convenient to use a covered box 3″ × 4″ and 2″ deep. The label should be pasted on the lower left corner of the lid. A duplicate label or a slip of card bearing the catalog number should be placed in the box. Some people can afford to have glass-covered boxes.
A catalog is most essential, and its single purpose is to prevent the loss of valuable locality data. If each specimen bears the same number as the label and catalog entry, it can be returned to its proper tray in case of accidental spilling. A thick ledger about 12″ × 8″ may be purchased at a second-hand office equipment store at small expense. Headings may be arranged across both pages as shown in our figure. More space should be given “Locality” than any other section. Run your catalog numbers from 1 on up. Do not experiment with mystical letters indicating the locality, collector or date of cataloging, since all this information will be on your label and in your catalog. A card catalog arranged systematically is useless, time-consuming and a duplication of the information already available from your collection.
Specimens should be numbered in India ink with a fine pen. Shells that are too small to number may be put in vials or covered boxes, but do not fail to add a small slip bearing the catalog number.
The housing of molluscan animals, octopus and other soft-bodied creatures which must be preserved in seventy percent grain alcohol is expensive and generally beyond the scope of the average private collector. It may be mentioned, however, that preserving jars with rubber rings and clip-on glass lids are the best. Vials with necks may be plugged tightly with cotton and set upside down in the jars.
The mollusk collection should be arranged systematically, that is, in biological sequence, with the first drawer containing the primitive abalones, followed by the limpets and on up to the specialized bubble shells (Bulla). The small chiton, cephalopod and scaphopod classes may be put at the beginning of the gastropods or between them and the bivalves. You may wish to place your unsorted or unidentified material in the last few drawers. Once you have a species represented in your collection, do not stop there. Add other lots from other collecting regions. You will then learn to appreciate individual, ecological and geographical variations.
Exchanging. An amazing amount of traffic of duplicate material exists throughout the country and in many parts of the world today. Exchanging is an ideal way of sharing your local rich hauls and of obtaining species beyond your collecting sphere. A list of the many hundreds interested in exchanging is published in several directories of conchologists and naturalists. Sound out your prospective exchanger to learn what species or type of material he desires, since some advanced collectors are extremely “choosy.” Always give accurate locality data and send as perfect specimens as you can. Some people make up elaborate exchange lists which they send around to
