New-York tribune., 1884-02-02
sP0Rr FOR THE SCIENTIFIC.
FISHING WITH pIcKAxE AND cHIsEL.
THE SEARCH FOR FOSSIL FIsiIEs-wHERE TO flNi
THEM AND How-FossIL WHALES.

/ THE SEARCH FOR FOSSIL FISHES -NhihH ~ ''-''
| THEM AND How-FO8slL WHALES.
"Going minngi" asked TRIBUNE reporter
Of welknown scientist who evidently packing mp
| a kit Of tOGls.
mo" was the reply g. am going fishing" and takl1g
nm n hammer and chisei he added. Here's my Oa't'
rod hne and fxings in general The rockiish Is NY
speciality, and land the game every time. Thee Is 10
out Of season. They always with us, and better yep
| there Is waiting isr bites
"sone localities are better than others are they hot
| "Yes," replied the fisherman. "That Is the ohy
secret II yon don't happen 10 know the grouhu IL -
worse than useless TO try your lnck" 80,
81 suppose the secret he kept, them suggested the
reporter. .,,
do all that he can open the way for students ana SNOW
them the best grounds OF there are collectors
who happen upon spots for collecting and are silent
until they get what they want, but already nave c
collection of fossil fishes, and am only 100 giad 10 a''
Others ms perhaps nothing teaches so STRIKING lessoh
tbe wonderful history Of planet Iu these drawers
pointing TO the sides of the that were lined WIN
them arc the remains the fishes OF oceans that drcd
ND millions OF years ago In every they were iound
far away from salt water Many came from tue mountain
ranges thousands OF feet above the level OF me sea- "e
many more are from the Great West hundreds oi mics
from either ocean All this shows that untold ages ago
these localities have been great seas or oceans nhaDeu
| "a are our waters Of to-day that have been dried
M elevated their inhabitants being entombed In the
| hardening clay.
am off now for Sunderland, Mass he added. that
| is famous for It's fossil fishes. Otsr equally good
localities are at schoharle, " " parts OF the
Catskills. Milford. N. V, Cumberland, Nd hoorsto"h
Penn and sontbbury Conn. best way to work new
locality Is to examine the stone fences where oen
valuable specimens found The bones ana scaeS VI
course are all that remain; these have to be careuy to
moved and after practice you get so thh' tap o
the hammer will lay open the rock about where yon Wlh'
| au1 aci1a vou will
other the perfect cast Sometimes the chisel has to he
used and delicate specimens can be worked oui WIN
acids OF various kinds The earliest fossil hshes tau
more than two thousand have been discovered IN AMI ""
found in the schoharie grit aud were canos rerkape
creatures with bOny plates scales, regular arho
| They were related to our gar.lsbes and sturgeon
and stranger yet the reptiles They could move the
heads up aud down decidedly unnhlike arrangement.
Some had plates like green turtle, and paddles ms'e"
| OF fms, with which they moved along. They all had
curious yertebrated tails that s the veTteba EXTENDED
into the tail either centre upper lobe giving ueh
| a remarkable appearance. One Of these the Megach-
ys coming from coal age had such enormous tceth
that they would taken for those of crocodile some OF
them being inches long The head OF TINS monster
| was protected by Immense plates. The Astcroops was
from twenty 70 biry-Hve feet long. and was savage
creature Of the largest called the Dnchthy =
single massive plate occupied the centre OF the BACK
and wa more feet in length and breadth The
head was three IN diameter, and the mandbes were
two length 10y six inches IN depth ana soma Dohe
One which YOU might call the buckler fish had head
forlnedlke shield and prolonged backward into TWO
long points that the animal resenhled gigantic oluht
arrowhead Is eyes were very small and the top of
the head while the small body wac covered WIN fhon-
holdal scales Another called Phizodns, was cirlVo
ous dsh OF great size They FOUND in the mesons
and mari that mdcrlie the coal formation hna wiz,
them are found ferns land plants hcshwater shells ana
crabs. showing that the the locality where ihey were aus
covered estuary soperfccty some OF these snes
preserved, that every bole am c'ea tDe svi,oa PIE
can he examined especially In the Macropoina a mag
| were examined, the nr bladder, a body That took
It's place, s found, and is Away torn II evidently En-
could move with equal facility IN either deep o. shaGw
water one Of the most remaGkae % az en- nsn,s no ~ ay ~
The head about the size OF that OF grizzly bear short
like those OF n tiger. and equally as LARGE; Two
poTs Of ,hem cross G9eh "a y cScG SlISf scy on fi the
pGrheus and ,nany specimens were iond ny thr iaie
cnnth One fne specinen was found wealhcred ont by
wind and rain from "a mound the bank Of the solomon
in tic desert tracts near Fort Wallace Kansas. the
shore the great cetaceous sea that once was
'what was the largest fsh Of these ancient seas
.STT,c sIt were probably the largest The reply
Here Is "A tooth. taking one from drawer f0i Sce
~ - 4, A. si,1ar to those OF tho existlng genera 0f
shake Ii has The game srIratcd edge, and the fine polish
N0w if you take The Jaw. "a have done Of H e1lsths
shalkr arrange tleSe gigantic f0ssii teet -uI ~!
have mouth large enough TO drive horse hnd car
I'm, and the length OF The animal; II prop?ii1iOnnGqu
oy cr One hundred and twenty feet. Fine specimens oi
these teeth can bosecn IN the halls Of thc Ph.lhirIHa
the conniry is owned by Professor Homr IN Chac+ioi
3. G. This is the best locality Tor ihch tne beoH .etc
being great burying grounds for the creatures OF ths
lost age In referring to tooth smaller than thlS' olf
Iobn fIuner OF the College oi plyscns and Surgeons
nf ndop said lie length Of thc tooth from the Caichd
roaon Megal odcu APis,D) Is four inches e'Sht hhrT
with Il placed tooth Of an lnusaly ai islfcheh
of te iaref known living species oi Carohauas. the
length OF the base OF which i one men cSh ucS ah
that Of the longest OF its sides two inches thteo hcS
TN trot Wa nom shark about twenty long The
fos shark II hearing he Same proportion the teeth
ltaN lYtu tNp
scd i'm alr Jol. comparison Was from the nioceie teT
oT OF Malta and was third smaller than the
largest found ia America. Professor AgaSsM ha,c SUM
lar cnnnari.nus with lie results The teeth although
m ,r'"nd FOR ,Innu,nbcr6d ages stl IN many
re,ain their beautiful polish and the me seTFal'ohs OF
tho trenchan edges as perfect as "en mr. 9cp27itcu
on h removed from ono OF the basal angles the thin
LAYER OF enmnCed dontinc will hc found intact IN the
fossil aharks TOOTH glOssO petra, THIS esci - com
po-cd u animal substance and calcarcous EARN, ad
nearly in the same quantity as he recent hut the central
part Of the tooth has its animal substance IN state OF
| inucus interspcIred In the c1carcous matter ~.
Though whales are fishes, they are included IN
the game Of the geological haher1nan ~ wandering
through Georgia. al one place struck WIN INC e
culiar sumps that ~ man had used 20 inaEc i1S o
ana without approaching them closely asked him bow
informed mo that they not roots bul bonfs and
upon examination found that they Notp parts ~ INC
vrtcbn OF fossil whales tat bad exists4 here ~ te
time The plantation was The bottom OI-t.e Aul'lI
They had been pl3nged Hp ~ gIfat & @ Ii I'm nv Io
mako fences Of Whales have hccn found on ho hs ia
the vicinity OF Lake chanPldn 'a5 az a iG
Snowman once secured the bones 81 olo 'hn aIu III
Them OUT, exhibiting them rs a Sca-serpcut Ah"'her
hugo was fOnnd on an hiahd on bno
Maine coast IFS bonca aOusng the curiosity anu ""huc
DO p tie ishes Of to-day resemble fossil one.l asked
me sI"e Do replied the naturalist. a good example
Is tho Port Jackson shark at IL cos'v ail I" ehnc
fossil forms while the Ccralous of Ar,a ana several
others closely Tpacnblc their ancestors "i long "go
|
CovCE lLED BEHIND 7HE CLUB.