1] 
The greatest trouble is getting the animal out of live shells. 
Anthills are few and small in New Zealand, so the lazy man’s 
method of putting shells on an anthill, and letting the insects do 
the work, is impracticable. Boiling for a minute will not hurt 
the stronger and heavier shells; but even pouring boiling water on 
the more delicate shells will cause them in time to fade. After taking 
the shells out of the boiling water, let them cool, and then place 
them in cold, fresh water for a couple of days in summer or for a 
week in winter, changing the water every day. The animal can 
then usually be removed with a bradawl, or, better still, a sail 
needle stuck into a cork. Although soaking in fresh water for 
a few days makes the animal slip out more easily, still a large 
proportion will break during extraction. The piece left behind 
must also be extracted, or the shell will be offensive. The coarser 
shells can be buried for a few months in sandy soil, or for a few 
weeks on a sandy beach below high water mark, or put in baskets 
or bags made of twine or netting, and placed in tidal pools, or 
fastened to stakes at low water mark, where the marine insects 
will quickly do their share of the work. Or they may be buried 
in a boxful of clean sand or sandy soil, and the sand kept moist 
by watering it every few days. The box is all the better for being 
put away in a damp place under a tree, or on the shady side of 
a building or fence. This, however, is a slow process, and if the 
specimens are required at once, the best way is to extract all you 
can of the animal by the hot water and soaking process, and then 
keep the shell half-full of water in a shady place, every morning 
holding it under a water tap and shaking it carefully. After 
each shaking a very little pure muriatic acid may be put into the 
shell, and when all the effervescing from the acid is over, wash and 
shake it again. Two or three mornings of this treatment should 
clean the shell. The more delicate shells will lose their colour 
if put into boiling water, so first put the boiling water in a basin 
and then place the shells in it. Nearly all salt water shellfish, if 
soaked for a few hours in fresh water, will die. The only ex- 
ceptions I know of are the Nerita and Littorina, families which 
are semi-amphibious. The best way to remove coral or vegetable 
growths from shells is to leave them for a few weeks, or if very 
hard, for a few months, in a shady place, where the wind and rain 
can get at them, but not the sun. The growths will then be suffi- 
ciently soft to be scraped off with a piece of hard wood or a knife, 
or rubbed off with sand. It is a good plan to oil or paste calico 
