Land and Fresh Water Shells. 



47 



A small strainer, such as is used for tea or coffee, and a shallow pan, 

 say two inches deep, and six inches in diameter. 



Let us begin with the larger snails, and wash every one clean. Have 

 your pan of hot water on the stove, and your clean shells and imple- 

 ments all handy on a low table near b} r . Put two or three, or half a 

 dozen if you are tolerably sure of success, into your strainer, to which 

 a wooden handle has been fixed. Set it with the shells into the hot 

 water, and allow it to remain for a minute or less. Lift it out, and 

 taking one of the specimens in your left hand, between the thumb and 

 fore fingers, hook one of your wire implements into the animal, making 

 a gentle effort to withdraw it. If it comes out readily, draw out -the 

 others, and throw them into a dish of clean, tepid water. If the animal 

 can not be withdrawn readily, scald them again for a short time. They 

 will usually come out readily enough, but certain species can not be 

 withdrawn at all if scalded too much. These are matters of experi- 

 ence, and will be learned by perseverance. Shells that you can not 

 at first succeed with, on account of irregularities in the aperture, 

 small size, etc., will all be mastered after a while. Having withdrawn 

 the animals, wash the shells again thoroughly on the outside, 

 and syringe them out thoroughly inside, shake out the water, and lay 

 them on a newspaper to dry, mouth downward. 



The specimens thus prepared will be perfect, clean, and a delight 

 either for study or exchange. The small shells remain to be looked 

 after. If they are clean, leave them in the alcohol for a day or two, 

 then take them out, dry and assort them, and put them in their proper 

 receptacles. But Pupas, Vertiyos, and the small Helices are generally 

 dirty. They may be perfectly cleaned in the following simple manner. 



Put ail you have of one species into the test-tube. Put in with them 

 a small quantity of the clean sand, say one-fourth or one-fifth what 

 the tube will contain. Fill it with water, and shake very gently. 

 As the sand removes the dirt, turn out the dirty water and 

 fill with clean. In a few moments judicious care will clean such 

 shells perfectly, and not damage them in the least. When clean, 

 turn water, sand and all into a saucer, put in a little more water, 

 shake all gently, and the sand will go to the bottom while the 

 little concentric wavelets will gather all the shells into a small 

 space in the center, whence they may be removed with a spoon or 

 any convenient instrument. Turn off the water, dry your sand, and 

 put it away for future use. Never use any acids or oils about land 

 shells, unless the tiniest amount of the latter on the too often eroded 



