“Often they were arranged according to the whim of the owner, as scientific classification was still in flux, new systems evolving all the time. Categorising a universe that shifted every time a new ship blew into port proved both necessary and a challenge... some classified shells as “knobbed” versus “wrinkled,” “the right lip broad” versus,“parallel lips,” or listed insects as “naked wings,” “sheathed wings” or “creeping.”
