230 MOLLUSCA. 



the external coverings of the higher classes of animals. It 

 is both a tedious and a difficult operation to preserve a quad- 

 ruped, a bird, or a fish, as a specimen for the cabinet, and 

 even when the task is completed, it is but of temporary dur- 

 ation. A slow but certain process of dissolution is going on, 

 which, though invisible for a time to the owner, gradually 

 destroys the finest collection of these objects. The very 

 changes of the atmosphere, combined with the attacks of 

 insects, accelerate the destructive process. But with shells 

 the case is very different. Composed of particles already 

 in natural combination, they do not contain within them- 

 selves the seeds of dissolution, so that for ages they remain 

 the same. Besides, all that is in general necessary to pre- 

 pare a shell for the cabinet, "is merely to remove the ani- 

 mal. When the shell is covered with foreign matter, we 

 must wash it away with a brush in soap and water ; and it is 

 frequently necessary to steep the shell for some time in fresh 

 water, to extract all the salt water which may adhere to it. 

 After being properly dried it is fit for the shelf of the cabi- 

 net, and stands in no need of anxious superintendence. 



Amateurs are seldom contented with the simplicity of na- 

 ture. Vitiated in their taste by a fashion which abides by 

 no rules, they attempt to improve even her most elegant 

 productions, and delight to exhibit in their cabinets some 

 of the efforts of their art. As such are in search of inno- 

 cent amusement, we mean not to dispute about the propriety 

 of their conduct, but rather shortly to mention, for their edi- 

 fication, the method generally in use to improve the beauty 

 of testaceous objects. Many shells, it is true, naturally pos- 

 sess so fine a polish, that no preparation is considered as ne- 

 cessary before placing them in the cabinet. Such are the 

 ) Olivce, and the greater number of what is termed 



