VIU PREFACE. 



Petralogist, who looks at the condition of the rocks of 

 the globe, the minerals forming them, and their mode of 

 formation ; the Chemist, who determines the materials which 

 enter into the composition of minerals and rocks ; the 

 Naturalist, who examines the plants and animals found in 

 the various strata; and perhaps also the Natural Philoso- 

 pher, who calculates from independent sources the phases 

 of the Earth's histoiy. It may be said thus to combine all 

 these students of Science in one brotherhood. Much has 

 been done by the efforts of such men as Hutton and Werner, 

 who were engaged chiefly in considering the mineral de- 

 partment of Geology ; but it is clear that the Science could 

 not have attained its present position without the continued 

 labours of those who have been examining fossils in their 

 relations to time and space. Had it not been for the re- 

 searches of Palaeontologists, Geology could not have made 

 its present advance. 



In my Class Book of Botany I have given an introduction 

 to Pala3ophytology, and it occurred to me that it might be 

 useful to students to publish this in a separate form, with 

 additions in both the letterpress and the illustrations. The 

 institution of the Pala3outological Fellowship, in memory 

 of my former friend Dr. Falconer, has brought the subject 

 specially under my notice. The Fellowship has been pro- 

 moted chiefly by my friend and former pupil Dr. Charles 

 Murchison, a gentleman fond of science and of his Alma 

 Mater, the University of Edinburgh, where he and Falconer 

 studied and took their degrees. 



The first award of the Fellowship has been made to a 

 distinguished student, who acquitted himself with the greatest 

 credit during the three days of examination on Geology, 



