392 COLLECTING LAND AND FEESH- WATER SHELLS. 



lector to seek stells understandingly, it will now be proper to speak more par- 

 ticularly of 



Collecting. — To obtain land shells the collector needs for the larger species 

 a suitable tin canister, or a number of them, (the cover bein'g perforated to ad- 

 mit air,) to serve as a receptacle for his gatherings. He will soon learn to dis- 

 tinguish immature shells, and unless they are to serve some special purpose it 

 may be well not to secure many such, as, by clearing a station of all that may 

 be found in it, future visits to the same place may not be remunerative. For 

 small shells that will not admit of the same modes of treatment applied for the 

 preservation of large shells, the collector should be provided with a small bottle 

 of alcohol in which to put them. He will find his labor facilitated if he is pro- 

 vided with a pair of light, elastic pliers, the jaws of which are hollowed a little 

 so as to embrace any small object taken between them. With such pliers very 

 small and fragile shells may be picked up and transferred to the bottle with little 

 risk of breaking them, and with much more rapidity than with the fingers alone. 

 The pliers will be found very useful also for handling other small shells. 



Such aquatic species as are found where it is most convenient to pick them 

 one by one, may be handled with the pliers ; others that are attached to the 

 stems of aquatic plants, especially the class called fresh-water limpets, can best 

 be managed with tlie blade of a knife, which, being slid under them, serves to 

 convey them to the bottle. 



Other aquatic species may be rapidly gathered by means of a perforated tin 

 dipper attached to a wooden handle, which may be jointed like a fishing rod, so 

 as to be available in a variety of stations. The dipper can be used to secure 

 nearly all classes of aquatic shell animals when they happen to be within 

 reach, especially those that burrow in mud, as well as those that crawl on its 

 surface. It may be used among weeds and aquatic plants on which molluscs 

 are feeding. 



A bucket partly filled with water is a suitable receptacle for the shells taken 

 with the dipper. In taking the shells that are found in mud, much care is some- 

 times requisite in sifting out the mud to avoid crushing fragile species. Per- 

 haps a better mode in some instances is to be provided with a large culinary 

 sieve through which to sift the mud, the tin dipper serving simply as a dredge. 

 The sieve, when filled with mud and shells, is to be carefully manipulated in 

 the water until all the mud and sand is washed away. The sifting process may 

 be repeated upon fresh dredgings as often as is necessary, or until the collector 

 has as many shells as he desires. The. collector will find more eligible for his 

 purpose a net made of wire gauze, of from twelve to sixteen wires to the inch. 

 A convenient size and form will require an aperture for the mouth of the net 

 about four by eight inches ; the depth of the net eight inches. It should be 

 attached to a jointed handle for drawing it along the surface of the mud to be 

 dredged ; the margin that enters the mud should have a sharp metallic edge, 

 like a hoe. The net will require a sweep of from one to six feet to fill it with 

 mud ; it is then turned over, mouth upwards, and while yet in the water the 

 mud is sifted out. The shells remaining are carefully turned into a bucket of 

 water. With a net of this character the collector may stand in one position and 

 dredge a large area in a very short time, often securing shells in great abundance 

 and with comparatively little effort. The saving in time and labor can only be 

 appreciated by trial. 



For collecting fresh-water muscles, when they are found where they can with- 

 out much inconvenience be picked up by the hand, the collector may dispense 

 with all aids but a basket in which to place his treasures: As he will find 

 species of varying degrees of fragility, all more or less easily broken if care- 

 lessly handled, he will observe to place his shells carefully in his basket, and 

 not let them break each other by rude contact. In stations where it may be 

 inconvenient or impossible to wade, a rake, provided with numerous teeth set 



