When live shells, as they are called, that is having the living fish in them, are obtained, the best plan is to place them in spirits of wine, this at once deprives the inhabitant of life, without injuring the shell, which should then be placed in hot water for a time, the body of the mollusk is thus rendered firm, and may be removed by means of some pointed instrument; care should be taken to leave no portion of animal matter within, or after a while it will become putrid and give out a stain, which will show through and injure the delicate markings of the shell; the surest, most expeditious, and least troublesome mode of cleansing a shell, is to place it in an ant heap for a day or two; the busy little insects will penetrate into its inmost cavities, and remove hence all offending matter. There will be no difficulty in this respect with the multivalve and bivalve kinds, which are only kept closed by means of a set of muscles, which can be tightened or relaxed at the pleasure of the animal within, and become powerless to keep the shell closed as soon as that is dead. Great care must be taken to preserve unbroken the smaller parts of these shells, such as the hinges or teeth, as on the structure of these the scientific arrangement into genera chiefly depends; the beard also, as it is called, and silky threads, must not be removed, as these have much to do in determining the particular species.
River and land shells are generally very thin and brittle, and must be carefully handled; their colours are not usually so brilliant as those of the marine species, but they form links in the testaceous chain, which are necessary to a proper study and elucidation of conchology.
The most glowing and gorgeous of all shells are those brought from the Tropical seas, and, excepting in a few rare instances, specimens of most of these can be obtained at little cost from any dealer, or from sailors returning from a voyage. If it is necessary to send either those, or British shells, any distance, or to pack them away in a small compass, the best plan is to wrap them separately in soft paper, place them in a box, and then pour in sawdust, bran, or fine sand, very dry, until all the open spaces are completely filled up.
ON CLEANING AND POLISHING SHELLS.
All shells, whether inhabited or not, when taken should be soaked for a while in hot water, to remove the dirt which may adhere to them, and dissolve the saline, that is salt, particles contained in the sea water; they should then be thoroughly dried, and if, as is the case with many, they naturally possess a good polish, they are at once fit for the cabinet. Generally, however, it happens that when shells are dry, they lose much of the peculiar brilliancy of hue, which they possess when seen through the medium of the glistening water; to restore this, wash them over with a thin solution of gum arabic, or white of egg; some collectors use a varnish made of gum mastic, dissolved in spirits of wine; this is perhaps preferable, as it is not affected by moisture. Many shells have a very plain, dull, appearance, in consequence of being covered over with a kind of skin called an epidermis, a word derived from the Greek, and signifying the outer skin, sometimes called the cuticle. To remove this, soak the shell in warm water for some time, and then rub it over with a stiff brush until the covering is removed; should this be very thick, it will be necessary to mix a little nitric acid with the water, but this must be done very cautiously, for if too strong it will remove all the lustre from the surface of the shell subjected to its influence. Sometimes the file, and a substance called pumice stone has to be used, but these are dangerous agents in inexperienced hands. The best polish for the shell after the skin is removed, is a red earth called tripoli, applied on a piece of soft leather.
FOSSIL SHELLS.
An eminent Geologist, named Dr. Mantell, has very beautifully and poetically termed rocks “The Medals of Creation.” As on coins and medals we see stamped enduring records of great historical events, so upon the rocks are written by the finger of God, a history of some of the mighty changes which the earth has undergone, and fossil shells are among the plainest and most easily read of the characters or letters, in which these truths are written. As Dr. Harvey, in his “Sea-side Book,” observes, “Shelly-coated mollusca have existed in the waters of the sea and in rivers, from a very early period of the world’s history, and have left in its most stratified rocks and gravels abundance of their shells preserved in a more perfect manner than the remains of most other animals. Now as the species in the early rocks differ from those found in later formations, quite as much as the latter from the mollusca of our modern seas, the gradual change in the character of the embedded shells marks a certain interval of time in the world’s history.” So we see that these rocks are the leaves of a great book, written all over with wonderful truths, and those who study such sciences as Geology and Conchology, are enabled to read much that is there written.
Every fossil shell that such a student picks out of the chalk, or limestone, is like a letter in the Alphabet of Creation; it has a significance, or meaning, and a number of such put together, form as it were, words and sentences, that can be made up into chapters, full of instruction, aye, and of amusement too. The study may seem a little dry at first, but never mind, go on, and you will soon be rewarded for your diligence, by the wonders that will unfold themselves to your understanding—the fresh and delightful views which you will obtain into the wide universe, the new and enlarged ideas of the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, and of the formation, habits, and connexion each with each of his various creatures.
Properly to treat of fossil shells, would require a book of itself, and a large book too; we can here but allude to the subject, as a part, and a very important and interesting part of the study of Conchology; more will be said about it in a volume which we purpose writing for this series, on Rocks, and the petrified organic remains found in and about them.
“Those relics of an older world, which tell