42 THE NAUTILUS. 



ingrs " and no data can be gathered in reference to -what seems a work 

 of chance. When a heavy gale ploughs up the home of mollusks 

 and huge breakers land them, by the incoming tide, on the shore, no 

 collector can fore-tell when such a ])lienomenon may occur, nor 

 what conchological rarities may follow in the wake of such a storm. 

 Rare shells are sometimes washed ashore, then years may elapse 

 before they again make their appearance. Sometimes shells con- 

 sidered as belonging to the fauna of a different latitude are found 

 among the drift in such small numbers as to raise a question as to 

 their introduction by artificial means. During a violent storm 

 mollusks travel great distances before they are cast upon the shore. 

 This is especially noticeable in pelagic organisms which are often 

 cast upon the beach when some ocean current buoys them inward 

 toward the shore. All these facts combine to make it impossible 

 to collect working data, but one cannot doubt that a study of collec- 

 tions as the result of unusual conditions of Neptune might be con- 

 ducted witli some satisfactory results. A diary of the atmosphere, 

 tides, dailv physical conditions of the ocean with lists of shells found 

 during the same period, if followed any length of time, might be 

 resultant in adding a few facts that would be interesting, even 

 though not very valuable. High and low tides would influence 

 "finds" at any time, but some "low tides" are much richer in 

 molluscan forms than others. 



As a rule each region has its own fauna ; when this fauna is dis- 

 turbed and carried outside the range of its own normal environment 

 it must be due to unusual conditions in the surrounding water ; 

 shells from the laminarian and inner corallines zones found strewn 

 upon the l)each arc the effect of some cause. To a physicist, a study 

 of the storm that stranded rare forms upon the beach, would surely 

 be as interesting and important as the shells found in the drift! 

 The study of oceanic phenomena in connection with conchological 

 ac(|ui.sitions might be valuable to the collector in many ways ; 

 although of no value to the scientific world in these days of applied 

 science, with hydrographers collecting data, and with all the modern 

 appliances furnished to ships sent out on scientific ex{)lorations. 



We narrow our horizon by failing to observe and study that which 

 is near at hand. There are environments that afford more than 

 ordinary facilities for study, but only a few are so favored, and only 

 a small proportion of these utilize their oi)portunities. 



