532 CONFERENCE OF DELEGATES. 
that he had made out the complete succession at least in England. The fact that 
many of his conclusions have been questioned by subsequent observers on the same 
ground, shows how desirable it is that these intensive studies should be made 
repeatedly in each district before we are satisfied that we have a real knowledge of the 
facts. They can be best undertaken when there are sea-clifis or river-cliffs to give 
long sections, or where there happen to be exposures of series of beds in the courses of 
streams. 
Sometimes, however, when conditions have remained nearly uniform during the 
deposition of many layers of sediment, the majority of the fossils in an upper (or 
newer) bed are the same as those in a lower (or older) bed, only slightly modified 
during lapse of time. In these cases the course of evolution can be followed to a 
large extent in one and the same geological section, and no effort should be spared to 
collect and prepare everything, even if a large proportion of the specimens are dis- 
carded as soon as the detailed study of them is complete. As examples of such 
research may be specially mentioned the important observations which have been 
made during recent years on the evolution of certain animals as they are traced by 
fossils through the successive layers of the English Chalk. They were begun by the 
late Dr. Arthur W. Rowe who discovered and described the changes in some sea-urchins, 
and they were continued by Dr. W. K. Spencer on star-fishes, and by Dr. W. D. Lang 
on polyzoans. 
I have mentioned that by studying the succession of the fossils we hope to discover 
some of the general principles in the evolution of the groups represented. If we 
succeed, one result will be the simplification of the naming of the specimens. So long 
ago as 1858, when the Geologists’ Association was founded, the difficulty of naming 
fossils was already recognised, and it was one of the special objects of the Association 
to ensure mutual help in the labelling of all fossils with ‘ the correct names.’ During 
more recent years difficulties have greatly increased, and in many groups both generic 
and specific names have multiplied with so little reason and in so haphazard a manner, 
that nomenclature is now usually bewildering. Among Ammonites and Brachiopods, 
for example, almost every specimen described in some recent publications seems to 
have a separate name, and this is often given without any tangible diagnosis. If only, 
by the intensive study of lineages, we could discover the changes passed through in 
time in each well-marked form, it would suffice to employ specific names in as wide a 
sense as that adopted by most of the older naturalists, and to distinguish between 
the immature traits of its earliest representatives, the marks of vigour in its most 
flourishing time, and the oncoming signs of old age just before its disappearance. 
These stages need have no separate names—they can be described as immature, 
dominant, or senile forms respectively, or may even be indicated by the technical 
terms which are already in use by some who study lineages. 
Perhaps the average collector will prefer to leave the naming of his fossils to 
specialists who have had the opportunity of making detailed studies of the several 
groups. Even so, he can much facilitate this work by carefully preparing the speci- 
mens and making them ready for study. The patient cleaning of fossils, and the 
devising of methods of displaying their structures, make a fascinating occupation ; 
and success provides satisfaction akin to that which an artist feels when he has com- 
pleted a masterpiece. He may merely divest them of surrounding matrix by using 
needles and knives, as did Mantell when he first cleaned fishes from the Enelish 
Chalk; or he may follow Rowe and others in more delicate preparation by metal 
brushes and other tools worked by the dentists’ engine. He may devise means of 
uncovering parts of limestone fossils by solution in acid, following the lead of Norman 
Glass when he first displayed for study the loops and spirals inside fossil Brachiopods. 
If he can obtain the necessary apparatus, he may even make serial sections in various 
ways. He will, however, experience the greatest satisfaction and do the best service 
by studying each individual case, and discovering appropriate means. Students of 
fossil plants have been particularly successful in this way, and Dr. O. M. B. Bulman’s 
new preparations of Dendroid Graptolites and the remarkable fossil Paleospondylus 
may be mentioned as specially ingenious achievements. 
One who has not access to much literature of the subject may say that the 
collecting and preparation of rocks and fossils in the manner I have indicated are 
tasks beyond the power of the average amateur. Fortunately, however, there are 
now helpful books giving both practical and theoretical instruction, and I would 
particularly mention the late Prof. Grenville Cole’s ‘ Aids in Practical Geology ’ and 
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