Testacea Britannica; or, British shells / [George Montagu].

  • George Montagu
Date:
1803-1808
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Testacea Britannica; or, British shells / [George Montagu]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    them to be preferved without trouble, no branch of natural hiflory has been more fought after. If it were polTible to add to the defcription of each Ihell, that of the hiftory of the animal inhabitant, it Vvould, mofl undoubtedly, have been of great importance With refpeft to their arrangement; fuch indeed has been partially attempted, but if we confider the difficulty of obtaining the greater proportion of ffiells in a recent, or living ftate, we ffiall at once perceive the impoffibi- bility of claffing them by the animal. Great as the difficulty may be, to define the nu- merous fpecies according to the Linnaean, or any other method, by the order, fituation, and number of teeth, and formation of the hinges, in bivalves ; and the ftruc- ture of the mouth,' or aperture, in univalves; yet we believe it is lefs perplexing, than it would be by the animal itfelf, from the impoffiibiiity pf invefligating by diffetlion, the anatomical parts of the more minute fpecies ; fo that upon the whole, it muff be confeffied, though arbitrary, the only, method of throwing ffiells into divifions or genera is, by their form and ftru6lure. Various have been the attempts of different authors with regard to fyftematic arrangement, but we do not think /
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