BALFOUR'S BOTANICAL WORKS. 



Uniform with " Class-Book of Botany," 



In one "Vol., illustrated with four Lithographic Plates 



and upwards of 100 Woodcuts. 



Price 7s. 6d. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF 

 PALy€ONTOLOGICAL BOTANY. 



" Professor Balfour has published, in the form of a separate work, 

 and with additions, that portion of his Claas-Book of Botany which 

 contains an introduction to fossil botany. The importance of the study 

 of fossils, particularly in their relations to time and space, is now 

 universally admitted as being essential to a thorough study of all the 

 natural sciences ; and geologists, especially, admit that, but for 

 palaeontology, their science would not have made such progress as it 

 has ; and such a book as this must be considered as a valuable aid to 

 the study. It, of course, presupposes acquaintance with botany pure, 

 or the botany of the present time, for only he who is intimate with 

 existing flora and fauna has a right to decide in regard to fossils, and 

 is therefore intended only for advanced students in botany. On a 

 work of this kind we cannot give a detailed criticism. We may 

 mention, however, that Professor Balfour takes Brogniart's division of 

 the fossil flora into three great epochs : — 1. The reign of aorogensj 

 2. The reign of gymnosperms ; and 3. The reign of angiosperms. 

 The first should be particularly interesting to Edinburgh students, 

 embracing, as it does, the Silurian, carboniferous, and permian epochs ; 

 the vicinity of our city being particularly rich in carboniferous fossils, 

 which, moreover, belonging chiefly to the fern class, have a special 

 value from their retaining their forms better than cellular plants, and 

 the cellular portions of vascular plants. The portions of the book 

 which refer to coal will also be found interesting by a larger circle of 

 students than that composed merely of palseontological and botanical 

 students. The fact that Professor Balfour is the author of this book is 

 a sufficient guarantee of the excellence of its method, the accuracy of 

 its information, and the lucidity of its style ; and we have no doubt 

 that it will serve the purpose for which its author designed it — namely, 

 of encouraging students to take up and peruse with enthusiasm the 

 subject of fossil botany. We may add that, in point of typography 

 and wealth of illustrations, it is equal, if not superior, to any book of 

 the kind we have seen." — Edinburgh Courant. 



