Dear all,

A shell dealer put me onto this. When collected, put the shell in a jar
containing a mixture of 1 part methylated spirits and 4 parts water (sea
water, tap water, pond water, rain water....). Leave shells in for at least
a week. When you are ready to clean them, you will find that the diluted
alcohol has preserved the foot part of the animal, but not hardened it. It
has not penetrated to the top whorls of the shell, so those parts have gone
mushy, and will often fly out of the shell when shaken. If you don't have
time to clean the shells immediately, you can leave them in there for
months at least.

I have found this the method that most suits my erratic shell collecting
efforts

regards

Patty


Dr. Patty Jansen

Bookshop: http://www.booksofnature.com
Publishing and info site: http://www.capricornica.com

Books of Nature
P.O. Box 345
Lindfield NSW 2070
Australia

phone/fax: 02 9415 8098 international: +61 2 9415 8098

E-mail: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]