THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 8 1 



you turn over a log for specimens, and, unless the air is frosty, every 

 live thing present, that has legs or wings, uses them to seek safer 

 quarters — some are sure to get away — but any shells, dead or alive, 

 may be gathered without any unseemly haste and speedily transferred 

 to bottle or box. Of course, it is possible to overlook some, which 

 often agree exactly in colour with their surroundings, and which, if 

 they did move, would be easily seen. Others, again, are easily 

 overlooked owing to their small size and a habit they have of hiding 

 away in the crevices of logs, or in any inequalities that may be 

 present. 



Land shells inhabit nearly every country of the globe. They 

 are found in woods, gardens, and hedges — the last named unfortu- 

 nately conspicuous by their absence here ; — I speak from a Con- 

 chologist's point of view, for they make splendid retreats for snails. 

 Where they take up their abode in the hollows of trees and 

 stumps, under bark, in crevices of rocks, under stones, amongst moss, 

 nettles or other weeds, especially in damp places, or adhere to 

 boughs and leaves of trees, shrubs, &c, it is during the day that 

 they retire to these situations, and in the evening they are to be met 

 with crawling about ; also sometimes during the day when the 

 weather is moist and rainy. 



Fresh water shells are to be met with in almost every lake, pond, 

 river and stream, either lurking in the mud at the bottom, or feeding 

 on leaves of aquatic plants, or along the shores or banks. Some 

 species, which burrow deep in the mud, as Anodonta and Melantho, 

 have to be dredged for, and others may be found by raking along the 

 surface of the sand and mud at the bottom of ditches and ponds. 

 Shells can only be expected perfect when they are got with the 

 animal in them. Fine specimens of water shells may be found on 

 the beach, or shores of our lakes, after a storm, but should they be 

 thrown up out of the reach of the water, they are exposed to 

 the continued heat of the sun, by which their colours become faded. 

 A large proportion of the shells seen in collections have been picked 

 up on the beach, and are seldom very perfect, being either worn or 

 broken. River and land shells are mostly thinner than those of 

 the sea, though there are exceptions to this rule. Some land shells 

 are very beautifully coloured or marked, and elegant in their form, 

 especially those found in tropical climates. In Africa they 



