May, 1922. 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 

 INJUDICIOUS FOSSIL COLLECTING 



93 



By E. J. Whittaker 



A CERTAIN wise man called Pope many years 

 ago declared that "a little knowledge is a 

 dangerous thing." With prophetic vision he 

 looked forward into the twentieth century when 

 the general public would be treated to many and 

 varied forms of "little knowledge." One of the 

 most interesting developments in this regard is the 

 almost universal instruction in elementary natural 

 history. Boys and girls become scouts and 

 guides and sally forth to delve into or rather to 

 uproot the secrets of nature. With the natural 

 mpetuosity of youth this process often gives 

 results other than those expected and leads us 

 to conclude that a genuine love of nature, which 

 protects rather than destroys, is still dormant. 

 We have lately had frequent examples of this 

 tendency. In certain parts of New York state, 

 the girl guides have been so impressed by the 

 beauty of the trailing arbutus, encountered in 

 their natural history excursions, that it has now 

 ceased to exist. Why? It has been transplanted 

 to the city homes of the guides where it did not 

 stand a chance of surviving. In another part of 

 the same state a group of boy scouts, by indus- 

 trious application of the knowledge imparted 

 in a woodcraft and trapping course, have almost 

 exterminated the fauna of that area. Bird life 

 is being saved, not by the "little knowledge" of 

 the elementary courses in schools, but by further 

 intensive instruction, propaganda, and drastic 

 laws. The writer wishes to enter a plea on 

 behalf of a class of objects which cannot defend 

 themselves, whose destruction cannot be repaired, 

 and which can suffer extremely under the hands 

 of an inexperienced amateur collector, to wit, 

 fossils. 



Fossil collecting is an interesting and instruc- 

 tive pursuit and our knowledge of the distribution 

 of fossils has been increased quite as much by 

 the many collectors throughout the country as by 

 the professional palaeontologists. For the amateur 

 collector the article by Dr. E. M. Kindle, of the 

 Canadian Geological Survey, is very useful.* In 

 it is expressed the fact that haste is taboo and 

 hard work and patience are essential. This rule 

 does not appeal to many amateurs who still fail 

 to realize the importance of a fossil, with the 

 result that many of these remains are ruined by 

 careless and hurried attempts to extract them 

 from the matrix. A good example of this van- 



*KlNDLE, E. M., Fossil Collecting, Ottawa Naturalist, Vol. 

 XXIX, No. 10, Jan. 1916. 



dalism was observed a short time ago in Hull. 



The Hull limestone quarries have been famous 

 for many years on account of the abundance and 

 preservation of their fossil remains. Of these the 

 crinoids and cystids are most valuable on account 

 of their beauty, perfect preservation and rarity. 

 The fine collections of the late Elkaniah and 

 Walter Billings represent many years of en- 

 thusiastic search for these forms in this locality. 

 While looking over these beds the writer came 

 upon a heavy bed of hard limestone about ten 

 feet square whose surface was covered with 

 crinoids. Someone who had realized their value 

 had endeavoured to remove them and had suc- 

 ceeded only in ruining them all and leaving their 

 mangled remains to sadden the eyes of those who 

 followed. The only method of removing these 

 specimens was to channel carefully with a chisel 

 to a depth of at least half an inch all around the 

 individual fossil and then the whole could be 

 removed easily. But this might require half an 

 hour to obtain one specimen and the individual 

 who had desecrated this plot could not afford to 

 spend so much time and energy in getting one 

 perfect specimen which would have been a source 

 of pleasure to him for all time to come. For the 

 fossil has this advantage, it neither fades nor 

 decays after being gathered. This example at the 

 Hull quarries is mentioned because of local 

 interest, but the writer has observed similar 

 ravages elsewhere. So he wishes to incorporate an 

 unofficial "Society for the Protection of Fossils" 

 without officers or fees, but to whose tenets all who 

 are interested in and realize the importance of 

 these ancient remains should subscribe. Besides 

 the manual of instructions cited above the follow- 

 ing rules of ethics should govern its members: 



1. Do not endeavour to extract an important 

 or rare fossil without adequate tools and a proper 

 conception of the procedure to be followed. 

 It is better to leave it for the time, even to 

 another collector, than to destroy it. 



2. The preservation of the fossil is the main 

 object sought. It pays to take a little more 

 time to get the specimen out complete. 



3. Where specimens are scarce do not remove 

 every individual of each species which can be 

 seen at a given locality, thus emulating the 

 "game hog" in hunting. At a later date, to 

 back up or confirm previous data, it is advisable 

 to be able to relocate readily such forms. 

 Observance of the above rules of conduct, which 



