Mills Geological of Creston, California

Mostly I like to buy used reference books about paleontology published after 1927 that relate to fossils I am studying.  So when I saw a list of used library books for sale on the Paleolist, a number of books on the list peaked my interest.  The seller was Jim Mills of Mills Geological of Creston, California.  One should be cautious about ordering items on the Internet but after some research showing other transactions had taken place with this company and the organization had been in existence since 1992, I felt comfortable.  The two books ordered were: a collection of bound Tennessee Geological Bulletins from the 1930s (my interest was Bulletin 41 - A Preliminary Report on the Foraminifera of Tennessee by Joseph A. Cushman) and the other book Texas Cretaceous Echinoids by Rosemary E. and Thomas J. Akers of Houston Gem and Minerals Society 1987.

Both books arrived very securely packed via the United States Postal Service (USPS) and in good shape.  The speed that the USPS moves letters and packages at the prices charged is impressive.  After this transaction, I found Mills Geological a good place to deal with.  They have a website that seems focused on polished petrified wood but also "The Bookshelf" section with more used books one can buy: www.MillsGeological.homestead.com

After briefly looking at the bulletin on Tennessee Foraminera, the study was based on two counties in the southwestern part of the state near the Mississippi border in 1929.  The researchers were looking for formaninifera of the Eocene and Cretaceous Periods.  They did not find very many fossils in the Eocene but were surprised by the number found in the Cretaceous and how similar they were to ones found in Texas and Europe.  The fossils were found in the Selma Chalk similar to the Texas Navarro formation (European equivalent: Maestricetian).

Mention of Texas fossils, leads to the other publication on Texas Cretaceous Echinoids.  It is a 143 page guide.  It starts out with an introduction to the fossils and Texas map showing the area where they are found.  A stratigraphic unit chart is provided which by the way shows the Upper Cretaceous Navarro Group in the Gulf Series.  The book has additional sections on echinoid distribution, fossil preservation, classification, morphology, illustrations, identification guide, descriptions and drawings of Texas enchinoids, localities, references, and indexes.

Both are nice additions to my library.