To All:

Here is the text of an announcement from the museum web page;  Looks
worthwhile!!

9 September 2000 - 7 January 2001
               - SHELLS: Gems of the Sea

               Knoxville area physician, Dr. Peter Stimpson, has assembled
one of the country's finest   collections of marine shells that includes over
1,000 species listed in the Registry of World   Record Size Shells. In his
collecting, he has focused on six families of mollusks: cowries,    cones,
conchs, harps, volutes, and olives. Within each of these families are
incredible arrays of colors, shapes, and sizes -- true gems of the sea.

                             [images on website]


                            GOLDEN COWRIE
                                   (38K)
                        Cypraea aurantium  (Gmelin, 1791)
                          Family - Cowries, Cypraeidae
                                Philippines


                                                                 MAJOR HARP
                                                                      (50K)
                                                              Harpa major
(Röding, 1798)
                                                               Family -
Harps, Harpidae

Philippines



               The Frank H. McClung Museum is pleased to present an
exhibition of shells from the   Stimpson collection. Featured will be marine
shells from around the world -- big shells, tiny      shells, delicate
shells, rare and unusual shells, beautiful and colorful shells.
               In addition to appreciating the inherent beauty of the various
shells, the visitor will learn    about the biology of mollusks and some of
the uses that humans have made of shells.

The website is:  http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/upcoming/upcoming.htm#Newex

Best Regards,
Martin