Saas OF DEE | ERSEY SHORE. 
CHAPTER JI.—BEGINNINGs. 
A walk along the beach is the best beginning in the col- 
lection and love of shells. Not the most brilliant shells that 
ean be bought give us the pleasure we have in those of our 
own collecting ; the additional joy of discovery belongs to 
these. 
We will take a few of the shells we find in our first walk, 
and see what they will tell us. A common “ round clam” is 
almost. certain to be one of them. The outside is a dingy 
brownish ; within it is white with a purple spot, and various 
lines and mark- 
ings. 
It is as if in a 
Hinge gamenZ. 
Ate 
pagna we were to 
find an old Roman 
coin or medal. 
3 How much the 
pleasure of find- 
ing would be in- 
creased by our be- 
ing able to decipher 
! its Latin legend ; 
Fig. 1. Inside view of Venus mercenaria, the round clam. so it iS with our 
common clam shell; each of its lines has a meaning which we 
may learn to read. re 
f 
