dae 118 62
xiphiidae 0 1
cepolidae 0 5
Heterosomata.
platessoideae 5 22
siluridae 31 24
cyprinidae 19 52
scopelinidae 2 7
salmonidae 0 1
clupeidae 43 22
gadidae 0 2
macruridae 1 0
Apodes.
anguillidae 8 12
muraenidae 8 6
sphagebranchidae 8 10

CHAP. V.

CONCHOLOGY, ETC.

I. THE SHELLS OF CEYLON.

Allusion has been made elsewhere to the profusion and variety of shells
which abound in the seas and inland waters of Ceylon[1], and to the
habits of the Moormen, who monopolise the trade of collecting and
arranging them in satin-wood cabinets for transmission to Europe. But,
although naturalists have long been familiar with the marine testacea of
this island, no successful attempt has yet been made to form a
classified catalogue of the species; and I am indebted to the eminent
conchologist, Mr. Sylvanus Hanley, for the list which accompanies this
notice of those found in the island.

[Footnote 1: See Vol. II. P. ix. ch. v.]

In drawing it up, Mr. Hanley observes that he found it a task of more
difficulty than would at first be surmised, owing to the almost total
absence of reliable data from which to construct it. Three sources were
available: collections formed by resident naturalists, the contents of
the well-known satin-wood boxes prepared at Trincomalie, and the
laborious elimination of locality from the habitats ascribed to all the
known species in the multitude of works on conchology in general.

But, unfortunately, the first resource proved fallacious. There is no
large collection in this country composed exclusively of Ceylon shells.
And the very few cabinets rich in the marine treasures of the island
having been filled as much by purchase as by personal exertion, there is
an absence of the requisite confidence that all professing to be
Singhalese have been actually captured in the island and its waters.

The cabinets arranged by the native dealers, though professing to
contain the productions of Ceylon, include shells which have been
obtained from other islands in the Indian seas; and books, probably fr