The latest issue of the American Conchologist (v. 4, no. 4, p. 8-9) includes an interesting account by Dan Yoshimoto on "The new Banks shell collection aboard the 'Endeavour'". James Cook captained the H.M. Bark Endeavour, leaving England in 1768. As part of the scientific staff, Joseph Banks and Daniel Carl Solander collected mollusks and other animals, some of which they ultimately described. Dan and Hiromi Yoshimoto reconstructed part of their collection as a traveling exhibit aboard the Replica H.M. Bark Endeavour. They deserve a big hand from the rest of us for this work, which will be seen by thousands as the replica ship travels around the world. Reconstructing an old collection is an unusual task. Biographers and historians of science occasionally do this for an exhibit or simply to understand a collector's methods. Taxonomists sometimes gather scattered specimens to determine which specimens were originally understood as the types. I would like to hear from other people about this kind of activity--the joys and challenges of reconstructing the past in collections. Andrew K. Rindsberg Geological Survey of Alabama