164 WEST AMERICAN SHELLS 
colored, with purple trimmings. They resemble 
the olives of our orchards in form and size, and 
their name has no mystery connected with it, but 
was doubtless chosen on account of their ap- 
pearance. 
As | proceeded with my hoeing my joy in- 
creased, for I found them by the hundred, and I 
had gathered about a thousand when the tide came 
in so far as to render further work impracticable. 
They seemed to lie in groups just under the surface 
of the sand, yet wholly concealed from sight. You 
must go at the very lowest morning tides, if you 
wish to gather them, and search till you find the 
bed; for they seem to be active burrowers and to 
travel rapidly from place to place. 
I took some of them home and put them in a jar 
of beach-sand and sea-water. You will be pleased 
to do the same, if you ever have the opportunity, 
for their movements are very interesting. You 
will then see the plow-shaped foot which quickly 
digs a hole in the sand, and the long breathing- 
siphon which curls up through the canal and 
reaches through the sand up to the clear water, 
like the trunk of a swimming elephant reaching 
Lp: for air: 
To clean the shells it is simply necessary to 
spread them in the sunshine for a few hours, when 
the animal will be found to be dead and loosened 
from the shell. The soft parts can then be re- 
moved with a pin. To clean most shells, however, 
it is necessary to throw them into boiling water. 
In a few minutes they can be taken out and the ani- 
