Evening star., 1943-06-20

ana easy 10 cOllect, ana the search
nishes excellent exercise. Second,
tools are required. Moreover, the
specimens are easy to prepare and
preserve. and are not injured by
dust, sunlight or insects. They are
quite easy to classify, in many
cases they may prove really profit
able, and in any event they will
teach you a great deal about the
earth, and particularly the portion
of it on which you happen to live.
Few Tools Needed.
The necessary tools are a geolo-
gist's hammer ian ordinary black
smiths or machinists hammer will
do), one or more cold chisels. a
pickax and a small spade. and a
strong canvas or leather bag. A
stone drill may be added later, but
it is not essential for beginners.
You can 60 alone on your trips into
the field, but you will find it more
fun to have a congenial companion
with you. Be sure to wear stout
shoes and old clothes, for collecting
rocks and minerals Is no parlor
pastime.
When you are ready to start out,
the.next problem is where to go. If
there are any stone quarries near
you. you can pick no better starting
place Pebbly beds of brooks and
rivers and rocky ledges also will
yield many interesting specimens.
A pebble that looks very ordinary
from the outside may surprise you
when it is broken open.
Probably the best plan for a be-
ginner is to try at first to find as
many different kinds of rocks as
he can in his immediate neighbor-
hood.
Many of our specimens can be OBJ
tanned for the mere picking UP
Others must be Clipped of ledges
or dug out of sand or clay. Be care
full in handling crystalline rocks, be-
cause they break easily. Don't try
to break the crystals of with a ham,
mer. but cut around them with your
chisel
One Of the facinating things
about collecting minerals is that
you never know when you may
stumble on something of real value.
Semi-precious stones are abundant
in many localities, as are meteorites.
Meteorites may prove to be very
valuable, so keep your eyes open for
them.
Separate Groups.
When your specimens are safely
at home, you must wash and clean
them. Then. after you have classi-
fed them by consulting a book on
mineralogy. you can label them. The
label should tell the name of the
mineral. the place and date of it's
discovery, and any interesting facts
about it. such as its composition,
characteristics and uses. You will
also wish to give it a number, and
this number should correspond to a
number in catalogue of all your
specimens which you should pre-
pare.
AS for keeping the specimens
themselves. the larger pieces may
be kept in open drawers or boxes. or
on shelves. But the smaller and
more delicate specimens should be
kept in glass-covered boxes or in
small glass bottles Another plan is
to attach a number of small speci-
mems to a wooden or cardboard tray
by means of wire or cement.
You should arrange your collec-
tion so that each group of minerals
is kept separate Thus, all the
forms of iron ore might be in one
group, various kinds of quartz in an
other, and so on. When mineral
has interesting commercial uses.
such as asbestos has, it Is a good
plan to show the mineral in its nat
ural state, and also as it is used
commercially.
In general, try to arrange the
specimens so that they exhibit their
most interesting and individual
characteristics and features. Aim
to make your collection as complete
as possible, and don't be discouraged
If you get away to a slow start. I'M
perfect or poor specimens which you
get at first will do for the time be-
ing and later they can be replaced
with better ones.
Remember, too, that the value of
any collection depends on the way
in which it is classified and exhib-
tied. You will be well repaid for
the time and care you put on this
phase of your hobby, because it will
teach you much that you never
knew before. And as your knowledge
increase the pastime will become
more and more fascinating.
Oh, Police