The following notes supply a few general rules as to finding and preserving shells:— Of Shell-bearing Molluscs there are three classes—Marine, Freshwater, and Land. The first two include Univalves and Bivalves, the last only Univalves. 1. Marine Shells may be obtained, 1st, by searching on and under rocks at low water, or on coral reefs, among seaweed 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 o

1. No attempt should be made to clean them, or to remove the furry skin, more or less thick, with which they are often covered, beyond removing with a soft brush any mud or sand adhering to them. 2. The animals of Land and Freshwater shells may be killed by immersing them for a few minutes in boiling water, after which the bodies may be easily extracted whole with any suitable instrument, e.g. , a fork or a pin, according to size. Hot water should not be used with marine shells: it often destroy

All solid shells may be wrapped in one or two folds of paper of any kind. Fragile and minute shells should be put, generally separately, into a box or bottle—with or without cotton, as required. Such packets may be heaped up in any box, heavy shells at the bottom, without pressure, and any blank filled at the top with paper or other elastic material. Sawdust injures the lustre of many species. Two books on shells should be procured at an early stage of the collector’s career, which will give not