Fig. 5. A very beautiful fossil fern (_Cheilanthes microlobus_, of Göppert; _Sphenopteris_, of Brongniart); from the coal formation. Fig. 6. A slab of coal-shale with fronds of ferns (_Alethopteris Serlii_, of Göppert); from Dunkerton. Fig. 7. A beautiful fern (_Pecopteris_) in coal-shale; from Newcastle. [Illustration: Plate V.] PLATE V. Fossil Ferns and Stems. Fig. 1. A beautiful delicate plant, belonging to a family of which numerous species occur in the coal deposits; named, from the stellular form of the foliage, _Asterophyllites_. Fig. 2. A fern in coal-shale, from Yorkshire. (_Sphenopteris trifoliata_, of Artis.) Fig. 3. Another species of star-leaf plant (_Annularia brevifolia_), from the coal of Silesia. Fig. 4. A dicotyledonous leaf in sandstone, in a beautiful state of preservation; from the tertiary strata of Œningen. Fig. 5. A frond of a remarkable species of extinct fern (_Cyclopteris orbicularis_, of Brongniart); from the coal of Shropshire. Fig. 6. An elegant fern (_Pecopteris_), from coal shale; Newcastle. Fig. 7. A delicate plant (_Sphenophyllum erosum_, vel _dentatum_, of Sternberg), with wedge-shaped pinnules, from the coal formation. Fig. 8. Portion of a stem, flattened by compression, of a species of _Sigillaria_ (_Sigillaria tesselata_, of Brongniart). From the coal of Yorkshire. Fig. 9. Fern (_Pecopteris oreopteridis_, of Brongniart); from the coal of South Wales. Figs. 10, & 11. Two specimens of _Asterophyllites_ in ironstone nodules, from Coalbrook Dale. The white appearance is occasioned by a deposition of hydrate of alumina. [Illustration: Plate VI.] PLATE VI. Fossil Fruits from Sheppey. The greater number of the specimens here figured, are from the London clay of the Isle of Sheppey.[9] [Footnote 9: For an account of the circumstances under which fossil fruits, &c. occur in that celebrated locality, see Medals of Creation, vol. ii.] These fossils are strongly impregnated with pyrites (sulphuret of iron), and are liable to decompose after exposure to the air for a few weeks or months, even when placed in closed cabinets: when first found they are remarkably beautiful. An excellent work on the fossil fruits of the Isle of Sheppey, was commenced by J. S. Bowerbank, Esq. F.K.S. of Highbury Grove; but which, it is much to be regretted, was discontinued after only three numbers were published. Fig. 1. Portion of a branch of a tree, completely mineralized by pyrites; it is the "pyritous fossil wood" of Mr. Parkinson. Figs. 2, & 3. Vegetable substances, too imperfect to determine.