26 Beautiful Shells, 



Great care must be taken to preserve unbroken 

 tbe smaller parts of these sliells_, sucb as the 

 binges or teeth_, as on the structure of these the 

 scientific arrangement into genera chiefly depends; 

 the beard^ also^ as it is called, and silky threads_, 

 must not be removed, as these have much to do in 

 •determining the particular species. 



River and land shells are generally very thin 

 and brittle, and must be carefully handled ; their 

 colours are not usually so brilliant as those of the 

 marine species, but they form links in the tes- 

 taceous chain, which are necessary to a proper 

 study and elucidation of conchology. 



The most glowing and gorgeous of all shells 

 are those brought from the Tropical seas, and, 

 excepting in a few rare instances, specimens of 

 most of these can be obtained at little cost from 

 any dealer, or from sailors returning from a voyage. 

 If it is necessary to send either those, or Britisli 

 shells, any distance, or to pack them away in a 

 small compass, the best plan is to wrap them 

 separately in soft paper, place them in a box, and 

 then pour in sawdust, bran, or fine sand, very dry, 

 until all the open spaces are completely filled up. 



