PREFACE. 



THE principal source of the fine series of Jurassic plants 

 from the Yorkshire Coast, now preserved in the British 

 Museum, was the collection of the late Mr. William Bean, 

 of Scarborough, acquired by purchase in 1859. Only 

 a portion of this collection, however, is in the British 

 Museum, the remainder being in the Yorkshire Philo- 

 sophical Society's Museum at York. 



Mr. Bean was an enthusiastic collector, and by means 

 of his vast store of duplicate fossil plants he was able to 

 make exchanges with many foreign museums. Specimens 

 bearing labels in his well-known handwriting also exist 

 in museums and private collections all over Britain. 



A former resident of Scarborough, Dr. Murray, also gave 

 many specimens to the British Museum in the early days, 

 from Gristhorpe Bay and elsewhere along the Yorkshire 

 coast. 



The plant-bearing Oolitic shales of Yorkshire are much 

 more friable than those of the Coal-measures. This may 

 possibly explain the difficulty experienced in some instances 

 in identifying 'types,' many of the specimens having been 

 broken up and their parts separated, or even destroyed, by 

 time and frequent removals. 



The Oolitic plant-remains of Yorkshire are of peculiar 

 interest, many of them having been carefully studied by 



