This is Throwback Thursday #114. In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc ...), please sent them to [email protected]. Thanks!
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For this week, we have an article written by Bill Bode called "Collect Fossils..... What a waste of time!". At the time it was published, January 1972, Bill was Assistant Paleontology Chairman of the Midwest Federation (MWFED). For those that don't know, The Midwest Federation of Mineralogical & Geological Societies is a federation of rock and mineral clubs in the midwest, from Ohio to South Dakota down to Missouri, Illinois included. It was established in 1940. ESCONI is a member and William Allaway, first president of ESCONI, was president of the MWFED from 1952-1953. Ben Hur Wilson was its first president. Not much is available about Bill Bode or the Wabash Valley Gem & Mineral Society. Does the club still exist? Please let us know if you have any details.
This article gives a good perspective of why Bill collected fossils... Have you ever considered why you collect?
"COLLECT FOSSILS..... WHAT A WASTE OF TIME!"
by Bill Bode, Assistant Paleontology Chairman Midwest Federation --- via Wabash Valley Gem & Mineral SocietyWhile admiring a fossil exhibit. at the show in Normal a couple of ag years ago, I overheard these words spoken by a man, who with his wife had paused momentarily in front of the exhibit I was enjoying. Both appeared to be the outdoor type so I just made the mental comments, "It takes all kinds" and "I wonder whatever turns you on!"
Reflecting on the reasons for my interest in fossil collecting, brings back memories. My wife and I first began our rockhounding by collecting minerals. Over the years, in the course of collecting in local quarries, we became more selective in our material. Eventually local minerals no longer held our interest, so trips began to take us farther and farther from home. However, collecting but once a year while on a vacation---as it soon became---is hardly enough to maintain an interest in any hobby, so gradually the lure of just mineral collecting began to wan.
While curating our mineral collection, I had identified our one and only fossil as "hickory nuts--fossilized". Later, this was corrected by a friend who informed me of its true nature. Now mistaking brachiopods--an animal--for hickory nuts didn't bother me as much as the thought that I had wasted many years of hunting without really looking. I had missed something--namely knowledge--how the rock was formed, its age, the method of deposition, the depth of the sea in the area where it was deposited as a sediment, and most of all, a glimpse of ancient life or of its inhabitants. All of these were there for the taking if I had only opened my mind.
Being a city boy, knowledge of any animal life had passed me by. After reading one of the elementary fossil books, a new world was opened up for me. From that day forward, it was fossils "that turned me on".
What is so fascinating about fossils? If you can, just imagine yourself picking up a piece of a fossil--and what might follow. The fossil fragment has outlines and likely some identification marks. From these, you can reconstruct--in your mind--the entire animal. You can estimate with accuracy its age, and you can predict some other fossils which should be found in the same vicinity. Of course this can happen only with acquired knowledge that comes mostly from a myriad of good paleontological books and by handling thousands of specimens. But every quarry in which you hunt becomes a new book to read, and every rock you pick up may contain some new animal over which to ponder.
There are many facets to the fossil hobby. Perhaps your interest may be in the perfect fossil; the one and only fossil of its kind; or a complete new fauna of fossils. Each has been found in the United States within the last ten years. Only knowledge of what you have found is required to complete this type of collection. It is possible you are passing an ideal location every day. Would collecting trilobites interest you? There are now 1,104 recognized genera of trilobites. A full collection of all genera --not to mention all of their species--would out value a complete Dana collection by many times.
Why not specialize in the rocks in your immediate area? By collecting the fauna of one age, or one quarry, you would be contributing to the advancement of paleontology as many areas in the United States have been hunted on a hit and miss method. Interested paleontologists will go out of their way in order to be able to study such collections.
Micro-paleontology is one of the fastest growing facets of the fossil hobby. Other than being plentiful and well documented, micro-fossils are in the majority, perfect fossils. A collection of this type requires a minimum of space, and it is ideal for the apartment dweller or any person who for any medical reasons prefers to limit physical exertion.
Vertebrate paleontology is not as popular as invertebrate pale ontology. The amount of money and time required, the paucity of good fossils, and even the fossil hunting grounds with their restrictive laws, are some of the bug-a-boos. An extremely fine collection, however, could be acquired by specializing in the vertebrate teeth only.
A final reason for collecting fossils, and one of which many rockhounds are not aware, is their monetary value. Most people would not pass up a dollar bill fluttering in the street, but I have seen mineral collectors pass up $25 in fossil specimens, laying at their feet, because they did not know the value of the specimens. Due to the influx of increased enrollments in geology courses, the growth of paleontology in the amateur field, and also with the advanced mechanical method of quarrying, it is quite imperative that more and more fossil specimens become available. Whether or not your interest is in fossils, do not pass them by as they can be sold or traded. The use of the old "silver pick"always has been a major implement in building up the world's finest collections.
Whatever area you finally become resolved to, keep the following mind--catalog or curate any fossils you find to the best of your ability. If nothing else, record with accuracy the exact area in which you found the specimen. Plan to clean your specimens but practice on pieces having no great value before you tackle a choice specimen. Always be extremely cautious about using acid in cleaning unless you know what you are doing. In the past few years too many good fossils have been appearing in displays that showed indiscriminate use of acid. Plan on building a library of paleontological literature if your interest expands to the degree where you want to identify all your specimens. Do not be ashamed of any errors made while you are. identifying in this manner. Whenever a correction is advanced to you, you will have gained knowledge which was absent before.
If you have access to a museum, the geologist there will help you make your identification or at least be of great help in locating the proper literature in which you can begin a search.
In the event you are lucky enough to find a type specimen, contact a paleontologist who specializes in that particular phylum. Should he publish a description of it, that specimen technical ly is no longer yours but belongs to the world. Please have the good grace to deposit it with a museum or some institution for future paleontologists. A type specimen, lost, misplaced or destroyed, constitutes an inexcusable crime..
If the use of a proper taxonomical name for a fossil comes with difficulty do not let this deter you from reaching your goal. With repetitive handling of the specimens and the use of your reference, books, they will become familiar. Maybe your friends will consider such terms swearing--but then just keep on swearing!
