efforts can stimulate an interest in others, the Lightbourn Shell Room at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) should not be missed. Whether merely an appreciator of all things beautiful in Bermuda's waters and beaches, or an amateur collector, one can learn -- and enjoy -- much from the extensive display. According to Jack Lightbourn, what has today amassed to a collection of 5,000 different species and 7,500 shells, stemmed from an interest he had A collection not to be missed explained. "By the time I was 18, I had to go into the Service, so I put them in a box and away. When I returned, three years later, I didn't know the names of half of them. My grandfather gave me a book on shells and I went through and made notes to identify them. So my formal collecting actually started at 21.'' By 1965, Mr. Lightbourn said that he had collected everything in shallow waters that he knew existed. As a result, he spent the three subsequent years without finding a single unique shell. "I had read an article written by the editor of the Shell Club in Hawaii about some people who had set huts in deep water, and I discussed it with a friend and fellow collector, Arthur Guest. We decided to try it in Bermuda.'' The new method of collection was an "immediate success'', he said, and brought up some interesting shells which were inhabited by Hermit crabs. "Arthur Guest and I worked at this for twenty years and what's interesting to note, is that in those twenty years that we carried out this type of collecting, we never once obtained a mollusc with a living host intact.'' In addition to potting, which was mainly done in deep waters at 1,000 to 1,500 feet, Mr. Lightbourn said he also discovered shells by dredging to 400 feet. "Arthur Guest's specialty were micro-shells -- tiny ones obtained from the sand. He was extremely successful in collecting and identifying these and during our 20 years of this type of collection, we added 300 species to the Bermuda shell list of which ten were new to science. This brought the listing of Bermuda shells up to 757 -- almost double any previous collection assembled here.'' It was in 1968, some 29 years ago, that Mr.

Lightbourn began collecting foreign shells. Today that collection houses the greatest number of items in his possession. "My friend, Arthur Guest died three years ago. In his will, he left me his collection which I have sorted and will be presenting to the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoological Society (BAMZS) later this year on behalf of Mr. Guest and myself. "As one gets along in age, the question arises as to what to do with my own shell collection. I had agreed to put two exhibits in the BUEI -- a local and a foreign selection, which would've involved about 150 shells. It left me with the option of either selling the balance abroad or finding somewhere in Bermuda where they could be displayed. It's a valuable collection. It probably would rate within the top five percent of personal collections worldwide. Having something like that, it seems a shame to send it elsewhere if it can be kept here. So I offered the entire collection to the BUEI and, as a consequence of this, I was allocated a room in the Institute which is now being fitted out to take the shells.'' Two to three thousand of Mr. Lightbourn's collection of shells will sit in a custom-built room, each labelled with its name and where he found it. "They will be displayed with selections of various families such as cones, cowries and murexs,'' he said. "The Institute will not want definitive collections.

For example I have 850 cones of which they will display about 75. I therefore A gift to all of us where they may be seen by Bermudians and visitors alike. The emphasis in the Institute is to be a beautiful display rather than set out strictly according to family, so that people can better appreciate the colours, the shapes and the individuality of the pieces. "I am very grateful to the trustees for allowing me this privilege as I got a tremendous amount of pleasure in putting this collection together and, judging by the numbers of people who have viewed it in my home, I feel certain it will be equally accepted in the Institute.''