112 ANIMALS OF THE PAST 
we have acquired a great deal of information 
regarding the inhabitants of the ancient world. 
This is particularly true of our own western 
ee 
SS oe — 
ee oe eee Tyee, hee 
el -_ 
country, where a vast amount of collecting has — 
been done, although very much remains to be 
done in the matter of perfecting this knowl- 
edge, and hosts of new animals remain to be 
discovered. For this information we are almost 
as much indebted to the collector who has 
gathered the needed material, and the prepar- 
ator whose patience and skill have made it 
available for study, as to the paleontologist 
who has interpreted the meaning of the 
bones. 
To collect successfully demands not only — 
a knowledge of the rocks in which fossils 
occur and of the localities where they are best 
exposed to view, but an eye quick to detect a 
piece of bone protruding from a rock or lying 
amongst the shale, and, above all, the ability 
to work a deposit to advantage after it has — 
been found. ‘The collector of living animals | 
hies to regions where there is plenty for bird | 
and beast to eat and drink, but the collector of — 
extinct animals cares little for what is on the © 
b, 
v 
