Dear Doug, Your kids' so-called "intrusions" are some of the most refreshing comments I've heard on malacology. There is no need to apologize for them. As a child, I often felt that my interests were not shared by others, although my family and teachers certainly encouraged me. Your children are undergoing a very unusual and enriching experience. Charles Darwin, who worked at home in a private laboratory, dissected barnacles for eight or so years for his technical monographs on all the known living and fossil forms. His children were so used to this sight that, when the family visited a neighbor, one of them asked, "But where does Mr. ____ do his barnacles?" Darwin's children did not grow up to be naturalists. But their children might. Andrew K. Rindsberg Geological Survey of Alabama