THE ANIMAL LIFE OF THE GROUP. 441 



Persons coming to Hawaii imbued Avith the idea that the shores of all 

 coral-wreathed islands in the tropics are piled high with large and showy 

 shells, such as adorn the curiosity dealers' windows throughout the country, 

 and that are often labeled "from Hawaii," or more often the "Sandwich 

 Islands," are sixre to be disappointed. Such shells are usually gathered from 

 islands far to the south of Hawaii. They are labeled "from Hawaii," not 

 so much from a desire to give their proper locality, a thing the collector soon 

 learns to appreciate as a matter of very great importance, as to make of them 

 mere "curiosities," something rare and strange to sell to the unsuspecting. 

 For that reason it is better to collect such specimens as one can gather, even 

 though they are not as large or brilliant as those one can buy, and exchange 

 such duplicates as are gathered with associates, be they schoolmates, traveling 

 companions or professional collectors. 



The first expedition, perhaps a .stroll along the bathing beach at Waikiki, 

 is an auspicious one if two dozen different kinds of small beach-worn shells 

 are gathered; for with shells, as with almost all forms of life, only the most 

 resistant types can withstand the grinding action of the waves. If the same 

 beach is visited the following day, a week later, or when opportunity offers, 

 without doubt other species will be found ; thus the little collection grows. 



The enthusiast soon learns that different environments, as sandy beaches, 

 rocky coasts, coral reefs, sheltered bays and the open coast line, are inhabited 

 by dift'erent groups of mollusks and that in due time their shells are cast upon 

 the shore. The pleasure and the profit in visiting the same localities and dif- 

 ferent localities under varying conditions at different seasons, again and again, 

 soon comes to have a fascination that only those who have become enthusiasts 

 themselves can understand in others. 



Three Types of Mollusca. 



So far as the writer knows, no one has ever succeeded in gathering a 

 complete collection of all the shells that may be collected from the waters 

 about the islands, or even from the shore of a single island. A complete col- 

 lection would number many hundreds, if it were made to include all of the 

 many-celled animals without a backbone and with unsegmented bodies, with- 

 out paired, jointed appendages and with or without a hard shell, that are 

 included in the great phylum Mollusca. 



Such a group would include three widely different types of animals. The 

 squid, the octopus and their kind,' in which the head is well developed and in 

 which the front part of the foot surrounds the mouth and is remarkable for 

 its bearing a series of lobes or tentacles — called the "arms" in the octopus — 

 foi'm one class. 



The snails, slugs, whelks and periwinkles form a second class and ai-e 

 called Gasteropods. They are usually, though not always, with spiral shells, 

 but they may be without shells at all. The name gasteropod means stomach- 



^ Cephalopoda. 



29 



