132 THE NAUTILUS. 
ISAAC LEA DEPARTMENT. 
{Conducted in the interest of the Isaac Lea Conchological Chapter of the . 
Agassiz Association by its General Secretary, Dr. W. S. Strode. | 
CARING FOR SHELLS. 
{Extract from the reportof Prof. Josiah Keep. From the Transactions of the 
Isaac Lea Conchological Chapter for 1898.] 
During the past year the time that I have been able to give to 
conchology has chiefly been spent upon my cabinetof shells. There 
is one enemy that is ever present, namely, dust; and my work has 
largely been in the line of erecting fortifications to repel its intrusion. 
Shells will get dusty in the best kept houses, and labels are liable to 
be lost or grow dim. So now it is my practice to put all my small 
shells into some dust-tight receptacle and to put the labels with them 
or else secure them firmly upon the outside of the box. The cost of 
suitable boxes and vials has been an obstacle in the past; but that 
has been now largely overcome, and I can do no greater service 
to ‘‘ Isaac Lea’’ comrades, than to suggest one means at least of 
securing the desired end. 
In past years I have used homeopathic vials for the smallest 
shells, and one or two-ounce, wide-mouthed bottles for the larger 
oncs ; but neither of these were very satisfactory. The homceo. vial 
has too small a mouth, and the bottles were coarse and clumsy. 
Last Summer I purchased a quantity ot ‘‘ seal shell vials,’’ which are 
merely short pieces of glass tubing, sedled at one end and ready to 
receive a cork at the other. These vials I obtained from Whitall, 
Tatum & Co., 410 Race street, Philadelphia. I bought three gross, 
of different sizes, the smallest being about % inch in diameter and 
134 inches in length ; the largest is 34 inch diameter and 214 inches 
long. The cost, with corks, was only about one cent on an average. 
For my very small shells I use short 4% dr. homceo. vials. 
The shells are safely coiked in these vials, with the label inside, 
where they may defy the old enemy, dust; and a little wiping of 
the tubes will make them appear as good as new at any future time. 
But these vials will not answer for flat shells, like limpets or small 
pectens. So, for these, I bought, of the same firm, a quantity of 
turned wooden boxes, 1% ounce, . ounce and 2 ounces, phoenix pat- 
ern. They cost even less than the vials, and are very convenient for 
many purposes. 
After filling a box, I paste a label on the top of the cover. I use 
Dennison’s lapels, Nos. 204, 208 and 212. They are very inex- 
pensive and convenient. 
MILLS COLLEGE, CAL... Jan. 4, 1899, 
