APPENDIX D. 



HINTS FOR COLLECTING AND PREPARING 

 FOSSIL INVERTEBRATES. 



A. Outfit for Collecting. 



The outfit needed for collecting invertebrate fossils need not be 

 very elaborate. The following articles are recommended : 



(a) Collecting Bag. — A leather or canvas collecting bag, with 

 shoulder strap and flap and buckle. A convenient size is 13x13 

 inches. The larger canvas hunting bags with leather binding are 

 very satisfactory. Discarded army knapsacks, obtainable at little 

 cost, are very serviceable. 



(b) Hammers. — Various hammers of moderate weight will be 

 found useful according to the nature of the rock. A brick-layer's 

 hammer with the peen edge at right angles to the handle is most 

 useful in shales, being especially serviceable in prying up layers 

 which are subsequently split. For splitting layers of shaly rock, a 

 hammer with the peen edge parallel to the length of the handle is 

 most serviceable. This is the most desirable when one is taking 

 but one hammer into the field. A miner's pick is the least desirable 

 hammer for palseontological work, except where the rock is strongly 

 weathered. All hammers should have square faces, with the 

 corners intact. It is a mistake to have the weight of the hammer 

 exceed a pound or a pound and a half for most work. Of course 

 a sledge hammer will be found useful for breaking large masses 

 of sandstone or limestone. It is well to have the entire length of 

 the hammer and handle just one foot; this will be useful in measur- 

 ing thicknesses of beds rapidly. 



(c) Chisels, etc. — Cold chisels of several sizes, some tempered 

 for limestone cutting and some for sandstones are useful, and some- 

 times necessary. The larger ones are often useful as wedges for 

 prying off fragments or layers; steel wedges are useful for this 

 purpose. Short and well-tempered drills of different sizes will be 

 found of use in removing specimens from hard rocks or splitting 



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