HINTS EOR 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, 
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