THE NAUTILUS. 67 



ISAAC LEA DEPARTMENT. 



[Conducted in the interest of the Isaac Lea Conchological Chapter of the Agassiz Associa- 

 tion by its General Secretary, Mrs. M. Burton Williamson.] 



The annual reports will be due in December. Promptness in 

 sending reports will be appreciated by the General Secretary. The 

 annual dues are due in December. The election of President and 

 General Secretary is held in the same month. 



Our President, Prof. Josiah Keep, conducted a class in conchol- 

 ogy at Pacific Grove this last summer. 



COLLECTING AT BALLAST POINT. 



(Extract from the report of Mrs. L T. From the Transactions of the Isaac Lea 

 Chapter for 1896.) 



On Thursday, Dec. 31, 1896, at 8 A. M., our family started out to 

 finish up the year by collecting shells on that day. We went to 

 San Diego a ten minutes' trip by rail and then took a naptha 

 launch for somewhere, we were not sure where, until we could take 

 our bearings, and see what places were possible to us. 



Out past the ships from England and Australia we made our 

 way, and could soon see the row of little settlements, if such they 

 may be called, along the north end of the bay. Farthest to the 

 east is Roseville, then La Playa, Quarantine, Ballast Point, and 

 farthest to the west, Pt. Loma, a promontory, five hundred feet 

 high, surmounted by its lighthouse. 



As we studied our geography lesson, it was decided that our boat 

 should drop us at Quarantine and call for us at 3.30 P.M., at Bal- 

 last Point, a distance one and one-half miles if you ride, and two 

 miles or more if you walk. 



About 10.30 we set our foot on the beach at Quarantine, and, a 

 few minutes later, having eaten our lunch to get it out of the way, 

 we began to work. At high tide the walk we contemplated would 

 have been impossible, as the water comes quite up to the bank, 

 which, much of the way, is a high and precipitous cliff. But the 

 tide was going out rapidly, and not only making a pathway, but 

 uncovering for us what we had come to see. Mr. T., with his Zool- 

 ogy class in mind, walked along at the water's edge, watching 

 closely for all kinds of animal life. 



I walked up on the just uncovered beach, seeing what I might 

 capture. My first prize proved to be a "giant key-hole," Lucapina 



