414 - DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING 
very few are lost, for the reason that they continue to adhere — 
to the wet weeds by capilarity. The pliers will be needed 
to pick them off and transfer them to the bottle of alcohol. 
Preparation and Preservation of Specimens. — Land-shells 
and the larger aquatic univalves are generally cleaned, 
after boiling them a few minutes to detach the soft parts, 
by means of a little hook with which to remove the soft — 
parts, a tooth-brush to wash the shell externally, and a 
syringe with which to rinse the interior of the shell. Some- 
times the interior has also to be wiped out with a bit of 
cotton wound on a splinter of wood. The more perfectly a 
specimen is cleaned the more agreeable is its appearance. If 
portions of the soft parts remain in the shell the offensive 
odor of decomposition remains a long time. In the prepa- 
ration of Paludina it is desirable to secure the opercle of 
each specimen in the shell to which it belongs, by means 0 
thick mucilage. Some species of Melanidæ that have pe- 
culiarly formed opercles should receive similar attention. 
The larger species of Spherium may have the soft parts 2 
removed, and the valves tied shut to dry. The smaller a 
bivalves will dry if spread on paper in a moderately co! — 
place with a free circulation of air, only a few of the 
shells gaping. If exposed to the sun they are very apt to 
open. Small shells like Amnicola, Bythinella, Valvata, 
etc., may be quickly dried in the sun after having been 12 
alcohol twenty-four hours. The same remarks apply io 
some land-shells, such as the smaller Helices, Pupa, Vertigo, 
Carychium, ete. Vitrina, it carefully managed, may Jare 
the soft parts removed after boiling, or after having bern E 
alcohol twenty-four hours. Cleaned and rinsed, the § p 
are exceedingly beautiful. But dried in the manner "r 
often witnessed, they are not a very attractive addition to į 
collection of well-selected specimens. In the treatment a a 
Succinea, either boiling, or twenty-four hours in alcohol, W! co 
answer, preparatory to the removal of soft parts. 
Some mollusks, the shells of which are thin and transp? 

