132 THE NAUTILUS. 



ISAAC LEA DEPARTMENT. 



acted in the int< 

 Agassiz 



[Conducted iu the interest of the Isaac Lea Conchological Chapter of the 

 gassiz Association by its General Secretary, Dr. W. 8. Strode.] 



CARING FOR 8HELLS. 



[Extract from the reportof Prof. Josiah Keep. From tlie Transactions of the 

 Isaac Lea Conchological Chapter for 1898.] 



During the past year the time that I have been able to give to 

 conchology has chiefly been spent upon my cabinet of shells. There 

 is one enemy that is ever present, namely, dust; and my work has 

 largely been in the line of erecting fortifications to repel its intrusion. 

 Shells will get dusty in the best kept houses, and labels are liable to 

 be lost or grow dim. So now it is my practice to put all my small 

 shells into some dust-tight recepiacle and to put the labels with them 

 or else secure them firmly upon the outside of the box. The cost of 

 suitable boxes and vials has been an obstacle in the past ; but that 

 has been now largely overcome, and I can do no greater service 

 to "Isaac Lea" comrades, than to suggest one means at least of 

 securing the desired end. 



In past years I have used homoeopathic vials for the smallest 

 shells, and one or two-ounce, wide mouthed bottles for the larger 

 oms ; but neither of these were very satisfactory. The homceo. vial 

 has too small a mouth, and the bottles were coarse and clumsy. 

 Last Summer I purchased a quantity ot " seal shell vials," which are 

 merely short pieces of glass tubing, sealed at one end and ready to 

 receive a cork at the other. These vials I obtained from Whitall, 

 Tatum & Co., 410 Race street, Philadelphia. I bought three gross, 

 of different sizes, the smallest beiny 1 about y 2 inch in diameter and 

 \y^ inches in length ; the largest is 34 inch diameter and 2^ inches 

 long. The cosi, with corks, was only about one cent on an average. 

 For my very small shells I use short l^ dr. homceo. vials. 



The shells are safely coiked in these vials, with the Ubel inside, 

 where they may defy the old enemy, dust ; and a little wiping of 

 the tubes will make them appear as good as new at any future time. 

 But these vials will not answer for flat shells, like limpets or small 

 pectens. So, for these, I bought, of the same firm, a quantity of 

 turned wooden boxes, y 2 ounce, ounce and 2 ounces, phoenix pat-^ 

 ern. They cost even less than the vials, and are very convenient for 



many purposes. 



After filling a box, I paste a label on the top of the cover. I use 

 Dennison's laoels. Nos. 204, 208 and i\z. They are very inex- 

 pensive and convenient. 

 MILLS COLLEGE, CAL.. Jan. \. 1899. 



