PREFACE. 



Among recent discoveries in Palseontology, none have excited more interest than 

 the Lov^er Tertiary Vertebrate Faunas of the Fayum. They add so much to our 

 knowledge of the primitive Mammalia, especially of the Hyracoidea, Proboscidea, 

 Sirenia, and Cetacea, that an exhaustive account of them, so far as discovered, has 

 become essential. The Trustees of the British Museum have therefore availed 

 themselves of the generous co-operation of the Egyptian Government to produce a 

 Descriptive Catalogue of all the more important fossils by vs^hich these ancient Faunas 

 are at present known. The greater part of the collection, now in the Geological 

 Museum, Cairo, was made by Mr. H. J. L. Beadnell under the direction of Captain H. 

 G. Lyons, Director-General of the Egyptian Surveys ; while the smaller collection, in 

 the Geological Department of the British Museum, was made partly by Dr. C. W. 

 Andrews, the author of this Descriptive Catalogue, partly by donations of duplicates 

 from the Egyptian Government. During the preparation of the work Dr. Andrews 

 has had the opportunity of studying both these collections in detail, and the result is 

 a satisfactory basis for future research. How much remains to be discovered for the 

 elaboration of the preliminary sketch now given, will be readily realised on perusing 

 the various sections of the Catalosrue. 



o 



Thanks are due to the Right Hon. the Earl of Cromer, G.C.B., for his sympathetic 



interest, and to Captain Lyons for his cordial help and successful negotiation with 



the Egyptian Government. The Trustees of the British Museum are also indebted to 



Captain Lyons and Mr. Beadnell for their assistance to Dr. Andrews in his collecting 



expeditions ; while special acknowledgment must be made of the funds generously 



provided for some of these expeditions by Mr. W. E. de Winton, whose presents are 



severally enumerated in the Catalogue. 



A. SMITH WOODWARD. 

 Dbpaetment of Geology, 

 British Museum (Natueal Histoet). 

 5th March, 1906. 



