On Collecting Fossil Insects.—The localities in which the British collector may reasonably expect to discover fossil remains of Insects, are Stonesfield, where the elytra of beetles are by no means scarce,—Coalbrook Dale, in which relics of this class are sometimes, but very rarely, found in the ironstone nodules,—Bedford, Warwickshire, and the Wainlode and Aust Cliffs, for Lower Lias insects,—Dumbleton and Ilminster, for Upper Lias insects,—Dallards, near Dinton, and Stone, near Aylesbury, and the exposures of similar beds in Dorsetshire, for the Purbeck insects.
The white clays belonging to the Bagshot series of Bournemouth, Poole, and Corfe, so rich in beautifully preserved leaves and other parts of plants, should be carefully searched for insect remains, since these clays at Creech, near Corfe, have already afforded a few specimens.[504]
[504] Quart. Geol. Journ. vol. ix. p. 51.
At page 549 a few other English localities yielding these delicate and very interesting fossils are also indicated as having been lately discovered by some of our most acute and active geologists.
Should the student visit the celebrated sites of these fossils in France and Germany, namely, Aix, Œningen, Solenhofen, &c., he will have but little difficulty in obtaining an interesting series, at a moderate expense.
The marls and limestones in which insects occur are often of a laminated character, and in general readily split asunder in the direction favourable for the display of the insects. In some examples, only the form of the animal is seen through a thin opaque pellicle of calcareous earth, which may be removed by a penknife or graver, and the wings, elytra, antennæ, legs, &c. will thus be disclosed. A very thin coating of mastic varnish heightens the colours of such specimens, and renders them more durable.