Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Zoology of the Voyage of H. M. S. Sulphur: Under the Command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher, During the Years 1836-42; Published Under the Authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
The voyage of H. M. S. Sulphur proved eminently prolific in shells, and a very considerable acquisition has been made to science. The very careful search which was unceasingly made on all the shores visited throughout the voyage, and the constant use of the dredge and trawl, whenever circumstances permitted, have contributed to this; but, above all, the close examination of the proceeds of the dredge, by siftings and diligent washings, brought into notice a great number of small but very interesting species, the great majority of which was previously unknown. This method of search has been hitherto practised to such a very limited extent, and comparatively in such few places, that it is beyond conjecture the number of Species to be brought to light is very great, and will most probably much exceed those already known. N or will the labours of the conchologist be rewarded only by small species, for many of no mean size were thus obtained by us, as an inspection of the plates will show. Indeed it is truly surprising how fecund is the bed of the ocean, in not only Mollusca but organized beings generally; and it has often been my fortune to have been suddenly inundated by the dredge and trawl with a far greater number of beings than the climate, and conveniences of a vessel, permitted me to preserve, and which also gave me several days of unremitting occupation. Confining our attention to the though less worthy, we avoid some circumlocution by Speaking of them instead of the on one occasion Spent a forenoon in the Bay of Guayaquil in using the dredge, and the result gave upwards of fifty Species and at other times I have repeatedly enumerated between twenty and thirty species from a single cast. The scythe of the dredge collects from a very limited Space over a given area, yet still I doubt much if I ever procured so many species of plants, after having traversed during a whole day the rich woods of the neighbouring forest.
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