PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 7 



illustrated, and of which only two, viz., Anomites subconica and acutus, have not as 

 yet been properly understood. 1 In the seven volumes of the ' Mineral Conchology,' 

 published at different intervals by James Sowerby and his son, J. de C. Sowerby, will be 

 found good descriptions and illustrations of many excellent species; 2 and in 1836 the 

 second volume of the ' Geology of Yorkshire' was published, in which its distinguished 

 author briefly describes ninety-six forms of Carboniferous Brachiopoda, and of which 

 sixty-three are said to be new, the remaining number being made up from those 

 already described by Martin and Sowerby. All the new species and a few of the old 

 ones are there illustrated, but in general by a single figure only, which was not, however, 

 always sufficient for the clear understanding of the species. Professor Phillips's material 

 was chiefly derived from his own personal exertions, to which was added the Gilbertsonian 

 collection now in the British Museum ; and owing to the kind assistance of the author, I 

 have been able to define and completely illustrate certain of his less clearly figured species, 

 such as Sp. radialis, Sp. septosa, Sp. humerosa, &c, which could not have been understood 

 without a personal inspection of the originals, fortunately still extant in the author's 

 cabinet. In 1843 also appeared a 'Report on the Geology of the Coast of Londonderry 

 and part of Tyrone and Fermanagh,' by Colonel Portlock, in which a few new British 

 species were described and illustrated. 



While Professor De Koninck was publishing his celebrated work on ' Belgian 

 Carboniferous Fossils,' 3 Professor M'Coy was likewise hard at work on the Irish species, 



1 After the death of Martin a certain number of his original types came into the possession of Sowerby, 

 in whose collection they may be still distinguished. 



2 I beg to refer the reader for information relative to the exact dates of each species published in the 

 'Mineral Conchology,' to M. E. Renevier's useful list printed in the 'Bulletin de la Societe Vaudoise des 

 Sciences Naturelles,' May 2d, 1855. M. Renevier calls attention to the fact that the portion of the work 

 published from June, 1812, to November, 1822, was due to James Sowerby, while the remainder, dating from 

 January, 1823, to January, 1845, is the work of his son, Mr. J. de C. Sowerby, a distinction which should 

 always be attended to. 



3 It is not my present intention to enumerate all the foreign works and papers that have treated 

 directly or indirectly of Carboniferous Brachiopoda, as they will be referred to at their proper places under 

 the respective species ; but I cannot pass in silence two most important works published by Professor 

 L. de Koninck, viz., 'Description des Animaux fossiles qui se trouvent dans le Terrain Carbonifere de 

 la Belgique,' 1843, and 'Mongraphie des Genres Productus et Chonetes,' 1847. In these works many 

 British species have been clearly described and illustrated, and, indeed, much more so than in most of 

 our English books. It is true that in certain cases the learned Belgian author did misunderstand a 

 small number of our British types, but when I consider how imperfectly the forms in question were 

 both described and illustrated, without the possibility of a direct reference to the original specimens, I 

 cannot feel surprised that a few mistakes should have occurred, which were unavoidable under the 

 circumstances. Of these some have already been corrected by M. De Koninck himself, in the supplement 

 to his great work, issued in 1851; while a few others will be put right, I trust, in the present 

 monograph. 



I may likewise refer the reader to the memoirs of Baron Von Buch; to the 2d vol. of 'The Geology 

 of Russia,' by M. De Verneuil and Count Keyserling, 1845 ; as well as to the important memoir by Von 

 P. V. Semenow, entitled 'Ueber die Fossilien des Schlesischen Kohlenkalkes,' 1854, &c. 



