HINTS FOR COLLECTING AND 
PRESERVING SHELLS OE MOLLUSCS. 
The following notes supply a few general rules as to finding and 
preserving shells : — 
Of Shell-bearing Molluscs there are three classes — Marine, Fresh- 
water, and Land. The first two include Univalves and Bivalves, the 
last only Univalves. 
1. Marine shells may be obtained : — (1) By searching on and under 
rocks at low water, or on coral reefs among sea-weed attached to 
them, or floating on the sea, or on a sandy beach. Bivalves may be 
found by digging in the sand or mud, on a beach or at the mouth 
of a river : their presence is generally indicated by a circular 
breathing-hole in the sand. (2) By dredging, by which means 
only deep-sea shells can be obtained ; but after a storm these may 
often be found upon the shore, before they have lost their lustre. 
Limpets, etc., should be detached with a thin blade passed quickly 
under the shell, taking care not to break the edges. Small shells on 
and in sea-weed, and limpets, etc., adhering to stones will drop off and 
sink to the bottom in a vessel of cold fresh-water. 
2. Fresh-water shells may be obtained in any river lake, pond, 
marsh, or reservoir : Univalves, chiefly on the banks, on reeds and 
plants growing near the edges, and on the under surface of leaves, and 
stems of aquatic plants ; Bivalves, generally at the bottom, among 
stones or buried in the sand, or among the roots of aquatic plants. 
3. Land shells. — These resemble, more or less, in their habits the 
garden snail, though varying greatly in character, size, and colour. 
They mostly abound in a chalk or limestone district, and in moist 
and wooded situations. Some species inhabit low and damp spots, 
113 g 
