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Verzonden: maandag 14 juni 1999 18:10
Aan: [log in to unmask]
Onderwerp: Re: holding clam valves together

Hello Mr Rindsberg and others,

I have had the pleasure (and the difficulties) to reorganise my mothers
collection, originating from the '60-ies. She always used pure white cotton
thread (the one used to attach buttons to your shirts) to hold the valves
together. Besides a lot of dust on shells and cotton (which had turned grey)
nothing had happened to the shells in the 35 years they had been stored. All
valves were still together, nothing was broken and the thread had left no
trace at all on any shell.
On the other hand, and as explained on the list here before, some species
which were held together with rubber band had very bad stains on them.

Just to add to the general conclusions on this subject.

Greetings,

Jan Haspeslagh
Belgium

This has been an interesting thread. I'd like to hear from museum curators,
shell dealers, and others who deal with decades-old collections about their
preferences for very long-term storage of paired valves. For instance: Does
string work for several decades for specimens that do not have a protective
periostracum?

Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA