Collect the most perfect specimens of all sizes, wash them in fresh water, and then spread on a board in a dry place (not in the sun) and leave them undisturbed for a few days, or until thoroughly dried.
How to Polish Shells.
Wash your shells in clean, fresh water; procure a small quantity of muriatic acid and have in readiness two-thirds as much water as acid. Place the shells in a basin, pour the water upon them, then the acid; let them remain a few minutes, then take them out and wash again in clear water. Rub each shell with a soft woollen cloth. A fine enamelled surface can be given by rubbing them with a little oil and finely powdered pumice-stone, and then with a chamois-skin.
To bleach fresh-water shells to a snowy whiteness, wash them perfectly clean and then put them in a jar containing a solution of chloride of lime, place the vessel in the sun, and, when the shells are sufficiently bleached, remove and wash them in clear water. Polish them in the manner before described.
CHAPTER IX.
A GIRL’S FOURTH OF JULY.
DECORATIONS are seen here, there, and everywhere. How beautifully the flags and streamers look as they wave in the breeze. All the houses and streets are gay with bunting. We listen with a thrill of patriotic excitement to the national airs played by bands of music as the different parades pass our doors.