SKETCH 7: SMALL STONE-CUTTER'S CHISEL.
For packing the specimens. A stock of strong paper. Sealing-wax. Writing-paper, cut into labels. Thick gum-water, to cement the labels to the specimens.
For the Conveyance of specimens. A large bag of leather, with straps for the shoulders. Strong canvas bags, of smaller size, are very convenient for subdivision and arrangement. For the protection of crystals, or delicate petrifactions, etc., wool or cotton are necessary; and small wooden boxes (like those used for holding wafers) are sometimes required. For distant carriage, strong wooden boxes, casks, or baskets.
The following are either essential, or useful in various degrees, for obtaining and recording observations.
Pocket Memorandum-Books, of sufficient size to admit sketches.
A Pocket Compass.
A Measuring-Tape, of fifty feet, or more.
A Telescope.
A Camera Lucida.
A Box of Colours.
The best maps should always be sought for: And, the true economy to the traveller being that which saves time, it is best to mark, or even colour the map, in the field. Notes inserted on imperfect maps, or deduced afterwards from memoranda, are less authentic; and the process is frequently neglected.
PORTABLE-BAROMETERS, with detached thermometers, are desirable; and the best instruments are ultimately the cheapest. But, unfortunately, barometers of every construction are very easily damaged or deranged. The accurate determination of heights, however, though very interesting to physical geography, is comparatively of little importance to the geologist.
If the collector be a surveyor, he will know best to what purpose a Pocket Sextant, or small Theodolite, is applicable: the measurement of distances, of heights, and of the inclination of strata, etc.