Shells

THIS volume supplies the first manual of the shell-bearing animals of sea and land, addressed in a style that is lucid and interesting to the general reader. The descriptions of mollusks follow an orderly, scientific plan: the families, first of univalves, then of bivalves, are characterized by a few traits, each followed by a description of its own principal genera and species. The common names take precedence over the scientific ones, and the descriptions tell much about the behaviour of the mollusks when alive. The size, shape, colouring and texture of the shell are given, to aid the owner of a cabinet of shells in identifying his collection. The illustrations are numerous and fine. The colour work is exceptionally true to Nature.

The commercial value of shells and shell fish is emphasized. The oyster, clam, and scallop industries are prominent, the abalones, pearl oysters, and river clams that furnish gems and mother-of-pearl. Snail-farming in France is described.

The introduction invites the beginner to make the acquaintance of aquatic mollusks by keeping them alive in balanced aquaria. Making and maintaining these and the snailery for air-breathing snails, form the subject of one chapter.

The last chapter describes the soft-bodied mollusks of the devil-fish order, but one of which, the chambered nautilus, has a true shell.