CHAPTER II.
COLLECTING AND CLEANING SHELLS.
Shells are described as live and dead shells. Live shells are those found with the animal enclosed, and are more likely to be perfect in form and colour than dead shells. Dead shells found amongst rocks are nearly always battered and worn, and useless from the collector’s point of view. Live shells are found below high water mark, among rocks, or in the sand, or amongst seaweed and marine grasses.
Wait till a storm from the sea is ended, and then, if the wind is blowing from the land, a rich harvest of live and dead shells will be found on the sandy beaches and amongst the seaweed and wrack that comes ashore. Many of the smaller shells will be found amongst the leaves and roots of kelp. Start early in the morning, or pigs, rats, and seabirds will have destroyed the choicest specimens. Even such solid bivalves as the Dosinia will be carried skywards by the gulls and dropped on to a hard part of the beach, so that the shells may be cracked and the gulls get the contents. Most birds have this habit; even thrushes can be seen carrying snails up in the air and dropping them on to paths. Soak the dead shells in hot water for a few hours to get rid of the salt, and then scrub with a hard brush, or, if encrusted or very dirty, rub with sand, using a brush or cloth. No need to fear hurting them, unless very fragile, in which case the best thing is a soft toothbrush, with fine sand. If patches of dirt, or encrustations, still remain, scrape with a piece of hard wood or a knife. As a last resource use muriatic acid, diluted with an equal volume of water; but be careful to put it only on the spots to be cleaned, using a penholder, or small stick, with a small piece of rag tied to the point. The inside of the shell, if discoloured, can be cleaned in the same way. When cleaned, wash again carefully, and dry thoroughly. Then rub the shell with a mixture of sewing machine oil and chloroform in equal parts. The machine oil, being fish oil, will replace the oil the shell has lost, and chloroform is the best restorer of colour we have. For very delicate shells poppy oil is sometimes used; but it is expensive and difficult to obtain.
