138 THE HALL OF SHELLS. 
waves and the rain “clap their hands together,” 
as Tom expressed it. 
“T should think such hammering waves 
might break all the shells in the ocean,” said 
Undine, whose heart ever turned to her treas- 
ures, 
“Many of them will be broken,” answered 
the doctor, “but not unfrequently some of the 
most fragile are lifted upon the crest of a wave 
and laid upon the sand, far out of danger ; 
some are buried in the sand. You know how 
the limpets and abalones cling; more are down 
in the region of calms below the storm, while 
others are moored by stout cables of their own 
spinning.” 
At mention of shells buried in the sand, 
Tom pulled a razor shell from his pocket, say- 
ing: “When I was wading in the shallows 
this morning a jet of water struck my foot. I 
dug this fellow out of the sand.” 
“T once saw men searching for razor fishes 
in the Bay of Naples,” said the doctor. “They 
were finding them with their feet, as you did 
this one; but I venture you did not resort to 
their method of bringing them to the surface. 
“When they discover a Solen—another 
name for their razor fish—they bring it up be- 
tween their toes; and as the shell has a razor- 
