HANDBOOK OF FOSSILS. 75 



the locality from which it was procured, and fourthly the date 

 when acquired, thus 



Limestone. 



Lower Carboniferous. 



Quarry, I mile N. W. of 



21. 8. 8- 



ruling a neat line at the top and bottom (red ink lines give a 

 more finished appearance than black). When the label is dry, 

 damp it to render it more pliant, and gum it on to the flattest 

 available surface of the specimen, pressing it well into any small 

 inequalities that it may hold the firmer. A small quantity of 

 pure glycerine (about an eighth part) should be added to the gum 

 before use, in order to prevent its drying hard and brittle. The 

 specimen is now ready to place in its tray and be put away in 

 the cabinet. 



In the next place, pick out the fossils which you obtained from 

 the limestone. With the cold chisel set in its block of wood, 

 and the trimming hammer, remove as much of the surrounding 

 rock (matrix] as you can without damaging the fossil, and with 

 a smaller chisel any pieces that may be sticking to and obscuring 

 it. Fossils in soft limestone, such as chalk, are best cleaned 

 with an old penknife, and needles fixed into wooden handles, 

 and finished off by the application of, water with a nail-brush. 

 Should you have the misfortune to break any specimen in the 

 process ot trimming, it should at once be mended. The most 

 effectual cement for this purpose is made by simply dissolving 

 isinglass in acetic acid, or, where the specimen contains much 

 iron pyrites, and there would be a danger in starting decom- 

 position, shellac dissolved in spirits of wine. When, however, 

 neither of these are handy, chalk scraped with a penknife into 

 a powder, and mixed with gum to the consistency of a thick 

 paste, answers admirably. Failing this, however, gum alone will 

 frequently suffice. 



The next thing is to place the like kinds together in their 

 several trays, writing a label, as before, for each tray, but leaving 

 a blank space at the top for the insertion of the name when 

 ascertained. The commoner sorts may be named from the 

 figures of them given in the text-books (see list at the back of the 

 title page) ; but failing this, it will be the best plan to seek the 

 help of any friends who have collections, or to take the fossils to 

 some museum, and compare them with the named specimens 

 there exhibited. The label may be laid at the bottom of the 

 tray with the fossils loose on' the top of it, each fossil being 

 marked with a number corresponding to one on the label. 



