8 BRITISH CARBONIFEROUS BRACHIOPODA. 



which formed part of Dr. Griffith's valuable collection. His work, ' A Synopsis of the 

 characters of the Carboniferous Limestone Fossils of Ireland/ appeared in 1844, just one 

 year subsequent to the foreign one above referred to. Professor M'Coy describes about 

 two hundred and twenty-eight species of Brachiopoda, stated to belong to the Carboniferous 

 deposits of Ireland ! Of these, fifty-eight or fifty -nine are said to be new, and are 

 illustrated in the accompanying plates ; but, as already stated, this list has been con- 

 siderably increased by the unfortunate introduction of a large number of Devonian 

 shells, based upon incorrect identifications. There occurs also many synonyms and other 

 species founded on undeterminable fragments or doubtful malformations, so that when 

 cleared from those intruders the catalogue will be found to be considerably reduced. It is, 

 however, worthy of notice that, although its author has introduced the names of Phillips's, 

 Sowerby's, and some foreign authors' Devonian species, those described and figured by 

 himself are all true Carboniferous specimens, although in several cases not in reality new. 

 The loan of the original examples made use of by Professor M'Coy is a service for which 

 I cannot sufficiently thank their liberal possessor, as it has enabled me to determine a 

 great number of obscure and uncertain forms, which must have continued so had I not 

 possessed the originals to work with. Professor M'Coy has, however, made large amends 

 for the shortcomings of his early book, by the publication of his able and most valuable 

 work, ' On the British Palaeozoic Fossils in the Geological Museum of the University 

 of Cambridge.' It contains, among other things, the careful and elaborate description 

 of from ninety-six to ninety-seven species of Brachiopoda of the Carboniferous period, thus 

 adding considerable information to what was already known ; but unfortunately, as has been 

 so commonly the case with most authors, he has illustrated but those fifteen which 

 he considered new. 



I must now conclude this short notice of the most remarkable British works that have 

 treated of Carboniferous Brachiopoda, by alluding to the valuable ' Catalogue of British 

 Fossils,' prepared with infinite care and patience by Mr. Morris. In his last edition 

 (1854), the author has devoted a certain number of pages to the enumeration and classifi- 

 cation of the Carboniferous species into families and genera. 



It must, however, have been very generally felt by all who have had occasion to 

 refer to the works above mentioned, how great is the want of correct and more copious 

 illustrations ; and it is doubly so in those cases where shells hitherto considered as 

 foreign to the period are introduced for the first time. Under such circumstances, 

 a figure is, in my opinion, of as much importance as if the shell were actually new, 

 nor can the reader be satisfied as to the correctness of the identification, if he be not 

 provided with some ocular demonstration in the shape of a figure ; for it is a well-known 

 fact, that no description, however elaborate in its details, will in natural history compensate 

 for the want of an illustration ; or in other words, that with a good figure a short 

 description will often convey to the mind a much clearer idea of the object intended, than 

 the most lengthened one, unprovided with that necessary appendage. I have generally 



