70 THE NAUTILUS. 
the weaker; but, until I overcome my repugnance to the killing 
and dissecting of molluscs, I shall take more enjoyment in studying 
their homes than in getting acquainted with the inmates themselves. 
Being a new member of this Society, and also a novice in concho- 
logical lore, I can hardly hope to write anything of much interest 
to the older members, but, perhaps, the younger ones may care to 
hear about some of my most interesting (to me) “finds.” * * * * 
I shall never forget an expedition, taken in the early part of this 
year (’94), to Long Beach, in company with a friend, when our 
enthusiasm for collecting had just begun. Leaving Long Beach a 
short time before noon, we started to walk to Alamitos Bay, neither 
of us knowing the distance. We picked up so many shells that, be- 
fore we were half way there, we were very tired; but determined to 
reach our destination, we pressed on, were caught in a shower, and 
finally reached the bay more dead than alive, judging from our 
feelings. We found nothing very valuable, but we fairly staggered 
under the load of shells we carried home, which place we did not 
reach until after dark. We were told the distance was five miles 
each way, and we believed it. 
Last summer, during a trip taken with the Chatauqua Assembly 
School in Conchology, I picked up a shell near a fisherman’s cot- 
tage on Tim Point, which proved to be a small specimen of Siphon- 
alia kelletti Fbs. While cleaning it, I noticed, about two inches 
from the lip, on the inside, a rusty looking spot, through which the 
water trickled. After using quite a quantity of acid to take off the 
accumulation of foreign matter on the outside which nearly hid the 
form of the shell, I discovered opposite the rusty spot, and imbedded 
in the hard shell, a tiny mussel, half an inchlong. I thought I had 
made a discovery ; but, alas! on turning to “ West Coast Shells,” I 
found that these little mussels grow sometimes in large shells. I 
think it is Adula stylina Cpr., but so small and delicate! How 
did it carve a home to fit it so perfectly ? 
I have taken a good deal of pleasure in rude attempts to draw 
and paint some of the more simply formed shells, but I find it is 
difficult to reproduce them faithfully. 
When in San Francisco, I had the privilege of a day in the 
Academy of Sciences, of looking at Tryon’s magnificent work, 
which was beautifully illustrated in colors. I also had the pleasure 
of visiting Mill’s College and the University at Berkeley, and of 
seeing the collections of shells at both these institutions, and I shall 
