PREFACE. 



There is probably no part of England which possesses a 

 greater interest for geologists than that of the Weald. 

 The area in which the Wealden beds are developed 

 extends oyer a considerable part of Surrey, Sussex and 

 Kent, between Haslemere, Hythe and Pevensey ; they 

 are also found in Dorsetshire and the Isle of Wight. 

 But it is more particularly in the neighbourhood of 

 Hastings that the more important fossil remains have 

 been obtained. The beds exhibit evidence of having 

 been accumulated in an estuary or lake, where fresh- 

 water conditions prevailed. The Flora includes Coniferse, 

 Cycads, Ferns, etc., the Fauna Ostracoda (Cypridea) ; 

 Insect remains; Mollusca {Cyrena, TJnio, Melanopsis, Palu- 

 dina, etc.) ; Fishes {Lepidotus, Hyhodus, etc.) ; Eeptiles 

 (CrocodUia and Dinosauria) ; Mammals {Plagiaulax). 



Our earliest information respecting the strata is mainly 

 due to the labours of Mantell and Fitton. 



Stokes and Webb, Eobert Brown, Fitton, Brongniart, 

 Bunker, Schimper, Carruthers, Count Solms-Laubach and 

 others have noticed and described its fossil plants, but 

 Mantell's name will always be more particularly asso- 

 ciated with the discoveries of organic remains, and with 

 the history of the Wealden area. 



