CHAPTER IE 
COLLECTING AND CLEANING SHELLS. 
Shells are described as live and dead shells. Live shells are 
those found with the animal enclosed, and are more likely to be 
perfect in form and colour than dead shells. Dead shells found 
amongst rocks are nearly always battered and worn, and useless 
from the collector’s point of view. Live shells are found below 
high water mark, among rocks, or in the sand, or amongst seaweed 
and marine grasses. 
Wait till a storm from the sea is ended, and then, if the 
wind is blowing from the land, a rich harvest of live and dead 
shells will be found on the sandy beaches and amongst the seaweed 
and wrack that comes ashore. Many of the smaller shells will be 
found amongst the leaves and roots of kelp. Start early in the 
morning, or pigs, rats, and seabirds will have destroyed the choicest 
specimens. Even such solid bivalves as the Dosinia will be carried 
skywards by the gulls and dropped on to a hard part of the beach, 
so that the shells may be cracked and the gulls get the contents. 
Most birds have this habit; even thrushes can be seen carrying 
snails up in the air and dropping them on to paths. Soak the 
dead shells in hot water for a few hours to get rid of the salt, 
and then scrub with a hard brush, or, if encrusted or very dirty, 
rub with sand, using a brush or cloth. No need to fear hurting 
them, unless very fragile, in which case the best thing is a soft 
toothbrush, with fine sand. If patches of dirt, or encrustations, 
still remain, scrape with a piece of hard wood or a knife. As a 
last resource use muriatie acid, diluted with an equal volume of 
water; but be careful to put it only on the spots to be cleaned, 
using a penholder, or small stick, with a small piece of rag tied 
to the point. The inside of the shell, if discoloured, can be cleaned 
in the same way. When cleaned, wash again carefully, and dry 
thoroughly. Then rub the shell with a mixture of sewing machine 
oil and chloroform in equal parts. The machine oil, being fish 
oil, will replace the oil the shell has lost, and chloroform is the 
best restorer of colour we have. For very delicate shells poppy 
oil is sometimes used; but it is expensive and difficult to obtain. 
