Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Andrey Baykov
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/polycentric-world-order-in-the-making-andrey-baykov/
Polycentric World
Order in the
Making
Edited by
Andrey Baykov · Tatiana Shakleina
Polycentric World Order in the Making
Andrey Baykov · Tatiana Shakleina
Editors
Polycentric World
Order in the Making
Editors
Andrey Baykov Tatiana Shakleina
MGIMO University MGIMO University
Moscow, Russia Moscow, Russia
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in
any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic
adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or
hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc.
in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such
names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for
general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and informa-
tion in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither
the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with
respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been
made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps
and institutional affiliations.
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore
189721, Singapore
Contents
v
vi CONTENTS
Bibliography 645
Index 657
Notes on Contributors
ix
x NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
xiii
xiv LIST OF FIGURES
xv
PART I
emerging challenges, answer the new questions, and make use of all the
opportunities available to us. He wrote that “if we can learn to make
uncertainty our friend, we can achieve much more than in stable eras”.1
The current world order is becoming polycentric. If the there is one
princal megatrend shaping all the other megatrends, it is the increasing
polycentricity of the world takes as its subject matter and grapples with
the most following questions in (1) what megatrends shape emerging
world order? (2) how the changing world order shapes megatrends? (3)
in what way the regulation and self-regulation of changing world order
and megatrends are achieved?
The most important characteristic of the modern era is that individuals,
and indeed entire peoples, are becoming increasingly aware of their being
part of humanity as a whole. The juxtaposition of this trend and increasing
polycentricity of world order is the subject of the present monograph.
The monograph focuses on the actions of the world’s leading states
(great powers) and processes in regional structuring (regional subsys-
tems), as long as they matter from the point of view of the general
state of the global system. Equally important are the dynamics of changes
in the overall proportion of the potentials of leading states; the eternal
questions of international political, economic, and military competition;
inter-country and global security, including human security; the state of
the environment; resource potential and resource limitations in global
development; and the global social area (problems of poverty, gender
equality—equality of social genders—ethnic and cultural differences, and
ethnic and political psychology).
What is urgently needed in this regard is an understanding of the
instrumental principles of regulating the global system: the manage-
ment of human reflections on global existence; the philosophy and
anthropology of international relations; and the problems in the global
governance institutions and developing a set of tools for a formalized and
informal regulation of international relations.
Traditional paradigms of international relations knowledge commonly
link the question of ordering global development, of regulating it, either
with voluntary constructive cooperation between the world’s leading states
(ideally, between all states), or with the hegemony of a single super-strong
power capable of imposing its will on weaker actors or of convincing them
to accept that power’s terms for international development without using
force, but without ruling out the use of force, either. Such is the logic
of political realists. It forms the foundation of the actions of the United
1 MEGATRENDS AND GLOBAL ISSUES: CONSTANTS … 5
States following the end of the bipolar order. Since the mid-2000s, this
concept has guided the establishment of an expanded group of leading
states. It was increasingly obvious that these states were determining the
dynamics of development in individual states, regions, and the world as a
whole.
The liberal tradition links international institutions (both formal and
informal) with the idea of the positive regulation of the international
system. In this view, regulation is taken to mean exercising rational
(conscious and thought-out) and directed influence on global develop-
ment with a view to preventing crises and wars, even if the stability of the
world as a whole is achieved at the expense of security interests of a specific
state or group of states.
Other concepts propose somewhat different hypotheses of mechanisms
that underlie the emergence of a world order. Various theories of self-
organization, for instance, interpret a world order as only partially being
the result of the deliberate efforts of individual states and the competition
between them. To a large extent, this order appears to be a product of
internal fluctuations inherent in the global system. Consequently, under-
standing the nature, amplitude, and “trend” of these fluctuations is crucial
for correctly assessing order-shaping trends.
On the one hand, classical views state that the dynamics of the
global political system are produced by the original strivings of coun-
tries, peoples, groups, and individuals towards as full a realization of their
interests as possible, or the realization of what they understand to be
their interests. These strivings clash and generate conflicts. In order to
avoid wars or to restrict them, global political actors engage in talks and
diplomatic relations aimed at mutual adaptation, working out the terms
of coexistence or even the terms of an intensive rapprochement based on
identified common interests.
On the other hand, we can claim that such interactions are typical
primarily for the pre-global level of the international system’s evolution.
Today, we can confidently state that there are contradictions between the
interests of global stability and development on the one hand and the inter-
ests of states (and their alliances) and non-state actors on the other. There
is the need to constantly update our understanding of the contents of
those interests and to reconcile them, if possible. In the meantime, the
resources for this crucial function of aligning interests and accommo-
dating new types of actors are objectively in the hands of the strongest
6 A. BAYKOV ET AL.
in Europe and Asia, including the Eurasian Economic Union, are also
purposefully moving towards becoming bodies that will aggregate and
articulate the will of their constituent states and peoples, towards the
ordered governance of the global military, political, trade, and economic
spheres. And they all are alliances of states and are the products of their
sovereign prerogatives.
No single state has a monopoly on resolving global issues. In addition
to states, various non-state actors, such as transnational corporations
(TNCs), international political, environmental, and other movements and
groups, various networked communities (including criminal networks),
and similar entities, also have significant influence. It is apparent, however,
that, compared to states, this type of actor is far less restricted in its activities
by rules and official international communication mechanisms operating
at the global, regional, and state levels. Non-state actors rather perform
the important role of “communication agents”, intermediaries of sorts
between levels of interaction typical for states.
In order for the planet to have order, there first and foremost needs to
be:
Let us also specify that the issue of a global hierarchy has traditionally
been linked with the concept of polarity in the global system, although
today it is with increasing frequency discussed in terms of centricity,
which does not entail a rigid ideological confrontation and mandatory
and comprehensive commensurability of potentials of the powers that
constitute its centres.
8 A. BAYKOV ET AL.
Notes
1. John Naisbitt’s book Megatrends was published in 1982 and immediately
became a national bestseller, prompting extensive discussions in academic
and political circles both in the United States and beyond. Analysing the
situation in America and predicting its future—specifically, the transition
from an industrial economy to an informational and service economy, Nais-
bitt laid the foundations for a new understanding of what was happening
both in the United States and in the world at large, and of what other states
should expect. His book was called “A Roadmap into the 21st Century”.
See: John Naisbitt, Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives
(New York: Warner Books Edition, 1984), xxii, 283.
1 MEGATRENDS AND GLOBAL ISSUES: CONSTANTS … 11
2. For more details, see: A.D. Bogaturov, ed., Today’s World Politics: Applied
Analysis (Moscow, 2009), Chapter 2.
3. M.A. Khrustalev, Analysis of International Situations and Political Expertise:
Essays on Theory and Methodology (Moscow: Academic Educational Forum
On International Relations, 2008), Chapter 2.
CHAPTER 2
Tatiana Shakleina
The shaping of the new world order following the end of the bipolar order
can be seen as the principal megatrend of the twenty-first century. It can
be defined as a mega-process at the highest level since the contents of
global development will hinge on who determines the foundations of the
new world order, its base institutions, the structuring of relations within
the new world order, and who plays the decisive role in that order thereby
influencing the politics of other actors.
By 2022, individual outcomes of the actions undertaken by some
leading global powers with the aim of laying down the foundations of
the new order had clearly manifested themselves. We should take a crit-
ical look at the order-shaping process that has been unfolding for the last
three decades, and at the discussions concerning the successes and fail-
ures of individual states. We should also ponder the effect this process
has had on the current state of international relations and individual
T. Shakleina (B)
MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia
e-mail: shakleina.t.a@inno.mgimo.ru
Important
Important
privileged position. In his opinion, the danger lay in the United States
undermining the existing stability by being insufficiently active.4
Other opinions concerning that period were proposed by the American
scholar Samuel Huntington and by the Russian scholar Alexey Bogaturov.
S. Huntington wrote that the international relations system of the time
was a hybrid of unipolarity and multipolarity; it had a superpower and
several leading powers with macro-regional or even global ambitions. In
Huntington’s view, this hybrid character of international system mani-
fested itself in the fact that the United States as the superpower, was
capable of single-handedly blocking the actions of one or several regional
powers; yet on its own, without support from other leading world powers,
the United States could not resolve key international problems.5 At that
time, his words were not duly appreciated, since the rise of new leading
(non-Western) powers had only begun to really manifest itself, but in the
2010s, when Huntington’s view proved to be absolutely right.
Alexey Bogaturov proposed an original concept of pluralistic unipo-
larity. In his opinion, the term “multipolar” did not adequately describe
the emerging world order after the collapse of the USSR, and although
one pillar of bipolarity as it existed from 1945 to 1991 had been
destroyed, this was not an indication of the outlines of the future world
structure. The only thing for sure was that it marked a radical shift in
the previous world order. A. Bogaturov pointed out that destroying the
Cold War order did not automatically mean going back to multipolarity.
He defined the structure of international relations after the collapse of
the bipolar system as a hybrid mono-polycentric structure where a super-
power does not act alone but among a circle of an aligned concert of
ideologically proximate military and political allies. The United States will
not have the ability to keep a tight hold on events in every corner of the
world, although it will have a hard-to-contest determining influence on
the dynamics of these events relying, among other things, on the system
of alliances that had emerged.6
The principal issue that in some way was discussed during these debates
was that of structure, i.e., of centers/poles exhibiting creativity, ambi-
tions, potential, and the will to build a new world order, as well as of the
number of such centers and the balance of their potentials. The Russian
scholar Eduard Batalov noted that “pole” and “power center” are not
identical categories, although they are used as synonyms in most works
produced in Russia and abroad.
18 T. SHAKLEINA
E. Batalov wrote that there must be two poles, and they can only exist
in interaction (mutually attracting and mutually repelling each other).
Therefore, when one pole, the USSR, lost its “pole” status, so did the
other superpower, the United States. Defining the world of the time as
a “nonpolarity,” Batalov wrote that poles were “powerful contrary global
sub-systems that form the extreme points of an axis on which the world
system hinges (revolves). The poles represent different civilizations and
different social, political, and economic systems. They embody different,
possibly mutually exclusive, ideational and value paradigms. Poles are
symmetrical and commensurate in their strength and operating potentials,
which allows them to balance each other out, acting both as guarantors
of the world order and as lawmakers in the political game, setting the
rules that all—or nearly all—actors on the global political stage are forced
to follow. The relations between the poles are based on mutual attraction
and mutual repellence. They need each other to maintain their internal
and external status quo and they strive to eliminate each other as rivals.
However, when one pole is eliminated, the other vanishes automatically
as well, and the entire world order disappears along with them, which
is precisely what happened in the late 1980s–early 1990s.”7 Later, the
idea of a “nonpolar” world was reiterated by the American political scien-
tist Richard Haass, who suggested that US leadership should recognize
the fact that there are many centers of power and should try to put the
existing situation to the advantage of the superpower. He defined this
situation as a “concerted nonpolarity,”8 which is aligned with the idea
of a functioning core that should include all the principal global powers.
This idea of the functional core was previously proposed by the American
expert Thomas Barnett.9
Important
not borne out, however. It was thus crucial to decide on the compo-
sition of the new group of leading powers and see whether it was
possible to work out the rules for their interaction in the process of
shaping new institutions and modifying old ones, resolving global
problems, and determining the nature of international relations (the
problem of accommodating the “ascendant” powers).
To properly assess the situation on the eve of the 2000s and analyze the
development prospects of the megatrend for building a new world order,
we need clear conceptual landmarks, namely, a definition of what an
“order” is. American scholars of the time were not particularly concerned
with this problem since they mostly shared the dominant ideas that (1)
unipolarity was solid; (2) the status of the United States as a superpower
was undeniable and long-lasting; (3) the concept of building a liberal
world order with western-centric values had no viable alternatives.
For Russian scholars, however, this issue became the primary focus of
their attention. For them, the “return” of the great powers to the global
political stage was a fait accompli, and the polycentric nature of the system
of international relations was evidently growing stronger, which required
theoretical conceptualization. Russian political scientists proposed three
definitions of a world order.
In the early 1990s, Alexey Bogaturov proposed a Russian take on the
world order problem and formulated a definition of “world order” based
primarily on the structural realist approach, with certain constructivist
elements. This definition, in our opinion, remains the only complete one
that allows for a comprehensive analysis of the modern processes that are
creating a new world order:
crucial issues in shaping the foundations of the world order were deter-
mined precisely by a solution to the global leadership problem (does
the world need a single global leader? How many leading powers are
there in the twenty-first century? What are the relationships between
them?) and by changes in the international environment. A. Bogaturov
wrote that “the difference between a leader and an outsider is deter-
mined by the proportion of ‘backdrop’ and ‘creative’ elements in each
other’s foreign policy. To the degree that the latter dominates, a state can
be provisionally called a leader. Following the same logic, many disparate
outsiders form a milieu that should preferably be called space, ‘backdrop,’
or ‘environment.’”11 In the twenty-first century, major changes occurred
both at the leadership level of international relations and in the interna-
tional environment, where individual “backdrop” actors (countries) have
begun to demonstrate their desire for regional leadership or assume the
role of secondary (auxiliary) leaders siding with the global hegemon and
assisting it in conducting its policies, including policies for building a
new world order.12 The overall state of the international relations has
become more complex, which is hardly conducive to ordering the rela-
tions between leading powers on the basis of new agreements. Instead,
it bolstered competition potential at all levels of interaction within the
global community.
Russian political scientist Yuri Davydov offered the following definition
of a world order: “A world order is a state of the international relations
system that is appropriately programmed for its security, stability, and
development and regulated on the basis of criteria primarily responsible
for the needs of the most influential actors of a given global commu-
nity.” A world order is the foundation of the structure and functioning of
international relations at a specific stage of humanity’s development, foun-
dations that are shared universally (whether voluntarily or under duress)
or by the most influential part of the global community.
He also noted that established rules could have the status of interna-
tional law, moral norm, common or established practice, or they could
be merely operational rules or “rules of the game” worked out and
adopted without a formal agreement, and in some cases even without an
oral consent. Despite the mutual dependence of great powers increasing
because of globalization, and despite their growing international respon-
sibility, each has its own view of the outside world and its place in it. And
each, no matter how closely tied to others by common cares and concerns,
strives, to the best of its abilities, to have such a world regulation system,
2 THE GLOBAL ORDER IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY … 21
Important
Important
Even though the United States did not abandon the liberal mono-
centric model in the emergent order either ideologically or strategically,
real processes were with increasing clarity adjusting the processes that
were taking place. Even if illusions concerning the United States’ ability
to continue to build a liberal world order unobstructed remained, they
had finally dissipated by 2007–2008. At that time, Russia made a harsh
statement to the effect that the monocentric model of the United States
that ignored the interests of other countries was unacceptable. It also
condemned the intervention of the United States and NATO in the
affairs of sovereign states, violating their territorial integrity (Kosovo).
The global financial and economic crisis of 2008 demonstrated the ability
of “ascendant” powers to survive it, while China did not stop its powerful
economic growth, putting a question mark over the status of the United
States as a superpower. The 2008 crisis in the Caucasus (Georgia-South
Ossetia conflict) also showed that other states, not only the United States,
could and would defend their interests and protect their citizens using
all means available. America’s military campaign in Iraq showed what
American-style democratization was and the results it could produce.
These events had a major influence on the real assessment of the events of
the time, especially when it was a matter of old and new norms of conduct
for international relations actors.
2 THE GLOBAL ORDER IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY … 25
Important
Important
By the end of the 2000s, the United States had not succeeded in imple-
menting its plans for building and entrenching a liberal order. However,
other countries, primarily Russia and China, had not obtained the share
of influence in world regulation they needed to balance out that of
the United States. In the meantime, a final recognition of the fact that
only nation-states are the leading actors in the emerging world order
became an important fact of the order-shaping process. The policies of
Russia, China, India, Brazil, Turkey, and other states were developing
within the realist paradigm. The predictions that smaller countries and
non-state actors would acquire greater influence did not come true;
the information revolution not only failed to help small states, but on
the contrary, it bolstered the power of the large ones. Joseph Nye Jr.
admitted that even though the information revolution was producing a
diffusion of power and influence, the largest states—the world’s leading
powers—retain traditionally large parameters and organizational resources
compared to smaller states and non-state actors.25
2 THE GLOBAL ORDER IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY … 27
Important
actions of the United States and proponents of the liberal world order
running more and more contrary to the real processes and the interests of
leading country actors, which, without denying the role and importance
of different institutions, still wanted to reform the existing organiza-
tions in their own way, offered their own interpretations of the so-called
universal values, and did not wish to see the United States as the only
controlling and hegemonic force.
There was an emerging recognition of hegemony being unacceptable
as a method for handling world affairs, which Russia and China repeatedly
stated. Hegemony also prompted doubts among those American polit-
ical scientists who not only wanted to have US strategy aligned with
the real state of affairs, but also wanted to take international relations
to a structurally formalized level that was favorable both for the global
community as a whole and for the United States, where grave domestic
political problems were mounting.
The principal concepts used to paint the prospect of a new world
order emerging focused on proposals for achieving a particular form of
consensus between the leading centers of power, the world’s leading
powers—primarily the United States, China, Russia, and the European
Union. Here, American experts were particularly active since they also
tried to build a great power consensus in the American mold, and to
delineate the number and roles of the leading actors/centers that would
be allowed to determine the course of the order-shaping process. The
most frequently proposed variant featured a three-polar world (United
States–European Union–China), which could lead one to suppose a desire
to conceptually “program for” this variant by outlining the capabilities
and limitations of the order-shaping power aspirations of the European
Union and China by conceptually enshrining the special position of the
United States.
All variants of American-style polycentricity focus on the superpower
status of the United States and its position as a global leader that needs
to be combined/coordinated with other powers without impinging on
US interests and ambitions, while also outlining the area of its activities
within an Amerocentric structure.29
The tripolar US–EU–China order option featured the following distri-
bution of the three global functions.
30 T. SHAKLEINA
This thought does not fit into the framework of American policies, yet
one could suppose that, in the foreseeable future, the common interests
of the United States and China in terms of preserving and maintaining the
foundations of the market economy laid down by the United States and
somewhat amended by China will prevail over the contradictions between
2 THE GLOBAL ORDER IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY … 31
the two countries. US and Chinese egoism and egocentrism will ensure
that these two “dreams” will coexist. Russia, India, and Brazil should
scrutinize this option very closely, as should the countries of Europe and
the Asia Pacific.
Important
Important
The fact that there was no desire within the political and academic
community in the United States to re-evaluate the actions taken to build
a peaceful world order, and those taken toward the leading powers, forced
many countries—primarily China, Russia, Turkey, France, and several
mid-level states—to become more active in handling the world order
problem and in planning their actions in a way that would put them in
better stead in the world. Additionally, the domestic crisis in the United
States that gradually developed in the 2000s–2010s did not allow the
country to continue its policy of shaping the liberal world order at the
scale it wanted.32 The years 2016–2020 could be described as a slow-
down, a “pause” in the active order-shaping activities of the United States,
which, in the opinion of Democrats who came to power in 2021, caused
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
CHAPTER IX
THE SHELL, ITS FORM, COMPOSITION AND GROWTH—DESIGNATION OF
ITS VARIOUS PARTS
Fig. 148.—Aplustrum
aplustre L. Mauritius,
showing the partly
internal shell (S); F,
foot; LL, cephalic
lappets; TT, double
set of tentacles. (After
Quoy and Gaimard.)
Fig. 149.—Sigaretus
laevigatus Lam.,
showing shell partially
immersed in the foot;
F, anterior
prolongation of the
foot. (After Souleyet.)
(3) Internal; e.g. Philine, Gastropteron, Pleurobranchus, Aplysia,
Limax, Arion, Hyalimax, Parmacella, Lamellaria, Cryptochiton, and,
among bivalves, Chlamydoconcha.
(4) Absent; e.g. all Nudibranchiata and Aplacophora, many
Cephalopoda, a few land Mollusca, e.g. all Onchidiidae, Philomycus,
and Vaginula.
The Univalve Shell.—In univalve Mollusca the normal form of the
shell is an elongated cone twisted into a spiral form round an axis,
the spiral ascending to the left. Probably the original form of the shell
was a simple cone, which covered the vital parts like a tent. As these
parts tended to increase in size, their position on the dorsal side of
the animal caused them gradually to fall over, drawing the shell with
them. The result of these two forces combined, the increasing size of
the visceral hump, and its tendency to pull the shell over with it,
probably resulted in the conversion of the conical into the spiral shell,
which gradually came to envelop the whole animal. Where the
visceral hump, instead of increasing in size, became flattened, the
conical shape of the shell may have been modified into a simple
elliptical plate (e.g. Limax), the nucleus representing the apex of the
cone. In extreme cases even this plate dwindles to a few calcareous
granules, or disappears altogether (Arion, Vaginula).
Varieties of the Spiral.—Almost every conceivable modification
of the spiral occurs, from the type represented by Gena, Haliotis,
Sigaretus, and Lamellaria, in which the spire is practically confined to
the few apical whorls, with the body-whorl inordinately large in
proportion, to a multispiral form like Terebra, with about twenty
whorls, very gradually increasing in size.
Fig. 151.—Examples of
shells with
disconnected whorls;
A, Cyathopoma cornu
Mf., Philippines; B,
Cylindrella hystrix
Wright, Cuba. (Both ×
4.)
Fig. 152.—Example of a
shell whose apical
whorls alone are
coiled, and the
remainder produced in
a regular curve.
(Cyclosurus Mariei
Morel., Mayotte.)
In some cases the regularly spiral form is kept, but the whorls are
completely disconnected; e.g. some Scalaria, Spirula; among fossil
Cephalopoda, Gyroceras, Crioceras, and Ancyloceras; and, among
recent land Mollusca, Cylindrella hystrix and Cyathopoma cornu (Fig.
151). Sometimes only the last whorl becomes disconnected from the
others, as in Rhiostoma (see Fig. 180, p. 266), Teinostoma, and in
the fossil Ophidioceras and Macroscaphites. Sometimes, again, not
more than one or two whorls at the apex are spirally coiled, and the
rest of the shell is simply produced or coiled in an exceedingly
irregular manner, e.g. Cyclosurus, Lituites, Orygoceras, Siliquaria
(Fig. 153), Vermetus. In Coecum (Fig. 170, p. 260) the spiral part is
entirely lost, and the shell becomes simply a cylinder. In a few cases
the last whorl is coiled irregularly backwards, and is brought up to
the apex, so that the animal in crawling must carry the shell with the
spire downwards, as in Anostoma (Fig. 154), Opisthostoma (Fig.
208, p. 309), Strophostoma, and Hypselostoma (Fig. 202 A, p. 302).
Fig. 153.—Siliquaria anguina Lam.,
showing scalariform coil of upper
whorls and irregular extension of
the lower.
Fig. 156.—Fulgur
perversum L., Florida. ½.
Fig. 161.—Cornucopia-
shaped monstrosity of
Helix aspersa, from
Ilfracombe. (British
Museum.)
Composition of the Shell.—The shell is mainly composed of
pure carbonate of lime, with a very slight proportion of phosphate of
lime, and an organic base allied to chitin, known as conchiolin. The
proportion of carbonate of lime is known to vary from about 99 p.c. in
Strombus to about 89 p.c. in Turritella. Nearly 1 p.c. of phosphate of
lime has been obtained from the shell of Helix nemoralis, and nearly
2 p.c. from that of Ostrea virginica. The conchiolin forms a sort of
membranous framework for the shell; it soon disappears in dead
specimens, leaving the shell much more brittle than it was when
alive. Carbonate of magnesia has also been detected, to the extent
of ·12 p.c. in Telescopium and ·48 p.c. in Neptunea antiqua. A trace
of silica has also occasionally been found.
When the shell exhibits a crystalline formation, the carbonate of
lime may take the form either of calcite or aragonite. The calcite
crystals are rhombohedral, optically uniaxal, and cleave easily, while
the aragonite cleave badly, belong to the rhombic system, and are
harder and denser, and optically biaxal. Both classes of crystal may
occur in the same shell.
Two main views have been held with regard to the formation and
structure of the shell—(1) that of Bowerbank and Carpenter, that the
shell is an organic formation, growing by interstitial deposit, in the
same manner as the teeth and bones of the higher animals; (2) that
of Réaumur, Eisig, and most modern writers, that the shell is of the
nature of an excretion, deposited like a cuticle on the outside of the
skin, being formed simply of a number of calcareous particles held
together by a kind of ‘animal glue.’ Leydig’s view is that the shell of
the Monotocardia is a secretion of the epithelium, but that in the
Pulmonata it originates within the skin itself, and afterwards
becomes free.[335]
According to Carpenter, when a fragment of any recent shell is
decalcified by being placed in dilute acid, a definite animal basis
remains, often so fine as to be no more than a membranous film, but
sometimes consisting of an aggregation of ‘cells’ with perfectly
definite forms. He accordingly divides all shell structure into cellular
and membranous, according to the characteristics of the animal
basis. Cellular structure is comparatively rare; it occurs most notably
in Pinna, where the shell is composed of a vast multitude of tolerably
regular hexagonal prisms (Fig. 162 B). Membranous structure
comprises all forms of shell which do not present a cellular tissue.
Carpenter held that the membrane itself was at one time a
constituent part of the mantle of the mollusc, the carbonate of lime
being secreted in minute ‘cells’ on its surface, and afterwards
spreading over the subjacent membrane through the bursting of the
cells.
The iridescence of nacreous shells is due to a peculiar lineation of
their surface, which can be readily detected by a lens. According to
Brewster, the iridescence is due to the alternation of layers of
granular carbonate of lime and of a very thin organic membrane, the
layers very slightly undulating. Carpenter, on the other hand, holds
that it depends upon the disposition of a single membranous layer in
folds or plaits, which lie more or less obliquely to the general surface,
so that their edges show as lines. The nacreous type of shell occurs
largely among those Mollusca which, from other details in their
organisation, are known to represent very ancient forms (e.g.
Nucula, Avicula, Trigonia, Nautilus). It is also the least permanent,
and thus in some strata we find that only casts of the nacreous shells
remain, while those of different constitution are preserved entire.
Porcellanous shells (of which the great majority of Gasteropoda
are instances) usually consist of three layers, each of which is
composed of a number of adjacent plates, like cards on edge. The
inclination of the plates in the different layers varies, but that of the
plates in the inner and outer layer is frequently the same, thus if the
plates are transverse in the middle stratum, they are longitudinal in
the inner and outer strata, and, if longitudinal in the middle, they are
transverse in the other two. Not uncommonly (Fig. 163 B) other
layers occur. In bivalves the disposition and nature of the layers is
much more varied.
Fig. 162.—A, Section of shell of Unio: a, periostracal layer; b, prismatic layer; c,
nacreous layer. B, Horizontal section of shell of Pinna, showing the hexagonal
prisms.
Fig. 165.—Neritina
longispina Récl., Mauritius.
(Operculum removed.)
The various details of sculpture on the exterior surface of the
shell, the striae, ribs, nodules, imbrications, spines, and other forms
of ornamentation are all the product of similar and corresponding
irregularities in the mantle margin, and have all been originally
situated at the edge of the lip. Spines, e.g. those of Murex and
Pteroceras, are first formed as a hollow thorn, cleft down its lower
side, and are afterwards filled in with solid matter as the mantle edge
withdraws. What purpose is served by the extreme elaboration of
these spiny processes in some cases, can hardly be considered as
satisfactorily ascertained. Possibly they are a form of sculptural
development which is, in the main, protective, and secures to its
owners immunity from the attacks of predatory fishes.
‘Attached’ genera (e.g. Chama, Spondylus) when living on smooth
surfaces have a flat shell, but when affixed to coral and other uneven
surfaces they become very irregular in shape. The sculpture of the
base on which they rest is often reproduced in these ‘attached’
shells, not only on the lower, but also on the upper valve, the
growing edge of which rests on the uneven surface of the base.
Oysters attached to the branches of the mangrove frequently display
a central convex rib, modelled on the shape of the branch, from
which the plaits of sculpture radiate, while specimens fixed to the
smooth trunk have no such rib. Crepidula, a genus which is in the
habit of attaching itself to other shells, varies in sculpture according
to that of its host. Sometimes the fact may be detected that a
specimen has lived on a ribbed shell when young, and on a smooth
one when old, or vice versâ. A new genus was actually founded by
Brown for a Capulus which had acquired ribs through adhesion to a
Pecten. A specimen of Hinnites giganteus in the British Museum
must at one period of its growth have adhered to a surface on which
was a Serpula, the impression of which is plainly reproduced on the
upper valve of the Hinnites.[339]
Fig. 166.—A specimen of Anomia
ephippium L., Weymouth,
taken upon Pecten maximus,
the sculpture of which is
reproduced on the upper
valve of the Anomia, and
even on a young Anomia
attached to the larger
specimen.
Growth of the Shell.—Nothing very definite is known with regard
to the rate of growth of the shell in marine Mollusca. Under
favourable conditions, however, certain species are known to
increase very rapidly, especially if the food supply be abundant, and
if there is no inconvenient crowding of individuals. Petit de la
Saussaye mentions[340] the case of a ship which sailed from
Marseilles for the west coast of Africa, after being fitted with an
entirely new bottom. On arriving at its destination, the vessel spent
68 days in the Gambia River, and took 86 days on its homeward
voyage. On being cleaned immediately on its return to Marseilles, an
Avicula 78 mm. and an Ostrea 95 mm. long (both being species
peculiar to W. Africa) were taken from its keel. These specimens had
therefore attained this growth in at most 154 days, for at the period
of their first attachment they are known to be exceedingly minute. P.
Fischer relates[341] that in 1862 a buoy, newly cleaned and painted,
was placed in the basin at Arcachon. In less than a year after, it was
found to be covered with thousands of very large Mytilus edulis, 100