March, 1918J Inland Molliisks 171 



singly, e. g. on the point of a knife, and put into a vial or small 

 box, but in general this is a tedious task and the results are not 

 in proportion to the time spent. The better way is to collect 

 them wholesale, so to speak. With a small brush, the under 

 side of pieces of wood, stones, old bricks, etc., the fine dirt 

 under loose bark or decaying logs and stumps is brushed down 

 into a pan, or on a piece of paper. Fine debris and dirt around 

 old trees and stumps, under brush heaps, etc., are scooped up 

 and the whole material is taken along. 



Dead leaves, debris, moss from the ground, wood, rocks, 

 etc., are gathered on a large piece of paper, or preferably 

 muslin, (I use one two yards square), gently worked with the 

 hands, shaken well and gradually removed. A sieve is very 

 helpful in separating finer particles and dirt along with the small 

 snails and this material is carefully gathered. The leaves, 

 moss, etc., if wet, may be spread out on the sheet and left for 

 partial drying while other collecting is done; or if it is not far 

 from home or camp, they may be taken along in a large sack 

 or basket and taken care of there. 



Some minute snails, like Vallonia and Vertigo often live in 

 lawns of cities and towns, sometimes by the thousands. If not 

 secured otherwise, they may be trapped on old boards, bricks, 

 etc., which are improved for this purpose if smeared with meat 

 or grease. 



PREPARING. 



The larger snails are taken care of first and their soft parts 

 must be extracted from the shells. A number of them are 

 put in a tea strainer, or a piece of muslin, and immersed in 

 nearly boiling water for about fifteen to thirty seconds, according 

 to size, so that the columellar muscles are detached from the 

 shells. Then the curved point of a long pin is stuck into the 

 fleshy part, and the animal extracted, slowly and carefully, 

 at the same time twisting the body or the shell. A safety pin, 

 straightened out more or less, is convenient, making a handle 

 at the same time. After some experience, one will succeed 

 in removing the soft parts entire and will also know how long 

 to scald for loosening the animal without "cooking" too 

 much. If a part is broken ofif and left in the shell, the latter 

 is filled w4th water and shaken vigorously, with the aperture 

 closed, and as a rule the remnant can be washed out. Then 



