BEACH SHELLS AFTER THE HURRICANE 



Popular reports have been circulated to the effect that wonder- 

 fully rare and beautiful shells were found abundant on the Isle 

 of Palms after the August hurricane. Members of the Museum 

 staff explored the beach on the tenth of September, two weeks 

 after the storm. While it would be rash to state that no unusual 

 species were thrown up on the beach during the storm, neverthe- 

 less, every indication at that date would tend to prove that the 

 disturbance of the shell-beds had been quite local and that while 

 a certain few common species were represented in great numbers 

 and by exceptionally large and fine Hving specimens, no abundance 

 of rare species occurred. In fact the Museum can learn of no 

 scientifically valuable specimen being collected. 



The most plentiful shells seemed to be the lovely, iridescent 

 pen shells, particularly the Spiny Pen (Pinna muricata). The 

 Cockle (Cardium muricatum), a charming bivalve shell whose 

 pink and yellow coloring lends an almost tropical beauty to the 

 beach, is ordinarily less common than the other abundant species, 

 yet usually appears in large numbers after severe gales. Curio 

 collectors were active gathering large specimens of the two com- 

 mon conchs, the Pear Conch and the Channeled Conch (Fulgar 

 carica andF. canaliculata) , the empty egg cases of which were strewn 

 along the beach. Various common species, as the ark shells, 

 were noticeably less in the ascendent than in calm weather. On 

 the whole the beach presented a much more interesting appear- 

 ance after the storm of October 24, 1910, than after the hurricane 



of this year. 



L. M, Beagg. 



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