THE NAUTILUS. 83 
dozen or more Pteronotus festivus, about three inches long, and they 
were in the bottom of the pond, under two or three feet of water. 
Monoceros engonatum and Conus californicus were raked out of 
the mud near the edge, though not in great numbers. 
I had always thought Muricide were rock shells, and I won- 
der what they were doing here in this vile mud. Conus I have 
found in pools among the rocks, but only one in a place and never 
but four. 
Which is their home, the muddy bottom of a bay, or the clear 
pure pools among the rocks? I confess to being disappointed in 
the creatures [ found living in such a degraded way. Yet they 
had beauty of color and of form; perhaps are more pleasing than 
the same number of the prettiest shells I could select from those I 
got among the rocks. 
Crepidula rugosa was there in great numbers, built into towers 
and knots upon some old valve of a Pecten, or even upon an old 
shell of their own kind. They are not a very dignified mollusk, 
but I had never found any alive before, so was glad to find them 
and learn their mode of co-operative house-keeping, of which I was 
in ignorance. Doubtless every shell friend I have knew this habit 
of the Crepidula, knew it so well as never to think of mentioning 
it, though freely giving me the shells. 
* * * A friend has awakened my interest in “ strays,” so I will 
mention two which came under my observation on this trip. One 
was a Fusus, three or more inches long, which Mr. S. picked up on 
the ocean beach near the wharf. It was yellow but had been white, 
I think. 
The other was a large Arca, which a lady who lives where we 
were stopping picked up on the bay shore. It was dead, but the 
two valves lay close together ; was quite perfect but the epidermis 
was all worn away. It measured 82 inches in circumference one 
way, and nine inches the other way, and the straight hinge line was 
2 inches. I have nothing like it, so do not know its name. This 
lady had lived there for years but had never found any other like 
it. She was quite ignorant of habitat, so had no idea she had found 
anything of peculiar interest. 
At Arch Beach I have found two or three small Arca valves 
among the drift, and this past summer found one valve about an 
inch long, which is similar to an Arca fasciata from Australia. 
