FOREWORD 



In 1941, a portion of the annual meeting of the American Malacological 

 Union was given over to the reading of papers covering various methods of 

 collecting mollusks. Printed in the annual report bulletin for that year, 

 these papers made up a handy reference manual which was in great demand 

 among collectors and students. The supply was soon exhausted, but the 

 demand has remained so constant that it has been decided to republish 

 these papers. Many more articles, dealing with fields which the earlier 

 report did not cover, have been added. 



Since this booklet is in the main a compilation of material which 

 has appeared in publications other than the above, the gratitude of the 

 American Malacological Union must be extended over a wide range. 

 Especial thanks must go to The Nautilus which has been drawn upon so 

 heavily, and to the publishers of American Seashells which provided two 

 interesting articles. Other sources from which material is being reprinted 

 include Turtox News, Mollusca of the Niagara Frontier Region, Shell Notes, 

 Science, The Cornell Veterinarian, Mollusca, U. S. National Museum Bul- 

 letin, Land Mollusca of North America, Chicago Museum of Natural History 

 Bulletin, and the Limnological Society of America. 



And finally, a debt must be acknowledged to those persons who gave 

 of their time to write articles especially for this manual. In sharing their 

 knowledge of specialized collecting, they uphold the major purpose of the 

 American Malacological Union, that of promoting the science of malacology 

 through the cooperation of its members. If this booklet is useful to mala- 

 cologists on any level, the existence of the organization will have been 

 justified. 



Publication Committee: 



R. Tucker Abbott 

 George M. Moore 

 Jeanne S. Schwengel 

 Margaret C. Teskey 

 March 31, 1955. 



How to Collect Shells has been in such demand that it had to be 

 reprinted several times. Friendly critics have pointed out that some topics 

 were not sufficiently covered and that some of the information in the first 

 edition was now out of date. It is now desirable also to add new informa- 

 tion, for example on shell books and shell clubs, hence this new edition. 

 The material of the first edition has been re-arranged for easier reference, 

 duplications have been eliminated as much as possible, and new material 

 has been added. The undersigned will be glad to hear about misprints, 

 errors, and suggestions for later editions. 

 March 1, 1960. 



AuRELE La Rocque 



(i) 



