[32] Communicated by Professor John Phillips.
The cancellated structure (that is, the little cells or pores) of the long-bones of mammalia, found in caverns in England and Germany, and in the breccia of Gibraltar, and the conglomerates of Ava and the Sub-Himalaya mountains, &c., are often filled with crystallized carbonate of lime. In the Wealden deposits the osseous carapaces and plastrons of Turtles, and the bones and teeth of Crocodiles, Lizards, &c., are almost without exception heavy, and of various shades of brown or umber, from the infiltration of solutions of carbonates and oxides of iron.
In some instances, bones of a jet black are imbedded in the white calciferous grit; the phosphoric acid in the original organism having combined with iron and produced a deep blue or black phosphate of that mineral, and left the surrounding stone uncoloured.
Petrifaction by the infiltration of calcareous solutions is equally common; and the medullary cavities of the bones are frequently lined or filled with white calc-spar; brilliant pyrites also enters into the composition of these fossils, frosting over with a golden metallic deposit the cavities and fissures.
FOSSIL BONES.
The permeation of the teeth by mineral matter, produces beautiful examples of the tissues of those organs; the dentine is often stained throughout with a rich sienna tint, and sections viewed under the microscope by transmitted light, reveal the character and distribution of the calcigerous tubes more clearly even than in recent specimens.
It is extremely rare that osseous structures are found petrified by flint; among the many thousands of bones which I have extracted from the rocks, or have seen in collections, I know but of one instance of a silicified vertebra, that of a Mosasaurus, from a chalk-pit near Brighton; and a few bones and scales of fishes. But notwithstanding the weight and apparent solidity imparted by these modes of mineralization, the substance is generally rendered extremely brittle, so that the development of the bones from the stone in which they are imbedded, and the removal of the hard ferrugino-calcareous crust investing them, is no easy task, but requires much tact, experience, and patience, to execute successfully.
Hints for collecting fossil bones.—The light, friable, porous bones, require great care in their removal from the deposit in which they are imbedded, whether it be clay, consolidated shingle, or limestone; if of considerable size, they will almost invariably break to pieces, and many examples will not admit of repair. It is therefore always desirable, before attempting to extract a large bone, to make a sketch of it; its form will thus be known, should it be destroyed; and if it crack into fragments that will admit of reunion, the drawing will be a valuable guide for the replacement of the separated parts. If only a few pieces remain, those which show any portion of the terminations, or joints, should be preserved, as they afford the most precise and important characters. The faithful record even of an imperfect and unknown fossil is not without value; and as the antiquary carefully preserves shreds of ancient manuscripts, in the hope that other documents may one day come to light, and enable him to interpret these now unintelligible records; so the geologist should treasure up every fragment of an undetermined organic remain, for the time may arrive, as I have often experienced, when specimens will be discovered that may illustrate its nature, and prove it to be of considerable interest.
The broken porous bones may be easily repaired by a hot weak solution of glue; and when the joinings are set, the bone should be saturated with thin glue, well brushed in, and the surface be sponged clean with very hot water before the cement is congealed. When dry, the specimens will be found to possess considerable firmness and durability.[33] By this process the tusks of mammoths and elephants may be restored, however much crushed; time, patience, and a little dexterity, only are required, to convert a heap of mere fragments into a valuable relic of the ancient world.