Ferns, Sigillariæ, Calamites, and the usual plants of the carboniferous flora, may be found in every coal-mine; and the Devonian limestones of the South of Ireland yield ferns and Lepidodendra. In Forfarshire the lower Devonian shales abound in the foliage of aquatic, apparently fluviatile, plants.[190]
[190] See Memoir on the Telerpeton; Geol. Journ. vol. viii. p. 106.
A list of some of the most productive British localities is subjoined.
In addition to the suggestions already given as to the mode of collecting specimens, it may be necessary to state that the leaves in the tertiary marls and clays are generally very delicate and friable, and liable to flake off in the state of a carbonaceous film. This may, in a great measure, be prevented by carefully covering them with a thin coating either of mastic varnish, or gum-water, before they are placed in the cabinet. In extracting these specimens, a broad chisel will be found the most convenient instrument. In searching for fossils in coal-mines, the collector should remember that the ironstone nodules often contain beautiful examples of the leaves of ferns, and fruits of Lepidodendra. These nodules, when of an oblong shape, should be split open in a longitudinal direction, by a smart blow of a hammer, and the inclosed leaf will thus be exposed, as shown in [Lign. 3, figs. 2, 3], ante, [p. 69].
BRITISH LOCALITIES OF FOSSIL VEGETABLES.
BRITISH LOCALITIES OF FOSSIL VEGETABLES.
| Allenbank, Berwickshire | Carb. | Stems of Conifers, &c. | ||
| Alum Bay, Isle of Wight | Tert. | Fruit, dicotyledonous leaves, lignite; Charge, stems and seed-vessels. | ||
| Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire | Carb. | Coal plants in great abundance. | ||
| Bignor, Sussex | Cret. Firestone | Fucoids. | ||
| Binstead Quarries, near Ryde, Isle of Wight | Tert. | Charæ, stems and seed-vessels. | ||
| Blackdown, Devonshire | Gr. Sand. | Silicified wood—coniferous. | ||
| Bognor, Sussex | Tert. | Coniferous and monocotyledonous wood; washed up on the shore. | ||
| Bolton, Lancashire | Carb. | Lepidodendra, Sigillariæ, &c. | ||
| Bournemouth, Hants | Tert. | Dicotyledonous leaves.[191] | ||
| Brook-point, Isle of Wight | Wealden | Cycads, and coniferous wood. | ||
| Burdie House, near Edinburgh | Carb. | Ferns, wood, &c. | ||
| Calbourn, Isle of Wight | Tert. | Charæ, stems and fruits. | ||
| Camerton, near Bath | Carb. | Usual plants of the coal. | ||
| Charmouth, Dorset | Oolite | Coniferous wood; Cycads; fruit of Pandanus. | ||
| Clifton, near Manchester | Carb. | Coal plants in great perfection. | ||
| Coalbrook Dale, Shropshire | Carb. | Usual plants of the coal, in abundance. The ironstone nodules are rich in fern-leaves, fruits of lepidodendrons, &c. | ||
| Cuckfield, Sussex | Wealden | Clathraria, Endogenites, Ferns, and Lignite. | ||
| Durlstone Bay, near Swanage | Wealden | Charæ; Gyrogonites in abundance. | ||
| Folkstone, Kent | Galt | Coniferous wood—bituminous, and pyritified. | ||
| Glasgow | Carb. | Coal plants, and large trunks of Coniferæ. | ||
| Hastings, Sussex | Wealden | Clathrariæ, Cycads, Endogenites, Ferns, Thuites, &c. | ||
| Herne Bay, Kent | London Clay | Fruits of Conifers, and Palms: wood. | ||
| Kilkenny, Ireland | Carb. | Calamites, ferns, &c. | ||
| Knocktopher, nr. Kilkenny, Ireland | Devonian | Ferns, Lepidodendrons, &c. | ||
| Leeds | Carb. | Beautiful coal-plants from the pits in the vicinity. | ||
| Liverpool | New Red | Fuci. | ||
| Lyme Regis, Dorset | Lias | Cycads; Conifers; wood. | ||
| Maidstone, Kent | Greensand | Fruits and wood of Abies, Pinus, Dracæna; Fuci. | ||
| Malton | Oolite | Fruits, and Cycads. | ||
| Newcastle (Jarrow Colliery) | Carb. | Coal plants in great variety.[192] | ||
| Newhaven (Castle Hill), Sussex | Tert. | Dicotyledonous leaves and fruit—rarely. | ||
| Portishead (on the shore) | Millstone Grit | Sigillariæ, Stigmariæ, &c. | ||
| Portland, Isle of | Wealden | Petrified forest of Conifers, with Cycads. | ||
| Pounceford, Sussex | Wealden | Equiseta, Ferns, Lignite. | ||
| Runswick, Yorkshire Coast | Lower Oolite | Cycads, Ferns, &c. | ||
| Saltwick, near Whitby | Lower Oolite | Foliage of Cycads, Ferns, &c. | ||
| Sandown Bay, Isle of Wight | Wealden | Conifers, Cycads, wood. | ||
| Scarborough | Oolite | Ferns, Cycads, Equiseta, &c. | ||
| Selmeston, Sussex | Greensand | Coniferous wood. | ||
| Sheppey, Isle of | London Clay | Fruits innumerable, wood, &c. (ante, [p. 186].) | ||
| Stonesfield, Oxfordshire | Oolite | Fuci, Cycads, Thuites, &c. | ||
| Swindon, Wilts | Oolite | Coniferous wood, & Cycads. | ||
| Tunbridge Wells (vicinity) | Wealden | Ferns, several species. | ||
| Ventnor, Isle of Wight | Firestone | Clathraria, Conifers. | ||
| Wareham, Dorset | Tert. | Dicotyledonous foliage, and Palm-leaves. | ||
| Whitecliff Bay, I. of Wight | Tert. | Palm-leaves, Charæ, &c. | ||
| Whitwick, Leicestershire | Carb. | The usual coal-plants. | ||
[191] Fruits and Fern-leaves have been collected here by Mr. Becklesand stems of a species of Arundo, by Mr. Alfred Woodhouse. | ||||
[192] In collecting Stigmariæ, the student should particularly attendto the relation existing between these fossils and their supposedstems; for it is probable that roots of this type will be found tobelong to other genera, besides Sigillaria, and Lepidodendron (ante,[p. 136].). | ||||
The above list must, of course, be considered as merely suggestive: many other localities are mentioned in the previous notices of the fossil genera.