Extract from the Table of British Fossils

First published in 1871 by Charles Lyell, the 'Student's Elements of Geology' was a work intended to offer a first entry into geology. Charles Lyell had previously written 'Principles of Geology' then in its tenth edition and out of print and 'Elements of Geology' then in its 6th edition. The 'Student's Elements' were an abridged, simplified and even more illustrated version of the 'Elements'. It aimed to define the technical vocabulary of geology into a concise and cheap book still offering 636 figures.

In its 4th edition, a table of British fossils was added at the end of the work to illustrate 'the successive appearance and development in time of the chief orders, classes or families of animals and plants'. The table was drawn from the meticulous work of geologist Robert Etheridge for the Geological Survey and is to be found in other geological manuals of the period. Etheridge had previously prepared a 'Catalogue of Fossils in the Museum of Practical Geology' for biologist Thomas Henry Huxley.