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and any imperfections are rated with those of the unfit 
which do not survive. Even as the most esthetic tastes 
can always be gratified, so can the physical appetite, for 
we have a range of edible shellfish unsurpassed in any other 
quarter of the globe. The Auckland Rock Oyster is, with- 
out fear of contradiction, second to none, and is quite 
equal to, if it does not excel, the famous Colchester native, 
prized by the Romans, and to this day considered worthy 
of a Lucullian feast, held annually at the opening of the 
oyster season, and attended with great ceremony by a 
large and distinguished company. 
Now, as regards collecting specimens and preparing 
them for the cabinet, we must hold to one cardinal rule— 
always to look out for the best; failing that, the next best. 
Do not throw away a specimen, whether imperfect or dead, 
until you can replace it with a better one, and remember 
that good specimens are always worth keeping, even as 
duplicates, for exchange with fellow collectors. 
If the shells contain the living fish, you may either 
boil them or not, but my experience is that, whenever it 
is possible to avoid boiling them, it is better to do so. Some 
persons think that there is something horribly cruel in the 
idea of boiling live creatures, and hold, with the gentle 
Isabella, that “the beetle feels as great a pang as when a 
giant dies,’ though personally I can assure you that this 
is contrary to all fact. For instance, the Harp shells in- 
habiting the Indian and Pacific Oceans, but not represented 
in New Zealand waters, have the extraordinary faculty of 
self-mutilation, pressing the sharp outer lip of the shell 
upon the hind portion of the foot and severing it to divert 
the attention of their enemies. On the other hand, the 
human race, including giants, prefer to perform primary 
amputations upon the enemy, when any little diversions 
of the kind are called for; which goes no small way to 
prove that their sensory nervous system is more highly 
organised than it is in the case of the mollusca. None of 
the bivalves require boiling, unless one should be pressed 
for time, and then only the pure white or yellowish white 
ones should be subjected to a high temperature. Species 
like the Venericardia Australis, with its beautiful rose in- 
terior, the violet Sunset shell, the Protocardia pulchella, 
and a few other exquisitely tinted bivalves should be allowed 
to open naturally—as they will in a few days,—when they 
can be cleaned quite readily, and rinsed in cold fresh water ; 
then you will find the natural colour will be retained by the 
valves for a considerable time. For small shells up to half 
s) 
Sea Shells 
of New Zealand 
