Hi Nancy

How's things in Auckland?

Byrne's (or Byne's) "Disease" causes a shell to have a faint to distinct
white chalky appearance, which also feels grimy.

It is caused by acidic conditions in storage. Some woods give off acids,
and oak is notorious. Don't store ANYTHING in oak furniture.

Particleboards, chipboard etc are manufactured using formaldehyde; this
breaks down over time and produces formic acid (both of these chemicals are
produced by metabolism of methanol, which is what kills methylated spirits
drinkers, who are first fixed, then eaten). The Museum of New Zealand
collections are housed in customwood cabinets, which Bruce Marshall has had
thoroughly sealed with polyurethane varnish, with no Byrne's as a result. I
found out about the problem myself when a few specimens in a particleboard
cabinet began to look chalky. i licked them and they were sour; acid
present. I've since sealed them and hope this will do the trick.

Once removed from acid conditions, the shells' condition will selfstabilize
and no further action is necessary. White residues can be cleaned off but
in itself does no harm; the shell combined with acid is selfneutralizing.
As others have pointed out, Byne's is not caused by an organism and is not
"contagious"; nor will bleach help. By the way, I have bleached Cypraea
without harm, using the bleach at 100%.

(I normally coat my specimens with paraffin oil, which is colorless,
scentless and does not break down. Excess is mopped or wiped off with paper
handkerchiefs.
Oiling does mean that specimens must be numbered first; if subsequently
damaged, oil must be thoroughly removed before gluing. Glycerine can be
used to keep periostracums supple, especially for hairy Ranellidae and
Trichotropinae. I am not convinced that oiling prevents Byne's, as many of
my affected shells were thoroughly parafinned).

I have noticed that some shells do seem to be affected before others; the
first was an Ancilla cingulata. My Cypraea seem unaffected.

Now, what I'd like is to know what causes Glass Disease, what types of
glass tube (APPARENTLY the cheap stoppered Kimble vials are safe, while
tiny Samco testtubes are the worst) to avoid. This is a pain, as I bought
40000 50x6mm Samco tubes for about $5US, and some specimens within now are
growing dense white fuzz; some also have larger sparse cubic white crystals
growing on them.
I'm sure moisture accelerates the problem; unfortunately most of us are
utterly unable to control moisture in the environment. I have thousands of
these tubes in use, and no way can I afford to replace them, not to mention
the time involved. I also have some deaccessioned Smithsonian freshwater
and landsnails, collected mainly from Missouri in the 1800s, and these have
been in glass tubes for over 100 years with no damage to the shells, though
some labels are acid-discolored and weakened, possibly by the cotton waste
plugging the vials.

Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand