Paul Monfils and Peter Froehlich have spoken out very well, giving 98 cents' worth of the advice on this subject. They left only 2 cents' worth to be said. Some solvents will slowly evaporate from closed containers once the seal is broken. They should definitely be stored in a locked area that does not share ventilated air with your living area, or your pets' living area. An outdoor storage shed, perhaps, if its climatic conditions are proper. Some solvents are so volatile and dangerous that they should be stored in an operating fume hood; obviously, it's best to plan for using these chemicals up in a short period of time rather than storing them indefinitely. These considerations are especially important in centrally air-conditioned and heated homes with sealed windows and recirculated air in which the gaseous solvent can be concentrated. Some are potent carcinogens (e.g., benzene and similar compounds); others can cause serious, irreversible liver or kidney damage. Don't be afraid of your chemicals, but do treat them with respect, and learn how to handle them before you buy and use them. And please make sure that they are properly labeled; don't ever store a chemical in an unmarked jar, not even distilled water, not even overnight. If something ever happened to you, your friends or relatives would have a dangerous (and possibly expensive) task to perform in identifying and properly disposing of chemicals. An unmarked jar of distilled water would have to be treated as dangerous until proven otherwise. And what if you reached for an unmarked squeeze bottle of water and found, too late, that it was hydrochloric acid? Goodbye, shell! As to identifying ancient shellac and other preservatives in old collections, consult "Fossil Animal Remains" (or "Preserving Fossil Animal Remains"?--sorry, I don't have the exact reference; that was another university library and another job!). This book is the best I've seen for identification and removal of old preservatives, recipes for new ones, and general advice. It was intended largely for treatment of fossil bones, but the chemicals are the same as those used for fossil and modern shells. It's probably out of print by now, but it should be obtainable by Interlibrary Loan. I don't remember enough from the book to be able to give much advice on the subject, except that beeswax is extremely difficult to remove, and that shellac will eventually peel and destroy the specimen it is intended to preserve. Elmer's glue (or white glue) was formerly made of colloidal bone material, and one version still is, but most white glue is now made of polyvinyl acetate. They are normally thinned with water, about half and half. Both are safe enough to be handled by children, and both can be removed fairly easily, although less so as time goes on. Since the Survey collection has no running water, let alone a fume hood, that's what I mostly use, but I'm behind the times. Most museums are using Butvar these days to repair and stabilize bones and shells. Best of all is to use NOTHING, if your specimens can last without treatment. If it ain't broke, don't pour fixative on it! Have fun and work safely, Andrew K. Rindsberg Geological Survey of Alabama