FOSSIL ANIMAL REMAINS. 49 
wood, in which the specimens were permanently imbedded : 
the bones, scales, &c. were then varnished with a solution of 
mastic, and the ground coloured bluish grey, to imitate 
the Lias. I have had considerable practice in the dissection 
of skeletons imbedded in Lias, and having found the method 
previously described answer every purpose, have not em- 
ployed that recommended by Mr. Hawkins. 
The scales of reptiles and fishes, either in connected 
masses or detached, are frequently met with in great per- 
fection, and sometimes associated with the teeth and bones. 
In the Lias, even the remains of the skin and integuments 
(Bd. pl. 10) have been discovered. Whenever any part of 
a skeleton is found lying in shale or stone, the surrounding 
block should therefore be carefully examined, to ascertain if 
there be traces of the skin or integuments, before any 
part is removed by the chisel. The specimen of an Ichthyo- 
saurian paddle, figured in the second volume of this work, 
affords a good illustration of the propriety of this caution. 
Around the bones are seen the carbonized remains of the 
cartilaginous fringe that supported the integuments, and 
thus the perfect form of the paddle has been ascertained ; 
had the surrounding stone been chiselled away, the most 
important characters would have been obliterated, as pro- 
bably they have been in numerous instances. 
- Nodular masses of indurated clay containing fishes, are 
often broken with difficulty in such a manner as will expose 
the enclosed fossil, for the nodule generally splits in various 
directions, and the specimen is irreparably mutilated or 
defaced. My friend Sir Woodbine Parish informs me that 
by subjecting such nodules to a high temperature—but not 
to a red heat—and then plunging them in cold water, they 
may when dry, by a properly directed blow of a hammer, 
be readily fractured in a direction parallel with the plane 
of the imbedded fossil, and the fish be laid bare in the most 
favourable position. 
VOL. I. E 
