INTBODTrCTIOlf. 



HisTOHicAL Sketch. 



We may 'begin ^ this brief historical survey of our knowledge 

 of the Jurassic plants of Yorkshire with a reference to the well- 

 known memoir by Toung & Bird — A Geologioal Survey of the 

 Yorhhire Coast,^ published at Whitby in 1822. Mr. John Bird 

 was Curator of the Whitby Museum, and the Eev. G. Young 

 acted as one of the Secretaries of the Whitby Literary and 

 Philosophical Society. The first part of this work deals with the 

 geological structure of the strata which are described under various 

 heads, such as the upper shales, oolitic limestone, second shale, 

 ironstone and sandstone, blue limestone, sandstone, shale and 

 coal, and Dogger ; but most of these descriptive terms have not 

 been adhered to by later geologists. In the second part a brief 

 description is attempted of the organic remains, a few fossil plants 

 being represented by crude coloured drawings ; the type-specimens 

 are preserved in the Whitby Museum, and a recent examination 

 of the collection enabled me to identify most of the originals of 

 Bird's figures. The second edition of the Geologiral Survey 

 of the Yorkshire Coast, which appeared in 1828, contains various 

 additional drawings of fossil plants.^ The plants are compared 

 with several recent genera such as Asplenium, Scolopench-ium, 

 Sippuris, Cynaria, Gnaphalium, and others, or they are merely 

 spoken of as fragments of ferns or leaves. Reference is made to 

 the figures of Young & Bird in the description of several species 

 dealt with in the following pages. 



It has been truly said that "Young & Bird's work did much 

 to arouse the desire for geological pursuits, which eventually led 

 to the establishment of the Museums at Whitby and Scarborough, 

 and to the formation of such collections of fossils as were made 

 by Bean, Williamson, and others." * The enthusiasm of these and 

 other local naturalists resulted in the accumulation of rich col- 

 lections, and, indeed, nearly the whole of the material at present 



1 For a more complete history of our knowledge of the Jurassic rocks of 

 East Yorkshire vide Fox-Strangways (92^), and for bibliographies of Jurassic 

 literature vide also Phillips (75), Foi-Strangways (88), etc. 



* Toung & Bird (22). 



3 Toung & Bird (28). 



" Fox-Strangways (92'), p. 12. 



