Palaeozoic Species mentioned in ''Fossil Flora!' 347 



Collection" during various visits made to Newcastle with 

 that object. 



In any criticisms on such a work as Lindley and Button's 

 " Fossil Flora," the extent of the knowledge of fossil botany 

 at the time the book was written must be taken into 

 consideration. 



The " Fossil Flora" began in 1831, and was continued till 

 1837. Perhaps no better idea can be given of the position 

 of fossil botany at that time than by mentioning a few of 

 the works on fossil botany then existing. 



Several books, in which the subject had been more or less 

 considered, had previously appeared in Britain. These were — 

 " Lithophylacii Britannici Ichnographia " of E. Luid, pub- 

 lished in 1699 ; ^ the " History of Eutherglen and East 

 Kilbride," by the Rev. David Ure, printed in Glasgow in 

 1793; and the " Petrificata Derbiensia" of Wm. Martin, 

 printed in Wigan, 1809. Some of the figures of these older 

 works are really very fair, but the books as a whole only 

 show — in varying degrees — that geologists were beginning 

 to notice fossil plants. 



In 1825 Artis published his "Antediluvian Phytology" — 

 the first British work on fossil botany which treats the 

 subject in a scientific spirit. 



On the Continent, passing over the earlier writers, the first 

 paper which placed fossil botany on a sound basis was 

 Brongniart's " Sur la classification et la distribution des 

 vegdtaux fossiles," 1822.^ His " Prodrome " appeared in 

 1828, followed by his great standard work, " Histoire des 

 vegetaux fossiles," begun in 1828, the first volume of which 

 was completed in 1837 — the year in which the publication 

 of Lindley and Button's " Fossil Flora " stopped. 



Earlier, however, in 1804, Schlotheim published his 

 " Beschreibung merkwiirdiger Krauter- Abdriicke und Pflanzen- 

 Versteinerungen." In a later and enlarged edition of this 

 work, which appeared in 1820, names were given to the 

 plants figured and described in the earlier edition. 



^ The first edition, " Londini et Lipsise, 1699," I have not seen, A second 

 edition was published at Oxford, 1760. 



2 Mem. d. Museum d, hist, nat., vol. viii. Paris. 



VOL. X. 2 A 



