4 o 



A HUNT FOR OLIVES. 



Now I was ready for work and taking up my hoe 

 I began to dig in the sand. There was plenty of sand 

 to dig in, in fact, too much of it, for it apparently 

 took up all the room and left no place for shells. 



At length I struck upon a spot where a little stream 

 of water was oozing out from the bank of sand. As 

 I scraped away the surface, I saw something which 

 would have made me dance for joy had I not been 

 weighed down by the long boots. For there, in very 

 truth, was a live Olive, with its graceful shell shaped 

 like Fig. 20, and a beautiful, pearl- colored body. 

 It quickly withdrew this into the shell and closed 

 the aperture with a very insignificant scale, which 

 seemed to be an apology for an operculum. 



I picked up the pretty little creature, and 

 scientifically mused somewhat as follows : 

 The Latin name for this mollusk is Oli- 

 vella biplicata, Sby. , Ol-i-vel'-la bi-pli-ca'- 

 ta. The shell is about an inch long, 

 apparently smooth and polished, yet show- 

 ing under the microscope very fine and 

 beautiful reticulations. The spire is short, 

 the aperture long and narrow, the canal a mere notch, 

 and the outer lip thin edged. Upon the inner wall 

 of the aperture is a lump of white enamel, and at the 

 base of the columella are two little folds, which are 

 referred to in the name biplicata, twice folded. The 

 color of the shell varies much in different specimens ; 

 some are almost pure white, others are very dark, but 

 most of them are dove-colored, with purple trim- 

 mings. They are about the size and shape of the 

 olives of our orchards, and their name has no mystery 

 connected with it, but doubtless refers to their appear- 

 ance. 



