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and any imperfections are rated with those of the unfit which do not survive. Even as the most æsthetic tastes can always be gratified, so can the physical appetite, for we have a range of edible shellfish unsurpassed in any other quarter of the globe. The Auckland Rock Oyster is, without fear of contradiction, second to none, and is quite equal to, if it does not excel, the famous Colchester native, prized by the Romans, and to this day considered worthy of a Lucullian feast, held annually at the opening of the oyster season, and attended with great ceremony by a large and distinguished company.

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Now, as regards collecting specimens and preparing them for the cabinet, we must hold to one cardinal—rule always to look out for the best; failing that, the next best. Do not throw away a specimen, whether imperfect or dead, until you can replace it with a better one, and remember that good specimens are always worth keeping, even as duplicates, for exchange with fellow collectors. If the shells contain the living fish, you may either boil them or not, but my experience is that, whenever it is possible to avoid boiling them, it is better to do so. Some persons think that there is something horribly cruel in the idea of boiling live creatures, and hold, with the gentle Isabella, that “the beetle feels as great a pang as when a giant dies,” though personally I can assure you that this is contrary to all fact. For instance, the Harp shells inhabiting the Indian and Pacific Oceans, but not represented in New Zealand waters, have the extraordinary faculty of self-mutilation, pressing the sharp outer lip of the shell upon the hind portion of the foot and severing it to divert the attention of their enemies. On the other hand, the human race, including giants, prefer to perform primary amputations upon the enemy, when any little diversions of the kind are called for; which goes no small way to prove that their sensory nervous system is more highly organised than it is in the case of the mollusca. None of the bivalves require boiling, unless one should be pressed for time, and then only the pure white or yellowish white ones should be subjected to a high temperature. Species like the Venericardia Australis, with its beautiful rose interior, the violet Sunset shell, the Protocardia pulchella, and a few other exquisitely tinted bivalves should be allowed to open naturally—as they will in a few days,—when they can be cleaned quite readily, and rinsed in cold fresh water; then you will find the natural colour will be retained by the valves for a considerable time. For small shells up to half