Traps. During the past few years, mollusk traps have been ired to 

 take many of the carnivorous mollusks and reports from those who have 

 used them have been very optimistic. Some of the older collectors reported 

 success with this type of mollusk by simply placing a piece of meat or a 

 dead fish between two sheets of wire mesh and weighting them down with 

 stone"., o\ernight. 



Night Hunting. To one who has never collected at night, hunting with 

 the aid of artificial light is a revelation. Many mollusks that are rarely 

 encountered in daytime may be simply swarming at night. This is particu- 

 larly true of Margiuella, Cypraea, Hydatina and the like. While specimens 

 may be taken by the combined use of water glass and flash light, the ideal 

 light is provided by a gasoline lantern whose asbestos mantle produces an 

 intense white light. Two forms of these lanterns are being used and each 

 has its advantages. The one with a single mantle is not heavy and gives 

 a good light, but the lantern equipped with two mantles, though quite a 

 bit heavier, gives a more brilliant light and also has a reflector which 

 further increases its efficiency. The collector who has never collected at 

 night has a thrill in store for him. 



Tide Tables. To attempt to do much shallow water collecting without 

 first consulting the Tide Table would be the height of inefficiency, for all 

 collecting of this type is dependent upon tide conditions, and where there is 

 excellent collecting at a given place at low tide, it would be simply out of 

 the question to do any worthwhile collecting at high tide. For collectors 

 in the east, Tide Tables of the Atlantic Ocean and for western collectors, 

 Tide Tables of the Pacific Ocean may be obtained by writing the U. S. 

 Department of Commerce, Coast and Geodetic Survey at Washington and 

 enclosing 25c for the Tide Tables of the current year. No active collector 

 can afford to be without his tide table and it is confidently asserted that 

 if most collectors would read their Bibles as frequently as they consult their 

 tide tables, they would be more nearly spiritually perfect. 



Game Bag. Probably as important a part of the collector's outfit as 

 any is his game bag, and this may consist of almost anything from an old 

 tin can, a salt sack, a pocket handkerchief or some such makeshift affair, 

 to a real game bag. They are usually made from light canvas and carried 

 in some cases by a strap over the shoulder. Such bags are useful when extra 

 heavy specimens are anticipated, but it is found that a bag that may be 

 tied or secured about the waist is much handier and has the advantage of 

 always being in place and does not drop in front of the collector when he 

 stoops to secure a specimen. Many collectors favor a bag having a dividing 

 partition. In one compartment may be carried tools, vials and other equip- 

 ment apart from the shells that are collected. 



Jars. There are other methods of "bringing them back alive." One 

 active and very efficient collector uses a wide-mouthed flat bottle, such as a 

 pickle bottle which he carries in his hip pocket. The bottle is filled about 

 one third full of water which acts as a cushion when shells are dropped 

 into it. The bottle is not removed from the pocket at any time while col- 



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