PREFACE. 



The flattering manner in which the Prospectus of the present volume 

 has been received, and the condescension of His Majesty, who has been 

 graciously pleased to honour it with his august patronage, are circum- 

 stances which demand my most grateftd acknowledgments, and are the 

 more gratifying to my feelings, as they were whoUy unexpected. 



It is, however, with much diffidence that 1 appear before the public 

 in the characters of an artist and an author, conscious as I am, that my 

 humble talents can offer but few pretensions to its favour, or indulgence. 



Having at an early period in life, imbibed a predilection for the study 

 of natural history, and subsequently been educated in a profession inti- 

 mately connected with that science, upon fixing my residence at Lewes, 

 I resolved to devote my leisure moments to the investigation of the 

 " Organic remains of a former world ; " a study replete with interest and 

 instruction. 



The fossils of Sussex had not then excited attention, and this con- 

 sideration induced me to select them for the more immediate objects of 

 examination ; since in a district previously unexplored by the geologist. 



