1 1 o Life of a Fossil Hunter 



around the specimen, and, hewing down the outside 

 rock two or three inches, make a frame of 2 x 4 lum- 

 ber, cover the bones with oiled paper, and fill the 

 frame with plaster. As the fossil rarely lies level, 

 it is necessary to have the cover ready to nail on, 

 a board at a time, while the plaster is being poured 

 in. This results in a panel of even thickness, with 

 every bone in or near its original position, or at least 

 in the position in which it was buried. 



After the plaster has hardened comes the difficult 

 labor of digging the rock away from underneath. 

 One has to lie on one's left side and work with a 

 light pick, using great care, so as to cut away the 

 rock just enough to allow the frame to come down 

 by its own weight. If force is used very likely the 

 rock, with its enclosed fossil, will be torn from the 

 frame, and the specimen ruined. Afterwards the 

 rock is leveled off even with the frame, and the bot- 

 tom nailed on. The case is then placed in a larger 

 box with excelsior carefully packed around it. 



The illustration (Fig. 18) shows a huge panel in 

 process of being cut out. George and I spent two 

 weeks of heavy labor upon another. Luckily, it was 

 preserved in chalk hard enough to allow of its being 

 lifted without breaking. The slab was about four 

 inches thick, and weighed at least six hundred 

 pounds, yet he and I handled it entirely alone, get- 

 ting it boxed and into the wagon ourselves. 



