where a somewhat simihir 

 t'oniiat ioii (>c(iii'>. lie iil)- 

 tailied intoi'iiiat u>ii in I'euai'd 

 to local eolleetors. iiiid was 

 aMe liiinseli' to gather a larj;'e 

 lliuiilier i>r specimens. 



The eolliH'tin^ in the Ohio 

 fields is hy no means an easy 

 task. ( )ne of I lie liesl-know ii 

 localities has been overurow n 

 by the city of CUncland. 

 The fossils oceni' in the core 

 of slaty conci-etioiis which a])- 

 ])ear sparinuly scattefed in 

 the >()l't !ilacl\ l)c\i)nian 

 shales of that locality. These 

 crumble almost like sand and 

 are weathered away durinu' 

 the changes of sjjrinu' and fall, 

 exposing here and there great 

 flat concretions usually of cir- 

 cular outline. Where the 

 shales afc (leei)ly cut down 

 by the waterways concretions 

 nuiy be found jutting out of 

 the banks, but. in such posi- 

 tions they cannot readily be 

 obtained until by contin- 

 ue I weatheritig they have 

 dropped into the IxmI of the 

 stream. On the other hand, 

 where the shales lie over large 

 surfaces the concretions can 

 readily be examined. Only 

 rafcly however do they con- 

 tain well-preserved fossils. 

 About fifty concretions con- 

 taining fossils were brought 

 to the laboratory of the de- 

 l)artment and will be worked 

 outdm-ing the ])resent winter. 

 It is hoped that they will 

 furnish important data for the 



:.V^^?^ 





Ohio i.s a classic field for the discovery of Devonian 

 fossil fishes. One of the ijcst-known localities has 

 been overgrown by the city of Cleveland. Tlio fossil 

 fishes of Ohio were mainly huge creatures whose 

 head and shoulders were covered with plates of bone 



The fossils occur in the core of slaly concretions, 

 usually flat and circular, formed by the weathering 

 awav of the soft shales 



luiderstanding of these enigmatic fishes. 



303 



