INTRODUCTION. xi 



'fish-remains from the Scottish Carboniferous ; the Edin- 

 burgh Museum has been greatly enriched during recent 

 years by the labours of Dr. R. H. Traquair, F.R.S., in that 

 district ; and numerous specimens have been obtained from 

 the same prolific field by Messrs. T. Stock, W. T. Kinnear, 

 and others. In England, the late Mr. Thomas Atthey 

 made the unique collection of Amphibia and Fishes from 

 the Northumberland Coal-field now in the Newcastle- 

 upon Tyne Museum ; and for many years Mr. T. P. Barkas, 

 F.G.S., systematically collected from the same area, pre- 

 senting some specimens to the British Museum, others to 

 the Newcastle Museum, and retaining others in his private 

 collection. Mr. John Simm and Mr. T. Cragges, of West 

 Cramlington, and Mr. Joseph Taylor, of Shire Moor, 

 Tiave also done much in their respective districts ; and to 

 Mr. Cragges is due the series of microscopical sections of 

 teeth from the Coal-Measures, described by Sir Richard 

 Owen in 1867, and now in the British Museum. The 

 finest collection of English Coal-Measure Fishes, however, 

 is that of Mr. John Ward, F.G.S., of Longton, who, by 

 donation and exchange, has supplied specimens to most 

 of the principal Museums in the country. Mr. Ward's 

 collection comprises a large number of type specimens 

 described by Egerton, Young, and Traquair, and is also 

 unique from the circumstance that the precise horizon of 

 each fossil is recorded.* The Coal-Measures of Yorkshire 

 have been especially investigated by Mr. James W. Davis, 

 F.G.S., of Halifax, who has a large collection, comprising 

 the types of species made known in various papers. The 

 Lower Carboniferous of England and Wales yields only 

 fragmentary fish-remains, chiefly the teeth and spines of 

 sharks, well represented in the British Museum and the 

 Museums of Bristol and York. The Yoredale Rocks of 

 Richmond and Wensleydale, Yorkshire, have been explored 



* A complete catalogue is published by J. Ward, Trans. N. Staff's. 

 Inst. Mining Engineers, vol. x, 1889, with plates. 



