[ 703 ] 



XIV. 



ON THE FOSSIL FISH-REMAINS OF THE COAL MEASURES OF THE 

 BRITISH ISLANDS. PART I.— PLEURACANTHID^. By JAMES W. 

 DAYIS, F.G.S., F.L.S., F.S.A., &c. Plates LXV. to LXXIII. 



[Eead Januart 20, 1892.] 



[communicated by the honokaby secretaries.] 



I.-INTEODUCTION. 



It is proposed in this work to describe, and where desirable to figure, the fossil 

 fishes whose remains have been discovered in the several coal fields of Great 

 Britain. For the purposes of this work the Coal Measures will include all the 

 strata between the uppermost bed of Millstone Grit at their base, and the Permian 

 Rocks which immediately overlie them. The subject is a large one, and for 

 convenience of publication, as well as in the preparation and arrangement of the 

 material, it appears advisable to divide it into a series of monographs, commencing 

 with the Elasmobranchii, and of this sub-class the PleuracanthidjE will first receive 

 attention. Except incidentally, the stratigraphical distribution of the fish-remains 

 will be considered later, when all the available material shall have been examined 

 and recorded. 



I cannot neglect the present opportunity to express my indebtedness to those 

 gentlemen having the charge of public or private museums, for their uniform 

 courtesy and kindness in permitting me to visit their collections, and still more for 

 the readiness with which such parts of the collections as were necessary for com- 

 parison or identification have been placed at my disposal. Amongst such instances 

 I may mention the Natural History Department of the British Museum, Cromwell- 

 road, London ; the Museum of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, 

 Durham, and Newcastle-on-Tyne ; the Manchester Museum at the Owens College ; 

 the Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge; the Museums of the Philosophical 

 Societies at Leeds, Halifax, and York ; the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow, and 

 the Museums of Science and Art at Edinburgh and Dublin. 



IRAHS. EOT. BUB. SOC, U.S. VOL. IT., PAET XIV. 5 I, 



