A FEW HINTS ON LOCAL FOSSIL COLLECTING 105 
A German Professor, who published a work on the family 
group, noticed recently the frequent absence of this portion 
of theshellin the extinct Orthoceras, which led him to assert 
it was not a free swimming animal as was supposed, but 
moored in a vertical position at the sea-bottom, the base 
being buried in the muddy sediment. In this way he 
accounts for its absence. The extinct Ortheceras had a 
thin shell like a living Cephalopod, ‘‘ the Paper Nautilus,’’ 
the internal septa except the upper one empty. Soa slight 
injury may cause separation of its original form. Com- 
plete ones are rare, but not unknown, for I found several 
lying in plane of bedding in the Silurian rocks of Canada. 
The Niagara shales of Grimsby have produced many 
fossils in fine preservation, including Star-fishes and 
Crinoids, discovered by the late Dr. Pettit, and the shingle 
and base of the low cliffs along the lake shore, Winona, 
hold many interesting lower (Cambro sil) fossils. It may be 
necessary to state that igneous or metamorphic “‘ Granites,”’ 
Greenstones, are not fossiliferous. I found a young lad on 
the lake shore at Winona a few years ago who thought 
otherwise. 
ADDITIONAL NOTE, 
While the Geological Section feels thankful to the 
Council for providing us with some flat cases for the better 
display of our local fossils, as Curator of the Museum I have 
often deplored the loss we sustained by the removal to 
Dundurn of Mrs. Carey’s fine collection of modern sea- 
shells, Indian relics, and various foreign specimens, but un- 
fortunately things are coming in slowly to replace them, 
and the general public, while attracted to the lectures, do 
not appear to take much interest in the contents of our 
cases. The fact is, we have little to show them, and a 
Museum, to obtain or retain popularily, must display fresh 
acquisions from foreign places. I may not altogether wish 
to see a Museum converted into a mere “‘ curiosity shop,”’ 
yet Hamilton, at a future time, may perceive the necessity 
