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always, if you can, to get out the rock on both sides, — that is, the 

 fossil and the impression of it, — when it is a delicate specimen : — 

 then tie these two together, strongly and tightly, and wrap the whole 

 in firm, but not too thick, paper. If you cannot get both sides, 

 still avoid cotton-wool as you would the plague. It sticks to the 

 damp fossil, and can never be entirely removed, and it does not pro- 

 tect it at all. Even where such a fossil as a tooth, jaw, or other brittle 

 specimen, is got out quite free from the rock, the only way in which 

 cotton-wool can be safely used, is for you first to wrap the fossil in 

 silver paper, and then enclose it, very loosely, in a soft layer of what 

 is called the " medicated" cotton-wool.* In all other cases, take a 

 piece of paper, — Hugh Miller used to say that there was nothing like 

 a Conservative Newspaper to wrap fossils in, — and wrap it upright, 

 and tightly, round the edges of the fossil, — the latter being held at 

 a right angle to the paper. The fossil is thus enclosed in a paper 

 tube, touching it only at the outer edge. Close this tube, in one 

 fold, flat and firm, at the bottom. Draw it gently over at the top, 

 and fold it down, leaving as much of a hollow as you can, close over 

 the face of the specimen. Pack all your specimens closely, side by 

 side, in chip boxes. Of course the heaviest must be put at the 

 bottom. The paper will then be stiff enough to bear a double row 

 without injury, and elastic enough to ensure the whole safe from any 

 injury through the shake of travelling. "When you get home, place 

 each on a clean stone, and gently but thoroughly syringe the face of 

 each with clean soft water, applied with a fine garden syringe. Most 

 specimens will come from under this process in a state you would 

 not deem possible ; — every edge sharp and clear, and structure 

 plainly seen which you will search for in vain if you do not adopt 

 the method which, from large experience of its use, I recommend. 

 The less delicate fossils do not need such care. But all should be 

 wrapped in paper, with enough folds to save them, by the elasticity 

 of the paper, from injury through the rubbing, in carriage, of one 

 against the other. If a fossil is got from the seacoast, always soak 

 it for a couple of days in soft water, frequently changed. Then 

 bake it in a slow oven, till it is thoroughly dry. You will thus 

 save it from that action of the salt which has ruined so many a 



* The " medicated" cotton-wool is the common cotton-wool carded out and freed 

 from the lumps and knots which are found in common sorts. 



