lecting, is in an upright or semi-upright position at all times and can be 

 carried open without spilling. This method is used for such shells as are 

 too large for the vials and too small to be mixed with the larger ones in the 

 game bag. It is a very convenient procedure, especially while sifting when 

 both hands are busy with the screen. 



Vials. When collecting the smaller mollusks, it is convenient to be 

 provided with a number of small vials. These should be cylindrical and of 

 the screw top sort without a narrow neck. Many medicines come in this 

 sort of vial and there should be no trouble to secure a supply. 



Bucket. When collecting Barnea costata, Ensis directus and possibly 

 other similar bivalves, it is well to have a bucket of sea water at hand in 

 which to place the specimens as soon as secured, for it is not uncommon 

 for these to contract their muscles with such force as to fracture the shell. 

 Placing the specimens in water immediately seems to overcome some of 

 this, but even when all precautions are taken, some are broken in this 

 manner. 



Switches. As Barnea costata is usually found in colonies, very fre- 

 quently where there is a mud bottom, digging out the first specimen or two 

 causes the water to become so muddy that further collecting is out of the 

 question as the burrows cannot be located. In such cases, a good plan is 

 to secure a supply of small switches from some nearby trees and place a 

 switch in each burrow as it is located and not to start digging until all 

 desired burrows are marked; then the collector may proceed from one switch 

 to another and be able to locate as many speci^iens as he desires to collect. 



Conservation of Habitat. Before leaving the subject of collecting, it is 

 well to emphasize one point that possibly does not come within the scope 

 of this paper, but shell students should be impressed with the fact that they 

 should leave the ocean floor or wherever they have collected as nearly as 

 possible in the same condition as when found. Nothing indicates the 

 thoughtlessness of a collector more than to follow in a day or two or 

 frequently months where someone has recklessly turned over rocks, leaving 

 their bare and bleached portions exposed where it will take many more 

 months for them to be covered by the natural growth necessary to the 

 maintenance of molluscan and other marine life. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR WEST COAST MARINE COLLECTING 



By Elsie M. Chace 

 Lomita, California 



Tide Book. The first necessity in planning a collecting trip is to obtain 

 the tide book published annually by the U. S. Government. The small ones 

 given away by sporting goods stores are good, especially in that they call 

 attention to regulations governing bag limits, local closed areas, etc. How- 

 ever, because of the northwesterly trend of our coast the tide time varies 

 too much to make them dependable for more than local districts. 



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