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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



the photographer's dark room is not 

 free from her appealing ways. The en- 

 closed prints are from a piece of 

 sponge that I bought from Lockwood 

 & Palmer for my dark room work. 

 When I went to use it I found it had 

 not been "trimmed." It shows the 

 tubular growth very clearly. Each 

 tube resembles that marine curiosity, 

 "Venus' work basket." Perhaps you 

 may find a place for its photograph in 

 your magazine. 



Sincerely yours, 



G. B. Windsor. 



Anthracite Fossils. 



BY C. D. ROMIG," AUDENRIED, PENN. 



These fossils and specimens are di- 

 rectly connected with the formation of 

 anthracite in and around Carbon 

 County, near Hazleton, Pennsylvania, 

 the middle coal field as it is called. 



The pebbles are commonly called 

 potato stones on account of their gen- 

 eral shape which is somewhat like that 

 of a potato. They vary in size from 

 that of tiny pebbles to that of large 

 cobblestones. They belong to the con- 

 glomerate rock or pudding stone 

 which in substance is a mass of tl 



pebbles cemented by nature into a 

 mixture of sand not unlike our present 

 day composition of stones and sand 

 with cement in the rough. 



These conglomerate rocks are al- 

 most evervwhere in evidence through- 

 out this part of the coal field, ranging 

 m size from that of a boulder to that 

 of a fortress, between Mauch Chunk 

 and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, at a 

 b eight of from 1,200 to 1,900 feet above 

 sea level, they are very common. 

 House rocks is another term used in 

 speaking of these conglomerate rocks, 

 perhaps because they often resemble 

 houses in the distance. Some of these 

 rocks afford considerable shelter from 

 storms while others give no protection 

 whatever. Some stand up like an old 

 piece of masonry, others are tumbled 

 about like toy blocks. There are many 

 interesting and fantastic shapes among 

 tbese conglomerate rocks, and from 

 their summit many good views may 

 be obtained. The sheltering kinds 

 could tell some interesting stories 

 about man and beast, and there are oc- 

 casional traces of Indian occupation. 

 Stone implements, and once in a while 

 pottery, generally in fragments, are 



&. 



■V9 



A LEAFLET OF A FOSSIL FERN— PROBABLY PECOPTERIS. 



The impression shows the small , inged along the n typical example of the>e 



they are imbedded in the carboniferous ^!atc> of the G 



