>  Now, imagine how those who read Darwin or Lyell must have reacted after a
>  lifetime of assuming that the earth was 6000 years old. Some wrested
>  themselves away from an older way of thinking, others did not. To some, like
>  Huxley, Darwin's book came as a revelation.

Actually, quite a few people before them, including some malacological names such as Cuvier, Lamarck, and William Smith, thought the earth was quite old.  Although there were a few reactionaries, in general old-earth views met with little difficulty in the 1600's to 1800's.
The distinct faunas of fossil mollusks in different layers were important to Lyell and his predecessors in recognizing evidence for a long sequence of events in earth history.  Mollusks were also important in correlating layers from different places and establishing that they were the same age.
Fossil mollusks, being often abundant, have received a lot of attention over the years.  Leonardo da Vinci collected fossil mollusks at a quarry near Vinci, but got distracted from a promising career in conchology by other things.

    Dr. David Campbell
    Old Seashells
    University of Alabama
    Biodiversity & Systematics
    Dept. Biological Sciences
    Box 870345
    Tuscaloosa, AL  35487-0345 USA
    [log in to unmask]

That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa

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