations. Each
case, or shell, is preserved entire; and even where a
piece of wood has been so completely perforated as
to resemble a honey-comb, the slightest passage, or
communication, has never been discovered between
the different compartments, though the divisions
have frequently not exceeded the thickness of fine
writing paper.

Thus far are we indebted to the observations of
Sir Everard Home.—And is there nothing humili-
ating in the conclusions to which these facts lead?
Would it not appear as if those floating castles, which
open communications between different countries,

UNIVALVES. 183

** Armaments, whose thunders strike the walls
Of rock-built cities, bidding nations quake,”
were liable to be destroyed by the bite of an insigni-
ficant reptile, in order to teach mankind the weakness
of their boasted strength. But mark the protect-
ing care of Providence. The destructive operations
of these insidious animals are in a great degree
obviated, by the singular fact of their generally per-
forating the wood in the direction of the grain.

The fossil cases of the Teredines, are termed Tubuli
Fossiles. They are found buried in the earth, and
vary considerably in appearance. Some are dis-
covered, in a more or less perfect state, in strata of
earth or stone; others, which are immersed in masses
of the Ludus Helmontii, or Septarie, constitute
a kind of pipe stone; but the most beautiful of
this description, are broken fragments of vessels, or
marine posts, which have been originally pierced by
Teredines, and afterwards petrified, with the cases,
or tubuli of the worms, remaining in them.

Elegant specimens of these are brought from the
shores of Sheppy, and the London and Richmond
clay-pits.

Teredines abound in the richest provinces of
Holland, where the inhabitants behold the frightful
spectacle of their great rivers held up by dikes at
the height of twenty, or even thirty feet above the

184 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

level of theland. Here the Teredines frequently work
their way into the piles of timber which sustain these
important barriers; and threaten their total demoli-
tion, when the precaution of sheathing their lofty
sides with copper, or a composition of tar and glass,
has been neglected. In the year 1731, considerable
apprehensions having been excited on the subject,
persons were appointed by Government, to examine
into their state. On drawing up one, which had been
driven into the sea rather more than twenty years
before, it was found, though apparently sound on the
outside, to be completely perforated by mnumerable
Teredines, some of which exceeded a foot in length.
One question may possibly have dwelt upon your
mind, during the perusal of these observations. Why
is a pernicious reptile so wonderfully constructed,
the instincts of which are fraught with destruction
to the noblest works of art, and even to man himself?
Patience, my friend. Is not man, endowed with
faculties, to reason, and apprehend; ardent, to investi-
gate, and skilful, to obviate inconveniences; fully
adequate to cope with, and counteract, the depreda-
tions of an obscure insect? |
All the various parts of nature are beautifully
designed to act inconcert. We see the hand of God
employed in forming the lowest, and frequently, in
our opinion, the most despicable creatures; assign-

UNIVALVES. 185

ing to each its station, and so admirably adjusting
the mighty whole, that every particle of matter, and
every living thing that creeps, or moves, upon the
surface of the earth, is formed in subserviency to
the general good. Indeed in various instances, the
lower we descend in the scale of creation, the more
obvious are the uses, and the more extraordinary the
instincts, of many of the creatures which compose it.
Providence has mercifully appointed that such should
be the case; and the reason is obvious: for, if the
destructive, and congregating propensities of the
Whale, and Shark, were similar to those of the Teredo
navalis, the skill and ingenuity of man, would be
almost inadequate to counteract the machinations of
such sagacious and persevering foes.

Sea-Worms, though apparently so pernicious to
our shipping, have the same office assigned them in
the water, as Z’ermites have on land. You are perhaps
aware that these extraordinary insects, which to a
easual observer appear solely occupied in spreading
terror and destruction wherever they advance, are
nevertheless of infinite importance to the well-being
of mankind in the sultry regions of the globe. They
consume decaying vegetable substances, of various
kinds; they also resemble common flies in their
general operations ; those indefatigable little labourers,
the pioneers of cleanliness and order, which conti-

186 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

nually employ themselves in perforating animal sub-
stances, and enabling the elements speedily to decom-
pose and dissipate them.

Changes conducive to the general benefit are conti-
nually going on in the animal and vegetable kingdoms ;
for nothing is imperfect. Their various productions
successively experience a gradual, or rapid deteriora-
tion, in accordance with the character of each, and
recede from the sites they occupy, in order to make
room for others. When aged trees, or even forests,
particularly in the East, are overthrown by a tornado,
or partially consumed by fire, innumerable agents
hasten to complete their demolition; the Termites,
especially, are so expeditious, and effectual in their
operations, that companies of them have been known
to destroy, and carry away, in the course of a week,
the bodies of the largest trees. They clear the
ground, and afford room for vegetable productions
of various kinds, which rapidly assert their right,
and occupy the places which nature has assigned
them. Ruined houses also, frequently, become a
prey to these indefatigable insects; nay, even the
sites of populous villages, when abandoned by their
inhabitants, as is frequently the case in Arabia and
in Senegal, have, by their agency, in the course of two
or three years, been covered with grass, or trees, and
not the vestige of a single post has remained.

UNIVALVES. 187

To such scenes of desolation, and subsequent fer-
tility, the following stanzas most probably refer.
They afford a fine specimen of oriental poetry, and
were translated by Sir William Jones from the Moa-
laket, one of the seven Arabian poems, which are
suspended in the Temple of Mecca.

i,

Desolate are the mansions of the fair, the stations in
Minia, where they rested, and those, where they fixed their
abodes! Wild are the hills of Goul, and deserted are the sum-
mits of Rijaam.

Tt.

The canals of Rayaan are destroyed; the remains of them

are laid bare, like characters engraved on the solid rock.

Il.

Dear spot! many a year has been closed, many a month,
holy, and unhallowed, has elapsed, since I exchanged vows with
thy fair inhabitants.

IV.

The rainy constellations of spring have made their hills
green and luxuriant; the drops from the thunder clouds have
drenched them with profuse, as well as with gentle showers.

v:
Here, the wild eringo-plants raise their heads; here, the
antelopes bring forth their young by the sides of the valley ; and
here, the ostriches drop their eggs.”

I have entered more particularly into the natural
history of the Termites, because their operations
tend to elucidate those of the Z'eredines, with which

188 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

it is impossible to become so accurately acquainted,
from the nature of the element in which they sub-
sist. We are, however, fully warranted in concluding,
from well-known facts, and recent observations, that
were it not for their incessant labours, those mighty
rivers,

‘« To whose dread expanse,
Continuous depth, and wondrous length of course,
Our floods are rills,’’

would, in time, become impeded by the vegetable
masses, and innumerable trunks, and branches, of
large forest trees, which are continually carried into
them by adventitious causes ; and that a considerable
proportion of these, from the preservative nature of
salt-water, would otherwise, probably, last for ages,
form a basis for fresh accumulations, and eventually
become productive of evils, of the extent of which,
in the present harmonious and admirably balanced
state of things, it is impossible to form an adequate
conception.

Nor is this all. The feeble Teredines open a source
of considerable riches to the inhabitants of Sweden, and
to those persons who reside on the borders of the White
Sea, by employing the vigilance of the Dutch. The
necessity which they impose upon these active people,
of continually tarring and repairing their dikes and
vessels, forms a bond of union between these two com-

UNIVALVES. 189

mercial nations, by occasioning a perpetual demand
for oak, pitch, and fir. And as these, apparently,
pernicious insects are continually at work at Amster-
dam, for the advantage of Stockholm and Archangel,
so the labours of others in the north are equally
profitable to the Hollanders, by promoting the con-
sumption of their salt, spices, and grocery, which
are annually exported in large quantities, either for
the purpose of seasoning and preserving the provi-
sions of their northern neighbours, or to cure the
fish, which they use instead of bread.

Cease then, my friend, to regard those creatures
as decidedly obnoxious, the use of which you do
not readily perceive. The Yeredo is, apparently, an
insignificant reptile, nay, more than insignificant ;
it appears, on a slight acquaintance, to be injurious:
yet the Creator has assigned it an important station
among his works. The evil which it produces, is
readily obviated by a little care and contrivance; but
the good which it is appointed to effect, is incalcu-
lably great in the mighty scale of universal nature,

Adieu.

190 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

LETTER XI.

FOSSIL SHELLS.

To x © © «&

From the natural history of testaceous animals, the
transition is easy to those Fossil Shells, which di-
versify the strata of the earth.

The lowest, and most level parts, of the great
globe which we inhabit, exhibit, when penetrated to
a considerable depth, horizontal strata, composed of
various substances, and, generally, containing innu-
merable marine productions. Such is also the case
in more elevated regions, where, occasionally, fossil
shells so far preponderate, as to constitute the entire
body of the stratum. These are generally in such a
perfect state of preservation, that even the smallest
retain their most delicate parts, and their sharpest
ridges. They are found in situations far above the

FOSSIL SHELLS. 191

level of the sea; and in places to which the sea
could not be conveyed by any existing cause. They
are not only enclosed in loose sand, but also in-
crusted by hard stones. In short, both hemispheres,
every continent, and every island of any size, exhibit
the same phenomenon.

The traces of revolutions become still more ap-
parent and decisive, when we ascend a little higher,
and approach nearer to the foot of the great chain of
mountains. These contain many beds of shells,
some of which are even larger and more solid, and
as well preserved, though not of the same species
with those of less elevated regions. And, whereas,
in the plains, low hills, and valleys, it is necessary
to dig deep, in order to detect the succession of the
strata; here we perceive them by means of the rents,
and excavations, which time, or violence, has oc-
casioned, and which disclose their edges to the view
of the observer. At the bottom of these declivities,
huge masses of their wrecks are frequently collected,
and form round hills, the height of which is conti-
nually augmented by the operation of every thaw,
and every storm.

In Chili, some of the loftiest mountains are formed
entirely of shells; and on the Descaheyado, whose
towering summits aspire nearly to the height of the
magnificent Chimborazo, Oysters and Periwinkles are

192 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

discovered in a calcined and petrified state. That
magnificent range of the Andes, which passes through
the narrow Isthmus of Darien, into the kingdom of
Mexico; as well as the lofty sweep of the Apalachian
Hills, offer similar indications. The low grounds
which extend from the base of the latter, are varied
with small risings, composed entirely of shells ; in-
eredible numbers are also found, at the depth of
fifty, or eighty feet, in the vast plains of Virginia and
Carolina.

Bivalves are frequently discovered on Mount St.
Julian, in Valencia, bedded in gypsum, and sur-
rounded by detached pieces of slate; while large
masses of sea-shells start forth amid the sultry plains
of Asia.

The famous rock of Gibraltar is principally com-
posed of lime-stone, traversed by fissures, or hol-
lowed into caves, in which the osseous breccia is
contained. Cuvier notices that the shells which it
exhibits, are uniformly sea, or land species. The
high hills of Spain are frequently composed of river
and oceanic-shells, blended with other marine sub-
stances, and layers of dark earth. Even the Ammo-
nites, inhabitants of deep and tempestuous oceans,
have been discovered in Alpine regions. Large beds
of Oysters diversify the calcareous strata of Bergieres,
in France. An assemblage of marine petrifactions

FOSSIL SHELLS. 193

has recently been found in the depth of a marble
quarry, near Aix, fifteen miles from the Mediter-
ranean, and six hundred and fifty-eight feet above
its level; principally consisting of non-descript Pa-
telle, and Telling. A vast mass of diluvian marine
shells is deposited near the summit of Haldon Hills,
to the north of the town of Teignmouth, at an eleva-
tion of eight hundred feet above the level of the sea.
On the same level is another distinct accumulation of
shells, mostly composed of various species of Car-
dium, Mactra, and Arca, mineralized into a mass of
blood-red calcedony or cornelian.

In the exotic regions of South America, and on
the frozen mountains of the North, are several organic
remains, indicating the former dominion of the ocean.
Asia and Africa also, bear ample testimony to the
validity of this wonderful event. Sea-shells are found
in Peru, at an elevation of ten thousand feet above
the waters of the ocean. On the lofty mountains of
Arsaga, the bivalve-shells of the Caspian are spread
abroad in all directions ; and rings for cables are still
observed on the rocks near Sesatopole, in Tartary.
Thus, while fossil-shells have been discovered in the
quarries of Flanders, and among the Alps, on the
Pyrenees, Caucasus, Athos, Lebanon, Ararat, the
Riphaean ridge, and the steep mountains of Ice-
land; the Andes, and the Cordilleras, present strata,

0

194 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

either of shells, sea-weeds, or the skeletons of fishes,
amphibea, and other animals, not only at their feet,
but in their girdles, and near their very summits.

Sea-shells of various descriptions are discovered in
the large fragments of loose stones, which lie scat-
tered round the base, and extend far up the rocky
side of Glyder-var, or the Eminence of Tempests, a
terrific mountain on the banks of Lyn Peris, near
Capel Carig, in North Wales.

Snowdon, the monarch of the British Alps, whose
lofty summit rises three thousand five hundred and
seventy-one feet above the level of the Irish Sea,
also exhibits similar indications. Marine shells, or
medals, commemorating the Deluge, as Cuvier ele-
gantly denominates them, are found bedded in the
slate of which the mountain is composed.

The long ranges of sand-hills which skirt both
slopes of the Appenines, through almost the entire
length of Italy, contain every where perfectly well
preserved shells; these are often found retaining their
colour, and even their natural pearl-like polish, and
several resemble those still found in our own seas.
Leaves of trees, and the trunks of bituminous wood,
mixed with the bones of fish and other marine ani-
mals, are also brought from the same range of moun-
tains ; while on the sides of Mount Sarchio, between
Rome and Naples, shells are discovered, mixed with

FOSSIL SHELLS. 195

blue marl. Similar remains are visible on Lebanon;
and at the foot of the Ligurian Mountains, a con-
siderable tract contains shells of various descriptions,
both bivalve and multivalve, with a profusion of
madrepores bedded in pieces of quartz. Among the
lofty range of mountains which divide the land, and
Orange river, north-west of the Cape, in Africa,
numerous petrifactions of shells are discovered; many
of them in situations at least one hundred and fifty
feet above the level of the ocean.

Enormous beds of shells were also found in Tou-
raine, situated thirty-six leagues distant from the sea.
Oceanic shells have been recently brought from the
fissure of a lead mine at Pontpian, near Rennes:
they were found with the remains of a beech tree ;
the centre of which had been converted into coal,
the bark into pyrites, and the sap-wood into jet. The
lake Garda furnishes similar organic remains. The
borders of Mount Baldo exhibit large pieces of grey
marble, beautifully diversified with sea-shells ; innu-
merable cockles are found imbedded in the stones
which form the walls of Megara; oysters incrust
the fossil remains of enormous marine animals found
near Valdarno Superiore, and Placentia; while the
ruins of Agrigentum rise upon the partial ruins of
the ancient world, an eminence formed of a concre-
tion of sea-shells, hard as marble. The well waters

0 2

196 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

of Modena, spring from beds composed of gravel and
marine shells ; the latter, though more than sixty feet
in depth, occupy a line of country one hundred and
thirty feet, above the level of the Mediterranean.

Descending from these elevated regions, we trace
the same diluvial deposits in the plains, and valleys,
of our own, and other countries.

France offers a rich mine to the geologist. Its
metropolis is situated in the midst of an extensive
plain, which for horizontal or secondary stratification,
is one of the most remarkable with which we are
acquainted. Great masses of rock, containing
thousands of marine exuviz, alternate regularly
with others, in which the shells of fresh-water fish
are similarly imbedded. The bones of land animals,
of which not only the species, but even the genera,
are entirely unknown, occupy extensive districts ;
while other bones, belonging to large animals, to
which we find nothing analogous excepting in remote
and exotic regions, are scattered near the surface :
characters of a mighty torrent are also discoverable
from the south-east, impressed on the forms of the
hills, and in the directions of the principal ridges.

The fossil remains which diversify the south of
England, very nearly resemble those of the lower
marine formation in the basin of Paris; a similarity
of no small importance, as it leads to the probable

FOSSIL SHELLS. 197

inference, that the lower marine formation of our
own country belongs to the same deposit; an infer-
ence which derives additional strength from the
well known similarity in the minerals of each.

Beds of oysters-shells are found at Reading,
nearly two feet thick ; at Donnington, in Berkshire,
and about Winchester, where they are occasionally
interspersed with sharks’ teeth. In the neighbour-
hood of Broughton, in Lincolnshire, fresh-water
shells, consisting of Pectinide FEcinites, and with
pieces of coral, are often discovered, in quarries of
blue stone. Kent has also its beds of shells; and
twenty-eight different fossil species diversify the
sands at Harwich.

The digging of a moorish pasture in Northampton-
shire, produced abundance of snail, and river shells,
of various kinds. This place had no doubt been
formerly overflowed with water, and its deposits had
accumulated in the course of years to a bed of con-
siderable thickness. Reculver, in Kent, is cele-
brated for its alluvial deposition of white Conchites :
these are at least twelve feet in thickness; they are
imbedded in green sand, and occasionally varied with
a few scattered pieces of wood. T'rochite, or St. Cuth-
bert’s beads, as they are termed by the country-
people, occur in the fissures of the rocks at Brough-
ton and Stock, small villages of Craven. They are

198 CONCHOLOGIST S COMPANION.

also found in Holy Island, the theme of legend and
of song; are eagerly sought for by the sailors, who
endow them with supernatural qualities.

Many important conclusions result from a serious
consideration of these extraordinary depositions of
Testace. Cuvier has already proved, from the obser-
vation of them in common with other organic remains,
that the crust of our globe has been subjected to a
great and sudden revolution, which buried all the
countries before inhabited by men and animals.
Who can look upon the surface of the globe, and
refuse his assent to this? The sea, evidently, has not
only covered our plains, but rolled above the highest
mountains, where it must have remained for a long
time in a state of considerable tranquillity ; how else
shall we account for the formation of such solid,
thick, and widely extended deposits, containing
exuvie so perfectly preserved? especially, when it is
obvious, that previous to the formation of the horizon-
tal strata, others were deposited, which by some means
have been broken, lifted up, and overturned in a thou-
sand different ways. This extraordinary fact is accu-
rately demonstrated to every one who will take the
trouble of carefully observing the remains by which
it is illustrated, and proved.

The same enlightened geologist has also clearly
shewn, that these eruptions of the great waters have

FOSSIL SHELLS. 199

been neither slow nor gradual, especially in the
instance of the last; and that the momentous era of
the Deluge, is not only confirmed by the history of
all nations, but indelibly recorded on the surface of
the globe. He further demontrates, that the break-
ing up of the waters of the great deep, and.the open-
ing of the flood-gates of heaven, as recorded in the
book of Genesis, cannot be referred to a more remote
period than is assigned by the sacred historian; a
fact, undoubtedly, the best established, though perhaps
the least attended to, of any in geology, notwith-
standing its importance, as connecting natural and
civil history in an uninterrupted series. Hence it is
evident, that at this eventful era, when every thing
of human origin was swallowed up in the great
waters; cities and palaces, majestic pyramids, and
perhaps triumphal arches, embellished with the
trophies of ancient kings!—when there remained
on the earth no traces of the glory, or felicity of the
antediluvian race; but all was swept away! and not
only these, but the still more splendid monuments
of nature’s greatness involved in one common ruin ;
innumerable mementos of this event were impressed
on the clay, and still subsist, as memorials of that
devastation: relics of a primeval world, which pro-
claim with a loud voice the instability of earthly
affairs, and impress upon the minds of those who

200 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

seriously consider them, sentiments of piety and
feelings of devotion. In reference to which, Pro-
fessor Jamieson has elegantly observed, ‘‘ If the
antiquary dig from among the ruins of Herculaneum
a piece of ancient money, a vase, or a statue, we
rejoice with him, in finding the mode of life, the
manners and arts, of an ancient people, placed before
our eyes: if he find an old record, illustrative of
the history of his country, however limited in extent
that country may be, we are grateful to him for the
particle of knowledge which he has added to our
store ;—but if, among the ruins of the common
country of the human race,” or rather in the traces
of those mighty revolutions with which Omnipotence
was pleased to prepare our present habitation, ‘“‘ we
linger at the great sepulchre of animated beings, who
can look upon it without sentiments of piety? It is
not here the statues of Polycletus that we admire,
but the admirable monuments of the workmanship of
nature, taken from the ruins of the great Hercula-
neum overwhelmed by the occan, that we look upon
with feelings of the deepest wonder and devotion !”

LETTER XII.

GENERAL REMARKS.

To * * * *

““TnHE sea, the sea, the deep blue sea,” what trea-
sures are concealed within its waters: how many
important lessons may be conveyed by the consider-
ation of them, to the heart !

We have spoken of the industrious Pholas, that
ingenious little miner, which readily excavates his
subterraneous dormitory in the hardest substances ;
of the Lepas, or Sea-acorn, which travels far, and yet
never quits his home; of the Chiton, chased in ar-
mour,—and how wonderfully they are adapted for their
respective spheres of being. In looking at them,
we have remembered that the same Almighty Being
who directs the one, to form a secure abode,—who
provides the dwelling of the other with a door, by

202 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

the aid of which, it excludes the rough beating of a
boisterous sea,—who enables the third to fold itself
in a coat of mail resembling a perforated pebble, and
thus, to elude the vigilance of its marine foes; has
determined the bounds of our habitations. We have,
also, dwelt at large on the dissimilar abodes of the
Bivalve race, and the singularity of their construc-
tion ; and while thus engaged, our hearts have glowed
within us, to think how wonderfully the meanest
creature is provided for the situation it is designed
to fill. Nor have the exquisite, and varied, tints,
which distinguish the beautiful family of Univalve,
been disregarded; and as often have they brought
to mind the goodness of their Creator, in drawing us
by the wonders which he has made, to consider, that
his tender mercies are over all his works.

Shells and flowers, ‘especially, bring home these
feelings to my heart. They are often so small, so
beautiful, so helpless, and yet so wonderfully made,
that their safety is as well provided for, as that of
the great globe, on which we are now speeding with
its myriads of inhabitants, amid suns, and systems,
through the immensity of space.

«« There are feelings of all that is sweet and mild,
Dreams that are pure as the dreams of a child ;
Many an innocent holy thought,

By gazing on them, to my bosom brought.

THE SEA. 203

‘* T think, ye beautiful shells, of the wave,
That birth to your peerless beauty gave ;
I think of the rolling waters, that sweep
Over your brethren of the deep :

‘« And I think of the pearl, or the tinted shell,
As it lies enshrin’d in its native cell ;
And I dream of the Nereid’s fabled song,
That floats those sparry halls along :

«© T remember the venturous diver, who first
Beheld you amid the sea-weeds nurst,
And snatch’d you eagerly away,

To smile again at the smiling day :

*«« And I think of the tranquil, tranquil sea,
When the stars are burning steadily,
As if they were looking the clear wave through,
To see if their glances could rest on you.

‘* But there are better thoughts than these,
That rise when I see you, shells of the seas.
Ye are like pure spirits, that dwell through life
Unharm’d, amid its billows and strife.

‘* And there is a hand that shall bear them away
At last, to the light of a cloudless day,
And treasure them more than ocean’s gems,
And crown them with heavenly diadems.”

It now remains to notice the unassuming Sa-
bella,* or Sand-shell, the last and most insignificant

* The Sand-shell is included by Linnezus among the shell
tribe, although omitted by some modern naturalists.

204 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

family of Univalve. How wonderful is the adaptation
of this feeble creature to its little sphere of being!
Undefended with a shell, and, consequently, exposed
to innumerable dangers, the Sabella requires a pecu-
liar compensation, and we find it, accordingly, en~
wrapped in a glutinous membrane, a garment well
fitted to the creature’s shape, yet leaving it to move
at will. Thus clothed, the garment soon becomes
a dwelling, by the adhesion of particles of sand, or
broken shells, and even vegetable substances.

One of the most interesting species of this unas-
suming genus, is the Sabella alveolata, or Honey-
comb shell, which consists of numerous parallel tubes,
communicating by an aperture, and presenting the
appearance of a honey-comb, whence its name. It
is found on the English coast, as well as in various
parts of Europe, and often clothes the rocks for a
considerable extent. The 7’. corticalis, or Bark-
shell, is covered with fragments of bark; the S. In-
dica, or Indian, with particles of quartz; and the
SS. dimidiata, with various shells.

The S. vegetabilis, and S. arundinacea, or Vegeta-
ble, and Reed-sand shells, are covered with fragments
of twigs, with the bark of stems, and broken pieces
of the beautiful Tellina Cornea.

The geography of animals and plants, has often

GEOGRAPHY OF SHELLS. 205

engaged the attention of naturalists; the geography
of shells is equally deserving of attention.

Open your map, my friend, and observe the shores
of Asia. They are enriched with Pearl Oysters and
Scallop shells ; while the Maldive and Philippine
islands, Bengal, and the coast of Malabar, abound
with the most elegant species of Helix; China with
Procelains, and Japan with the thickest Bivalves.

Beautiful Heart-shells are scattered beside the
Gulf of Mexico, and along the Brazilian shores ;
and those of Cayenne exhibit the finest specimens of
Buccini. St. Domingo is enriched with almost
every species of East India shells, though far less
beautiful, either as regards their shape or colour.

The lakes of Canada are varied with pale olive,
and red Muscles: some of these are remarkably light,
and elegant, while others are equally ponderous and
ungraceful.

But no part of the world exhibits such an ex-
quisite variety of richly tinted shells as the Red Sea:
Porcelains of all kinds abound there, elegant purple
shells, and innumerable Sea-stars.

Nautili and Argonauti unfurl their sails on the
coast of Zanguebar: Muscles, too, open their gaily
painted shells to the bright sun-beams, in the same
quarter of the globe.

The gulf of Tarentum, and the coast of Naples

206 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

and Sardinia, also afford an exquisite variety
of Nautili, Porcelains, and Oysters, of all hues:
the island of Sardinia is celebrated for a fine
species of white Oyster; and Corsica, Majorca, and
Minorca, for the Pinna Marina, the silk-worm of the
ocean.

Magnificent Gondolas abound on the coasts of
Syracuse; and around Ancona, the Pholades espe-
cially delights to burrow.

Spain and Portugal yield a variety of shells,
similar to those of India, but of fainter colours, and
inferior in beauty. The Baltic affords some fine
specimens, especially an orange-coloured Pecten, un-
known in any other part of the world.

We might speak more at length respecting the
marine deposits on the coasts of Cayenne, with those
of Madeira and Magellan; that the most beautiful
specimen of the Trampet-shell, and the Midas-ear,
has been discovered on the former; that the Auris
Marina, is abundant in the second, and that the rare
Pyramidal Muscle is common to the third: but the
instances we have already cited, will suffice to shew,
that shells, as well as animals and plants, have their
localities ; and that some specimens of great beauty,
appear as if restricted to certain portions of the
globe.

Such, then, are a few of the localities of the shell

THE SEA-SIDE. 207

tribe ; of those deposits of the ocean which make the
heart beat with delight in discovering, and possessing
them. How vividly that bright moment recurs to
my remembrance, when the deep, proud sea, first
rose upon my sight,—when I first heard the loud cry
of the returning sea-gull; and saw the dancing
breakers bound upwards, as if in proud defiance of
the rocks that repelled them. And how pleasingly,
too, arises the thought of those glad hours when the
sportive billows threw up their beautiful borders of
sea-weeds and shells, of long trailing fuci, and light
grey corallines: when ocean seemed to say—stranger,
you have, perhaps, travelled far, and seen much of
groves and gardens, of inland valleys and green hills;

o, and on whose

but the earth from which you spring,

bosom you must lie down to rest, brings not to the
heart or the fancy, that vivid delight which my ever
varying productions yield. There is somewhat of
sadness often blended with all of earth’s productions:
they fade and change; they tell of by-gone. days,
and of friends who may not greet again her beautiful
interchange of fruits and flowers; but mine are
always new: no sad thoughts are blended with
them ; for the walks of mortals are not upon my
fields. — All that my billows throw forth to the
bright sun-beams, are fresh and beautiful, and it

208 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

is not till they have been received on earth’s dull

bosom, that they partake of her nature, and begin to
fade !

«« The sea! the sea! its lonely shore,

The billows crested white ;

The clouds that flit its bosom o’er,
Or sun-beams dancing bright :

The breakers bursting on the strand,
In thunders on the ear ;

The frowning cliff, the silvery sand,
Each, all to me are dear.

«« The sea! the sea! Oh tell me not

Of art’s triumphant power !

The proudest trophies are forgot
In one lone sea-side hour.

Yon giant bark, that breasts the tide,
Though beautiful and brave,

Beats not the curlew in its pride,
Which mounts the stormiest wave.

«‘ The sea! the sea! the moonlit sea!

How calm its slumbering tides !

A weather-shore upon its lee,
The bark in safety glides :

The steersman keeps his watch alone,
What time his messmates sleep,

While to the strand, in gentlest tone,
The murmuring billows creep.

THE SEA-SIDE.

** The sea! the sea! the stormy sea !

How dreadful in its wrath,

When bounding o’er the billows free,
The bark pursues her path.

A hidden rock arrests her keel,
She founders in the surge ;

Her seamen’s knell, the thunder peal,
The howling winds their dirge.

‘« The sea! the sea! the treasured sea!

What mines of wealth untold,

(Could human art but set them free)
Thy hidden coffers hold !

The spoils of navies in their might,—
The young, the fair, the brave ;

With shells, and gems of lustre bright,
All sleep beneath thy wave.

‘¢ The sea! the sea! the glorious sea !
What has the earth so fair,

Of hill or valley, grove or lea,
Which with it may compare ?
Oh! I could sit for hours, to look

Upon its wide expanse ;
And read in its unwritten book,
Fresh charms at every glance.

“« The sea! the sea! the solemn sea!
It has a voice for all :
And e’en to heart of happiest glee
May sober thoughts recall.

P

209

210 CONCHOLOGIST’S COMPANION.

To me it speaks of distant days,
Of vanished hopes and fears :—
Who silently can on it gaze,
With eyes undimmed by tears?

<* The sea! the sea! the changeless sea!

Of tears I take my leave ;

It half recalls a.smile from me,
To think for what I grieve :

The hopes and fears I sorrowed o’er,
Were hopes and fears of time;

Thou art the type of something more,
Unchanging and sublime.”

LONDON:
PRINTED BY MANNING AND SMITHSON,
LONDON-HOUSE YARD.

WORKS

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

WONDERS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM.

‘« This is a very elegant and interesting introduction to botanical
science, better adapted than any work we have seen, to render
the science subservient to moral improvement, by enlarging thee
mind, and imbuing it with a general love of nature. The author
has evidently spared neither time nor labour to render this
sketch as complete as possible. ‘The work is written in a pleas-
ing style, and displays much good sense, correct taste, and pious
feeling.” Eclectic Review.

‘* The interesting facts relative to the vegetable economy, are
brought together in an easy and familiar style, and the sentiments
and reflections savour of honorable intention, and rational piety.”

: Monthly Review.

‘* This book contains much amusing and valuable information
conveyed in an interesting manner, and we may safely recom-.
mend it to our fair readers, as calculated to afford them consi-
derable gratification. It displays in pleasing colours, the rich
materials for study and reflection, which all-bounteous nature so
lavishly furnishes, and forms a useful compendium to botanical
knowledge.” Literary Museum.

‘We are happy again to meet this enlightened author; and as
we have recommended a preceding work to young persons of our
own sex, we cordially recommend this to young ladies. Though
the work is not expressly religious, the style has a tincture of
piety. The writer evidently endeavours to lead the reader to
view the works of nature, and Providence, with the eye of a
Christian. The work is equally instructive and entertaining.”

Evangelical Magazine.

,

SELECT FEMALE BIOGRAPHY.

“‘Tt is rather to be wondered at, that we possess no complete
Biography of celebrated women. In what we already have,
how little is there superior to the obituaries of our evangelical
miscellanies. In such memoirs, the spirit of biography is lost,
all that makes life interesting is shut out, and the composition
becomes a mere narrative of the dying hour. It is the life, and
not the death, that we wish to see related ; and from which
amusement is to be derived, and instruction to be gleaned.
With these qualities, this interesting volume has our sincere
recomntendation.”’ Gentleman’s Magazine.

‘This volume is expressed in modern language, interspersed
‘with fragments of beautiful poetry, and the correspondence of
the deceased: forming altogether, a most interesting work, and
as Such we cheerfully recommend it.” Evangelical Magazine.

.

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