The natumal science journal. 
IT) 
THE HEWBEDFOED SHELL OOLLEOTION. 
EW Bedford, thirty or forty years 
ago, was one of the best places in 
the world for making collections of shells, 
especially marine univalves. The city 
then led the world in the w^haling indus¬ 
try, and ships were sent out from here to 
the Arctic and Antarctic, Indian and Pa¬ 
cific Oceans. From these trips large 
quantities of rare and beautiful sea-shells 
were brought back by the sailors. As a 
consequence, many persons began to 
gather them, — some attracted by their 
beauty merely, some taking it up as a 
new fad, and some few from the aw’'aken- 
ing of a real scientific interest in the 
shells. As was to be expected, the first 
two classes, after a shorter or longer 
period of collecting, ceased from taking 
any active interest. So now I know of 
but one of the old collections still in a 
state of progress. Yet what has been 
done is considerable, and it may be of 
interest to review some of the larger 
collections. 
d'here are six of these worthy of note, 
and it may be remarked that they w^ere 
for the most part gathered by ship agents 
or persons otherwise closely connected 
with the whalers—their acquaintance with 
the seamen giving them a distinct advan¬ 
tage in the work. 
Two of these collections have been re¬ 
moved from the city. One, the Doane 
collection, was given to the Marion Nat¬ 
ural History Society; the other, after 
twice crossing the continent, found a 
berth in the east. The Taylor collection 
was given to the New Bedford High 
School. With these exceptions the col¬ 
lections remain in the hands of the orig¬ 
inal owners. 
All the collections show a distinct par¬ 
tially for marine univalves, with the ex¬ 
ception of the Taylor or High School 
Collection which has a good showing in 
all branches. This collection shows also 
the effect of personal work more than the 
others, and it is said to contain one hun¬ 
dred and fifty species from this vicinity 
alone. It was labelled, after Mr. Ta}^-- 
lor’s death, by John A. Thomson, — for 
a long time considered one of the best 
authorities in the city. It contains the 
best collection of Unios in the city. 
Here also are the best specimens of 
Pholas costata and Pbolas truncatas 
found alive by Mr. Thomas A. Green in 
three feet of mud at the foot of Long 
wharf, this city. (See Gould’s Inverte- 
brata.) 
The Doane collection, wdiich was pur¬ 
chased by Mrs. Pose Delano and pre¬ 
sented to the Marion Natural History 
Society was formerly for the most part 
unlabelled. Last summer, however, I 
spent the most of my time in arranging, 
labelling, and cataloging the marine 
univalves in it. It contains a very fair 
showing of these, and in many families 
it is quite complete, particularly in the 
Strombs. Among others is a very ex¬ 
cellent specimen of the Voluta Junonia 
which Tryon (See American Maine 
Conchology) calls “ the most rare and 
valuable American marine shell; speci¬ 
mens in good condition sell for fifty to 
one hundred dollars.” There is also a 
specimen of Cyprsea umbilicata in very 
fine condition, a shell which, w^hen first 
reported was declared an impossibility. 
There are several specimens notable for 
size, a Fusus proboscidsferus and two 
very large Spondyli. A Perna is made 
conspicuous by having a large branch of 
