2 ANCIENT PLANTS 



inhabited the world before the races of men existed. If, 

 therefore, we wish to know and understand the vegeta- 

 tion living to-day we must look into the past histories of 

 the families of plants, and there is no way to do this at 

 once so simple and so direct (in theory) as to examine 

 the remains of the plants which actually lived in that 

 past. Yet when we come to do this practically we 

 encounter many difficulties, which have discouraged all 

 but enthusiasts from attempting the study hitherto, but 

 which in reality need not dismay us. 



When Lindley and Hutton, in 1831, began to publish 

 their classical book The Fossil Flora of Great Britain, 

 they could give but isolated fragments of information 

 concerning the fossils they described, and the results of 

 their work threw but little light on the theoretical pro- 

 blems of morphology and classification of living plants. 

 Since then great advance has been ma:de, and now the 

 sum of our knowledge of the subject, though far from 

 complete, is so considerable and has such a far-reaching 

 influence that it is becoming the chief inspiration of 

 several branches of modern botany. Of the many 

 workers who have contributed to this stock of knowledge 

 the foremost, as he was the pioneer in the investigations- 

 on modern lines, is Williamson, who was a professor at 

 Manchester University, and whose monographs and speci- 

 mens are classics to-day. Still living is Dr. Scott, whose 

 greatness is scarcely less, as well as an ever-increasing 

 number of specialists in this country, who are continually 

 making discoveries. Abroad, the chief Continental names 

 are Renault, Bertrand, Count Solms Laubach, Brongniart, 

 Zeiller; and in America is Dr. Wieland; while there 

 are innumerable other workers in the field who have 

 deepened and widened the channels of information. 

 The literature on fossil plants is now vast; so great that 

 to give merely the names of the publications would fill a 

 very large volume. 



But, like the records left by the plants themselves, 

 most of this literature is unreadable by any but special- 



