HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



9i 



GEOLOGY. 



The Royal Dublin Society. — We are much 

 pleased to note that Mr. G. H. Kinahan, M.R.I.A., 

 the author of the "Geology of Ireland," which 

 we had recently the opportunity of reviewing in our 

 pages, has been elected president of this society. 



Pebbles with Upper-Ludlow Fossils in the 

 Lower Carboniferous Conglomerates of 

 North Wales. — At a recent meeting of the Geo- 

 logical Society, a very interesting paper on the above 

 subject was read by Aubrey Strahan, and Alfred O. 

 Walker. The authors described the mode of occur- 

 rence near Abergele of certain lower carboniferous 

 conglomerates, best exposed in Ffernant Dingle, and 

 especially of one containing numerous red and green 

 sandstone pebbles, which enclose fossils [of Upper 

 Ludlow forms, and lying above the so-called "Bastard 

 Limestone." From the arrangement of the beds the 

 authors believe that they may have been deposited 

 against a bank or sloping surface of Wenlock shale ; 

 and they state that the great majority of the pebbles 

 in the conglomerate are quite unlike any rock known 

 in the district, but closely resemble the Upper Lud- 

 low beds of Kendal and Central Wales. The 

 authors discuss the origin of the pebbles, and suggest 

 "the probable extension of the Ludlow beds under 

 Lancashire as the most likely source from which they 

 can have been derived." ' 



Preserving Fossils. — Prof. W. Boyd-Dawkins 

 in an appendix to his "Cave Hunting" gives the 

 following directions for the preservation of remains 

 from caves : "The fossil bones and teeth, which have 

 very generally lost their gelatine and have a tendency 

 to crumble and split to pieces in drying, should be 

 gradually dried, and from time to time saturated with 

 a weak hot solution of gelatine or glue. Silicate of 

 soda, sometimes called "liquid glass," or melted 

 paraffin (not the oil), may also be used for the same 

 purpose. If the bones are extremely soft, they may 

 be rescued from destruction by letting them dry in 

 the matrix, saturating them and the matrix with a 

 solution of gelatine, and then clearing off the latter." 

 — C. R. L. 



Preserving Fossils. — I always use a solution 

 made by the Indestructible Paint Co., 27 Cannon 

 Street, E.C. Some years ago it effectually water- 

 proofed (so to speak) some Portland stone columns 

 to which I applied it, making their surface as hard 

 as flint. Hence I have used it on fossils and find 

 that it renders even chalk perfectly hard. I recently 

 saturated some impressions of sponges, which we 

 all know will hardly bear touching, and find that 

 now they might almost be brushed without injury. 

 It is hardly necessary to add that the solution is 

 perfectly colourless, and that it leaves not the slightest 

 perceptible deposit. The cost is very trifling, and as 

 the company made me for this express purpose a pint 

 of solution for two or three shillings, I have no doubt 



your correspondent could get what he wanted. He 

 will not be disappointed. — F. IT. 



Methods of Preserving Fossils. — In Science- 

 Gossip for February, a correspondent W. G., asks for 

 information as to the best method of preserving mam- 

 malian bones and other fossils, saying that he had 

 been advised to paint them over with a hot solution 

 of gelatine, but had not found the result very satis- 

 factory. In the March number, Mr. J. W. Carr re- 

 commends that they should be painted with thin gum. 

 Mr. Carr may have succeeded with this to a certain 

 extent, if by painting he really means soaking, for I 

 suspect that the reason why W. G. did not succeed 

 with the gelatine may have been that he did not soak 

 the fossils sufficiently ; if the bones were at all large 

 and were merely painted over with a thin solution of 

 gelatine, they certainly would not become very much 

 harder by such a process. For the bones of the 

 larger mammalia glue is the best material ; it should 

 be prepared in a vessel which is large enough to 

 admit the specimen, which should be lowered into it 

 on a sieve or a piece of perforated wire, and allowed 

 to remain in the solution for a few minutes, till it has 

 imbibed a sufficient amount of glue to replace the 

 lost animal matter, it may then be carefully taken out 

 and left to dry. If the bone is a perfect one, with 

 epiphyses, &c, the operation may have to be repeated, 

 and it is a good plan to remove a small portion of the 

 surface bone so as to admit the solution freely into 

 the interior ; when the specimen is taken out, the 

 fragment of bone can be carefully replaced. For all 

 the smaller bones and for mollusca extracted from 

 sands or loams, gelatine is preferable ; like the glue 

 it should be used while hot and in the manner above 

 described ; or it may be ladled over the fossil if it is 

 very delicate and tender. A thin solution of gum- 

 arabic or gum tragacanth is useful for painting over 

 the surface of fossils from the lias or coal measures to 

 prevent their scaling or chipping. As regards chalk 

 fossils my experience is that those from inland localities 

 seldom need any preservative process, but that those 

 collected from sea cliffs, being saturated with salt 

 water, generally effloresce and split up, unless they 

 have been well soaked in fresh water. As soon as 

 they are brought home they should be put in a basin 

 of fresh water and left there for a day or two ; then 

 they may be taken out, trimmed and cleaned, and 

 replaced in clean fresh water, where they should 

 remain for three or four weeks, the water being 

 changed at least once every week. I have always 

 found this plan effectual. In the "Geological 

 Magazine," vol. ii. p. 239, your readers will find a 

 short article by Mr. Davies, of the British Museum, 

 in which instructions for preserving mammalian 

 remains are given. Some hints on trimming, cleaning, 

 and preserving fossils will be given in the new edition 

 of Penning's "Field Geology," now in the press. — 

 A. J. Jukes Browne, High gate. 



