26 Beautiful Shells. 



Great care must be taken to preserve unbroken 

 the smaller parts of these shells, such as the 

 hinges or teeth, as on the structure of these the 

 scientific arrangement into genera chiefly depends; 

 the beard, also, as it is called, and silky threads, 

 must not be removed, as these have much to do in 

 determining the particular species. 



River and land shells are generally very thin 

 and brittle, and must be carefully handled ; their 

 colours are not usually so brilliant as those of the 

 marine species, but they form links in the tes- 

 taceous chain, which are necessary to a proper 

 study and elucidation of conchology. 



The most glowing and gorgeous of all shells 

 are those brought from the Tropical seas, and, 

 excepting in a few rare instances, specimens of 

 most of these can be obtained at little cost from 

 any dealer, or from sailors returning from a voyage. 

 If it is necessary to send either those, or British 

 shells, any distance, or to pack them away in a 

 small compass, the best plan is to wrap them 

 separately in soft paper, place them in a box, and 

 then pour in sawdust, bran, or fine sand, very dry, 

 until all the open spaces are completely filled up. 



