ABSTRACT
THE history of Fossil Vegetables has a twofold claim upon our consideration, in relation to the object of our present enquiry. The first regards the influence exerted on the actual condition of Mankind, by the fossil carbonaceous remains of Plants, which clothed the former surface of the Earth, and has been briefly considered in a former chapter; (Chap. VII. P. 63.) the second directs our attention to the history and structure of the ancient members of the vegetable kingdom.
