NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE COAL FOSSILS. 185 



Scotch, Lancashire, and Northumberland coalfields. There 

 are many species found in these coalfields yet wanting in 

 and ours : we have on the other hand many species which 

 have not been found elsewhere. 



To the palaeontologist, the coal-measures of North Staf- 

 fordshire are full of interest from the character and extent 

 of their organic remains. Many of the rocks and shales 

 which intervene between the various seams of coal and 

 ironstone are full of fossil plants, which testify to the 

 luxuriance of the vegetation which flourished during their 

 formation. Nor were the ancient carboniferous seas devoid 

 of animal life. Fishes of strange forms, very different from 

 those we are accustomed to see at the present day, peopled 

 the waters of that remote period. Mollusca of various 

 species inhabited the seas or rivers, and of the abundance 

 of these creatures sufficient evidence is shown in many of 

 the shales. To the thoughtful and intelligent student of 

 natural science, these remains are of special interest. To 

 him, they are the silent relics of a by-gone creation. They 

 carry his mind back into the mysterious past, and afford 

 him a glimpse of the great work of creation, by which 

 beds of coal and ironstone were formed and laid up in 

 the storehouse of nature for man's future use and com- 

 fort. As the coin or the inscribed stone dug up from 

 some ancient ruin helps the antiquary to read much of the 

 history of the past, so fossils are to the geologist as so 

 many guides to help him in his identification of strata 

 and their position in the series, as well as their age. A 

 careful study of the organic remains of a particular dis- 

 trict would, we think, help the practical miner in the 

 correlation of beds in various parts of the coalfield. Many 

 of the seams have characteristic fossils. These, if rightly 



