Miscellaneous. 409 
= Childhood” (H. Kirke White), Mr. W.'H. Smith— 
“An Ode to Winter’, (Campbell), Mr. J. B. Rossiter.— 
“The Hon. Mr. Sucklethumbkin’s Story ” (Ingoldsby), Mr. 
Charles Rollason.—This day (March 1) a paper on the 
“Negro” will be read by Mr. F. J. Danks. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
PRESERVATION OF FOSSILS.—Owing to the loose mineral 
character of the Tertiary deposits, in which most of the 
Mammalian and other vertebrate remains are found, con- 
sisting as these deposits do of sands, gravels, clay, or peat, 
their fossils are necessarily in a more or less friable condi- 
tion, difficult to preserve entire, or to handle for scientific 
examination with safety. The substances generally used 
are glue or gelatine. For the bones of the larger Mam- 
malia there is nothing better than the best glue; whilst for 
the more delicate bones of the smaller Mammals, Birds and 
Fishes, gelatine is the best, being purer, dissolving more 
easily, and imparting but little, if any, colour to the fossil. 
The consistency of these substances when used will have 
to be varied according to the structure of the bone; andas 
they also differ greatly in quality, it is impossible to lay 
down any definite rule as to the exact proportions to be 
used with a given quantity of water; this must be left to 
the judgment of the operator. Asa general rule, however, 
all bones which have a coarse cellular structure, as the ends 
of large limb-bones, deer-antlers, &c., and also specimens 
from some deposits—for example, the peat-bed near Col- 
chester, the fossils from which have their internal cellular 
structure either totally or partially destroyed—require the 
glue-solution to be of a consistency which will form a stiff 
jelly when cold; whilst for bones of a compact structure a 
much thinner solution, about the consistency of ordinary 
size, will suffice ; if the solution is too thick, it clogs the av- 
sorbing power at the surface, and prevents its penetrating 
to all parts of the bone. The fossils should be thoroughly 
dried and cleaned from as much of the matrix as can be 
removed with safety; and if it can be managed, warmed 
before being placed in the solution. When the glue is all 
