PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. ix 



treated at any length, partly because the remains of plants 

 are comparatively rare in the stratified series, and partly 

 because ^nothing less than a special treatise would suffice to 

 handle satisfactorily this obscure and difficult branch of the 

 subject. 



The fourth and concluding portion of the work treats of 

 Historical, or, as it might be called, Stratigraphical, Palae- 

 ontology, namely, of the application of Palaeontology to 

 the elucidation of the succession of the stratified deposits 

 of the earth's crust. This department of the subject has 

 also been very briefly disposed of, not because its intrinsic 

 importance does not warrant a more extended treatment, 

 but because it is the Author's intention, as his leisure will 

 permit, to devote a separate treatise to the consideration 

 of this wide and comparatively independent section of the 

 science. 



In conclusion, the Author would beg his readers to re- 

 member that there is no science which is growing so rapidly, 

 and which is as yet so comparatively in its infancy, as 

 Palaeontology ; and that there is none in which the con- 

 clusions of to-day are more liable to be vitiated by the 

 discoveries of the morrow. Even whilst these sheets have 

 been going through the press, facts have been brought to 

 light which ought to have found their place in a Manual 

 of this kind, but which have been of necessity altogether 

 passed over, or, at best, have been merely alluded to. For 

 all deficiencies, therefore, arising from this cause, the Author 

 has to beg the kind indulgence of his readers. 



"With regard to the Illustrations, the Author has grate- 

 fully to acknowledge the kindness of Alfred E. C. Selwyn, 

 Esq., Director of the Geological Survey of Canada, who 

 placed at the Author's disposal a number of engravings of 

 Silurian and Devonian fossils, from the publications of the 

 Survey. The Author has likewise to acknowledge a similar 

 obligation to Principal Dawson, of M'Gill University, Mon- 



