Collecting American Seashells 65 



equally as attractive as the display type, but it also permits the collector to 

 locate any specimen quickly and add new material with a minimum of rear- 

 ranging. The simplicity, uniformity and mobility of equipment, such as 

 drawers, trays, labels and vials, and the use of the biological or systematic 

 order of arrangement are the essence of a good collection. 



The choice of cabinet and style of drawers will be limited, of course, 

 by the collector's pocketbook. The accompanying designs are the result of 

 many years of observing private and institutional cabinets, and they are 

 offered here as an ideal toward which you can strive. 



If the cabinet is made in a roughly oblong shape and is about table- 

 height, additional cabinets may some day be set alongside for desk space or 

 set on top of each other without causing the top drawers to be too high to 

 reach. Pine, basswood or any of th^ whitewoods may be used. It has been 

 reported that certain oaks have a detrimental effect on shells which have 

 been stored away for years. It is best to have a cabinet door which swings 

 open all the way (i8o degrees), although so hinged that the drawers may 

 still be pulled out when it is open only 90 degrees. Some students prefer the 

 type of door which lifts off. 



The ideal cabinet unit has the following dimensions: outside measure- 

 ments, height 40" (or 80") ^ width 22'', depth 32''. Runners for drawers, 30'' 

 long. If wooden, %'' X %" and set 2^4" apart. If galvanized sheet iron, 

 2%'' wide and bent along the midline to form an L. Inside measurements, 

 wooden drawers 20" X 30" and i%". No runners or handles are necessary 

 on the drawers. 



All cardboard trays to hold specimens should be %'' in depth, and all 

 their other outside dimensions should be multiples of the smallest type of tray. 

 This unit may be iK'" X 2", the next largest tray 3'' X 2", then 3'' X 4", 

 then 4/^2'' X 6", and the largest of all 8'' X 9''. It is inadvisable to have more 

 than five sizes of trays, since this complicates curating and the making or 

 ordering of future stocks. Odd-sized trays make neat arrangement impos- 

 sible. Cardboard trays covered with glossv-white enameled paper may be 

 purchased in any large city, or a simple style may be made by cutting out 

 and folding pieces of shirtboard as shown in our illustration. The corners 

 are held together by adhesive paper or butcher's tape. The various sets, or 

 lots as they are called, of each species should be placed in the trays and 

 arranged in the drawer from left to right, beginning at the front. Many 

 students separate the species or genera by turning over an empty box which 

 may bear a label indicating the genus or species. 



Small e^lass vials without necks are used to hold smaller specimens. Cot- 

 ton is best for plugging the vials, since corks are expensive, are difficult to 

 obtain for various-sized vials and eventually deteriorate. When a lot consists 

 of a hundred or more small specimens which will not easily go into vials, it is 



