168 



I Senate 



It would not be satisfactory to the student, nor even to the cursory ex- 

 aminer, to leave unfigured and undescribed, fragments or imperfect 

 specimens of fossils, since the collection of every one, and particularly 

 of beginners, must necessarily consist in part of such, from the difficulty 

 and time required to obtain perfect ones. It is therefore desirable from 

 time to time to present the additional knowledge acquired by the fortu- 

 nate discovery of a fossil in natural exposures, or their constant devel- 

 opment from the increased number of quarries and excavations from 

 public improvements. In this way those species originally figured in 

 an imperfect condition may be represented in their perfect state ; and 

 the difficulty and annoyance avoided that may arise, and has often arisen, 

 from describing as two species parts of the same animal. 



Moreover, undescribed species can be of little use to the collection of 

 an amateur ; and however many he may have thus circumstanced, he 

 cannot use them to advantage in the ordinary mode of exchange for 

 others, since they are not designated by name. A fossil to be valuable in 

 the eyes of a geologist or palaeontologist, must have a name and the true 

 geological position given, or it sinks in his estimation at once to a mere 

 object of curiosity ; while otherwise, it has a place not only in its zoologi- 

 cal relations, but also in the order of its succession, or time, doubly im- 

 portant to the naturalist. 



Since it is quite impossible, with the limited means possessed by the 

 palflBontologist, to collect and describe every species, and since it must 

 be expected that new species will be obtained, for the next half century, 

 from the rocks already examined it is evident that every year will pro- 

 duce something to be done, to bring the subject up to the best know- 

 ledge we possess. It is equally true that whatever means are adopt- 

 ed, much must still remain to be discovered. Excavations for railroads, 

 canals, and the improvement of highways, as well as the increased 

 number of quarries opened to supply the wants of an increasing popula- 

 tion, will constantly bring to light new fossils, as well as other objects 

 of natural science. If every student or collector finding fossils unde- 

 scribed in the State work on Palaeontology, would forward them to the 

 curator of the Geological Rooms at Albany, the annual reports of the 

 Regents oflfer an opportunity for having them properly described and 

 figured ; thus permanently preserving in the Slate collection the origi- 

 nals of these fossils, while it is adding to his own knowledge of the sub- 

 ject and enhancing the interest and value of his collection. Many 

 collectors, residing upon the ground, have it in their power to furnish 

 iKJlter specimens to the State collection, than it has been in the power 



