Page:Sea and River-side Rambles in Victoria.djvu/30

11 CHAPTER III.

for our knowledge of Conchology, collectors content themselves too frequently with gathering the dead and empty shells washed up by the 'tide, as if they, fractured, waterworn, and colourless, could give any idea of the glorious creatures which had inhabited them;—as well might they judge of a man's habits and character by walking through his house;—and it is the mere formation of cabinets for the beauty of the shells which has led to this being considered a frivolous study, and so, without knowing the habits of the animal, and its conformation, affecting the form of the shell so very materially, it is. Still collectors often hunt up objects which had escaped the eye of those more educated in scientific pursuits, so instead of criticising the past, we will rather give a brief digest of the peculiarities which characterise this division of the Natural Kingdom, as well as some few hints for the guidance of the Amateur Naturalist in his researches for the future.

Shell-fish then, be it known, belong to that division of the Natural World called "Mollusca" from the Latin word mollis (soft), their bodies consisting universally of a soft consistence and generally