PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION 



THESE Studies in Fossil Botany are founded on a 

 special course of lectures, given, under the same title, 

 at University College, London, in the year 1896. 



The lecture form has been retained, but the number 

 of lectures, into which the course is divided, has in- 

 creased from eleven to fourteen. The introductory 

 lecture preserves something of its original character, 

 but all the rest have been completely recast, and most 

 of them wholly rewritten. 



At the present day, happily, fossil botany is an 

 eminently progressive branch of science, and thus the 

 mere lapse of time, since the lectures were delivered, 

 has necessitated the introduction of much new matter 

 and of many new points of view. A certain number 

 of unpublished observations are also embodied in the 

 book. 



My object has by no means been to write a manual 

 of fossil botany, a superfluous undertaking, in view of 

 the excellent publications of the last few years. To 

 mention only the very latest works, we have Mr. 

 Seward's extensive treatise on Fossil Plants, now in 

 course of publication, Professor Potonie's concise Lehr- 

 buch der Pflanzen-palczontologie, and, within the present 



