COLLECTING LAND AND FRESH-WATER SHELLS. 393 



close together and having a long handle, has sometimes been used with the most 

 gratifying success. In lakes or ponds of moderate depth, where the bottom is 

 readily seen, the dipper sometimes answers if the bottom is mud. In gravelly 

 bottom a pair of tongs, the blades of which are like huge spoon-bowls, may be 

 used with certainty. The tongs should be made so as to be attached to a suf- 

 ficiently long rod or jointed pole for a handle, the moveable blade being operated 

 by a string held in one hand, while the other hand guides the instrument to its 

 work. 



It is often the habit of the inexperienced collector to content himself with 

 such specimens as from their attractiveness to his eye seem to bo all that is 

 worth preserving. Such specimens alone fail to satisfy the wants of the natural- 

 ist who extends his interest to every class of natural objects. For this and 

 other equally important reasons the collector is earnestly recommended to secure 

 specimens of every species that comes before him. If he cannot always obtain 

 the best specimens he mny serve the interests of science sometimes by preserv- 

 ing specimens that, in the presence of good living specimens, he would cast 

 aside. Dead shells, though not always desirable in a collection of specimens 

 may serve to point out to the collector where he can find living ones. Dead 

 shells may be preserved if no others can be found. 



The collector often passes over species that are abundant at the moment, 

 thinking he can obtain them at any time. This sometimes is a fallacious indul- 

 gence, as the habits of many species are affected by inappreciable influences, 

 and often those species which have been abundant cease to be so, much to the 

 disappointment of the collector when, perhaps too late, he has learned they 

 have a value and importance of which he might have availed himself in his cor- 

 respondence with others. 



Preparation of specimens. — The larger land shells, the larger fluviatile gas- 

 teropods, and the large bivalves may have their soft parts readily removed after 

 having been boiled in water a few minutes. After the soft part's have been re- 

 moved by means of a small metallic hook, each specimen should be well washed, 

 inside and out, as far as practicable. A small syringe serves readily to rinse 

 the inside of univalve shells. A bit of stick with a tuft of cotton twisted on 

 it is often an indispensable aid in completing the process A tooth-brush is use- 

 ful in washing the exterior of shells. Operculated shells should have the opercle 

 replaced within the shell to which it belonged, and if necessary it may be re- 

 tained in its natural position by means of a little thick mucilage. Large bivalves 

 may be tied with a bit of yarn to hold the valves together ; or they may be 

 wrapped in paper to secure the same object after the surface of the shell is dry 

 and the hinge ligament is yet pliable. Care should be taken in the preparation 

 of bivalves not to fracture the thin margins of the shell, nor to tear the epider- 

 mal fringe. Indeed, the same care should be taken to preserve all shells as 

 perfectly as possible. 



Small bivalves that cannot be submitted to the boiling treatment and after- 

 wards closed, as recommended for muscles, and also any very small shells of 

 any class, may be placed in alcohol for twenty-four hours, after which they may 

 be dried in the shade on paper. They may be dried without the use of alco- 

 hol, but then the soft parts are longer in drying, and require a longer time to 

 become divested of the unpleasant odor of decomposition. The appearance of 

 the shells is more cleanly after alcoholic treatment, for the reason that the soft 

 parts of the molluscs are contracted into the smallest dimensions ther.-by. 



It sometimes becomes desirable to deanst^ the surface of small fluviatile shells, 

 bivalves, and univalves, together. With just enough water to cover them in the 

 bucket in which they were collected add as much clean, sharp sand as will equal 

 the bulk of the shells. Agitate th • bucket for a few moments by a rotary and 

 shaking motion. The friction of the shells and the sand on each other soon 

 brightens the surface of the shells. The sand may subsequently be sifted away 



