TECHNIQUE 53 



impossible ; too little will sooner or later lead to vain 

 regrets. Stratigraphical divisions that seem adequate at 

 one time may prove far too vague in the light of further 

 research zonal stages undreamed of by one generation 

 become the dominant features of stratigraphy for the 

 next. 



It must be admitted that meticulous care in fixing 

 the horizons from which fossils have come is tedious, 

 and demands patience and stern self-control on the 

 part of a collector eager to " try his luck." But 

 without such precision, fossil-collecting ceases to have 

 a truly scientific value, degenerating into an idle, almost 

 vicious, hobby. No amount of subsequent repentance 

 can re-endow a fossil with the value that has been 

 thrown away by careless or casual collecting. 



(Ill) LARGE AND MINUTE FOSSILS 



In general the tools required by a field -palaeon- 

 tologist are essentially similar to those necessary for 

 any geological work. A light pickaxe, hammers, a 

 cold-chisel, a pair of pliers, a bricklayers' trowel, and 

 ample supplies of small boxes and old newspapers con- 

 stitute the apparatus most often useful. It is always 

 satisfactory to have at least two hammers (both with 

 square heads and chisel edges), one weighing about 

 a pound for quarrying or hitting the chisel, and one 

 quite small for trimming specimens. It is, of course, 

 needless to take all types of apparatus on most expedi- 

 tions; the selection will be determined by the nature 

 of the rocks likely to be encountered. Hammers and 

 chisels are of little use on soft clay (though the former 

 should always be taken in view of possible nodules), 

 while a trowel is ineffective on hard rocks. 



When the objects of search are macroscopic, fossils, 



