Page:American Seashells (1954).djvu/88



satisfaction of gradually becoming master of a study and the enjoyment of devoting a full interest to one of the many fields of natural history, whether it be wild flowers, butterflies or seashells, are the two strongest motivations among naturalists in their search for new facts and additional specimens. “Knowing seashells” is not so much a state of knowledge, attained after so many years of study, as it is a continuous process of adding to our store of information and experience. Through personal observation, by taking advantage of what others have discovered and recorded, and by increasing our ability to identify species, we gradually become familiar with our mollusks.

''What's the name of that shell? Is it rare or common? How does it live? Where can I find more and better specimens?'' These are four of the most frequently asked questions among shell collectors. Because people who are incurably or only mildly “shell-shocked” are continually asking for the names of shells, over three fourths of this book is devoted to the problem of recognizing and naming our American seashells.

To know the name of a shell is in many ways to know the object itself. What we may gain in observation of the shell, the animal which builds it or the habits of the creature, we can, with its correct name, compare with the findings made by other students. “So this is Sozon’s Cone!” transforms the shell in your collection into an object of rarity and opens the door to fascinating accounts of fatal, venomous cone shells or the tales of bygone shell