Chapter II: Part I: General

CHAPTER I.
=HISTORICAL SKETCH.= Pp. 1–11.

Fossil plants and the Flood. Sternberg and Brongniart. The
internal structure of fossil plants. English Palaeobotanists.
Difficulties of identification.

CHAPTER II.
=RELATION OF PALAEOBOTANY TO BOTANY AND GEOLOGY.= Pp. 12–21.

Neglect of fossils by Botanists. Fossil plants and distribution.
Fossil plants and climate. Fossil plants and phylogeny.

CHAPTER III.
=GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.= Pp. 22–53.

Rock-building. Calcareous rocks. Geological sections. Inversion of
strata. Table of Strata:

I. Archaean, 34–36. II. Cambrian, 36–37. III. Ordovician, 37–38.
IV. Silurian, 38. V. Devonian, 39. VI. Carboniferous, 39–45.
VII. Permian, 45–47. VIII. Trias., 47–48. IX. Jurassic, 48–49. X.
Cretaceous, 50–51. XI. Tertiary, 51–53. Geological Evolution.

CHAPTER IV.
=THE PRESERVATION OF PLANTS AS FOSSILS.= Pp. 54–92.

Old surface-soils. Fossil wood. Conditions of fossilisation.
Drifting of trees. Meaning of the term ‘Fossil.’ Incrustations.
Casts of trees. Fossil casts. Plants and coal. Fossils in
half-relief. Petrified trees. Petrified wood. Preservation of
tissues. Coal-balls. Fossil nuclei. Fossil plants in volcanic
ash. Conditions of preservation.

CHAPTER V.
=DIFFICULTIES AND SOURCES OF ERROR IN THE
DETERMINATION OF FOSSIL PLANTS.= Pp. 93–109.

External resemblance. Venation characters. Decorticated stems.
Imperfect casts. Mineral deposits simulating plants. Traces of
wood-borers in petrified tissue. Photography and illustration.

CHAPTER VI.
=NOMENCLATURE.= Pp. 110–115.

Rules for nomenclature. The rule of priority. Terminology and
convenience.