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CHAPTER V. 



Deposits containing Fossil Plants. 



If we desire to trace out the past history of our native 

 plants, we must study such relics as are preserved in 

 various stratified deposits, especially those of which the 

 geological position can be proved by other evidence. 

 The questions are often asked : — Where are these relics 

 to be found, and what is the method of research adopted ? 

 These are questions the answers to which will not be 

 found in any text-book, nor, apparently, are they known 

 to most geologists. It will be useful, therefore, to give 

 a short description of the sort of deposits which have 

 proved most prolific, and of the methods that have usually 

 been adopted to obtain the plant-remains. This will be 

 followed by an account of the fossiliferous strata already 

 examined, with the leading characteristics of each, such 

 as date, nature, and origin of the deposits, general 

 character of the included fauna and flora, notes of any 

 local circumstances which must have affected the plants, 

 and finally, a list of the plants. This will occupy a good 

 deal of space ; but it is all information needed by the 

 local geologist or botanist, and will, I hope, aid in the 

 study of past history of the floras of our different counties 

 and districts. References have been added to published 

 authorities, from which a fuller account of the geology and 

 zoology can be obtained; but in every case, unless other- 



