38 HANDBOOK OF SHELLS. 



lakes, rivers, or seas wherever, in fact, they can find the food 

 and other conditions suitable for their growth and development ; 

 but the collector who is not also a great traveller, must of course 

 rely for his foreign specimens upon the generosity of friends, or 

 else procure them from dealers. In most districts of our own 

 country, there are, however, to be found large numbers of shells 

 whose variety and beauty will astonish and reward the efforts of 

 any patient seeker. Begin with your own garden, search in the 

 out-of-the-way, and especially damp, corners ; turn over the 

 flower-pots and stones which have lain longest in one place, 

 search amongst the roots of the grass growing under walls, and 

 in the moss round the roots of the trees, and you will be sur- 

 prised at the number of different shells you may find in a very 

 short space of time. When the resources of the garden have 

 been exhausted, go into the nearest lanes and again search the 

 grass and at the roots of plants, especially the nettles which grow 

 beside ditches and in damp places ; hunt amongst the dead leaves 

 in plantations, and literally leave no stone unturned. All the 

 apparatus it is necessary to take on these excursions consists of 

 a few small match or pill-boxes in which to carry home the. 

 specimens ; a pair of forceps to pick up the smaller ones, or to 

 get them out of cracks ; a hooked stick to beat down and pull 

 away the nettles ; and, above all, sharp eyes trained to powers of 

 observation. The best time to go out, is just after a warm 

 shower, when all the grass and leaves are still wet, for the land- 

 snails are very fond of moisture, and the shower entices them out 

 of their lurking-places. Where the ground is made of chalk or 

 limestone, they will be found most abundant ; for as the snail's 

 shell is composed of layers of animal tissue, strengthened by 

 depositions of calcareous earthy-matter which the creature gets 

 from the plants on which it feeds, and these in their turn obtain 

 from the soil it naturally follows that the snail prefers to dwell 

 where that article is most abundant, as an hour's hunt on any 

 chalk-down will soon show. 



When garden and lanes are both exhausted, you may then turn 

 to the ponds and streams in the neighbourhood, where you will 

 find several new kinds. Some will be crawling up the rushes 

 near the margin of the water, others will be found in the water 

 near the bank, while others may be obtained by pulling on shore 

 pieces of wood and branches that may be floating in the water ; 

 but the best are sure to be beyond the reach of arm or stick, and 

 it will be necessary to employ a net, which may be easily made 

 by bending a piece of wire into a circle of about four inches in 

 diameter, and sewing to it a small gauze bag ; it maybe mounted 



