Andrew,
        You are absolutely correct in what you said about the joy of
reconstructing.  My wife and I are fortunate enought to have had the help
of three fine Conch-L members, Paul Monfils, Tom Eichhorst and Dr. Harry G.
Lee.  They all participated by donating shells from a list obtained from
the London Natural History Museum.  Dr. Lee did an especially
time-consuming job of placing "old taxa" into a newer format.  Thanks again
Harry.
        Yes, there was time and effort put into the project, but the people
that we were priveleged to meet, some by e-mail, some in person on the
Endeavour, was the payoff for both my wife and myself.  We were also
priveleged to meet with Rick harbo (Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada) who
is starting a similar project for the other Captain Cook's explorations in
his area.
        No, I am not an historian, but a simple retired teacher who likes
to teach through "realia".  It was what I did for 36 years and now that I'm
retired I still have the push to continue.  I have the hope that others in
Shell Collecting/ Conchology/ Malacology find that they too would like to
particpate with the traveleing exhibit that will, in the end, be a part of
a permanent exhibit, with The Endeavour as its centerpiece.  We will have a
few years to wait before The Endeavour finds its permanent home in
Australia.
Dan Yoshimoto


>The latest issue of the American Conchologist (v. 4, no. 4, p. 8-9)
>includes an interesting account by Dan Yoshimoto on "The new Banks shell
>collection aboard the 'Endeavour'". James Cook captained the H.M. Bark
>Endeavour, leaving England in 1768. As part of the scientific staff, Joseph
>Banks and Daniel Carl Solander collected mollusks and other animals, some
>of which they ultimately described. Dan and Hiromi Yoshimoto reconstructed
>part of their collection as a traveling exhibit aboard the Replica H.M.
>Bark Endeavour. They deserve a big hand from the rest of us for this work,
>which will be seen by thousands as the replica ship travels around the
>world.
>
>Reconstructing an old collection is an unusual task. Biographers and
>historians of science occasionally do this for an exhibit or simply to
>understand a collector's methods. Taxonomists sometimes gather scattered
>specimens to determine which specimens were originally understood as the
>types. I would like to hear from other people about this kind of
>activity--the joys and challenges of reconstructing the past in
>collections.
>
>Andrew K. Rindsberg
>Geological Survey of Alabama

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Dan & Hiromi Yoshimoto
1164 Vista Dr.
Eureka, California
        95503-6018
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