Michael Taylor ([log in to unmask]) and Lyall Anderson ([log in to unmask]) write: we have observed that one of the specimen numbering systems applied to Miller’s fossil collection was started while the collection was still in family hands – though we are not certain whether this was before his death. We have never been able to locate a primary register or list for this system, and do not even know whether such a list even existed. Does anyone have an orphan list rich in Scottish fossils, and especially in, for instance, Old Red Sandstone fishes from Cromarty, which might be a candidate?
The system in question is stratigraphically based, using parallel number series distinguished by the colour of the paper dots used as labels; thus for instance ‘red’ 451 and 567 are Old Red Sandstone fossils, but ‘green’ 234 a Carboniferous specimen. However, the catalogue need not explicitly indicate the colour coding.
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