[11] COLLECTING AND PREPARING FOSSILS SCHUCHERT. 



4. Magnifying glass. — For field use this need not be expensive. An 

 ordinary pocket glass baviug lenses seven-eighths and one inch in 

 diameter, bound in rubber, and worth about 80 cents, will serve. For 

 study purposes a "Codding' on magnifier" of three-fourths of an inch 

 focus is serviceable, but a better glass is the "achromatic triplet" of 

 three-fourths of an inch focus. In the former the field is limited but 

 of good definition; the glass is worth $2. The "achromatic triplet" 

 has a large field, great depth of focus, with perfect definition, and is 

 sold for 16. 



5. Field label. — It is always desirable to record the locality of speci- 

 mens at the time of collecting. The field label used by the ISTational 

 Museum is shown on page 19. 



6. Noieboolc. — A notebook in which the paper is bound on the end 

 instead of the side is the most convenient kind. 



7. Newspaper for wrapping. — A supply of newspax)ers should invari- 

 ably be taken for wrapping the specimens. 



8. Tissue paper. — Delicate fossils are best protected by wrapping in 

 tissue paper before using newspapers or coarser packing. 



9. Wrapping twine. — The collector should carry a sux^jjly of twine for 

 tying small lats of fossils together in bundles. 



DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING FOSSIL PLANTS. ^ 



Fossil plants are rarely found in perfect condition, and usually occur 

 as impressions in rocks of difierent kinds, particularly in shales. They 

 are not often found loose, weathered out, and lying on tlie surface, as 

 is frequently the case with invertebrates. Good collections of fossil 

 plants are usually obtained by quarrying and splitting large masses of 

 rock. While the oldest x)lants are inhabitants of marine waters, and 

 are found sparingly associated with marine faunas in the older systems 

 of the Paleozoic era, yet the majority of known ancient x>lants are from 

 coastal, marsh, or lowland deposits, or have been blown or washed from 

 high lands into the water, and finally buried in sediment. Because of 

 the usual imj)erfection of fossil plants, it follows that the value of any 

 specimen will largely depend on the relative abundance and perfection 

 of the parts, in connection with the geologic age. All plants arc of 

 value, particularly those from the land of pre-Devonian tiDaes, and 

 should be carefully gathered, no matter how fragmentary. Coal-meas- 

 ure plants are usually found in good condition in the shale layers above 

 coal seams. In the fresh water Mesozoic formations the sandstones 

 often contain numerous well-preserved leaves. 



When fossil plants are abundant and the flora is extensive, it is 

 advisable to make large collections and to retain all those specimens 

 which present important or diagnostic characters. These are " the tips 

 of a leaf, a petiole [footstalk of a leaf] with a small part of the leaf 



'If the collector desires more detailed directions for collecting fossil plants, lie is 

 referred to Part B of this bulletin (by Prof. F. H. Knowlton) from which the quota- 

 tions here given have been taken. 



