516 



THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. 



Lect. V. 



Lign. 116. — Part of a 

 leaf ofpterophyllum 

 comptum : from near 

 Scarborough. 



stances, of considerable value. These 

 strata assume the appearance of a true 

 coal-field, with subordinate beds of 

 coarse, shelly limestone. The fossil 

 plants which accompany the coal-seams 

 and sandstones, occur also in the calca- 

 reous slates and limestones, both on the 

 Yorkshire coast and at Bransby. No 

 marine exuvise have yet been found in 

 the coal grits or shales, with the ex- 

 ception of some bivalves. Along the 

 coast under Gristhorp cliffs, a seam 

 of shale, but a few inches in thickness, 

 may be traced for miles; and, from 

 its abounding in leaves of ferns, and 

 equisetaceous and cycadeous plants, it 

 is chiselled out by collectors to obtain 

 specimens ; for the beauty and variety 

 of these fossils render them objects of 

 great interest. Detached leaves {Lign. 

 116) in a carbonized state are very 

 abundant, and their venation is gene- 

 rally well preserved. Professor Phillips 

 has figured several kinds in his Geo- 

 and numerous species are described 

 The fruits of Zamiae also occur, 



logy of Yorkshire 

 in the British Flora.* 

 and many splendid examples are preserved in the British 

 Museum, and other collections. This specimen {Lign. 117) 

 shows the usual appearance of these fossil cones; it is 

 imbedded in dark ironstone shale, and the leaves and their 

 imprints are covered with a white hydrate of alumine. 

 The fossils described by some authors as flowers, are con- 

 jectured to be cones of this kind, broken transversely, in 



See also Medals of Creation, vol. i. p. 155. 



