INTKODUCTION. 



little or nothing (though a great exception must be made 

 in favour of sand-hills by the sea coast) ; nor do shells live 

 in pine-woods the resin, perhaps, being distasteful to 

 them; nor among bracken. Calcareous districts, on the 

 other hand, are especially rich fields for search. 



Preparing Shells for the Collection. 



The " booty " should be cleaned as soon as possible after 

 being captured. Plunge the shells into boiling water, and 

 extract the animal with a pin. My most serviceable ex- 

 tractors for small species are fine needles stuck head first 

 into the wood of common matches. The points of the 

 needles are bent into curves of different shapes and sizes 

 to reach the interiors of shells into which the animals 

 sometimes shrink or remain broken. Care should be taken 

 to wash the mouths of small shells with a paint-brush. 

 The larger water shells are often improved by a gentle 

 application of soap and hot water with a moderately soft 

 tooth-brush ; but it is a fatal mistake to use acid in any 

 form. 



It will be found, especially at first, that the animals of 

 many shells break inside, which spoils the appearance of 

 the transparent Zonites, &c. This cannot always be helped, 

 but may to some extent be avoided if the animals are 

 drawn out, before they cool, very slowly and steadily. 

 They should not be boiled too hard, but only plunged for a 

 few seconds into boiling water. 



