It is usually necessary to do the final cleaning and preparation of fossils at home or in the laboratory, for most fossils brought in from the field require considerable preparation before they are ready for display.
Excess matrix should be carefully removed with hammer and chisel; blows should always be directed away from the [fossil]. Smaller tools (needles, tweezers, and awls) should be used in the final preparation stage, and one should work carefully to avoid damaging the specimen. Before starting the final cleaning, it will be helpful to place the fossils in water and let them soak overnight. This will loosen much of the excess [rock], and most of the softer material can then be removed with a small scrub brush or tooth brush. Mounted needles can be used to clean more delicate specimens or around the smaller structures of larger fossils. It may be advisable to use the magnifying glass when working with small fossils or with delicate surface structures of larger specimens.
Broken fossils can be repaired with clear plastic household cement, and specimens that are crumbling may be coated with pure white shellac, thinned collodion, or clear nail polish. The latter is preferred as it is not as likely to crack. Fragments of bone are particularly apt to crumble upon exposure to the air. This type of [fossil] is normally quite fragile and should be excavated with great care and shellaced as soon as dry.
Dilute hydrochloric acid may be used in removing silicified fossils from a [calcareous] matrix. The material to be etched should be placed in a pottery or glass container and covered with water. Acid should then be added to the water very slowly and until large numbers of bubbles are given off. Each time the bubbling ceases, more acid should be added and this process should be repeated until the [fossil] is free of matrix. This procedure should be carried on in a well-ventilated place, and the acid should be handled with extreme caution. Hydrochloric acid can cause damage or serious injury and the fumes are extremely corrosive.
HOW FOSSILS ARE NAMED
In order to get the maximum pleasure out of [fossil] collecting, most amateur paleontologists want to identify and classify the fossils that they have collected. This requires some knowledge of how fossils are classified and how they receive their scientific names.
THE SCIENCE OF CLASSIFICATION
The number of organisms, both living and extinct, is so great that some [system] of classification is needed to link them all together. Many fossils bear distinct similarities to plants and animals that are living today, and for this reason paleontological classification is similar to that used to classify modern organisms. This system, known as the system of [binomial nomenclature], was first used consistently in 1758 by Linné (or Linnaeus), an early Swedish naturalist.
Scientific names established in accordance with the principles of [binomial nomenclature] consist of two parts: the generic (or genus) name and the trivial name. These names are commonly derived from Greek or Latin words which are usually descriptive of the organism or [fossil] being named. They may, however, be derived from the names of people or places, and in such instances the names are always Latinized. Greek or Latin is used because they are “dead” languages and not subject to change. They are also “international” languages in that scientists all over the world can use the same names regardless of what language they write in. The [system] of binomial nomenclature has led to the development of the science of [taxonomy], the systematic classification and naming of plants and animals according to their relationships.