PREFACE. 
THERE is probably no part of England which possesses a 
greater interest for geologists than that of the Weald. 
The area in which the Wealden beds are developed 
extends over a considerable part of Surrey, Sussex and 
Kent, between Haslemere, Hythe and Pevensey; they 
are also found in Dorsetshire and the Isle of Wight. 
But it is more particularly in the neighbourhood of 
Hastings that the more important fossil remains have 
been obtained. The beds exhibit evidence of having 
been accumulated in an estuary or lake, where fresh- 
water conditions prevailed. The Flora includes Conifera, 
Cycads, Ferns, etc., the Fauna Ostracoda (Cypridea) ; 
Insect remains; Mollusca (Cyrena, Unio, Melanopsis, Palu- 
dina, etc.); Fishes (Lepidotus, Hybodus, etc.); Reptiles 
(Crocodilia and Dinosauria); Mammals (P/lagiaulaz). 
Our earliest information respecting the strata is mainly 
due to the labours of Mantell and Fitton. 
Stokes and Webb, Robert Brown, Fitton, Brongniart, 
Dunker, Schimper, Carruthers, Count Solms-Laubach and 
others have noticed and described its fossil plants, but 
Mantell’s name will always be more particularly asso- 
ciated with the discoveries of organic remains, and with 
the history of the Wealden area. 
