46 THE MEDALS OF CREATION. Cnap. IIL. 
manuscripts, in the hope that other documents may one — 
day come to light, and enable him to interpret these now 4 
unintelligible records ; so the geologist should treasure up i 
every fragment of an undetermined organic remain, for — 
the time may arrive, as I have often experienced, when — 
specimens will be discovered that may illustrate its nature, — 
and prove it to be of considerable interest. 
The broken porous bones may be easily repaired by a_ 
hot weak solution of glue; and when the joinings are set,” 
the bone should be saturated with thin glue, well brushed 
in, and the surface be sponged clean with very hot water 
before the cement is congealed. When dry, the specimens will | 
be found to possess considerable firmness and durability.* 
By this process the tusks of mammoths and elephants may 
be restored, however much crushed; time, patience, and a_ 
little dexterity, only are required, to convert a heap of mere 
fragments into a valuable relic of the ancient world. ‘ 
When the bones are tolerably perfect, but dry and friable 
from the loss of their animal oil, they may be made 
durable by saturating them with drying oil, and exposing — 
them to a considerable degree of heat ; in this manner the 
magnificent skeletons of the sloth tribe, the Megatherium, : 
and Mylodon, in the Hunterian Museum, were prepared. — 
When a bone appears as if cracked into numerous pieces — 
before its removal, but still preserves its form, the only 
method by which it can be successfully extracted, is by — 
spreading over it a thick layer of plaster of Paris, which 
should be used of the consistence of cream ; when it sets, 
(which, if the plaster be recently prepared, will be in the 
course of a few minutes,) the specimen may be carefully — 
extricated, and the plaster removed or not, according to — 
the nature of the fossil, and the parts to be displayed. — 
The bones of the large reptiles which occur in the Wealden : 
* A liquid, called ‘‘ Neuber’s liquid glue,” is an excellent cement 4 
for this purpose: it is sold at No, 54, New Oxford Street, London, 
