PREFACE. 
Since the last edition of the “ Guide to Fossil Reptiles and 
Fishes” was published in 1896, the additions to the collection 
have been so numerous, and knowledge has advanced so 
much, that the book has now been entirely re-written by 
Dr. A. Smith Woodward, the Keeper of Geology. The present 
issue, however, retains all the original features of the Guide, 
and is not in any sense a systematic treatise. Its arrange¬ 
ment is determined by that of the cases and specimens, and 
it sometimes refers to trivial details which are of interest 
solely to visitors actually in the Galleries. 
As fossils can only be understood by those who have 
some acquaintance with the existing world of life, this 
Guide assumes on the part of the reader at least as much 
elementary knowledge as is contained in the Guides to the 
Department of Zoology. 
Many of the specimens bear small discs of green or red 
paper. Those marked with green discs are either “type- 
specimens ” or have been described and illustrated in some 
scientific work, to which a reference is given on the label. 
Those marked with red discs have been merely noticed or 
briefly described in print. 
E. Ray Lankester, 
Director. 
June, 1905. 
