230 MOLLUSCA. 
the external coverings of the higher classes of animals. It 
is both a tedious and a difficult operation to preserve a quad- 
ruped, a bird, or a fish, as a specimen for the cabinet, and 
even when the task is completed, it is but of temporary dur- 
ation. A slow but certain process of dissolution is going on, 
which, though invisible for a time to the owner, gradually 
destroys the finest collection of these objects. The very 
changes of the atmosphere, combined with the attacks of 
insects, accelerate the destructive process. But with shells 
the case is very different. Composed of particles already 
in natural combination, they do not contain within them- 
selves the seeds of dissolution, so that for ages they remain 
the same. Besides, all that is in general necessary to pre- 
pare a shell for the cabinet, is merely to remove the ani- 
mal. When the sheli is covered with foreign matter, we 
must wash it away with a brush in soap and water ; and it is 
frequently necessary to steep the shell for some time in fresh 
water, to extract all the salt water which may adhere to it. 
After being properly dried it is fit for the shelf of the cabi- 
net, and stands in no need of anxious superintendence. 
Amateurs are seldom contented with the simplicity of na- 
ture. Vitiated in their taste by a fashion which abides by 
no rules, they attempt to improve even her most elegant 
productions, and delight to exhibit in their cabinets some 
of the efforts of their art. As such are in search of inno- 
cent amusement, we mean not to dispute about the propriety 
of their conduct, but rather shortly to mention, for their edi- 
fication, the method generally in use to improve the beauty 
of testaceous objects. Many shells, it is true, naturally pos- 
sess so fine a polish, that no preparation is considered as ne- 
cessary before placing them in the cabinet. Such are the 
Cypree, Olive, and the greater number of what is termed 
