with the larger mesh should fit snugly into the outer one with the smaller 

 mesh, but not too snugly, as allowance should be made for the natural 

 swelling of the frames, although much swelling will be avoided by painting 

 the frames. Some collectors nail a small cleat to the ends of the outer screen 

 to obtain a firmer grasp, or the same results may be obtained by sawing a 

 narrow horizontal slit in the end of the frame. The size of frame and mesh 

 being of individual preference, it is sometimes advisable to try out several 

 before the ideal one is found, and even then, many collectors change from 

 time to time as the occasion demands. 



One form of screen that is sometimes used has no upright frame on 

 one side and is held in place on the ocean floor by the collector's foot. The 

 sand, mud, marl or other material, is raked or drawn into the screen by 

 the use of a hoe, rake or other utensil. This overcomes lifting the material 

 and depositing it in the screen. To fill the screen with material, various 

 tools are used, such as a trench shovel, and a sheet iron cylinder with a 

 hand hold riveted to the side, a hoe and even a tin can. 



Water Glass or Bucket. An important adjunct to shallow water col- 

 lecting is the water glass or water bucket. The original of this device is the 

 bucket with a glass bottom used by sponge fishermen. Collectors adopt the 

 same principle, but use one that is square or oblong. An easy way to 

 construct one is to make the frame or box of not too heavy wood and fasten 

 the glass to the open bottom by means of quarter rounds available at any 

 lumber yard. These should be coated with white lead before nailing on 

 to make it water tight. The inside should be painted a dull black. When 

 in use, frequent wetting of the inside of the glass makes vision clearer and 

 an occasional application of Bon- Ami will brighten up the glass wonderfully. 



Forceps. While collecting small species, a pair of spring forceps is a 

 necessity, for small shells like Caecum, Rissoina, Cerithiopsis, and the like, 

 are too small for the fingers. Be sure to have a string tied to the forceps, 

 and fasten the string to some part of your clothes, and have sufficient length 

 of string to permit free use of the forceps. Being small, forceps frequently 

 are lost and prudent collectors (especially if they have lost a pair or two) 

 never fail to use a string. 



Thread Cops. One of the most useful things to have in the collector's 

 kit is what is known as "cops." This is a compact roll of rather loosely spun 

 cotton thread, and thousands of yards are contained in a single roll. It may 

 be obtained from any dealer in collectors' supplies. For holding bivalves 

 together, for tying small Chitons to drying boards and in many other ways 

 it will be found handy and inexpensive. 



Small Hooks. Hooks useful in drawing the bodies from small shells 

 may be made by whittling small cylindrical handles from some soft wood, 

 making them 3 or 4 inches long and the diameter of a lead pencil. Into this 

 handle push a needle (with the eye downward), leaving the point out. 

 This point may be bent to any degree of curvature by heating over a 

 Bunsen burner and bending while white hot. Some collectors achieve 

 excellent results while using a piece of the fairly stiff springy wire used as 



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