Volume 1, published in 1898, contains an overview of palaeobotany with systematic descriptions of fossil plants.
Preface; Part I. General: 1. Historical sketch; 2. Relation of palaeobotany to botany and geology; 3. Geological history; 4. The preservation of plants as fossils; 5. Difficulties and sources of error in the determination of fossil plants; 6. Nomenclature; Part II. Systematic: 7. Thallophyta; 8. Bryophyta; 9. Pteridophyta (vascular cryptograms); 10. Equisetales (continued); 11. Sphenophyllales; Bibliography; Index.