90 THE NAUTILUS. 



CORRESPONDENCE FROM JAPAN AND CHINA. 



TOKYO, JAPAN, April 28, 1914. 



Dear Dr. Pilsbry: I have [intended writing you any time 

 during the past fortnight but these are busy times and little 

 gets done except what is absolutely necessary. I thought you 

 would be interested in an account of a call I made on Mr. Hirase 

 at his Conchological Museum 



We landed at Nagasaki, ran down to Kagoshima where we 

 inspected the still active volcano of Sakurajima, which erupted 

 so alarmingly in January We were on the Transport Logan 

 and received wireless reports that thousands were killed. Act- 

 ually the death toll is said to have been eighteen, for the dis- 

 turbance began twenty-four hours before reaching its full height 

 and the three or four thousand people living on the island es- 

 caped to the mainland. 



The scenery on the run down to Kagoshima is really fine- 

 one long gorge surpassing the Rhine in beauty, though not hav- 

 ing the historical and legendary associations of that river. 



We came back via the Inland Sea, stopping at Miyajima, one 

 of the three brag beauty-spots of Japan. I had a fine afternoon 

 on the beaches getting a lot of stuff that was new to me, and 

 some old friends. 



At Kyoto I sent a note to Mr. Hirase, asking if I might call 

 that afternoon, and received a cordial note in return. Mr. 

 Hirase is a dignified Japanese gentleman, nearly of my own 

 age I should judge, full-bearded and fine-looking. After half 

 an hour spent in tea drinking and conversation, Mr. Hirase and 

 his assistant spent a couple of hours in showing me over the col- 

 lection. They have about ten thousand species and varieties of 

 Mollusks three thousand Japanese and seven thousand foreign. 

 The collection is beautifully mounted, each specimen or species 

 with Latin names and additional notes and names in Japanese. 

 Being Japanese, the arrangement is artistic, as all things are in 

 this country, and it is a delight to go over it. There has been 

 no economizing of space at the expense of fine appearance, so 

 there is room for few foreign shells besides the Japanese. Mr. 



