•HI

ORGANIC REMAINS

OF A

FORMER WORLD.

FRONTISPIECE*

ORGANIC REMAINS OF A FORMER WORLD.

AN

EXAMINATION OF THE MINERALIZED REMAINS

OK THE

VEGETABLES AND ANIMALS

OF THE

ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD;

CF.XEKALLY TERMED

EXTRANEOUS FOSSIL

By JAMES PARKINSON,' Rbx'ton.' '

BKCRIKUS.

STONE LILY.

THE SECOND VOLUME,

CONTAIM\G

THE FOSSIL ZOOPHYTES.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY C. WHITTINGHAM, COSWELL STREET ;

AND PUBLISHED BY NOUNAVILLE AND FELL, NEW BOND-STREET; J. WHITE} AND J. MURRAY, FLEET-STREET;
H. D. SYMONDS, PATERNOSTER-ROW; W. PHILLIPS, GEORGE YARD, LOMBARD-STREET; T. BOOSEY, BROAD-
STREET; J.ASPERNE; RICHARDSONS; A. AND j. ARCH, COUNHILL; AND BLACK, PARKY, AND KINGSBURY,

VEADENH ALL-STREET.

1808.

^ ; 1

EARTH
SCIENCES
LlBfiABY

CONTENTS.

VOL. 21.

LETTER I.

MPag*
ODE in which the Work is intended to be performed... Reasons for employing the Epistolary

Form

LETTER II.

Arrangement of Linnaeus... Of Wallerius...That adopted in the present Work... Zoophytes claim
priority of Examination... Corals 4

LETTER III.
Remarks on recent Corals.. .Experiments on, by Mr. Hatchett 8

LETTER IV.

Classification. .. Nomenclature. ..Tubiporite... Approaching to Tubipora Musica...Tubipora Strues
...Imbedded in Marble, Mr. Hatchett's Experiments. ..Animal Membrane detected in the
Marble formed by this Coral 11

LETTER V.

Ramified Tubipore...Silicified Tubipore in Limestone... Marble formed by this Tubipore... Chain
Coral... Stellated Tubipore, &c 18

LETTER VI.

Madrepore... Mad reporean Polype... Fossil Madrepore. ..Difficulty in ascertaining the Species
...Turbinated Madrepore. ..Varieties of.. .Remarks on its Formation 23

LETTER VII.

Observations on turbinated Madrepores continued. ..Porpital, or Shirt Button, Madreporite
...Synonima.. .Madrepores not found in a mineralized State , 30

LETTER VIII.

Other Madrepores, not perhaps known in a fossil state... Mad repora Favosa...Madrepora Re-
tepora...M. Ananas, &C...M. Foliosa, &c...Astroites...Lithostrotion of Lhwydd...Spider-
«tone of Bruckman 37

?v»"

vi CONTENTS.

LETTER IX.

Vage

Madrepora Stellata, &C....M. Truncata...M. StelIaris...Madreporites from Steeple Ashton...
Madrepora Organum, &C...M. Flexuosa...M. FascicuIaris...M. Pectinata...M. Arachnoides
...M. Verinicularis...Coralloidea Columnaria Pentaedra of Woodward. ..Madreporite from
Ingleborough...Junci Lapidei... Kilkenny Marble 47

LETTER X.

Mycetitae of Wood ward... Porpital and turbinated compound Madreporites... Ramose Madrepo-
rites.,.Milleporites...Celleporites, &c... .Fossil Corals of unknown genera 68

LETTER XI.

Fossil Alcyonia... Considered as Fruits, by Volkmann and Scheuchzer... Fossil Alcyonia of
France... Difficulties in distinguishing the Fossil Sponges from Fossil Alcyonia.. .Various
Specimens described 7.?

LETTER XII.

Fossil Alcyonium described, by Abbe Fortis... Specimens of various inedited Fossil Zoophytes
described..!. • ° 106

LETTER XIII.

Alcyonites agreeing in their Forms; but differing in their Structure. ..Specimens of, from France,
Italy, Switzerland, and England. ..Wiltshire Alcyonite , 117

LETTER XIV.

Alcyonites inclosed in Flints... Found in Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Hert-
fordshire...Other Specimens noticed 128

LETTER XV.

Maestricht Fossils... Ambiguous appearances... Compared with other Fossils, from Switzerland,
England, and America 134

LETTER XVI.

Encrinites and Pentacrinites...Trochites... History of.. .Various Species described. ..Original
animal Membrane demonstrated. ..Screwstone 152

LETTER XVII.

Lily Encrinite... Trunk. ..Pelvis. ..Superior extremity. ..Number of Bones i» the superior Part
of the Animal... Inferior extremity 173

LETTER XVIII.

Reflections on the Nature and Structure of this Animal... The Animal described in various
states 186

LETTER XIX.

Cap Encrinite of Derbyshire, and perhaps of Yorkshire. ..Superior Termination. ..Supposed in-
ferior Termination. ..Turban Encrinite of Shropshire. ..Pelvis described. ..Inferior extremity
...Peculiarity of its Trunk. ..Same Column from Gothland 191

CONTENTS. yii

LETTER XX.

PW

Pear Encrinite of Bradford... Superior extremity, inferior extremity.. .Found also at Pfeffingen 208

LETTER XXI.

Nave Encrinite, discovered in Yorkshire, by Mr. Martin Lister. ..In Gloucestershire, by Mr.
John Beaumont... Supposed to be the Radix of an Encrinus... Shewn to be the Pelvis, or
Skeleton, of the Body part. ..Similar Fossils described... Others from the Isle of Gothland...
Encrinite in Mr. Donovan's Collection 217

LETTER XXII.

The Tortoise Encrinite,,. The Straight Encrinite.. .The Bottle Encrinite.. .The Clove Encrinite
...Kentucky Asterial Fossil... Uncommon Encrinal Vertebrae.. .Fossil, apparently an oval
Encrinite 225

LETTER XXIII.
Pentacrinites... Different Vertebrae noticed ....,......,,,....,,,. 241

LETTER XXIV.

Briaraean Pentacrinite... Vertebral Column.,. Vertebral Processes... Two-fold Office. ..Bones form-
ing the Pelvis. ..Superior Extremities... Anastomosing Pentacrinite ...,,,.......,,,., 248

LETTER XXV.
Remains of the Gloucestershire, Somersetshire, and Yorkshire Pentacrinites , 257

LETTER XXVI.
Opinions and Discoveries respecting the living Analogues of the Pentacrinites 263

LETTER XXVII.
Attempt to ascertain the Number of Species of these Animals ...•«.......„..,.„..„.,.....„„.„..,. 272

LETTER XXVIII.
General Remarks on the Fossils already described 278

LETTER XXIX.
Observations on the Process of Petrifaction .....,..,.,..,,.,,...,,.,.,.,.,. ..„. 28S

PREFACE

THE SECOND VOLUME,

As it is incumbent on every author to adapt his labours,
as much as possible, to the wishes and expectations of his
Readers, so it is also necessary to point out the reasons,
which may have induced him to depart from those modes,
which would have best accorded with their expectations.
Under this consideration, the Author offers the follow-
ing observations to the purchasers of this volume.

Learning, with regret, that it has been imagined by
many, that the present volume would have concluded
this work, he is under the necessity of observing, that this
opinion could not have been derived from any declaration
of the Author, whose advertisements have never spe-
cified more, than that the first volume would contain the
fossils belonging to the vegetable kingdom. Fully aware
of the much greater number of interesting subjects which
the animal kingdom would present for examination, he
never could venture to conjecture to what extent they
might enforce him to protract his labours. The opinion,

a

X PREFACE.

he believes, has originated from the expressions of some
of the periodical publications, which have concluded
their observations on the former volume, with stating

o

the nature of their expectations respecting the future vo-
lume, as if no more was intended to be published. It is
true, that the author has never yet specified of how many
volumes the work is to consist; and it is as true that he
is unable, even at the present moment, to form a decided
opinion on the subject. As his intention is to furnish
all the important information he can obtain, respecting
the different objects of his examination, the size of the
work will necessarily depend on the success with which
his inquiries may be pursued : but on this point it is
necessary to be still more explicit.

Two modes of prosecuting the work, offered them-
selves for his adoption. The one required only a faithful
history of the different opinions of former writers on
these subjects. The figures necessary for illustration
might, in this case, have been obtained, by copying those
wThich appeared to have been best chosen and best exe-
cuted, in the respective volumes of these authors. A
work executed on this plan, would have been accepta-
ble to many, since no such work at present exists in our
language. It would also have possessed this advantage,
that its size might have been, at the first, easily ascer-
tained and limited.

PREFACE. XI

, The other plan would be much more comprehensive.
It would comprise so much of the labours of pre-
ceding writers, as should serve to furnish a correct
history of the progress of knowledge respecting each
subject of examination. Their several opinions would
be noticed, and their agreement or disagreement with
the more accurate knowledge of the nature of these

o

substances, which later observations have furnished,
would be also stated. A sedulous examination and
careful comparison of different specimens of the same
species would be required for this purpose ; and, where
indisputable inferences could not thus be obtained, such
conjectures might be offered as analogy and probability
appeared to support. Most of the subjects for the plates,
which would accompany a work conducted on this
plan, would be necessarily original ; by which the gene-
ral fund of information, respecting these much neglected
subjects of admiration, would be increased : a circum-
stance much to be desired ; since, in even the most re-
spectable works which have appeared, the figures have
been, too frequently, merely copies from those of former
works.

The superior advantages, which would thus be pro-
duced, were so obvious as to lead to the determination
of attempting to form a work upon this model. It was
not however overlooked, that considerable difficulties

Xll PREFACE.

must be expected to impede and interrupt the attempt.
The greatest of these appeared to be in the acquisition of
a sufficient variety of specimens, to admit of the neces-
sary comparison, and to allow the deficiencies of some,
so to be made up by others, as to supply a tolerably cor-
rect notion of the figure, and even of the nature of the
body, which perhaps no single specimen could furnish.

From this difficulty proceeded, in a great measure, the
inability to determine the size of the intended work.
The instruction furnished by the specimen which may
be possessed to day, may add very little to the know-
ledge which we have derived from others; and will there-
fore demand but little room for its communication. But
the specimen which accident, or industry may throw in
our way to-morrow, may furnish that degree of informa-
tion, which may lead to a true knowledge of the real
nature of the substance under inquiry ; and perhaps to
the correction of all previously adopted opinions re-
specting it. The new facts which would be thus gained,
and the various reasonings and conjectures to which they
would lead, would necessarily occasion a wide differ-
ence between the space which the article would then re-
quire, and that which it had, at first, been expected to
occupy. A few such fortunate occurrences, would, it is
evident, extend the work much beyond the bounds with-
in which it might originally have been proposed to be

confined : and might necessarily occasion an extension
of the work beyond those limits, within which the au-
thor had bound himself to confine it. On this account,
it was resolved to leave the size of the work to be deter-
mined, by the quantity of additional information which
might be furnished, by the accession of new materials ;
taking care, at the same time, to guard against the ad-
mission of uninteresting and irrelevant matter.

•

How far the attempt to form the present volume on
these principles, and on this model, has succeeded, the
author leaves to the judgment of the candid: assuring
them, that in the prosecution of the work, no unwar-
rantable protraction of it shall be admitted. He is very
desirous to complete the work in a third volume; but
when he considers the multitude of subjects which
must be examined, he finds himself unable to pledge
himself to the observance of the limits which would be
thus prescribed.

Anxious to obtain, and to communicate, the fullest
information on the various subjects of his inquiry, he
will be much obliged by any specimens or observa-
tions, illustrative of the nature of the different substances
which have been, or which remain to be, examined. Any
such communications he will with pleasure place before

XIV PREFACE.

the public, either embodied in the present work, or in a
separate volume of oryctological communications.

It is proper to remark, that such only of the engravings
of the present volume, as are not coloured, have been
taken from other works : and that all those, which are
coloured, have been copied, for this work, from the spe-
cimens themselves.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FRONTISPIECE.

THE fossil animal body which is here represented is of the genus
Alcyonium. Bodies of a similar form and structure are found in
various parts, but no where in greater quantities than in the neigh-
bourhood of Touraine, in France, and in Wiltshire. It was at first
supposed that this fossil had been obtained from the latter of these
places ; but on comparison with the Wiltshire alcyonites, it appears,
that although of the same original structure with them ; yet the
changes which it has undergone are such as rather point out its being
a French fossil. The original animal fibres are now entirely silicious ;
and the interstices are filled with carbonate of lime. At its inferior
part are the remains of its footstalk ; on the surface the fibrous
structure appears ; and on the left side, and at the superior part, a
portion of the original investing or cortical part may be seen. —
Vide, p. 125.

ERRATA.

i'age 2, line 48, for have read has.

13, 9, for membraneous read membranous.

16, 2, from the bottom, for surfaces read surface.

18, 20, dele already.

21, 12, for Plate II. Fig. 3, read Plate HI. Fig. 4.

33, 25, for 14 read 17. ,

•50, 1, for labours read labour.

57, 29, for arguments read agreements.

58, 1, for their read the.
76, 23, for 12 read 14.
92, ^25, for to read of.

101, 18, for art read part.

109, 20, p/ac« a comma after surface, and dele the comma after ICHS.

112, 17, for in read on.

116, 21, after cavity, read would be effected.

117, for Letter XIV. read Letter XIII.
U8, 1, /or ment A read ment o.

120! u', £/or Fig> 9> rea(f Fig> 6l

123J ?,' /or 4 r«zd 7.

125, 7, for membraneous read membranous.

135, 25, after perfect add a,

143, 19, dele and.

155, 5, after APPENDICES add or PROCESSES.

, 13, dele two.

159, 22, for 15 read 16.

160, 3, /or 16 read 15.

166, 15, for entrochius read entrochus.

168, 23, for membraneous read membranous.

174, 6, for lapidium read lapideum.

, 2, from bottom, for on the first read the first on.

193, 27, for XV. read XIII.

195, 1, from bottom, for truncated read tunicated.

213, 4, from bottom, for transverse read longitudinal.

220, 18, for ise read isle.

222, 21, fot metacarpal read carpal.

228, 17, for tentaculae read tentacula.

250, 25, for strait read straight.

233, 1, From bottom, for bodies read body.

238, 27, after America insert and.

255, 7, for for read of.

257, 8, for XNCB.INITE read PENTACI.INITX.

270, 4, from bottom, for 2 read 3.

ORGANIC REMAINS

OF A

FORMER WORLD,

• * • • ' • * J • J

LETTER I.

MODE IN WHICH THE WORK IS INTENDED TO BE PURSUED..,,
REASONS TOR EMPLOYING THE EPISTOLARY FORM.

I VENTURED, my dear friend, to assert, in the series of letters of
which the former volume is composed, that the examination of the
fossils of the animal kingdom, would yield a much greater degree of
interest and amusement, than could be expected from those of the
vegetable kingdom. This assertion was made on the consideration, that
from the composition and structure of many of the more solid parts
of animals ; such as the bones, the shelly and crustaceous coverings,
horns, scales, &c. many more of their remains would be found in a
state of preservation, than could possibly be the case with those of
vegetables.

The parts of animals, which have been just particularized, are such
as must also necessarily lead to observations, which may be more
illustrative of the nature of the individuals to which they belonged,

VOL. u. B

than the fossil remains of vegetables. In the former, the entire figure
of the investiture of the animal is sometimes preserved ; and where
this is not the case, sufficient is frequently found, to point out the
genus, and in many cases, even the species of the animal : but pieces
of wood, leaves, with the kernels and coriaceous coverings of fruits,
can seldom do more than lead to uncertain conjecture, respecting the
natural order or class under which the plant should be placed.

It is my intention, whilst proceeding to inform you of the result of
my investigations, to continue to place them before you in an episto-
lary form. This is indeed rendered necessary, in some degree, by
that form having been adopted in the preceding volume. But, inde-
pendent of that circumstance, it is the form which, for several other
reasons, I am; disposed to prefer. By adopting this mode, I shall feel
myself more at liberty to introduce such matter as, although highly
useful in illustration, might hardly perhaps be admissible in a work
composed according to the more rigid forms, in which disquisitions of
this kind are generally presented to the world. The epistolary stile
too appears to be well suited to the discussion of subjects of natural
history. It allows that familiar mode of expression, which seems to be
best calculated for those illustrations which are required by the various
topics, which this study embraces. It also admits of the introduction
of those reflections, which although, perhaps, not unacceptable, and
which naturally arise from the immediate subject of inquiry, might
appear to be too digressive, in a work written in a truly systematic
form. But another circumstance, it must be admitted, has had some
considerable weight in determining this choice. These observations
have been put to paper, at short and uncertain periods, when the
fatigue arising from professional labours have left the mind in such a
state, as to render it necessary to record the results of its investiga-
tions, in that familiar kind of stile as might best suit the writer in
such moments ; and as might not demand the extreme severity of cri-
ticism.

It is, however, not intended to extend too widely the privileges
which are thus assigned : nor is it intended unnecessarily to indulge
in the discussion of any collateral subjects. Indeed, the freedom with
which introductory matter was introduced in the former volume ren-
ders the necessity of such an encroachment less imperious in this
stage of my labours. In a work like the present, however, which is
intended to embrace all that is instructive and interesting in a science,
respecting which so little has appeared in this country, it cannot
indeed be objectionable to notice, occasionally, the more important
observations which have occurred to the zealous and well-informed
in other parts of the world ; and farther than this it is not intended to
wander.

The history of the several animal fossils will be given with all the
care and precision which I shall be able to employ. But however
correctly their physical, their chemical, and even their geographic
characters may be given, little is accomplished, unless as close a com-
parison be made between the fossil and the recent animal, as circum-
stances will admit. This, it must be observed, must of necessity lead
to such observations on the habits and economy, as well as of the
chemical composition of the recent animal, as perhaps at first sight
might appear to be unnecessary. It is, however, presumed that this
extension of inquiry will not be found in any case to be employed
beyond the bounds which fair illustration may demand.

It has been considered as very desirable, not only to ascertain the
animals from which the different fossil animal remains have derived
their origin ; but also to determine, as nearly as could be, the state in
which their remains were intended to exist, in the present state of this
globe. Hence, after having taken a slight glance at the original
animals, and examined the various changes which they have under-
gone; I shall endeavour to trace them into that state, in which they
appear to possess the highest degree of utility as fossil substances, and
in which they have obtained, comparatively, a permanent form. Thi&

state, in by far the greatest part of the substances towards which our in-
quiries will be directed, will be found to be that of lime-stone, marble,
calcareous spar, chalk, £c. When found in this state, and still pos-
sessing traces of their original mode of existence, they will be regarded
as fit subjects to derive illustration from the labours of the artist.

LETTER IL

ARRANGEMENT OF LINNAEUS. ... OF WALLERIUS...THAT ADOPTED IN
THE PRESENT WORK....ZOOPH YTES CLAIM PRIORITY OF EXA-
MINATION....CORALS.

JT HE arrangement which has been adopted in the present volume
requires a few words in explanation. Linnaeus commences his arrange-
ment of secondary fossils with the mineralised remains of man, passes
on to those of mammalia, birds> amphibia, fishes, and insects, and
concludes with those of worms; in which are comprised, asteriaey
echini, the inhabitants of shells, and those animals which, from
apparently partaking both of an animal and vegetable nature, have
been distinguished by the name of zoophytes. After having noticed,
in this order, 'the fossil remains of animals, he then proceeds to those
of vegetables.

WaHerius, on the other hand, treats first of the vegetable kingdom,
and then proceeds to arrange those of the animal kingdom, in the
following order ; corals* worms, shells, insects, amphibia, fishes, birds,
quadrupeds, and, lastly, man. The latter of these arrangements, ap-
pearing to be in several respects preferable to the former, it has beea
here nearly adopted.

Previous to the excellent remarks of Mons. Jussieu, corals were
regarded entirely as marine plants ; and consequently were con-
sidered as belonging to the vegetable kingdom. As their nature
became more known, their claims, to be ranked among the subjects
of the animal kingdom, were more generally acknowledged ; whilst
the general forms under which they existed irresistibly led to the
conclusion, that these, at least, must depend on the process of vegeta-
tion. They were,, therefore, frequently regarded as a class of beings,
which, deriving their existence from the energies both of vegetable
and of animal life, formed the connecting link of the two kingdoms:
and hence the situation allotted for them by classification has some-
times been the last genus of animals, and the first of vegetables.

Indeed when, together with their vegetable forms, certain circum-
stances in their growth are also considered, the passing from the
investigation of vegetables, directly to that of these bodies, appears
to be the most rational progress of inquiry. The mind is then best
enabled, by the inquiry in which it was last engaged,, to form the
necessary comparison, and to adjudge how little vegetation has been
concerned in the production of beings, which appear to possess so
many properties in common with plants, as to have forced those who
most strongly denied their partaking in the least degree of a vege-
table nature, into the necessity, whilst speaking of them, of employ-
ing figurative language entirely borrowed from, the vegetable kingdom.
This consideration alone seems sufficient to direct their being disposed
of, nearly in that situation, in which they are placed by Wallerius,
and which it is here intended they shall also retain. But another
consideration, of still greater force, urges that their fossil remains
should be examined previously to those of other animals. The nature
of the changes which animal substances undergo, whilst passing into
a mineral state, is but little known, and considerable difficulties op»
pose the attempt to ascertain the modes, by which nature has deter-
mined > that this particular change shall be accomplished. The greatest

6

chance, however, of obtaining some information upon this subject,
it must be obvious, will be yielded by making those animal substances
the first objects of our inquiry, which were originally the most simple
in their constitution. Such, it must be admitted, are corals ; the sim-
plicity of the composition of which has been made known to us by
the interesting experiments of Mr. Hatchett.

But, although it is intended, for this reason, to adopt the order of
Wallerius, so far as to commence the animal fossils with the corals,
and then to proceed upwards in the scale of animation, it is not, how-
ever, proposed to separate, with this author, these bodies from the
class of worms, (vermes, Linn.) It is, on the contrary, intended still
to: consider corals in their fossil state, as forming different genera and
species, in the order of zoophytes, in the class of vermes.

Of the origin of coralloids, as the fossil corals are sometimes termed,
it will not be necessary to say much at the present day, when so many
proofs have been adduced of their having derived their origin from
real corals, which have been disposed in such situations as have con-
duced to the changes which they have undergone. The more ancient
notions of their having proceeded from the operations of a vis plastica,
vis formativa, &c. need no farther notice, than to observe, that even
in the last century, Dr. Woodward admitted it to form a part of the
hypothesis, by which he proposed to account for the origin of various
secondary fossils, and especially of coralloids.

The original hardness of many of the zoophytes led to a considerable
degree of confusion ; since many of the earlier naturalists, not per-
ceiving the actual change which the fossil bodies of this kind had
undergone, made no distinction ; but considered these bodies as ex-
isting in their original natural state. But, as the science advanced,
the circumstance of their having been found in subterraneous situa-

o

tions called for explanation ; nor would fanciful and unfounded suppo-
sitions be admitted. It was no longer sufficient to say, with Encelius,
that they were formed by the indurating power of the air ; or that they

derived their origin from the viscosity of the earth ; nor, with Wood-
ward, that the corals, &c. being brought into a state of solution, at
the time of the Deluge, their particles, after some time, uniting and
combining into masses, composed the nodules of coral, &c. which are
now found deposited in the bowels of the earth.

The existence in subterranean situations of the ramose, and other
corals, which bore an exact resemblance to those which were known
to be the inhabitants of the ocean, was, however, long attempted to
be accounted for, by suppositions approaching no nearer to proba-
bility than these. Count Moscardi (Not. Overo Museo de Conte de
Lod. Moscardo, p. 187-) and Oligerius Jacobaeus (Mus. Reg. p. 3.)
were, however, led by the appearance of some of the fossil alcyonia,
to suppose that they had actually undergone a change, and were real
petrifactions. But they still were totally 'ignorant of the real origin
of these substances ; and, misled by their forms, they believed them
to be different species of terrestrial fungi.

The learned Buttner, in the year 1714, removed every doubt re-
specting the origin of these bodies, and rendered it manifest, that all
fossil corals had primarily been the inhabitants of the ocean. This
opinion was opposed, indeed, by our countryman WOODWARD, but
with arguments too futile to require notice ; it therefore was generally
accepted, and the knowledge of the real nature of fossil corals was
established.

8

LETTER III.

REMARKS ON RECENT CORALS., ..EXPERIMENTS ON, BY

MR. HATCHETT.

OOME are of opinion, that whilst contemplating the nature, and
examining the constituent parts, of those substances which have un-
dergone an almost total change in their composition, it is unnecessary
to take into consideration, either the circumstances under which they
previously existed, or the principles which entered into their original
constitution. Not entertaining this opinion, but considering that
many may feel themselves highly interested by marking the progress
of the change of organized bodies, into substances possessing the
properties of a mineral, greater freedom will be indulged in, whilst
selecting the various topics, the discussion of which is to fill the fol-
lowing pages.

To form even a probable conjecture, respecting the nature of the
changes, which will be the chief objects of our investigations, it
appears that the nature of the substances which have undergone the
change must first be known ; their constituent principles will therefore
be particularized. Since these changes may also be even influenced
by the peculiar habits and economy of the living animal, these will
also be occasionally adverted to. Thus, in the present instance, the
chemical examination of the recent coral, and an inquiry into the
properties possessed by the animal which inhabited it, will be likely
to yield us considerable aid, whilst determining the changes which
have taken place in the fossil coraL

So great is the resemblance which corals bear to vegetables as to have
long occasioned, as has been already observed, their being considered

as subjects of the vegetable kingdom. They are in general attached
to other substances by a part, analagous, in its form, to a root ; from
which proceeds a trunk, ramifying into branches, which, at certain
times, appear to be beset with floweret* and fruits of beautiful and
fantastic forms. Their real nature was first ascertained by Peysonell,
who, in 1?27) communicated his observations respecting them to the
Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris. This accurate observer, not
only shewed that corals yielded, on the application of heat, such
products as peculiarly belonged to animal substances ; but also pointed
out several particulars respecting the coral polype, which could not
fail of determining, that corals belonged entirely to the animal king-
dom. The observations of Jussieu, Reaumur, Donati, and others,
confirmed this fact; which, however, was not so generally received,
but that several learned men still hesitated in admitting, that the
forms which corals bear could be derived from the powers of animal
life alone. All doubts were, however, removed by the observations of
Mr. Ellis, in his essay on the Natural History of Corallines, and of
many curious and uncommon Zoophytes.

By the experiments of Mr. Hatchett, instituted for the purpose of
ascertaining the component parts, as well as the mode of formation, of
different zoophytes, our knowledge respecting these animals has been
very considerably increased. He was enabled by these experiments
to ascertain, that corals, and the numerous tribe of zoophytes, writh
which they are connected, differ, in composition, from the varieties of
bone and shell, only by the nature and quantity of the hardening
principle, and by the state of the substance with which it is mixed or
connected. The porcellaneous shells, such as cyprece, &c. were found
to be composed of animal gluten and carbonate of lime ; and to re-
semble, in their mode of formation, the enamel of teeth ; the earthy
matter being blended with the animal gluten. The pearly shells, or those
composed of nacre or mother of pearl, such as patella, &c. he found
to be composed of carbonate of lime, and a gelatinous, cartilaginous,

VOL. II. C

10

or membranaceous substance ; and that they resembled bone, in their
hardening matter being secreted and deposited upon the membrana-
ceous substance. It appeared, that the gluten, in the porcellaneous
shells, existed in so small a degree of natural inspissation, and was so
little advanced in organization, that when the carbonate of lime was
dissolved, even by very feeble acids, little or no vestige of jelly, mem-
brane, or cartilage could be perceived. In the pearly shells, on the
contrary, that substance, which served in the porcellaneous shells
merely as a gluten, was not only more abundant, but also more inspis-
sated, becoming visible and palpable. This chain of connection
between bone and shells, Mr. Hatchett found, was also extended
between shells and corals. He found an exact similarity between the
substances forming the various shells, and that which forms the various
madrepores and millepores ; the nature of these bodies being so com-
pletely the same, that the changes or gradations of the one are to be
found in the other. Thus some madrepores and millepores, like the
porcelaneous shells, afforded a gelatinous substance, on the removal
of the carbonate of lime ; whilst others yielded a substance possessing
all the characters of the membranaceous substance, contained in the
shells formed of nacre or mother of pearl.

Many of the circumstances which the experiments of Mr. Hatchett
have made known, throw a considerable degree of light upon the for-
mation of the different animal fossils, and will, therefore, be occasion-
ally referred to in the succeeding pages of this work.

11

LETTER IV.

CLASS IF1CAT10N....NOMENCLATU RE.. ..TUBIPORITE.... APPROACH ING

TO TUBIPORA MUSIC A TUBIPORA STRUES IMBEDDED IN

MARBLE MR. HATCHETl's EXPERIMENTS ANIMAL MEM-
BRANE DETECTED IN THE MARBLE FORMED BY THIS CORAL.

1 HE classification of zoophytes by the illustrious Linnaeus, is that
which will be adopted in the following pages. Mons. Cuvier, whose
indefatigable exertions for promoting the advancement of comparative
anatomy and oryctology, demand the gratitude of every lover of
science, has proposed a different arrangement of animal bodies ;
which does not, however, seem necessary to be here adopted in pre-
ference to that of Linnaeus. Indeed, without dwelling on the admis-
sion of holothuria and siphunculus among the zoophytes, the disposal
of echinus and asteria among those animals which derive their names
from their resembling plants in their figure, appears to render the
classification of Cuvier objectionable. By the adoption of the arrange-
ment of Linnaeus, that confusion also will be avoided, which might arise
from any deviation from that general language of natural historians,
which has been derived from that particular mode of classification.

It is also necessary to make a few remarks respecting the vocabulary
of oryctology. This science, it must be acknowledged, is too little
advanced in this country, to have obtained a full and correct nomen-
clature. The restricted knowledge we possess, respecting many fossils,
is one considerable cause of the little progress which has been made
in this respect: added to which, is the circumstance of the English
writers on these subjects having generally employed, unchanged, the
several terms which have served to designate these substances in the
Latin tongue.

12

The English termination lite, which directly proceeds from the Latin
termination lithus, implying a stony nature, appears to be sufficient,
if added to the name of any substance, to point out its having sus-
tained the petrifying change : thus, corallite conveys the idea of a
petrified coral. But, in some instances, it will be found that brevity
and euphonia will demand a little alteration in this termination, from
its not being always capable of easy adaption to the last syllable of
the name of the substance, which is intended to be described, as
having undergone this particular change. In these cases, both in the
Latin tongue and the French language, the termination ite has been
employed to denote that the substance spoken of has undergone the
process of lapidification. By the employment, therefore, of one or
of the other of these terminations, I hope to be almost always capable
of clearly designating the petrified substance, with the least possible
change of received terms.

o

Proceeding, therefore, to the consideration of the zoophytes, we
shall, agreeably to the proposed arrangement, take for the first subject
of our examination, the genus tubipore ; (tubipora, Lin.) being the
first of the order of zoophytes in the Linnsean classification.

TUBIPORITES is the term applicable to the zoophytes which, in a
fossil state, compose this genus : the generic characters of which are,
that they consist of cylindric, hollow, erect, parallel, aggregated tubes.

These tubes, which in the recent coral form the habitation of an
animal, most probably of the polype kind, are in the fossil filled, in
various degrees, with calcareous, argillaceous, or siliceous matter,
separate or combined. In some specimens, in a transparent, crystal-
lized, and in others in an opaque, amorphous state.

The organ-pipe coral, (tubipora musica, Linnaei,) so well known and
so much admired by collectors, for its curious form and beautiful red
colour, is, I suspect, not known in a mineralized state. The contrary
having, however, been very generally supposed to be the case> I have
thought it necessary to be rather particular on this head.

13

Dr. Woodward describes " a coralloid body, excepting the colour,
which is grey, resembling the tubularia purpurea of Ferrante Imperato.
Found in the rubble of a lead mine, near Charterhouse, Mendip,
Somersetshire*/' But from the negative evidence of almost every other
writer; and from a careful examination of the various fossil tubi-
pores, in different collections, I am led to suppose, that the organ-pipe
coral is rarely met with in a mineral state. The specific character
of this coral is that of being formed of tubes, connected in bundles,
by distant, transverse, membraneous plates: and, as has been shewn by
our celebrated countryman Ellis, when an opening is made into these
tubes, they are found to be jointed and to communicate with one
another by means of geniculated pipes, which pass through each of
them, and are radiated at their joints -f. The transverse partitions, or
plates, by which the perpendicular pipes are connected, appear also
to serve the purpose of supporting the lateral connecting pipes. The
different parts here alluded to, are represented Plate III. Fig. 2. in a
figure taken from the twenty-seventh plate of the work to which we
have just referred. In this representation, the internal pipe may be
seen dilating, and then radiating into several small pipes, which pass
through the connecting plates. This figure is introduced here for the
purpose of affording the more easy comparison with those fossils which
have been supposed to belong to this species*

The fossil which approaches the nearest to the tubipora mmzca, is that
which is represented, Plate I. Fig. 1. It is imbedded in a dark brown
lime stone, from Derbyshire ; the substance of which is almost entirely
formed of this tubipore, as may be seen, by the quantity of projecting
portions on the upper and on the fore part.

In this fossil there are several circumstances, in which an agreement
may be observed, between it and the organ-pipe coral ; yet, in, other

* Dr. Woodward's Catalogue, vol. II. page 12.

f The Natural History of Zoophytes, by John Ellis, and Daniel Solander, M. D. P.

14

respects, the difference is so considerable, as fully to authorize the
considering of it, as of a distinct species. The perpendicular pipes
are similarly arranged, the internal pipes are also observable, and the
lateral communication takes place nearly in the same manner; but
here there are no continuous, connecting plates. By an attentive
examination of the figure, the lateral openings disposed round the
tubes will be observed, through which the transverse pipes of commu-
nication passed, in the same manner as in the tubipora musica, except
being unaccompanied by the horizontal plates. In this circumstance,
therefore, the specific difference exists between the recent tubipore
and the fossil species here delineated ; and which may be described as
a tubipore composed of erect parallel tubes, including others, which by
frequently radiating connect the whole.

Specimens of this tubiporite are also found in Derbyshire and in
Wales, imbedded in a soft matrix from which it is easily detached.
In this state, its resemblance to the tubipora musica, is still more
striking, than when imbedded, as in the above-mentioned specimen.
These specimens are, in general, of a dark brown colour ; but one in
my collection still bears a slight reddish hue, from which their ori-
ginal red colour may be inferred.

In the greater number of these specimens, so much silex enters into
the composition of the fossil, as to render it capable of scratching
glass, and of resisting the action of the muriatic and nitric acids.
The representation of the separate tubiporite is not given, as its figure
may be easily imagined from the appearance it yields in the im-
bedded specimen, Plate I. Fig. 1.

In a marble formed by this species of tubipore, Plate I. Fig. 2.
a reddish tinge is observable, which evidently proceeds from some of
the original colour of the coral having been preserved. This is ren-
dered indubitable by a close examination of the specimen itself, since
it is there seen, that the colour does not exist in the intermediate cal-
careous matter, or in that which has been introduced into the cavities

15

of the tubes, but in the substance of the coral, forming the sides
of the tubes.

It appears, from the experiments of Mr. Hatchett, that the colour-
ing matter of the organ-pipe coral is similar to that of the red coral,
(gorgonia nobilis) being some unknown modification of animal matter.
The red colour of both these substances having been gradually de-
stroyed, during the action of the diluted nitric acid, as the solution
of the calcareous substance advanced ; and could not afterwards by
any means be restored : nor could any colouring principle whatever
be detected by the re-agents usually employed*.

We also learn from the Count de Marsilli, that by digesting red
coral, with and without its membranaceous tunic, in milk, over a slow
fire, the colouring matter was dissolved by the milk, which became
thereby of a pink colour; whilst the coral became first of a saffron,
then of an ash colour, and at last of a livid white. The same effects
resulted from its digestion in heated wax. A similar deprivation of
colour is also found to take place in those pieces of coral, which,
having been broken, have fallen into, and have remained for some
time in the mud at the bottom of the sea-j~.

As the colouring matter of these corals is capable of being thus
removed by digestion, it is not to be wondered at, that, in general, in
the fossil specimens, which must, in most instances, have been exposed
to long continued maceration in water, little or none of the original
colour remains.

From the weight and other physical characters, as well as from
exposure to chemical agents, I found that every fossil of this species
in my collection, not imbedded in stone, contained too much siliceous
matter, to admit, by the agency of an acid, the examination into the
change which had taken place in the original constituent parts of the
coral.

* Philosophical Transactions, for 1800.

f Histoire Physique de Ja Mer, par Louis Ferdinand Corate de Marsilli.

16

Indeed, considering that, in the experiments of Mr. Hatchett, even
the recent tubipore lost its colour, and only demonstrated some loose,
particles of a tender membrane, I regarded it as almost hopeless to
attempt to detect any animal matter, in a fossil body, which must
have existed, in a mineralized state, several thousand years ; but as
the result, if successful, would prove highly interesting, I resolved
on the experiment.

A fragment of the marble, Plate I. Fig. 2, was therefore exposec}
to the action of the muriatic acid, in a very diluted state. As the
calcareous earth dissolved, and the carbonic acid gas escaped, I
was much pleased to observe the membranaceous substance appear,
depending from the marble, in light, flocculent, elastic membranes.
Many of these, most unexpectedly, retained a very deep red colour,
and appeared in a beautiful and distinct manner, although not abso-
lutely retaining the form of the tubipore. A faithful representation
of this preparation is given, Plate I. Fig. 3.

Tubipora Strues, as described by Linnaeus *, appears to agree exactly
with the fossil from Westmoreland, Plate II. Fig. 1. Like that tubi-
pore, it is formed of diverging tubes, which are connected by single
tubules passing in a horizontal direction from one tube to another;
but at much greater distances than either in the tubipora musica, or in
the fossil last described.

In this specimen, the tubes are seen diverging and bending *heir
course in different ways. The tubes are all filled with calcareous
matter, so that their terminations generally present the appearance of
a projecting body: in some few only, are the vestiges of an opening
discernible. The external surfaces of the tubes lias a scabrous appear-
ance, very much unlike the smooth surfaces of the recent tubipores.

* T. tubis distantibus divergentibus liberis posterius seepius flexis : tubulis minoribus
simplicibus horizontalibus coijibinatis. — Sy sterna Naturae, Linnsei. 1788. Tom. IV. P. 3755.

17

The polished surface on the other side proves that the stone is
almost entirely formed by this fossil : and the internal view of the
tubes which is thus obtained shews, that the tubipore was formed of
hollow tubes, which are now filled with clear spathose matter ; and
that there is no appearance of that internal structure which is ob-
servable, either in the tubipora musica, or in madrepores. In some
parts, may be seen, sections of the transverse pipes, which preserve the
communication between the several perpendicular tubes.

The appearance of this tubipore differs considerably in different spe-
cimens. In a beautiful white specimen, evidently of the same species,
from the Marquis of Donegal's Collection, the general appearance dif-
fers much from the preceding fossil, Plate II. Fig. 1, partly from the
elegant plumose forms, which the ramifications have assumed ; and
partly from the whiteness of the earth, and the pureness of the spathose
matter, with which it has become impregnated ; it being a beautiful
white marble. The characteristic, minute, transverse, connecting
branches are very numerous and conspicuous, and plainly evince the
species to which it belongs. Dr. Woodward describes a specimen
which appears to belong to this species of tubipore. His description
of it is, " a fasciculus of several pieces of a grey coral, lying generally
parallel, and held together by means of several small branches passing
from one to another, and uniting where they meet. The whole somewhat
resembles the tubularia purpurea of Ferrante Imperati : and the stems
of this are of the thickness that those of that commonly are. Some
of them are tubular ; others solid. Found near Sedberg, in York-
shire."*

* Catalogue of Fossils, Vol. I. Page 130, E. 4.

VOL. II. D

18

LETTER V.

HAMIFIED TUB1PORE....SILICIFIED TUBIPORE IN LIME-STONE....

MARBLE FORMED BY THIS TUBIPORE CHAIN CORAL STEL-

LATED TUBIPORE, &C.

1 HE specimen delineated, Plate III. Fig. 1, and which, I am in-
formed, was found in the neighbourhood of Mendip, in Somersetshire,
differs from the fossil specimens already figured, and from the recent
tubipore, in having neither horizontal plates, nor horizontal pipes, to
secure the necessary communication between the different parts of
the animal, disposed in the several tubes of which the tubipore is
composed. This office appears to have been accomplished in the
species of tubipore to which this specimen belonged, by the simple
mode of small ramifications, passing from one branch to another; not,
as in the species already described, in a horizontal, but in an oblique
direction. As far as can be ascertained by this specimen, the ramifi-
cations appear to have been dichotomous. This species, which it
seems might be properly termed tubipora ramulosa, may be described
as composed of tubes connected by dichotomous ramifications.

A very curious circumstance is observable with respect to the
particular specimen which is here figured. It has been already re-
marked, that the fossil specimens, already mentioned, are sometimes
formed almost entirely of flint; and the necessary examination shewed
that, in the present fossil, every part of it which had been coral, as
well that part which was imbedded in the stone, as that which pro-
jected from its surface, was in a high degree silicious ; whilst the
stone which contained it was pure lime-stone. In consequence of this,
the stone being briskly rubbed on a silicious sand-stone, those parts

19

which had been formerly organized, acquired a considerable polish, and
projected beyond the general surface, which was more rubbed down,
and which, although somewhat smoothed, had not obtained any polish.
The difference of the two substances was more accurately determined,
by immersing this same surface for a few minutes in marine acid, since
although a considerable degree of effervescence, and a removal of
some of the substance, evinced its action on the interposed lime-stone,
no trace of its influence on the polished projecting parts was discern-
ible ; even the polish was not in the least impaired.

To what a remote period of past time, and to what astonishing
changes in the structure of the surface, at least, of this globe, does
this circumstance direct our contemplation ! A body, differing from
any animal substance now known, has been^formed, by the energies of
animal life, in the depths of the ocean of a former world ; and is now
found imbedded in a rock, many miles inland, and at a considerable
height above the sea : and these, wonderful as they are, are not the
only circumstances of this case, which, in the present state of our
knowledge, may be considered as inexplicable. The substance, of
which this body is composed, has undergone a most extraordinary
change : originally formed chiefly of carbonic acid and lime, with a
small portion of animal matter, it has now become a mass, in which,
except perhaps a portion of animal matter, these substances are no
longer to be found : the space which was formerly allotted to them
being now filled almost entirely with the earth of flint : and to add to
the wonder, the silicified mass is found imbedded in lime.

In what situation this body was placed at the period it suffered this
change of its substance ? By what process its original constituent
principles were removed, and those of which it is now composed were
added, and how so great a change could be effected, with apparently no
alteration whatever of its form ? — These are questions which perhaps
cannot be answered, until a considerable farther advance is made
.

20

in the progress of this science, and until it is known by what agent
the earth of flints has, at some former period, existed so generally
and so plenteously in solution.

The specimen of marble, Plate III. Fig. 3, from Wales, evidently
owes its configurations to this tubipore. In several parts may be
seen different sections of the tubes, filled by white spathose matter.
In some parts of the marble, sections of the connecting branches may
also be perceived ; by which it appears, that they exactly agree, in
their mode of ramification, and in the direction which they preserve,
with that which is observable in the specimen, Plate III. Fig. 1.

The next species of the genus tubipore which claims our notice, is
the CHAIN CORAL, (tubipom catenulata, Linn.) composed of parallel
tubes, formed in laminae anastomozing by their winding folds.

This curious zoophyte has been only found in a fossil state. The
flattened oval tubes, of which it is composed, being placed perpendi-
cularly in a waving line; finely grooved, thin, upright folds, are formed
by the sides of the tubes, whilst their upper, and oftentimes their
lower, surfaces, present an appearance exceedingly resembling that
of a small chain. Its appearance is frequently so beautiful as to
resemble figures, formed by the tool of the most delicate workman, or
by the needle of the embroiderer : and the folds, by frequently coining
into contact with each other, make it appear, as if the chain was so
connected as to form a net. This curious reticular form, as is observed
by Bromell, does not yield a bad representation of a retiform plexus
of lymphatic vessels*.

The folds of this coral are of various heights : they, oftentimes, are
not more than a quarter of an inch in height; and seldom exceed
six inches. The interstices between the folds of the coral, as well
as the tubes themselves, are generally filled up with a mixture of
argillaceous and calcareous earth. A considerable difference, how-

c?

ever, is found in the matrix in which different specimens of this fossil
* Bromellii Lithograph. Vide Spec. 2, 25. Tab. 25.

21

are imbedded. In some, it is composed chiefly of brown argillaceous
matter ; in others, it is a pretty solid lime-stone ; whilst, in others, it
is formed of very fine particles of both argillaceous and calcareous
earth. The coral itself often varies in its colour and hardness. In
some specimens it is of a yellowish hue, and in others of a bluish
white. In some it is much harder and firmer than the investing matrix,
whilst, in others, possessing a spathose texture, it is much more fragile.
This coral is generally opaque and white ; but sometimes it has suffi-
cient transparency, to allow the transmission of the light through a
thin section of the mass, so as to render the parts of the coral visible,
as is shewn, Plate III. Fig. 6.

In the specimen, Plate II. Fig. 3, the tubular folds reach sufficiently
above the matrix to afford a fair view of their structure. The grooves
formed on the external surface, between the prominences occasioned
by the tubes, are very plainly to be observed. Slight horizontal lines
crossing the former may also be perceived : and with the aid of a
lens, these manifest the appearance of having been formed by regular
additions of fresh matter, applied by the inhabitants of the tubes,
during the several stages of their growth. Minute openings are also
observable in the sides of the tubes, by which, it is probable, that a
connection was preserved betwixt all the parts of the animal mass,
with which the tubes were filled.

The specimen, Plate III. Fig. 5, very much resembles that which is
figured by Bromcll, and which he so properly describes as approach-
ing in its appearance to a reticular plexus of lymphatics. The white
coral, being contrasted by the dark ground, yields indeed a very beau-
tiful appearance, and gives also the idea of the laboured works of
some nice artist.

Tubipora serpens, as appears from the figure and description given
by Fougt* of the fossil referred to under this head, can hardly be

* Amcenit. Acad. Tom. I. p. 105, tab. 4, fig. XXVI.

considered as a tubipore. The other references, in illustration of this
species, by Gmelin, appear to be incorrect.

Fascicular tubipore (tubipora fascicularis, Linn.,) described by Fa-
bricius as being formed of fasciculated filiform tubes, anastomosing
in places, at their sides*: and found in a mineral state on the shores
of Gothland, and in the lime-stone mountains, of the size of a sparrow's
quill, has not, I conjecture, been yet figured. Nor have I to my
knowledge yet seen this fossil.

Tubipora ramosa, T. pinnata, T. pennicillata, and T, flabellaris,
have not yet been seen in a fossil state. Indeed, that minuteness of
the parts of which they are composed, their structure, and various
other circumstances, demonstrate the little probability there is of
these substances being detected, after they have become a stony
mass.

Stellated tubipore, (tubipora stellata, Linn.) is described by Adrian
Modeer-f- as a fossil found in the Swedish Island, Gothland. It is formed
by distinct tubes, combined in ranges, by many remote platforms ;
formed of horizontally disposed plates, with radiating striae on their
surfaces, and pierced for the passage of the tubes. This fossil, from
the description, and from the plate which is given of it by Modeer,
appears to be fully deserving to be considered as a distinct species.
That curious species of communication between the several parts of
the animal, which has been already noticed in the organ-pipe coral,
as being kept up by radiating tubuli, passing through the substance
of the horizontally disposed plates, appearing in this species to be
carried on by similar pipes passing either through divided plates, or
on the surface of the plates, forming on them the radiated strire just
described.

* O. Fabr. Fn. Groenl. 429. f Act. Stockholm, 1788. § 4. No. 1.

LETTER VI.

MADREPORE MADREPORE AN POLYPE FOSSIL MADREPORE

DIFFICULTY IN ASCERTAINING THE SPECIES TURBINATED

MADREPORE. ...VARIETIES OF.. ..REMARKS ON ITS FORMATION.

W E shall now proceed to the examination of the genus MADRE-
PORE, under which genus are placed all those corals, the cavities of
which are divided by lamellae disposed in a stellular form.

The animal which in the recent coral fills these cavities, was first
depicted by Donati, in the forty-seventh volume of the Philosophical
Transactions, Page 105, Plate IV. and in the Natural History of the
Adriatic Sea, by the same Author. A correct copy of Donati's figures
are here given, since you will thereby be better enabled to judge of
the observations I may offer respecting the formation of some of these
fossil bodies which are next to be examined.

The little polypous inhabitant of the madrepore, Plate II. Fig. 2,
3, 4, according to the concise but perspicuous description of Donati,
is composed of three different parts ; the feet, the shell, and the head.
The feet are in considerable number, and terminate externally in two
conical productions, which being placed on each side of every one of
the lamellae which give the stellular form to the cavity of the coral,
serve to affix the animal to the circumference of its cell, and may,
with propriety, be considered as the instruments by which the little
animal forms the lamellae themselves. The other end of these conical
productions unite and form round bodies, which possess somewhat of
the figure and of the properties of a muscle; they undoubtedly serving
to lengthen or shorten the feet, and also most probably to regulate the

24

force with which they clasp the lamellae, on which they exert their
plastic powers. The other ends of these round bodies terminate in
small cylindric tubes, which are attached to the shell of the animal,
in the centre of which is seen its head, capable of moving with great
quickness, and ornamented with several rays, which are most probably
the arms or claws with which it seizes and secures the animalcule on
which it feeds.

The great number of species under the genus madrepore, and the
near approach in many respects of these species to each other, render
the separation of them, even in a recent state, very difficult, unless by
the aid of perfect specimens. But when we take into consideration, the
minuteness, as well as the extreme delicacy, of structure, of those parts,
from which their specific and even their generic characters are deduced
in many corals ; and, also, reflect on the vast changes which the fossil
has undergone, and the injuries to which it may have been exposed
through countless ages, it must be evident, that it will be frequently
very difficult to trace the mineralized madrepore to its recent analogue.
Many also of the recent corals are not known in a mineralized state ;
and among the fossil corals there are also many, which cannot be
referred to any known recent species. Under these circumstances, I
think it necessary to apprize you, that a much less degree of corres-
pondence will be made out between the recent and the mineral corals
than you might have expected.

From this, however, I trust more of gratification than of disappoint-
ment will proceed. More of the inexhaustible riches of creation will
be displayed ; and sufficient proofs will be found among this class of
animals to determine, that the creative powers of nature have not been
confined to the forming of such animals only as now exist.

Agreeable to the arrangement of Linnaeus, we shall commence with
the examination of the simple madrepores, those which are formed of a
single star.

25

The top-like madrepore (madrepora turbinata) Plate IV. Fig. 1, 2,
3, &c. smooth, with a concave hemispheric star, is a zoophyte, onlj
known in a mineralized state.

This species of madrepore has in general a conical figure, the lower
part of the cone being often very much contracted, as if to form a
pedicle. From this point, the body of the fossil gradually enlarges,
until it terminates in a truncated apex ; or is previously prolonged
into a cylindrical oblong body. In either case, the surface is divided
by numerous, small, and hardly perceptible longitudinal striae, and
girt with transverse, obtuse, and unequal furrows.

The star which fills the apex is concave, and formed by sulcated,
or lamellated, and frequently even, dentated rays, proceeding from
the central depression to the edge of the cavity, which is generally
acute.

These fossils are commonly formed of a lime-stone, which, in general,
is internally, of a light, or yellowish brown colour ; but they are mostly
externally of a bluish grey, deriving this colour from the matrix in
which they have been imbedded.

These madreporites vary much in size; some hardly exceeding that
of a horse-bean ; whilst others are three or four inches in length, .and
others of even nearly that diameter.

No investigation respecting these fossil substances has been con-
ducted with so much success as that which has been instituted by the
learned author of the Dissertation on the Baltic -Corals. Nor can the
figures with which he illustrates the several varieties of this species of
madreporite be exceeded, in exactness of representation. To atone,
therefore, to Ariose who have it not in their power to refer to those
figures, for their repetition here, I have, as I have in every -other
parallel case, endeavoured to select such specimens for the engraver,
as may serve also to point out some important circumstance to which
the figures in former works do not refer.

VOL, II. £

26

The coraliite represented at Plate IV. Fig. 2, differs, in its figure,
from the other corallites of this species ; having somewhat of a
discoid appearance. This difference, I suspect, has depended entirely
on the a<re of the coral : the labours of the little modeller not

o

having been here so advanced as in those which have the turbinated
shape. In this specimen, the diameter of the disk more than equals
the height of the coral : the depth of the stellated cavity is therefore
necessarily small. The ra}7s pass from the centre of the cavity, and
terminate in the margin ; which appears to be preternaturally thick,
from its edge having probably been somewhat worn down, by rolling
on the shores of the Baltic, whence it was obtained. From the same
circumstance, perhaps, has proceeded the flatness of the stellated
surface ; the projecting parts of the radiating lamellae having been
also worn down. Sufficient, however, remains, not only to convey a
correct idea of the structure of the fossil, but to shew that it was a
dwelling exactly fitted for the accommodation of the animal described
by Donati, as the inhabitant of madrepores.

By a careful inspection of many of these madreporites, I have
learnt, that they have been attached to the substance on which they
have grown, by tubes bearing the form, and so far performing to them
the office of roots, as to secure them from easy removal from their
native spot. This pedicle I consider as an essential part of these
animal substances ; and I trust, I shall be able to establish its exist-
ence sufficiently often, to warrant the assumption of its having existed
in all those bodies in which it cannot be directly manifested, but in
which its admission will render their nature much less difficult to un-
derstand.

On the reverse, or inferior side of this fossil, longitudinal striae,
answering to the internal radiating laminae may be easily traced ; and
are intersected by distinct transverse ridges and grooves, marking the
progressive increase of the madrepore by the successive labours of its

n

polype. In the centre of this part of the specimen, the base of the
root may be observed ; the root itself, with its surrounding processes,
having been bowldered down nearly smooth.

Plate IV. Fig. 1, represents a. variety of this species, which has
acquired more of a pyramidal form ; its body having been so elongated
as to have terminated almost in a point, where the root has evidently
been broken off. The remains of the root are however still observable,
and are surrounded with several processes, the appearance of which
sufficiently evince that their office was to assist in affixing the plant'
like habitation of the animal to its destined spat.

A circumstance which particularly claims observation in this species
of madreporite, is, that of a second coral proceeding, in the manner of
proliferous flowers, from the disk of the first. In the specimen, Plate
IV. Fig. 3, a separation may be seen of about half the circumference
and nearly of half the diameter of the coral. The commencement of
a similar process is observable in several other specimens. The speci-
men, Fig. 5, has obviously obtained its increase in this manner, by
the formation of fresh corals from the disks of the preceding.

The size of these corals, as has been already observed, vary con-
siderably : indeed, I suspect that I have seen some from Derbyshire,
even upwards of a foot in length. Equally considerable also is the
variety of forms which they assume. In some the shape is completely
turbinated: in others the length is considerably protrac ed ; some-
times in a straight, and at other times in a curved direction, as at
Plate IV. Fig. 8. The polished longitudinal section of this fossil
shews the internal part of the madrepore to have been divided by
transverse lamellae, which correspond with the circular projections on
the surface. Such of these fossils as possess a curved form are fre-
quently of a considerable size, sometimes nearly approaching even to
the magnitude of a bullock's horn. In a specimen from Perthshire,
lately offered to me for examination, not only the form of the goat's
or ram's horn, but the colour, and even somewhat of the disposition

23

to transparency similar to that of horn was observable. These cir-
cumstances have also been observed in the madreporites of Gothland,
But those which are generally met with in this island are of a dark
ash colour, the ridges, however, of these, formed by the transverse
plates of the corals give them very much of the appearance which
has just been noticed.

Attributing the formation of these corals to the operations of the
madreporean or medusean polype, let us endeavour to trace the little
architect through its wonderful labours. Agreeable to the observa-
tions of Donati, each of the legs, as he terms them, of the polype
are provided with two processes which are applied to each side of one
of the perpendicular laminae, whilst a muscular pyriform body,attached
to the other end of the leg, gives to it the power of employing that
motion which is necessary for the accomplishment of its task. The
young polype, disposed on an appropriate spot, may be considered as
completing its operations by two distinct processes : the secretion
and separation of carbonate of lime from the sea water, conveyed
through the pyriform body; and its deposition, at its moment of
secretion, by the tsvo small processes, where the economy of the
animal directs. Proportioned to the number of legs possessed by the
infant animal, was probably the number of perpendicular laminae, or
pillars converging to the centre, which it began to erect; these when
raised to ^certain height, appearing to have been connected together
by an horizontal plate of the same substance. On these the animal
erected similar pillars, and placed on these a covering similar to that
with which he had completed the first compartment. Thus seems to
have proceeded the incessant labours of the minute artist : and as the
number of its legs, or instruments, increased, and as they extended in
length, so must the number of the perpendicular laminae, and the cir-
cumference of the horizontal plates have also augmented. Thus must
this curious fabric have derived its fashion from the growth and form
gf this minute and wonderful animal.

29

That the formation of these turbinated madrepores may have been
thus effected does not appear difficult to conceive. Neither is it
difficult to understand, that when the animal had attained its full
extent of growth, the continuance of its labours would produce, not
a body of a conical, but of a cylindrical form. Nor does it appear
unlikely that should any accidental circumstance change its horizontal
position, a proportional deflection from the straight line would be
occasioned ; and a coralline body of a curved form be produced. Spe-
cimens of both these forms, it has been just remarked, are frequently
found.

The appearances yielded by two sections of this species of madre-
porite are represented, Plate IV. Fig. 13, 14. Fig. 14, is a section
made at about an inch from the pedicle, and Fig. 13, is a section
made after the madrepore had assumed a cylindrical form. In the former
of these it will be observed, that both the converging and the con-
centric laminae are much fewer than in the latter. In consequence of
this, a considerable degree of dissimilarity is observable between the
two specimens; which indeed leads to observations respecting the
labours of the insect, and the structure of the coral, which were they
not here out of place, would be right to pursue.

30

LETTER VII.

OBSERVATIONS ON TURBINATED MADREPORITES CONTINUED

PORPITAL OR SHIRT-BUTTON MADREPORITE SYNONYMA

MADREPORES NOT FOUND IN A MINERALIZED STATE.

JH.ARDLY any of the animalized parts of creation are arranged with
more difficulty than those remains of zoophytes which are obtained
in a fossil state. The labours of the little creatures by which they
have been modelled, frequently appear as if they had been capri-
ciously and sportfully performed; deviations from their ordinary
model, apparently unnecessary, being frequently to be observed. The
avoiding, perhaps, of some little obstacle to their labours, the repair-
ing of some little injury, which accident may have occasioned to their
operations ; or many other circumstances, not to be ascertained, may
have occasioned these departures from the usual mode in which they
had been wont to execute their assigned task. Hence the substances
which they have formed may possess such anamolies of form, as may
render it difficult to determine whether they should be considered as
specific characteristics, or only as such accidental modifications of the
structure of a species as give rise to varieties. The difficulty of making
the necessary distinction, in these cases, must necessarily be much
greater when, as is frequently the case with fossil specimens, we are
deprived of the advantage of comparison, by having only one specimen
on which to exercise our judgment. Especially since it also often
happens, that its characteristic marks have been, in a great measure,
effaced by the injuries to which it has been exposed, during a period
of several thousand years.

Fig. 4, of Plate IV. is the representation of the stellated surface of
a madreporite, of a form sufficiently distinct from that of any other to
allow of its being considered as a distinct species, should its frequent
appearance in other specimens give reason to suppose that it had a
constancy of character, and that it did not result from an accidental
or sportive variation in the erection of the polypean fabric. The per-
pendicular laminae have united in two lines, which, by crossing each
other, have so quartered the star, as to have made it yield the appear-
ance of a flower with four expanded petals. The other part of the
surface of this fossil has been so rubbed down by attrition in the water,
as to have deprived it considerabty of its natural appearance. Its
general form, however, is that of the turbinated madrepore.

The star with a convex surface, represented Plate IV. Fig. 7> appears
to be the impression on lime-stone of the upper surface of a turbinated"
madreporite. The calcareous spathose particles having been deposited
in all the hollow parts of the coral, and having become firmly in-
durated, have retained the form which they thus assumed,, whilst the
madrepore itself has been removed.

The Fimgites major orbicular is Gothlandicus, figured by Langius* and
by Bromell| ; and placed under this species by the author of Corallia
Baltica, and in the Sy sterna Naturae of Linnaeus, by Cmelin, I shall
venture to place among the mineralized alcyonia; trusting that in its
proper place I shall be able to shew the propriety of this dissent from
authorities so high and respectable.

There are among the fossil single starred corals, some which, with
the general form and other specific characters of the turbinated madre-
pore, possess also some other distinctive characters, which, from their
constancy seem to point out these corals, as deserving, to be considered
as so many distinct species.

* Historia Lapidum Figuratorum Helvetia. P. 52. Tab. 1 2,
t Bromel. Lithog. Sp'. 2. 36.

. 32

Plate IV. Fig. 16, is the representation of an elegant corallite, from
the chalk-pits, at Northfleet in Kent, attached to the chalk in which
it was found imbedded. Its root, which is adherent to a plate of an
echinus, is regularly indented with angular excavations, which appear
to be about eight in number. From the root proceeds the body of the
cora.1, gently bending and gradually enlarging into a conical form,
about an inch in length. Its under and external surface is elegantly
striated with distinct ridges, regularly disposed in the following order :
Midway between every two of the largest ridges is placed one rather
smaller. The star on the disk (a) is formed by perpendicular lamellae,
reaching from each of the largest ridges on the circumference, to the
centre, and by smaller lamellae proceeding from each of the ridges of
those of a smaller size, but which reach- a very little way towards
the centre. As there are no transverse ridges on the external surface,
so there are no horizontal plates observed internally, at least as low as
the eye can command, which is very near to the bottom.

•The specimen, Plate IV. Fig. 15, is also from the chalk-pits at
Northfleet. In this delicate specimen, the pedicle is very observable ;
the ridges, on the external surface, are all nearly similar in size, and
disposed with much regularity and neatness. The stellated disk (b)
is formed by perpendicular plates, answering to -each of these ridges,
and nearly meeting in the centre.

The madreporite, Plate IV. Fig. 9> which I have reason to believe
to be an Italian fossil, is in the form of a flattened cone : at the point
of the cone appears to have been a pedicle, from which proceed
innumerable striae which terminate in the other end of the cone: where
a star is formed, which differs materially in its form from any which
have existed in the specimens hitherto mentioned. From the inner sides
of the cone proceed perpendicular plates which meet, not in a point in
the centre, but in a line, possessing about three-fourths of the centre
,of the longest diameter of the base of the cone.

33

The appearance which this fossil bears might convey the notion of
its having suffered by compression. But this is rendered highly im-
probable, by the circumstance of coral obtaining such a degree of
hardness, at its first formation by the animal, as would effectually
oppose any attempt to change its form, except by fracture. That many
substances, originally hard and unyielding, may, during the changes
they undergo in the progress of their mineralization, become soft and
compressible, is very probable; but there is nothing in the appearance
of this fossil to warrant the suspicion of its having been thus affected.
The mode in which the perpendicular lamina terminate serves also to
determine the question: the line in which they end, in the centre, being
exactly appropriated to that form which the fossil bears ; and which
therefore may be concluded to have been its original and natural form.
It is also deserving of particular notice, that the parietes of this coral-
lite are remarkably thick and dense.

In the fossil, represented Plate IV. Fig. 7? a turbinated madrepore,
the perpendicular lamellae of which are rendered visible by the de-
composition and removal of its external coat, is seen blended in the
same mass with the remains of the encrinus. In Plate III. Fig. 4, a
corallite of this species is seen attached to the mass of chain coral,
exemplifying the proverb, Noscitur ex sociis, three different species of
animal remains, whose originals are unknown to us, being thus found
associated.

A complete and rare specimen of marble from Blankenberg, formed
by this species of madrepore, is shewn, Plate IV. Fig. 14. Not only
is the form of the disk well preserved, but even the internal structure
of the madrepore may be here perfectly made out.

The next species of madrepore which demands our attention is the
shirt-button madrepore (?nadrepora porpita. Linn.). This is a flattish
orbicular body, smooth on the inferior surface, being marked there
only by very minute circular lines and perpendicular striae, and
having, on its disk, a star, somewhat convex towards the edge, but

VOL. II. F

34

hollowed out towards the centre. The rays composing the star, and
which converge from the edge towards the centre, are dentated, and
are of two orders; the larger being placed alternately with the smaller.
The representation, Plate IV. Fig. 6, yields a very correct idea of the
appearance presented by the disk of this fossil.

Whilst examining the various specimens of fossil madrepores in my
possession, I was very much struck with the beautiful appearance of
the turbinated madreporite from Sweden, which is figured Plate IV.
Fig. 11 ; and particularly observed, that the rays had an appearance
totally different from those of any other which I had noticed. The
form of this madreporite places it indubitably among the turbinated
madrepores ; it gradually narrowing and terminating in a curved
pedicle. Innumerable striae, which are intersected by horizontal ridges
and depressions, most closely and neatly arranged, mark the whole of
its inferior surface.

The disk derives a rich appearance from the perpendicular radiating
laminae which form the star, being arranged alternately in a larger and
smaller size, and being also closely beset with rounded annular pro-
tuberances : the whole of the superior part of the coral bearing an
exact resemblance to the disk of the porpital madrepore. Indeed, so
exactly does it resemble this fossil, that I feel no hesitation in con-
sidering them as being both of the same species ; and as differing from
each other only in their having undergone the lapidifying process at
different stages of their growth. Nor do I perceive in the porpital
madrepore, the least reason for doubting that it possessed a pedicle
of the same kind with the larger specimen ; but being proportionably
less, it must have been so much more liable to be removed.

The celebrated Linnaeus has considered the absence of a pedicle in
this madrepore as one of its first specific characters. It is considered
and described, both by Buttner and by Bromell, as the head or
top of some small marine fungus: neither of them having discovered
any remains of a pedicle by which it could have been attached to

.

35

other bodies. The author ofCoralliaBaltica very justly observes, that,
notwithstanding the strength which the opinion derives from this cir-
cumstance, there undoubtedly exists sufficient reason for dissenting
from it.

The fossil, Plate IV. Fig. 10, from Gothland, possesses, like that at
Fig. 11, all the characters of the porpital madrepore on its disk, but
having its body extended into a conical shape, forms, as it were, the
link which connects into one species, the porpital madrepore and the
madrepore just described.

The most curious fossil which I have seen of this kind, is one which
I obtained at the sale of the Leverian Museum. It has the complete
external characters of the porpital madrepore ; but is perfectly pel-
lucid, being formed of a fine transparent calcareous spar.

These corallites have received various names from the older orycto-
logists. When the turbinated madrepore was formed of conical or
cylindrical pieces connected by seeming articulations, and possessing
a stellated cavity at one of its terminations, it was named hippurites
corallinus, calix hyppuriticus, and corallia gcniculata. By Bromell,
Langius, and others, all those of a more compressed form have been
named fungites; and that, not merely from their resemblance to
mushrooms, but from their having been actually supposed to be
those vegetable substances, in a state of petrifaction. Dr. Plot, and
others, have distinguished those which have possessed more of a cylin-
drical form by the name of columelli ; and Lhwydd has applied to
them the name of coliimneta* : both terms being diminutives of columna,
and intended to mark their resemblance to a little pillar. From the
similitude which they bear to horns they have also been termed
ceratitce recti et incurvati. Dr. Woodward comprehends both the
turbinated and the porpital madrepore under the term mycetita coral-
loides; distinguishing the former into mycetita conoides, sen calyciformes,
and the latter into mycetita discoides.

36

With respect to the madrepora fungites and madrepora patella, I do
not know of any corresponding fossil. To the madrepora cyatkus of
Ellis, the last of the single starred corals, which is also figured by
Count Marsilli* and Plancusj-, the fossil figured Plate IV. Fig. 5, bears
some resemblance ; but the agreement, however, is by no means suffi-
cient to authorise the belief that they are of the same species. In the
specimen figured by Ellis, the lamellae are forty in number, with as
many intermediate small ones ; but the lamellae in this fossil do not
come near to that number. This indeed is of itself a circumstance
which would be but of little weight, if their other characters closely
agreed. This corallite which is attached to its matrix, a piece of lime-
stone, composed of minute fragments of marine bodies, bears, in its
first joint, indeed, some resemblance to the m. cyathus; but it is, as
may be seen in the figure, a proliferous coral, which circumstance is
not referred to by either Plancus, Marsilli, or Ellis, in their accounts
of the recent coral.

* Histoire Physique de la Mer. P. 153.
f Plane, de Conchis minus notis. P. 112.

37

LETTER VIII.

OTHER MADREPORES, NOT PERHAPS KNOWN IN A FOSSIL STATE....
MADREPORA FAVOS A. ...MADREPORA RETEPORA....M. ANANAS, &C.

M. FOLIOSA, &C ASTROITES.....LITI1OSTROTION OF LIIWYDD

SPIDER STONE OF BRUCKMAN.

W E now proceed to make inquiry respecting the fossil remains of
those madrepores which are composed of many stars. The first of
these in the Linnsean order of classification are those which are con-
catenatedv and formed by disjoined stars, with continuous lamellae.

These are madrepora pileus, in. cristata, m. lactuca, in. jicoides, m.
acerosa, m. lichen, in. agaricites, m. elephantotus, m. Crustacea, m. in-
crustaus, m. exesa, in. filograna, in. natans, m. antlwphyllum : but I have
not been able to discover any of the remains of these in a mineralized
state.

Those madrepores, which are distinguished as being conglomerated;
the stars of which are united together, form the next objects of our
inquiry. Of these, madrepora labyrinthica, which has no stem, and
the stars of which are divided by obtuse sutures, extended in laby-
rinthian windings, I have more reason to suppose may exist in a
mineralized state. From the form of this coral, which is generally
approaching to a hemisphere, and from its upper surface, which is
marked with convolutions much resembling those of the brain, it has
acquired the common appellation of brain-stone. This coral is chiefly
found in a recent state on the rocks which surround the West-India
islands. But I have repeatedly seen among the boulders with which
some of our streets are paved, and which I am informed are chiefly

38

obtained from Hudson's Bay, pretty large specimens of this coral very
much changed by the decomposition of their surface, either by long
exposure to the action of water or of air, after having lost their inha-
bitants, or by having been buried in the earth. The change, insuch
specimens as I have broken, did not, however, appear to have ex-
tended to such a depth as to have allowed the classing them amongst
the fossil corals. Boetius de Boot, gives the representation of a spe-
cimen evidently bearing the figure of this coral, but which from the
form and size, which it appears to have derived from the labours of
the artist, and from its having been considered by the author as
deserving to be ranked among the gems fit to be worn as ornaments,
there is good reason for believing it had undergone an impregnation
(with silex*.

Neither rnadrepora sinuosa, nor m. mceandrites appear to have been
described as having been seen in a mineralized state. A specimen of
m. areola, now before me, the history of which is unknown, bears such
marks as give considerable reason for believing it may with propriety
be considered as a fossil. Its inferior surface has evidently much suf-
fered from decomposition, the effects of which are still more plainly
observable on the superior surface, and particularly on the feather-like
lamellae, which have acquired an opaque whiteness, and are nearly
covered with a whitish-grey calcareous matter, with which the inter-
posed cavities are nearly filled. Although I entertain but little doubt
of this being a fossil coral, yet as it is not incontestibly so, I have not
ventured to introduce its representation.

I do not recollect to have seen either rnadrepora abdita, m. phrygia,
m. dcedalea, m. cerebrum, or m. gyrosa, in a mineralized state; and am by
no means sufficiently acquainted with the particular forms of madre-
pora rcpanda, m. ambigua, m. clivosa, m. involuta, m. implicata, or of
m. cochlea, to be able to speak with respect to their existence as fossils.

* Gcmmarum et Lapidum Historia. Liber II. Cap. CXLV. P. 297.

39

We shall now proceed to the examination of aggregated and undi-
vided madrepores, with distinct stars, and with porous and tuber-
culous ambulacra. Previously, however, to commencing this investi-
gation, it is proper to remark, that considerable difficulty frequently
occurs in the attempt to discriminate between the different madre-
pores of this class when fossil. This difficulty, which also sometimes
occurs in the class which has just been treated of, arises from the
circumstance of the superior surface of the coral, from which its spe-
cific characters are chiefly taken, being found covered over, and filled
up, with the extraneous matter, so as to be totally excluded from the
sight. In specimens of this kind, and which are by far most numerous,
no farther knowledge of the form of the coral can be obtained, than
what is discovered by sections of the specimen ; which being made
in different directions, yield information respecting the shape and
size of the stars, and the number and extent of their lamellae. But
as it is impossible thus to acquire any knowledge of the superior
surface of the madrepore, so an opportunity is seldom yielded for
acquiring information of the distance at which the stars are there
placed ; and never any respecting the peculiar characters of the lamella
or of the ambulacra. Hence permission must frequently be required,
in these cases, to substitute analogical inferences for actual observa-
tion and comparison.

The figure given by Fougt,* as ma drepora favosa, represents a fossil
so much injured and altered, as renders it impossible to determine to
what species it belongs.

The specimen figured Plate V. Fig. 9> bears a very strong re-
semblance, except that its cells are larger, to madrepora retepora.
The angulated cells are very similar ; but I have not been able, in the
fossil specimen, to detect the reteporous structure of the parietes of
the cells, which gives name to the recent madrepore. This, however,

* Amcenit. Acad. Tom. I. Tab. IV. Fig. 16,

40

may be concealed by the spathose matter with which the fossil is
penetrated.

The honey-comb appearance of this fossil is very striking. The
resemblance which it bears to a honey-comb, is indeed sufficiently
great to account for, and to excuse the relations we meet with of
petrified honey-combs ; in which some have even fancied they have dis-
covered the relics of the bees which had perished with their dwell-
ing. So completely is this madrepore mineralized, that the coralline
substance of which it was composed is now entirely converted to a
spathose matter, exhibiting a shining fracture. So great indeed is the
chano-e which it has sustained, that it was not until I had submitted

O

it to examination by a lens, that I was fully convinced that it was not
a fragment of the spathose septa of a septarium, the tali of which had
been formed of a loose ferruginous earth. But by this examination
the perpendicular striae on the sides of the tubes were discovered, and
the real nature of the substance determined. This fossil was separated
from a lime-stone at Masbury, on Mendip, near Wells, by J. Herbert,
Esq. of Bristol, a gentleman whose knowledge of extraneous fossils
renders his communications highly valuable. This gentleman's liberal
assistance I shall have repeated occasion to acknowledge.

Madrepora ananas is figured as a fossil by Bromell, Helwinge,
"Wolfart, Volkman, Fougt, and others; but I have not seen any fossil
specimen which could with certainty be referred to this particular
species.

This coral is composed of angular stars, which, in its recent state,
being convex at their edges, and having depressions in their centre
and interstices, give somewhat of the appearance of the surface of a
pine apple. But in almost all the representations which I have seen
of this madrepore in a fossil state, the surface appears to have been
so smoothed by attrition, as to render it very difficult to determine to
which of the stellated madrepores it belonged. The nearest approach
to this madrepore which I have seen, is the specimen from Sweden,

41

figured Plate V. Fig. 1. It must indeed be admitted that it resem-
bles, in more respects than one, the description given by Helwing of
this fossil : " Corallium album superficie tiguris asteriformibus pro-
pemodum obliteratis*." From the accurate observations of Fougt, it
appears that this is a proliferous madrepore, a fresh series of stars
proceeding from the centre of the disks of the previously existing
stars-)-.

Madrepora galaxea, m. faviolata, and m. pleiades, I have repeatedly
seen so far decomposed, as to have thereby acquired very much the
appearance of a fossil ; but this state might have been entirely occa-
sioned by long exposure to the weather, or to the action of water,
after they had been deprived of the influence of the living principle.
With the forms of mad. hyades, m. latebrosa, and m. arenosa, I am not
sufficiently acquainted to enable me to speak with respect to their
existence in a mineralized state.

Plate V. Fig. 8, is the representation of a most beautiful specimen
of a fossil madrepore from Ribieze, in Transylvania. This coral, formed
of cylindrical stars with elevated margins, and having broad concavely
sulcated and radiated interstices, bears somewhat of a resemblance to
the madrepora radiata of Solander and Ellis. The coral has under-
gone a very considerable change ; it being now a carbonate of lime,
much more friable than chalk.

Plate V. Fig. 4, represents another specimen from the shores of
Lincolnshire, which is so changed as almost to be reduced to the state
of chalk. It bears some resemblance to madrepora annularis of Solander
and Ellis, which appears to be merely a variety of the mad. radiata.

Madrepora papillosa, which is allied to, and perhaps is, the madrepora
muricata,iu an incipient, is hardly to be distinguished in a mineral, state.
Madrepora polygama, in Gmelin's Systema Naturae Linnaei, is certainly

* Lithographic Angerburgicae. Pag. 53. f Amcenitat. Acad. Fig. VIII. No. 2*
VOL. II. G

42

referred to a wrong figure in the Corallia Baltica. Of its existence in
a fossil state I am unable to speak. Madrepora interstincta spo/igiosa,
does not appear to be known in a mineral state. Madrepora stdlulata, as
well as m. poculata, are sometimes seen in a state which would almost
incline to the suspicion of their being fossils; but as this state may be
induced by other causes, there does not seem to exist sufficient au-
thority for placing them amongst the fossil corals. Madrepora foliosa,
is very erroneously referred for illustration by Gmelin to Tab. II. Fig.
3 and 4, of Baier's Momimenta Rerum Petrificarum; since the figures
given by Baier are undoubtedly the representations of an alcyonium,
and is indeed designated by Baier as a fungites striatus. I do not
know of this madrepore having been discovered in a fossil state.

The madrepora astroites of Linnaeus does not appear to be exactly
ascertained. According to the Linnaean description, it is formed of
stars very closely crowded together, (stellis confertissimis) whilst the
description of Solander and Ellis places porous interstices between the
stars, and the fossil coral of Mylius, which is referred to this species,
has very considerable interstices between the stars. Without dwelli:^
here on the consideration of the recent coral, it is proper to remark,
that writers on secondary fossils have frequently applied the term
astroites^ generally, to all such fossil corals as present the appearance
of stars collected together; and have very seldom intended to designate
thereby any particular species ; but, on the contrary, have placed
under this title corals, differing very much from each other in size, and
in many other respects. Bertrand even considers the astroites as of a
different family from the madrepores.

No fossil has been more frequently considered as an astroites than
that fossil madrepore which has been found so abundantly in some
parts of Wales, and which Lhwyd has named lithostrotion, sive basaltes
minimus striatus, et stcllatus*, from its resemblance, in miniature, to

* Lithophylacii Britannici Ichnographia. Epistol. V. Tab. 23.

the astonishing basaltic columns which form those stupendous masses
called the Giant's Causeway, in the north of Ireland, and which also
exist in several other parts of the world. The figure of this fossil,
given by Lhwyd, yields a correct idea of the manner in which it is
amassed together. Volkmann also gives a very accurate representation
of the web-like surface which a transverse section of these columns
exhibits: and led by this particular appearance, he names this fossil
corallium arackriiori, astroites arachnoides, s. telis quasi araneis obtextus,
pentagonus, astroites vorticalis* . Indeed, an examination of the ap-
p'earance which the stars of this coral yield, especially when mag-
nified, will sufficiently countenance the celebrated Volkmann in hesi-
tating by which term to designate it, since it readily excites both the
idea of the web of a spider, and of the figures which have been
sketched to illustrate the vortices of Descartes.

The lime-stone or marble of which this fossil consists, is generally of
an ashen-grey colour, of a compact texture, capable of a good polish,
and breaks with a moderate force, laterally applied, into angular
ledges. Plate V. Fig. 6. A close examination, especially of its po-
lished surface, (see Plate V. Fig. 3.) will shew that the stone is com-
posed of a congeries of polygonal columns, exactly adapted, and
closely concreted together in a parallel direction : every crack or acci-
dental interstice having been filled up by a calcareous spathose matter
with which the mass has been pervaded. By this examination it will
be seen, that these angular columns vary much in their forms; some
having only four, whilst others have five, six, or even seven sides : the
pentagon being however the most predominant figure. With respect
to their size, the difference is seldom considerable, they being generally
abtfut half an inch in diameter: some difference, however, arises from
the irregularity of their forms, since one column, filling up the space
between three or four others, will be found to be of perhaps double

* Silesise Subterraneae. Cap. IV. § 47. P. 120. Tab. XVIII. Fig. 5,

44

the diameter in one direction that it possesses in another. By a mo-
derate stroke against the side of one of these angular columns, one or
more of them may be detached from the general mass. The sides
of these columns will' be found to be finely and closely striated lon-
gitudinally, the striae being intersected by very fine and closely set
transverse ridges. In those specimens in which the apices of the
columns happen to be complete, they are concave, and have a pro-
minent star, one third of the diameter of the concavity, arising out of
its centre.

A careful examination of the beautiful web-formed star, which is ren-
dered visible in every column, by a transverse polished section, as well as
the striated plumose appearance which is manifested by a longitudinal
section, shews the internal structure of the stone, and of course the
curious fabric of the madrepore from which it derived its origin.
Numerous and exceedingly slender longitudinal lamellae correspond-
ing with the external striae, are seen disposed perpendicularly from
the circumference to the centre in a stellated form ; which are inter-
sected by proportionally numerous and equally delicate lamellae, per-
pendicularly disposed nearly in concentric circles : other lamellae,
answering to the external transverse ridges passing horizontally through
both sets of the perpendicular lamellae. From the curious arrange-
ment of these, and from their extreme minuteness and delicacy re-
sults that particular figure which has been by different authors so aptly
compared with the texture of the spider's web. Mr. Da Costa, speak-
ing of this fossil, says, " When polished, all these angular columns shew
themselves on the surface, in a fine net-work of heptagonal, hexagonal,
pentagonal, &c. meshes, and each mesh is adorned with a fine radiated
star in it ; and what with the beauty of the network and stars, and
exquisite polish and fine surface it is capable of, it is as elegant a
fossil as any of the fossil kingdom*.

* A Natural History of Fossils, by Emanuel Mendes Da Costa. Vol. I. P. 247.

45

The lithostrotion, according to Dr. Woodward, is all found on the
rocky cliffs, about two miles from Tenby, towards Milford, in Pem-
brokeshire. But it is also found both on the river shores, and on the
mountains in several other parts of Wales : and in Lancashire, Cheshire,
Yorkshire, and in several other parts of England and Scotland. It is
also found in different parts of Germany.

From the similitude of this fossil to a spider's web it might with
propriety derive a name, had not a name, thus derived, been already
applied to a coral of a different species. Perhaps the other epithet
given to it by Volkmann would not be considered as very inapplicable;
in which case it might be named madrepora vorticalis.

Da Costa, who distinguishes by the terni marmoroidcK those stones
which, although they have all the physical and chemical properties of
marble, are not found in continued strata, but are only found in loose
independent masses, lodged in strata of other substances, has named
the stone which this coral has formed marmoroides column-arts stcllutuSy
lithostrotion dictus.

One of the fossil corals which has been considered as belonging to
this family, is the lapis arachneolithi, or spider-stone, respecting which
the celebrated Bruckman wrote an ingenious disquisition in a letter to
his friend, the learned Hitter*. From this it appears that stones, which
from their marks and form, bore a resemblance to the body of a spider,
from which the head and legs had been removed, were frequently
employed in some parts of Germany as a powerful charm for the cure
of all kinds of haemorrhages. These stones, according to the received
vulgar opinion in those parts, were supposed to have been generated
and voided by a spider. It was also imagined by the country people,
that every spider, remarkable for its magnitude, contained one of these
stones: to obtain the expulsion of which, the spider was to be enclosed

* Fr.ErnestiBruckmaimi, de fabulosissimae Originis Lapide ARACHNEOLITHO dicto Epis-
tola. 1722.

46

in a glass vessel in which was also placed valerian or finely powdered
sugar. Bruckman, however, shews that the spider-stone is nothing
else but a petrified antediluvian coral, such as has been named the
Indian astroites, and that the fabulous account of it has most probably
been derived from its spots, which are not unlike those which are
discoverable on the belly of the spider, and from its form, which fre-
quently agrees with that of the body of a spider. This latter circum-
stance he however attributed to the cunning employment of art ; and
adds, that these stones generally far exceed in weight and size that of
any spider or tarantula that is known, not excepting the celebrated
enormous Brasilian spider named nhamdu-guaca* One of these speci-
mens, which had been procured from Germany for the late John
Strange, Esq. is depicted, Plate V. Fig. 7- It exactly agrees with
the description of Bruckman : and upoii examination with a lens ap-
pears to be part of a more than ordinarily minute madrepora annularis.
It has been evidently fashioned into its present form by the tool of
the artist. At d is given a magnified representation of one of the
stars of this fossil.

LETTER IX.

MADREPORA STELLATA, &C M. TRUNCATA M. STELLARIS

MADREPORITE FROM STEEPLE ASHTON.... MADREPORA ORGANUM,

&C M. FLEXUOSA M. FASCICULARIS M. PECTINATA M.

ARACHNO1DES...M. VERMICULAR1S...COR ALLOJDE A COLUMNARIA

PENTAEDRA OF WOODWARD MADREPORITE FROM INGLEBO-

ROUGH JUNCI LAPIDEI KILKENNY MARBLE.

X HAVE had no opportunity of ascertaining whether madrepora stel-
lata, m.punctata, m. calycularis, m. nodularis, m. acropora, or m. cavernosa,
are known in a mineralized state.

Madrepora truncata, Plate V. Fig. 2, which is not at all, I believe,
known in a recent state, is an exceedingly interesting fossil; not merely
from its beautiful appearance, but from its curious mode of increase.
It is a proliferous madrepore, and is formed of cyathiform bodies, pos-
sessing a superior stellated flat surface, with a concave central depres-
sion. From the flat surrounding surface of the stars, smaller stellated
bodies proceed, possessing the same form and the same proliferous
property.

The form of the star in this madrepore is remarkably elegant. It is
composed of sometimes sixty lamellae; thirty of which commence at
the edge of the star, and proceed about half way towards the centre,
when they descend perpendicularly, and then, at a certain depth, turn
at a right angle, and converge to the centre of the disk; thus forming, in
the centre of the star, a cylindrical cavity with a flat bottom. The other
thirty of the lamellae are shorter, and proceed only halfway, that is, to
the commencement of the central cavity. The termination of these at

48

this point, and the regular diminution of the thickness of the longer
lamellce until they have attained the central point, give a peculiar ele-
gance of appearance to the star of this coral.

This fossil, which has I believe been only yet obtained from Sweden,
is described and figured by Fougt*, who has also annexed the sketch,
Plate V. c, which shews more plainly the mode in which the newly
formed parts are attached to, and proceed from, their respective bases.
This is however very evident in the representation at Plate V. Fig. 2,
in which the general characters of the fossil are well preserved. It is
also figured by Bromel in Tab. 39 and 40, and by Volkmann. in his
Silesia Subterranea, Tab. XIX. Fig. 3, «, b. The fossil which is here
represented, is calcareous, and appears to have formed part of a bluish
lime-stone.

Madrepora stellaris, is a zoophyte, the examination of which is ren-
dered very interesting by its curious mode of increase, which is similar,
in a great measure, with that of the former madrepore, and with that
which takes place in proliferous flowers. As the newly formed parts
proceed, in the former instance, from the radiated disk, so here,
from the centre of the stars, which are united at their margin, pro-
ceed single joints, which assume a similar form with the joints from
which they proceeded, and possess, like them, the power of pro-
ducing a similar joint from the centre of each of their disks. Each
joint of this madrepore, like those of the preceding, bears somewhat
of the form of a drinking glass ; becoming narrower downwards, but
a little enlarged at its base: upwards it terminates in a wide, thin
margin, marked externally with very numerous, faint, longitudinal
striae, intersected by transverse rugae, so slight as hardly to be per-
ceptible. The stars are flattish, and formed of numerous rays, gene-
rally about sixty, which proceed from the edge quite to the centre.

* Amoenit. Acad. Tom. I. Tab. iv. Fig. XI. 4.

49

From the centre of each star forming the upper part of the cup,
proceeds another cup-formed coral, the lower part of which, as it
increases, covers the lamellated superior surface of the lower coral,
from which it has grown. Thus this coral proceeds in its growth, and
as each of the joints enlarges, the inferior surfaces of the superior ones
approximate the more to the edges of the inferior ones: and as this
same process is, at the same time, carrying on upon numerous laterally
contiguous stars, the size of the coral frequently becomes considerable,
being sometimes as large as a man's head. Specimens of this size are
frequently found on the shores of the isle of Gothland.

This fossil is described and figured in CoralUa Baltica, Fig. XL
The medium thickness of each joint of which is there said to be about
that of the little finger, and the length about the width of the thumb.
A sketch from the above work, shewing the mode of growth of this
madrepore, is given Plate V. b. At a in the same plate is a sketch
shewing the mode of growth peculiar to m. ananas, represented at
Fig. 1.

The madreporite, Plate VII. Fig. 11, is one which I was favoured
with by that assiduous inquirer into subjects of natural history,
William Cunnington, Esq. of Heytesbury, in Wiltshire, who obtained
it from Steeple Ashton.

Its inferior side, which has the remains of its radical attachment, is
very finely marked by minute longitudinal and transverse striae, which,
by crossing each other, give it somewhat of a finely reticulated ap-
pearance. The superior surface is stellated, being covered by stars
closely set, and formed of raised undulating radii. The mode of in-
crease peculiar to this corallite is curious and interesting. It appears,
that when one area of its curious stellated fabric was completed, by the
labour of its polypean inhabitants, another colony laid the foundation
of another city on some part of the former surface ; and thus another and
another colony laboured, until several areas were formed. Then, as
the work proceeded, the nature of the structure became changed : the

VOL. II. H

50

labours of each colony seems to have been protracted, so that the per-
pendicular fibres were extended in a waving form, by which the fossil ob-
tains somewhat of a foliaceous appearance, as appears from the sketch
in outline, snperadded to the above figure. This' sketch, so illustrative
of the mode in which the little animals extend their habitations, is taken
from a drawing of the Rev. Joseph Townsend, being a faithful repre-
sentation of the superior part of a specimen in his possession.

Madrepora organum formed by smooth cylindrical tubes about the
size of wheat straw, combined together at a little distance from each
other by somewhat waving membranes, is figured in Fig. VI. No. 1,
of Corallia Baltica. This coral is said to be found in a recent state in
the Red Sea ; but it is much more frequently found in a fossil state,
chiefly on the shores of the Baltic.

Madrepora diver gens is a fossil coral, much like to, and, perhaps,
only a variety of, the coral just treated of; but of neither of these can
I speak from my own observation.

Madrepora musicalis, described by Ellis* and by Borlase-f, which
is said to be formed chiefly in the Indian Ocean, and frequently thrown
in large masses oh the shores of Ireland, has not to my knowledge
been seen in a fossil state.

Madrepora denticulata, and mad. rotulosa, are very unlikely to be
detected in a fossil state, from the delicate structure of the elevated
lamellae at their edges being so very liable to injury, by the attrition
to which substances which have become mineralized have generally
been exposed.

Madrepora faveolata, I have reason to suppose, is sometimes seen in
a mineralized state. But the specimen which I refer to this species,
having been cut at both its upper and lower surfaces from a large
specimen, I am unable to speak decidedly respecting it. Indeed in
fossils of this genus, the cavities are generally so filled up as to prevent

* Philosophical Transactions. Vol. LIII. P. 432.
f Borlase's Cornwall. P. 241. Plate XXVII. Fig. 7.

51

the making out of such specific peculiarities as the reticulated surface
of the sides of the stars.

Madrepora flexuosa is composed of striated, cylindrical, ramifying
tubes, bending inwards, and then uniting : the stars being concave
with lamellae of similar lengths. In Ellis and Solander's Natural His-
tory of Zoophytes, Plate XXXI. Fig. 5 and 6, is a very correct figure
of the recent coral, which very much resembles a beautiful fossil spe-
cimen, apparently of this species of coral obtained from Sweden. It
is imbedded in a blue indurated marl ; which, although possessing a
considerable degree of hardness, has been partly removed by a careful
employment of some instrument ; by which the characteristic form
and surface of the coral is fully displayed. The terminations, as has
been already observed is frequently the case with the fossil corals, are
not preserved. The coral is however thoroughly impregnated with a
spathose substance, which on being polished shews the agreement of
the stars with those of the recent coral, in being formed of lamellae
all of similar lengths, reaching from the circumference to the centre.

A fossil coral is frequently found in pretty large nodules, in St.
Vincent's rock, near Bristol, a small specimen of which is depicted,
Plate VI. Fig. 8, whose general external form approaches very nearly
to that of the madrepora flexuosa. Its branches, like those of the m.
flexnosa, are cylindrical, rough, and striated ; but its stars, instead of
being concave, are of a subglobose form : instead of being composed of
radii of equal lengths, they are formed by a certain number of rays, which
pass from the circumference to the centre, and by a similar number
interposed between the former, and which are so short as not to reach
above a fourth part of the length of the former. The number of these
rays varies from twelve to upwards of thirty of each series, according
to the size of the coral. These rays are intersected by perpendicular
concentric circular lamellae, which vary in number from two to six and
more, according to the growth of the coral. A red ferruginous bole
not only adheres to and deeply colours the external parts of these

nodules, but is evidently disposed between all the branches : and even
the spathose matter which has filled the cavities of the coral has
received a strong red tinge from the oxide of iron. A polished
section of this stone manifests this, and shews that if it could be ob-
tained in masses sufficiently large, it might from the closeness of its
texture be employed for many useful purposes. It is indeed a marble
of rather dull appearance ; but it would not be without its beauties,
since the little variety of colouring which it possesses is pleasingly
disposed, and would be somewhat enlivened by the stellated spots
yielded by the transverse sections of the coral.

Madrepora fascicularis, a figure of which is given in Silesia Subter-
raneaVolkmanni. Tab. XVII. Fig. 14, is a fossil which possesses a very
distinguishing character ; the tubes of which it is formed almost always
shewing, in their longitudinal section, numerous transverse septa, as
may be seen in the small specimen, Plate VI. Fig. 11. This peculiar
appearance results from the following structure of this coral. It is
formed of slightly diverging, cylindrical tubes, which are so closely
beset by transverse septa, as scarcely to leave, sometimes, a space of
the sixteenth of an inch between them. The stars of this madrepore
are composed of about thirty radii or perpendicular lamellae ; half of
which reach, from the circumference, to about one third of the semi-
diameter from the centre, while the other scarcely extend one third of
the semidiameter from the circumference. Hence the centre of the
tubes, for one third of their diameter, are perfectly free from any
perpendicular laminae ; in the next space of one third, these perpen-
dicular laminae are but thinly placed; and it is only in the space next
the sides of the tubes that these lamina are fully disposed. In con-
sequence of this arrangement it is obvious, that a perpendicular sec-
tion, through nearly the centre of the coral, must in general display
the transverse septa only ; since in every longitudinal section they
must be divided and exposed, whilst the longitudinal lamella must
necessarily be partly concealed, even if the tubes are not filled with

spathose matter ; and that from their standing back from the surface.
If the tubes are filled with spathose matter, that must necessarily en-
tirely conceal the longitudinal lamellae, and leave only exposed, at the
surface, the edges of the transverse septa, and of the columnal parietes
of the coral. But if the section happen to be in a line with, and
immediately upon, or directly through, any of the perpendicular la-
mellae, such lamellae then will indeed necessarily appear; but this cir-
cumstance rarely occurs.

Volkmann, in his account of this coral, which he has figured, de-
scribes it as madrepora foraminosa minor, pseudo corallium album ; and
particularly directs the attention to its interior transverse lamellae-.
Dr. Woodward also mentions several specimens from different parts of
England, the description of which (coralloidea tubulosa crebris lamellis
transversis intercepta) exactly agrees with the fossil coral here de-
scribed. The recent coral is said to exist in the Indian sea.

Madrepora pectinata, with rounded stars, having a radiated, ex-
tended, and tumid margin, is only known as a fossil. A specimen of
this kind, found in Silesia, is figured and described by Volkmann,
(Silesia Subterranea, P. 21, Tab. XIX. Fig. 2) which exactly agrees
with a specimen I obtained from the collection of Mr. Strange, a
portion of which is figured Plate VI. Fig. 5.

So numerous are the fossil madrepores, especially those of this class,
with aggregated, distinct, and separated stars, that to particularise
them all would demand more room than this Work will admit, and
would occasion more expense than their introduction would authorize.
Many of those will therefore be omitted, whose characters cannot be
clearly made out, or whose ambiguous appearances render it doubtful
whether they may not be merely varieties of such species as are here
described. Thus a fossil is figured by Bourguet as, une millepore d-
grandes etoiles*, a similar specimen with which I possess from the

* Traite des Petrifications, Tab. X. Fig. 4.6.

54

cabinet of Ingham Forster, Esq. but am unable to determine whether
it is not the same fossil with the last described, differing only in the
size of its stars.

Madrepora arachnoides, with close, smooth, and delicate stars, the
rays of which are slightly waved. This fossil is figured with tolerable
accuracy both by Scheuchzer* and by Volkmann-f-. It appears to be
this fossil to which the remarks of Langius most properly apply, where
he observes, " aliquando stellarum loco rosas exhibent, & tune
rhoditce, oder roscnstein, vocantur ; aliquando cometes, prae se ferunt
& cometitce, vel cometstcin nuncupantur \" These remarks of Langius
are employed in illustration of a fossil coral, represented Tab. XX.
of the above work, and named by him, astroites stellis maximis; which
figure has been selected by Gmelin, as illustrative of the madrepora
vermicularis, but which is undoubtedly in more exact agreement with
the' coral which is the subject of our present examination.

In the specimen Plate VI. Fig. 4, from Chatelor, the particular
characters of this coral are observable. The slightly waving rays
which proceed regularly from the centre, and are diffused over the flat
surface, yield some faint resemblance to a flower; and from the elonga-
tion of these rays, as may be seen in the magnified star, Plate VI.
Fig. 6, the idea has originated of their resemblance to the web of a
spider, or to the streaming tail of a comet. From these different ap-
pearances, which are also very strongly marked on the two opposite
sides of a specimen before me, have proceeded the names which this
fossil has acquired of rosenstein and cometstein. A considerable tract
of road from Bath, through Chippenham and Malmsbury, in Wiltshire,
is kept up by a coarse, light, brown lime-stone, formed by this madre-
pore.

Madrepora vermicularis, the stars of which are formed of unequal,
Smooth, waved radii, several of which are bifurcated, is certainly much

* Lithographia Helvetica. Fig. 54. f Silesia Subterranca. Tab. XVIII. Fig. 11.
J Historia Lapidum Figuratorum Helvetia?, &c. P. 60.

better represented by Fig. 11, Plate XVIII. of Volkmann's Silesia
Subterranea, than by Fig. 4 of the same Plate, which has been selected
by Gmelin for the illustration of this fossil. In that representation
the peculiar bifurcated form of the perpendicular plates of the coral
are easily discoverable : the figures of Volkmann, though coarsely
executed, generally yielding a tolerable idea of the peculiar characters
of the fossil presented to the eye.

It is evidently from this coral that the beautiful, light brown marble
of Switzerland derives the pleasing figures with which it is enriched.
Plate VI. Fig. 10, is a polished slice of this marble, in which may be
traced a close agreement with the following description of it, as given
by Da Costa.

" Marmoroidesfuscoflavus stellatus, s.astroitesjuscojlavus. This is of a
dull, brownish, fleshy yellow colour ; of a fine, glittering, compact, uni-
form texture ; not heavy, and moderately hard. This kind is thick set
with large stars, which generally are of the size of silver pennies. They
are not tubes, but are composed of loose or naked thick longitudinal
plates, which are disposed from their centre to their circumference.
These plates or rays are not equally produced from the centre of the
stars, but are of very different lengths : nor are they regularly disposed
in regard to their starry radii, for often two rays join at the centre and
bifurcate at the extremities. The number of rays or plates to each star
or coralloid body, also differs very much ; some having twelve, others
thirteen, and others all the intermediate numbers to twenty ; but none
have less than twelve. These plates are lodged quite perpendicularly
with respect to the surfaces of the mass, and are not intersected, as in
the madrepores in general, by any transverse septa or diaphragms. They
are of a pale yellowish colour, and are composed of a coarse, glittering
opaque spar. The whole mass is capable of a good surface though
of but a middling polish; and notwithstanding the curious appearance
of the stars, which are large and fine, yet on account of its dulness

56

of colour and indifferent polish, it is not a very beautiful stone. It is
found in the island of Sardinia, as also in some parts of Switzerland*.

Madrepora undulata, is formed of large elevated stars, with elongated
bending rays. Like the former, this is found only in a mineralized
state. Specimens of the same species in calcareous stone are fre-
quently found in Sweden, Switzerland, and in England. The exa-
mination, with a lens, of a specimen of this kind from the neighbour-
hood of Bristol, manifests a considerable degree of similarity of struc-
ture between this coral and that of the madrepora vermicularis, the dif-
ference appearing chiefly to consist in the magnitude of the m. undulata
exceeding that of m. vermicular is. In the specimen referred to, which
is a soft calcareous stone, a few of the conical summits of the stars are
broken, by which a transverse fracture of the coral is obtained, dis-
playing a similar figure, on a smaller scale, with those displayed in the
marble, Fig. 10.

Mons. Bertrand speaking of those stones which had their surface
marked with risings of stellated figures in relief, says, these stones are
not as Scheuchzer, Volkrnann, and all the authors who have spoken
of them, have believed, corals themselves, but rather moulds or im-
pressions of stellated corals made whilst the strata of which these stones
are formed, were in a soft state f. But the fossil here figured places
their existence beyond a doubt ; since the projecting star is evidently
the body of the coral, converted into a spathose substance.

The specimen figured, Plate VI. Fig. 12 and 13, bears a consider-
able resemblance, in the formation of its stars, with that of Plate VI.
Fig. 10, but differs from it very considerably in other respects. The
substance of the fossil which is here figured, is a light reddish grey horn
stone; but the colour varies a little in different specimens. In some it

* The Natural History of Fossils, by Emanuel Mendes Da Costa. P. 249.
f Dictionnaire Universe! des Fossiles, par M. E. Bertrand. 1763.

57

is rendered much more beautiful by having a slight tinge of red ; and
in others, its appearance is pleasingly varied, by its having acquired a
greater degree of transparency. In some specimens it passes from the
light ashen grey into a greyish black, and gaining at the same time a
still more considerable degree of transparency, its transition into flint
is completed.

It is obvious that the configurations with which the different sur-
faces of this fossil are adorned proceed from some coralline body ;
which, like the madrepore in the marble just described, is composed
of stars closely ranged. The form of the stars, in this fossil, varies
very much, so that it is not easy to discover two exactly similar: a
disposition to the pentagon appears, however, to be most prevailing.
This dissimilarity of figure and of arrangement is equally observable
in the plates or rays of which the stars are formed. These plates
originate nearly in the centre of each star, and by their several divi-
sions and bifurcations fill up the polygonal area allotted to each star:
the rays belonging to each star being in general disposed in six pencils
or fasciculi, each bundle terminating in four rays or points. But it is
so difficult to convey an idea, in words, of the manner in which the plates
divaricate, as to render a reference to the representations of this fossil
the more necessary. Plate VI. Fig. 12 and 13. By an examination of
these, the similarity of the mode in which the separation of the plates
takes place in this fossil and in the marble last figured may be per-
ceived. It is necessary also to notice another agreement between these
fossils. As in the madrepore from which the marble originated, the
longitudinal plates are not intersected by any transverse septa, so it
also appears that the madrepore, thus invested and impregnated with
silicious matter is also without any transverse intersections. But not-
withstanding these arguments, the differences between these two fossils
are, in other respects, such, as to plainly manifest that the madrepores
of which they are constituted, differed materially. The stars of the
coral in the Sardinian marble are not retained in distinct tubes; but

VOL. n. i

58

on the contrary their radii of one star are frequently seen to run into
and connect with those of the adjoining stars; whereas in the silicious
specimen, the figures of the stars, though polygonal, possess a con-
siderable degree of regularity, the consequence of being restricted by
perpendicular lamellae disposed in their interstices. These lamellae are
indeed not always discoverable; they are however frequently suffi-
ciently so, to determine indisputably their existence. This is particu-
larly the case on the reverse of the rpecimen: the stars may be there
seen evidently circumscribed by the perpendicular lamellae ; and a
net-like plexus may be seen proceeding from their sides in such
a manner as to produce a stellated appearance, but totally different
from that which is displayed on the other surface of the specimen.
For the purpose of making this difference better understood, a re-
presentation of a part of this surface is given, Plate VI. Fig. 13, to
allow of a comparison with the appearance of the upper surface at
Fig. 12.

The ascertaining of the cause of this remarkable difference neces-
sarily became highly desirable ; but it was not until after the examina-
tion and comparison of various specimens that any reasonable con-
jecture could be formed respecting this curious difference. The first
circumstance which seemed to lead to an elucidation, was the co-
existence of the polygonal sides of the tube and of the reticular
plexus; these being both evident on the inferior, and both disappear-
ing on the upper part of the specimen. Farther examination made
it also appear that a reddish brown colour, and a slight degree of
transparency, existed in those parts of the superior surface corres-
ponding with those parts which, on the inferior surface, were white and
opaque. A considerable change, it was therefore evident, had taken
place in the organized matter from which the stone had derived its
characteristic configurations. The nature of this change was, after a
little consideration, ascertained : the parts of the original coral, which
still remained in the inferior part, had evidently been removed from

59

the superior part of the specimen. From observing this we are led to
the following conjectures respecting the formation of this fossil :

The changes which it has undergone in the superior part appear to
be of four kinds. 1. The abstraction of such of its constituent mate-
rials as were of an animal nature. 2. The filling of all, even its
minutest interstices, with the finest and most impalpable argillaceous
particles, which by hardening acquired the exact form of every cavity
of the coral. 3. The removal, by some appropriate menstruum, of the
calcareous remains of the coral, which formed the mould that had been
thus filled. And, 4. The tilling up of the void thus left, and the im-
pregnation of the argillaceous cast with silicious matter.

The coral imbedded in an argillaceous matrix, would be secured
from the introduction of any other extraneous matters besides those
which the constant percolation of water through the mass might con-
vey. The fine reticular internal structure of the coral would prevent
the intrusion of coarse particles : those only which were held in solu-
tion, and those which were suspended in the fluid, in the finest degree
of tenuity, would enter and be there detained. Thus, by a slow process,
would all the internal cavities of the coral become filled, by the depo-
sition of the argillaceous, and the crystallization of the impregnating
silicious matter ; whilst by the action of the water perpetually passing
through the mass, almost the whole of the remaining animal princi-
ples would be removed. To give to this mass the properties pos-
sessed by the fossil whose formation is here endeavoured to be ex-
plained, no more seems to have been required than that the water
which permeated it and passed through it should have held in solution
a portion of silicious earth, by the influence of such a menstruum, as
possessing a stronger degree of attraction for calcareous than for sili-
cious earth, might, as it took up the former, deposit the latter in its
place. But whether these suppositions processes be admitted or not :
and whether the abstraction of the original calcareous matter and the

60

impregnation with silex, were simultaneous or took place at very
remote periods, can perhaps only be determined by future observa-
tions : the fact is however indisputable, the original matter, of which
the fabric of the animal was composed, has been removed, and its
place supplied by silicious matter deposited from its solution in some
appropriate menstruum.

For the farther illustration of this interesting fossil, I have caused
various sections of it to be made, to admit of an examination of its parts
in different positions and directions. By a longitudinal section, much
of the real disposition of the plates composing the star is displayed,
the continued perpendicular plates may be distinctly traced, the ab-
sence of any transverse septa may be ascertained, and that plumose
appearance, which has sometimes procured for this fossil the appella-
tion of feather-stone, may be plainly seen.

In Plate VIII. Fig. 39, of Bourguet's Traite des Petrifications, is a
very close representation of the characteristic forms which this fossil
assumes; although the figure is in other respects highly defective.
In the description of the plates, which is throughout lamentably
meagre, we only meet with champignon 6toil6 as the illustrative desig-
nation of the representation of this curious fossil.

This fossil is exceedingly common in the northern parts of Wiltshire;
being turned up very frequently in the ploughed lands.

Dr. Woodward evidently refers to this particular corallite under the
head of Coralloidea columnaria pentaedra; and specifies it as Coralloidea
oblonga pentaedra laminis a superfaie ad axem tendentibus. He de-
scribes a specimen, which he obtained from Wiltshire, as " A grey
semi-pellucid flint, the ground much like the Indian agate, but thick
set with white pentagonal columns, about a quarter of an inch in dia-
meter. They are made up of several longitudinal thin plates, all set edge-
ways towards the axis. The columns stand parallel to one another :
and are placed at equal distances, being about one-twentieth of an inch

61

from each other. The body being cut transversely, its whole surface
appears like a net made up of pentagonal meshes, with a pentagonal
star in each mesh. The sides of the columns are not exactly equal,
and consequently not those of either the meshes or star*/' Speaking
of a plate cut off the above specimen, the Doctor remarks that it
takes as good a polish as any agate, and is a wonderfully beautiful
stone. In another specimen he remarks that the ends of the columns
terminate in several stellar cavities, at the under surface of the flint,
much like those in the larger astroites or starred honeycomb stone :
the hollows being filled on the other side with a flinty matter.

At Plate VI. Fig. 9> is represented a portion of a curious stone
which I obtained from Gadsbridge, near Ingleborough. It is exter-
nally of a dark grey colour, and is chiefly composed, as the Figure
shews, of coralloid bodies of a very peculiar form, somewhat approach-
ing to the fusiform figure which though externally dark are internally
composed of a light coloured spathose matter, and are imbedded in a
fine lime-stone which is nearly as dark internally, as it is on the
surface.

Examination of these bodies shews that they are externally deeply
striated longitudinally. The striae commence at one extremity of
the body, and proceed to the centre, bifurcating as the body en-
larges. These same striae are then continued from the centre, and
unite together as the body contracts in its dimensions. These longi-
tudinal striae are decussated by transverse ridges, which are only dis-
coverable in certain points of view. As far as can be judged from the
situation of such of these bodies as are least concealed by the matrix
in which they are imbedded, there seems to be reason for supposing
that they are connected together at their most central and enlarged

* An Attempt towards a Natural History of the Fossils of England, in a Catalogue of the
Fossife in the Collection of J. Woodward, M. D. Vol. I. Part 1, Page 136, e, 41, &c.

parts. On one part of the specimen is represented the star which
appears on a transverse section being made of one of these bodies.
The perpendicular lamellae, which correspond with the longitudinal
external striae, vary in number and length ; but all proceed from the
circumference towards the centre, and, as in the madreporean stars in
general, are intersected by perpendicular lamellae, disposed in con-
centric circles, and by others passing in a transverse direction.

It may not be amiss to observe in this place, that the numerous
sections of fossil corals to which I have been under the necessity of
having recourse, have shewn that the number of radii in the stars is a
circumstance too variable to be employed as it has been by Mr. Ellis,
Dr. Solander, and the illustrious Linnaeus, to mark a specific difference.
Thus in the coral now before us, the radii agreeing with the number of
striae observable externally, and the number of these depending on
frequency of their divarication which must of course be according
to the extent of the growth of the coral ; the number of striae must
differ very much in the less grown coral, or in a section of its narrow
part, from what would be found in the full grown coral, or in a section
of its most enlarged part. The application of this observation to every
madrepore which expands with its growth, must be sufficiently obvious.

This fossil has not to my knowledge been yet noticed by any author,
neither do I discover that it has been known to exist in a recent
state.

The fossil which is represented, Plate VI. Fig. 7, is particularly
deserving of attention. It is composed of a coral in a mineralized
state, imbedded in, and indeed helping to form, a dark coloured lime-
stone, the interstitial part of which has evidently owed its origin to
the disintegration of shells, corals, &c. and to the chemical recompo-
sition of their particles.

The coral itself appears to have consisted of deeply striated and
nearly cylindrical branches, which are, in general, about half an inch

63

in diameter. These from their frequent union have assumed other
forms also, and particularly that approaching to an oval, resulting
from the formation of one trunk, by the junction of two or three
branches.

»

The superior termination of these branches appears from one or
two, which have remained unchanged in their form, at one end of the
specimen, to have been a concave star of a very elegant figure, formed
by perpendicular plates converging from the circumference. The stars
are also plainly seen on the polished surface of the specimen. It is
there seen that the perpendicular plates, some much larger than
the rest, reach in a straight line to the centre, and that in the trian-
gular space between every two of these, are smaller plates which
pass from the circumference in different lengths towards the centre.
These smaller plates are decussated by other perpendicular plates
concentrically disposed, and thereby forming a species of net-work
within each small triangular cavity. This structure, not exactly in-
deed expressed in the engraving, gives to the stars a peculiar richness
of appearance, which is still farther increased by the alternately greater
and less projection of the ends of the straight plates beyond the peri-
phery of the circle formed by the most external of the concentric
plates.

The fossil madrepores with distinct, finely striated branches, ter-
minating with the madreporean star, have been considered by the
earlier oryctologists as petrified reeds, (junci lapidei). Thus Mercatus
gives the representation of a madreporite of this kind under the de-
signation ofjuncus lapideus; but Lancisius remarks that this stony reed
of Mercatus differs very little from millepora Imperati.

Madreporites bearing this reedy appearance are found in several
parts of this island. They are frequently met with in Derbyshire, of
two inches in thickness, and upwards of two feet in length.

A small specimen of this kind of fossil madrepore from Derbyshire, of
rather a conical form, is figured at Plate VI. Fig. 2. Sufficient of the

64

internal structure is shewn to illustrate the figures which proceed from
this kind of coral, in several of the marbles, found in different parts
of the British empire.

In a fragment of a madreporite of this kind, of a large size, being
two inches in diameter, from Coal brook Dale, the external surface is
so marked by longitudinal striae and transverse ridges, as to give it
very much the resemblance of a jointed reed : and it is so filled with
lapideous matter as not only to have obtained the compactness and
weight of stone ; but to have had nearly all its interstices filled up,
and its characteristic star obliterated. Its substance appears to be
penetrated also with bitumen, some of which still remains on its sur-
face, and is sufficiently soft to receive easily a mark from the pressure
of the finger.

Plate VI. Fig. 3, represents a specimen of marble, nearly formed
of a small corallite of this class. This marble, which I lament the not
being able to determine where it was obtained, is of a brownish red
colour;, being much darker in its interstitial parts than in the coral-
lites themselves, and is susceptible of a good polish.

The madrepore which has entered into the formation of this marble,
appears to have been of the smaller species ; the branches being about
the size of a goose quill. From the cutting of the marble, various
sections of the madrepore, in different directions are obtained, by
which its internal structure is rendered very evident. In the trans-
verse sections, the radii formed by the perpendicular lamella? or plates
are seen uniting in the centre, and making the madreporean star. In
some of the longitudinal sections; in those, in which the coral has
been divided, immediately upon one of these longitudinal plates, a
plain unfigured substance appears, the same as when the division is
near to the external or conical surface of the coral ; but in those, in
which the section has been made between these plates, there the
sections of the horizontal plates are seen intersecting the perpendi-
cular ones.

65

The diffusion of the red colour through this specimen requires some
little attention. It extends through every part of the mass, and ap-
pears to have percolated through the external part of the coral into its
internal substance ; in such a manner that no gross substance has en-
tered ; the colouring matter appearing to have been here deposited
from its solution. That the colour has not been derived from the
coral itsejf, may safely be inferred : there appear therefore to be two
modes by which this colour may have been yielded. Either the de-
composed coral might have been imbedded in a matrix of which the
oxide of iron formed a part, and which by the access of a fit men-
struum became capable of penetrating through every part of the coral :
or both the coral and the surrounding matrix might derive their colour
from the influx of the coloured fluid derived from some other source.
In either case, it appears evident that this diffusion of the colouring
matter, and its introduction into the mass, were previous to the per-
fecting of the lapidifying process.

On subjecting this marble to the action of diluted nitrous acid, its
decomposition took place very speedily. A considerable quantity of
carbonic acid gas was separated, the calcareous part was dissolved,
and a red substance, an oxide of iron, gradually sank to the bottom.
Whilst the decomposition was proceeding, a substance was detected,
whose presence, at least in so obvious a state, was not expected. As
the separation of the other parts took place, ragged, fiocculent pieces
of apparently a membranous substance were left, adhering to those
parts where the coralline substance had been observable. These, on
the least agitation of the fluid, were seen to wave to and fro, and on
the motion being increased fell off, and soon reached the bottom of
the vessel from the weight of the solid matters which were attached
to them.

In the specimen of marble figured at Plate VI. Fig. 1, from Kil-
kenny, the remains of a coral of this kind, but of a larger species,
are very evident. The ground of the marble is of a deep black, but
the part of the marble possessed by the coral is of a very light grey.

VOL. II. K

66

In fineness of grain and in susceptibility of polish it appears to equal
any marble. From this circumstance, and from the considerable dif-
ference in the colour of the madrepore and of its matrix, the structure
of the former becomes very conspicuous, and the astonishing labours
of its original inhabitant are very easily traced. In one part, the
converging perpendicular plates, displayed by an horizontal section of
the madrepore, are discovered; whilst, in another part, a longitudinal
section has not only shewn numerous horizontal plates; but also
yields a fair view of the beautiful reticular texture of the coral, result-
ing from the frequent intersections of the perpendicular by the
transverse lamellae.

The very considerable difference of colour in the ground of this
marble and in .the animal part is particularly deserving of attention.
As in the former specimen the regular diffusion of colour through
the whole mass appeared to authorize the conjecture that the colouring
matter was introduced previous to the coral having undergone its
lapideous change; so here, the exclusion of the blackening particles
from the coralline part of the marble seems to warrant the supposition
that the x coral had acquired a stony impregnation previously to its
having become imbedded in the including mass of calcareous matter.
Thus two distinct lapidific processes, occurring perhaps at the distance
of many ages, may have been employed in forming the marble of which
we are now treating. Any difficulties which appear to be in the way
of this supposition will diminish, when it is considered, that in several
marbles, indeed in all the breccia marbles, this two-fold lapideous im-
pregnation must necessarily be admitted. These are composed of frag-
ments of various marbles, which, after having been formed in perfect
strata, have been broken into small pieces, and have then become
agglutinated into a compact mass, by the medium of a fluid, which,
from its saturation with the carbonate of lime, has possessed the re-
quired lapidific power, and which it has exerted during its interposi-
tion between these detached fragments.

A piece of this marble was suspended in a glass vessel, containing

67

diluted muriatic acid, and was speedily dissolved, with effervescence.
During the decomposition of this piece of marble, not the smallest
filament of membranaceous substance became detached ; but, on the
contrary, the newly forming surface was as perfectly clean and smooth
as if it had been a piece of primitive lime-stone : the black matter
from which the marble derived its colour falling to the bottom of the
vessel, during the solution of the marble. This powder being dried
was projected on melted nitre and immediately produced deflagration :
a circumstance which, with the form of the coral having been visible
in the marble, shews the curious fact that a part of the colouring
matter of the marble was an animal charcoal.

In this class of fossils may be also placed the madreporite, Plate V.
Fig. 5, from Steeple Ashton, which was presented to me by Mr.
Herbert, of Bristol, whose kindness I have before had occasion to
acknowledge. The perpendicular lamellae forming the star of this ma-
dreporite, the periphery of which is not always circular, are connected,
not only by short and partially disposed transverse plates, but by several
series of larger horizontal plates, passing at the distance of a quarter or
of half an inch, through the whole substance of the madrepore, and con-
necting the perpendicular lamellae so firmly, as to give the appearance,
in several parts, as if the perpendicular plates had been tied together by
a tight ligature. Its form of ramification somewhat resembles that of
the madrepora carduus of Ellis ; but it does not appear that its surface
was inuricated, or that the terminations of the lamellae were serrated,
as is the case in that madrepore. Nor does there indeed appear to
be any close resemblance between this fossil and any madrepore which
has fallen under my examination. It appears to have been imbedded
in a hard, close-grained lime-stone, of a pale yellowish colour, part of
which, containing fragments of shells and other marine remains,
still adheres to the madreporite. The madreporite itself is formed of a
spathose substance, strongly impregnated with iron; as is the case with
all the fossil madrepores found at Steeple Ashton.

LETTER X.

MYCETIT^E OF WOODWARD PO11PITAL AND TURBINATED COM-
POUND MADREPORITES RAMOSE MADREPORITES MILLEPO-

RITES CELLEPORITES, &C FOSSIL CORALS OF UNKNOWN

GENERA.

THE bodies whose nature we shall next inquire into, have fre-
quently engaged the attention of oryctologists, in consequence, not
only of their being creatures of a former world, but of the great variety
of appearances which they yield, and the considerable differences
which exist between them and any of the recent coral bodies at pre-
sent known.

This class of bodies does not appear to have been hitherto examined
with that attention which they seem to merit. Dr. Woodward, who
has investigated their structure more carefully than any one else, dis-
tinguishes them as mycetita coralloides, and divides them into mycetitas
conoides, sen calyciformes, and mycetitcz forma compressa, sen discoides.
But guided only by their conoidal or discoidal form, he blends the
simple madreporite, the porpital, and turbinated, each containing one
star, already examined, (Page 23,) with those of this class, which are
composed of several stars ; and which, not having been yet separated
from those other bodies of a somewhat similar form, but of a totally
different structure, I shall take the liberty to distinguish as porpital
and turbinated compound madreporites.

The first of these (the porpital) is of a discoidal form; it has a
superior, slightly convex, stellated surface ; and an inferior surface,
which is generally concave, and finely marked by radiating striae and

69

concentric rugae, disposed round a pedicle. The substance is generally
spathose.

The structure of these bodies materially differs from that of any of
the fossil madrepores we have yet examined, as will be shewn by the
annexed figures. Plate VII. Fig. 4, represents the inferior surface,
in the centre of which is the pedicle, surrounded by alternate risings
and depressions. With this surface, the little artists appear to have
commenced their labours : this being the basis on which has been dis-
posed a curious plexus of tubuli investing tubes placed at regular
distances, whose edges are internally crenulated ; which latter circum-
stance is however only discoverable by the aid of a lens. Thus aided,
the eye discovers that the superior surface, Fig. 5, is generally beset
with very minute openings, which, occurring on the edge of larger
openings, occasion their edges to assume a crenulated, stellular form.
The section, Fig. 2, shews the tubes, originating at the inferior surface,
divided into separate chambers by transverse lamellae, and thus pro-
ceeding to the superior surface. These fossils are found in Gloucester-
shire, Staffordshire, and in many parts of England.

At Plate VII. Fig. 3, is the representation of the under surface
of a very curious fossil coral from Dudley in Staffordshire, which may
be considered as a variety of this species. The difference chiefly con-
sists in the diverging striae, on the under part, being considerably larger
and more distinct ; and in the cavities, on the superior surface, being
polygonal, and forming an honey-comb surface, as represented in
outline at Fig. 7-

Plate VII. Fig. 10, is a specimen of the compound turbinated ma-
drepore. This, like the former, is composed of crenulated tubes, sur-
rounded by a plexus of tubuli, which open on the general superior
surface, and which, by the regular arrangement of their terminations
round the openings of the tubes, gives to them a stellated form. In
this fossil the labours of the polypes have commenced at the pedicle,
and one area having been completed, another has been formed over

70

that, of a more extended surface : and thus, by a continuance of these
labours, on an increasing scale, the turbinated form has been produced.

This madrepore, like the former, passes into several varieties, de-
pending on the direction given to the tubuli bj different circum-
stances. Thus in the fossil here depicted, a conoid form is produced
by the labours of the madreporean insect having been directed in a
more perpendicular direction than in the former coral. Traces of this
species of coral is sometimes detected in silicious pebbles : yielding
an additional proof of the great antiquity of their formation.

A corallite of the discoid kind was suspended in muriatic acid much
diluted, which, by removing the calcareous earth, soon exposed the
flocculent membranes of the madrepore. But, in this instance, the mem-
branous flocculae were exceedingly small, hanging but a very little way
below the edge of the coral ; and, on the least agitation of the glass,
innumerable minute portions of membranes became detached, and
slowly sank to the bottom of the glass. The smallness of the pieces of
membrane might be here probably accounted for, by the structure of
the madreporite which they composed ; since being of the species de-
lineated, Fig. 4 and 5, it must be obvious, that, from the multitude of
pores with which it is pierced, the membrane must suffer such frequent
inflection as would give very little reason to expect that, in a corroded
preparation, of even the recent madrepore, any thing like the form of
the madrepore could be preserved. The circumstance of these mem-
branous flocculi appearing to possess a greater degree of gravity than
belongs to animal membrane in general, may be accounted for, by
considering that they may yet retain some particles of earth in some
of their cavities, which are defended from the action of the acid,
by being completely inclosed in the membrane.

The ramose madrepores, with distinct stars and tubercular porous
interstices next require our notice. Of these, it will not be possible
to exhibit many interesting specimens, in a mineralized state ; since,
from the small number of specimens which have been found, and

71

from the injuries which they have sustained, but little information can
be acquired respecting them. The characters by which this would
be determined are chiefly, the form of their ramifications, and the
form and disposition of the small stellular pores with which they are
beset. But the fracture of the branches, and the obliteration of the
pores, are among the most frequent injuries which these bodies have
sustained : hence the ascertaining of their species, a circumstance
particularly desirable, can but seldom be accomplished.

The specimen figured at Plate VIII. Fig. 9> which is from Mr.
Sirange's Collection, and was obtained from France by that gentle-
man, is a madrepore imbedded in a very hard chalk. The fragment
is too small to allow any determination with respect to its species.

The madrepore represented at Plate VIII. Fig. 6, is from the Col-
lection of the same gentleman, and appears to have been obtained,
with many other similar fragments, from Switzerland. The surface is
pretty thickly beset with cavities, shallowly, but rather extensively,
stellated.

Of the millepores, at least from the few which I possess, or have
had the opportunity^ of seeing, I suspect, that not many are found in
a mineral state.

The ramose mi lie pore, from Wiltshire, Plate VIII. Fig. 3, is in a
tolerable state of preservation : its pores are very distinctly seen by
the aid of a slight magnifier, as at Fig. 11. It is imbedded in a very
hard and close lime-stone of a brown colour.

Of the genus CELLEPORA I am unable to speak decidedly. In the
masses of calcareous stone of St. Peter's Mount, at Maestricht, are
some fossil substances which seem to belong to this genus, and a
minute coralline substance resembling cellepora pumilosa, is fre-
quently seen on some of the fragments of encrinites, in the neigh-
bourhood of Bath.

The genus Isis, the generic characters of which are, the possessing
a stony articulated stem, the joints longitudinally striated, connected

72

by a spongy or horny substance, and covered with a softer porous and
cellular flesh, does not present to our observation many fossils.

One species, and that, as far as acute inquiry has gone, a species
unknown in a recent state, alone demands our examination. This
fossil is depicted, Plate VIII. Fig. 2, 4, and 7> from specimens
which Mr. Strange obtained from Sicily. Augustine Scilla called the
attention of the learned to this fossil, in his interesting work La Vana
Speculazione Disingannata dal Senso, which afterwards appeared in a
more condensed form in a Latin edition, published at Rome, and in-
titled De Corporibus Marinis Lapidiscentibus qu& defossa reperiuntur.
Scilla relates that, at one time, he was disposed to attribute the origin
of these fossils to the leg bones of some animals ; but, having dis-
covered this error, he states it to be his corrected opinion, confirmed
by some well preserved specimens, that these substances are the frag-
ments of some jointed coral, bearing a strong resemblance to the
knotted coral described by Imperatus*. The coral of Imperatus, he
observes, was found in the sea near to the Island of Majorca; whilst
the corals he describes were found in the Calabrian mountains, but
of their origin, as well as whence they were brought to this island,
he remarks, we are entirely ignorant.

This fossil is now a compact foliated _calcareous stone, of a long,
slender, and cylindrical form, expanding at each end in an articular
body, the ends of which, in some specimens, rise suddenly in a
pyramidal process, which is generally a little to one side of the centre
of the surface; and in others, the ends are formed into such depressions
as would seem to accord with the risings just described. Even the
naked eye discovers very fine striae, which pass longitudinally over
these bodies, entirely to the edge of their enlarged terminations, on
the face of which circular striae may be also seen : and in those speci-
mens which have suffered some degree of disintegration, it will be

* Imp. Hist. Nat. Libr. 27.

73

plainly seen that these bodies are formed of fine, and very closely
united concentric lamellae.

Most of the circumstances here mentioned may be noticed in Fig. 4*
whilst from Fig. 2, some notion may be gained of the form, which the
coral would assume by its ramification. Fig. 7> represents a small
calcareous mass, from the Siculean mountains, formed chiefly of the
fragments of this coral. Remains of this species of fossil are also
found at Calne, in Wiltshire, in a light yellow coloured lime-stone.

It is only possible to form very vague conjectures respecting the
form which this coral originally bore, and the recent species which it
might have the nearest resembled ; since, by having been deprived of
the soft porous and cellular flesh with which it was invested, and which
was the habitation of the polype (hydra) peculiar to it, its form must
have been exceedingly changed. From the great plenty in which
this fossil has been found in Sicily and other parts, there is every
reason for supposing the coral, from which, it derived its origin, must
have existed in considerable quantity.

I do not know that the remains of any individual of the genus AN.~
TJPATHES have been discovered in a mineralized state. Nor do I
know of any species of the GOIIG.ONIA, similar to any now existing,
having been found, that had suffered that change.

In the Dudley lime-stone, and in the lime-stone of St. Peter's
Mountain, is a vast variety of minute; inileed of almost microscopic
substances, which very much resemble some of the reticulated gorgo-
nise; but which perhaps would with more propriety be considered
as corallines But to illustrate the nature of these substances would
require so. many additional engravings as puts me under the necessity
of deferring their investigation.

We now arrive at a series of specimens, which bear so little analogy
with either the recent or fossil corals, that it appeared to be ex-
ceedingly difficult to determine in what part of this Work they
should find a place, Indeed, so slight is the circumstance which has

VOL. II. L

74

led to their admission among the corals, and so essentially different
are these specimens from any zoophyte with which I am acquainted,
that it appears to be of very little consequence where they are, at
present, introduced, so long as they are permitted to form a distinct
genus. To this distinction they seem to be fully entitled, since their
globular form alone separates them from all other genera. The fos-
sils of this species, or genus, may be described &&8)liciaus or calcareous
masses of small bodies., of a compressed globular form, connected by minute
jibrillce or tubuli.

The calcareous stone, Plate VIII. Fig. 1, appeal's on a superficial
view, from its being composed of small globular bodies, about the
size of a poppy seed, to resemble those stones, which, from their fan-
cied likeness to the eggs of fishes, or to certain seeds, have obtained
the names of oolithi, cenchrites, mecanit.es, cScc. but the eye, aided by
a lens, soon discovers a material difference. A section of those stones
being made, it is found, that the little round bodies of which they are
composed, possess ja laminated structure ; from which those who
have possessed a warm imagination, have been led to fancy, that
they could perceive the yolk contained within the albuminous part,
and the latter surrounded by a shell. But in the stone now under
examination, and which is formed of a white calcareous matter, not
bearing a spathose appearance, the little roundish bodies, which are
imbedded in a matrix of a similar substance with themselves, have evi-
dently a more compressed form than the bodies just spoken of, and in
the centre of their superior part, in a little depression, a small pro-
minence, like the commencement of a minute process, may be seen.

It is true that this peculiarity of structure is not discoverable in all
these little bodies : on the contrary, by far the greater part of them,
having been worn down by weathering or bowldering, display their
internal structure only; but of this no more can be said, than that
it manifests no appearance of lamination. The peculiar structure ob-
servable on those which have not sustained any injury seems decidedly

To

to-prove their animal nature. By the aid of a lens of moderate power
the central depression and projection are very plainly seen : and the
eye, thus assisted,, also discovers numerous thread-like processes, by
which these bodies are laterally connected. This curious conforma-
tion of these substances is still more distinctly observable, on the
inferior surface of this stone, which displays its fracture; it having
been evidently here separated by violence from the mass to which it
originally belonged.

At Plate VIII. Fig. 12, is a magnified representation of five of
these bodies, by which, the frequent connection effected by means of
these filamentary processes will be distinctly seen. The bodies which
are here figured are connected by lateral filaments; but from the
marks which remain of attachment of similar filaments, on their supe-
rior surfaces, it is highly probable that these bodies were conected by
filaments, proceeding from several parts of their surface. Such an
arrangement of parts seems decidedly to determine that these bodies
are not, as might be supposed, merely calcareous concretions; but that
they have indubitably derived their existence from the regular opera-
tion of the laws of animal organization.

The silicious pebble, Plate VIII. Fig. 10, which was found in the
Gravel-pits, near Hackney, had long been the subject of fruitless con-
jecture ; no circumstance being discoverable in its appearance, which
would determine its place in any classification, nor any analagous
body being recollected, by which its nature could be illustrated. By
its comparison with the preceding specimen, its analogy with it, ap-
pears to be indisputable. The whole fossil being of a calcedonic sub-
stance, possesses that degree of hardness which has rendered it but
little susceptible of injury from mechanical violence; and he^ice its
peculiarity of structure is still distinctly observable.

In this specimen, as well as in another, from the Leverian Collec-
tion, the character of the original substance is plainly discoverable.
Small round compressed bodies, not exceeding an eighth of an inch.

76

in their longest diameters, and horizontally disposed, are connected
by processes nearly of the fineness of a hair, which pass from different
parts of each of these bodies, and are attached to the surrounding
ones : the whole of these bodies being thus held in connection.

That the formation of these bodies has been the work of some
animal, of a nature similar to the polypes, by which the known
zoophytes are formed, cannot, I think, be doubted. But in what
genus in the order of zoophytes can they be admitted ?

The specimen figured Plate VIII. Fig. 8, is a silicious pebble from
the Gravel-pits, at Hackney, bearing sufficient characteristic marks
to shew, that it may, with propriety, be classed with the specimens
which have been just described. A similarity of character is seen in
the slender processes by which the different parts of the coral are
connected together : but the similarity, in this respect, seems to point
out only its being of the same genus, whilst the want of rotundity in
its more solid parts, warrants the supposition that it is of a different
species.

What the real difference is between these several specimens does
not, indeed, seem likely to be ascertained, until, by additional ob-
servations on other specimens, which are still farther illustrative, more
particulars can be obtained respecting this curious fossil, whose recent
analogue has not I believe been yet found.

The silicious stone, represented Plate VIII. Fig. 12, is from Mr.
Strange's Collection, but whence obtained is not known. It is com-
posed of roundish, bodies .of different sizes; the largest, however, not
exceeding a quarter of an inch in diameter. These, by their section,
are shewn to have possessed a central round hollow, and to have had
their more solid surrounding part formed of a substance, which, being
now cut through, appears similar to the petals of a flower. What was
the original state of this substance is not easy to conceive; but from
the striae which pass from its periphery to the central cavity, it appears

to have been formed of detached parts, perhaps tubules, which have
originated on the borders of the central cavity and have radiated
regularly round it. Fig. 13, is a magnified representation of a section
of one of the round bodies, by which the above description will be
better understood. That these substances did not originally exist in
a silicious state may be inferred from the appearance observable in a
few of the striated parts, denoting their having suffered a degree of
flexion : a circumstance which could not have occurred if they had
been in a hard and rigid state,

To what kind of substance this stone is indebted for its origin, is
not possible perhaps at present to say. It is admitted in this place,
in consequence of the resemblance it bears in some respects to
the preceding specimens ; and with the hope that information re-
specting it may be obtained, from the remarks made Vm some more
illustrative specimen.

Some of the extraordinary circumstances which have arrested our
attention, whilst examining into the nature of fossil corals, now demand
a few general remarks. You cannot but have observed how com-
pletely I was foiled, in my attempt to preserve a parallel between
the fossil corals which I have particularised, and the several corals
which are enumerated in the Systema Naiurce of Linnaeus. Indeed,
so little could this parallel be preserved, so little agreement could be
traced between the recent and the fossil corals, that I find myself
under the necessity of acknowledging, that I am not certain of the
existence of the recent analogue of any really mineralized coral.

This dissimilarity between the creatures of this and the creatures of
the former world^ is a circumstance which appears to be so inexplicable,
that I can only admit it, without attempting to account for it. It how-
ever furnishes us, I think, with a strong argument against that theory,
which -supposes the changes which this planet has undergone are all
attributable to the constant, regular, and gradual processes of nature,

78

which have been acting from an indefinite period of time, aided by
the occasional heavings of strata, effected by subterraneous heat. By
this system — by the gradual interchange of situation between land
and water, we might account for the mountains of fossil coral which
are found at considerable distances from the sea, were it not that so
little agreement is observable between the fossil and the recent coral.
Had the coral of the mountain and the coral of the sea been con-
stantly the same, it would, indeed, have furnished a powerful evi-
dence of the gradual change of relative place in the strata, which
were once covered by the ocean, but which are now thousands of feet
above its surface : the gradual receding of the sea would have sufficed
for the explanation.

But how, according to this theory, shall we explain the disagree-
ment between the coral of the mountain and the coral of the sea? I
see no explanation which can be thus obtained : every thing being sup-
posed to have proceeded in its regular course, the animals of the first
creation must then have exactly resembled those of the present hour.
Some vast change, of powerful and even universal influence, must be
sought for, to explain this wonderful circumstance : and such, doubt-
less, can only be found in the destruction of a former world. Thus,
indeed, we shall be enabled to account for the existence of various
animals, in a mineral state, whose analogues are unknown; but it
must be admitted, that even this circumstance is not sufficient to ac-
count for the existence of animals at the present period, of which,
no traces can be found in the ruins of that former world.

LETTER XI.

FOSSIL ALCYONIA CONSIDERED AS FRUITS BY VOLKMANN AND

SCHEUCHZER FOSSIL ALCYONIA OF FRANCE.. ..DIFFICULTIES IN

DISTINGUISHING THE FOSSIL SPONGES FROM FOSSIL ALCYONIA..,
VARIOUS SPECIMENS DESCRIBED.

\V E now arrive at the examination of that class of bodies, of which
it was remarked, in the former volume, that although they were de-
cidedly animal substances of marine origin, yet, from the resem-
blance which they bore to terrestrial fruits, their animal origin had
been doubted, and they had been considered as pctrilied oranges, figs,
funguses, nutmegs, &c.

There is no substance which has attracted our attention, during the
prosecution of these inquiries, which can yield so many subjects for
investigation as these bodies. For whether we consider the peculiar
forms with which they are endowed, the original modes of their -exist-
ence, or the extraordinary changes which they have undergone, a
variety of subjects of inquiry, of the most curious nature, will neces-
sarily arise.

That many terrestrial fruits and seed-vessels, containing the ligneous
matter, have been found in a petrified state, has been already shewn :
of these, of course, it is not intended here .to speak. But substances
have been repeatedly met with, the general appearances of which
have so much accorded with those of some terrestrial fruits, as to have
led several learned and ingenious men to place them among these
substances. Thus Volkmann was deceived, and figured and described

80

one of these bodies as nux moschcata fructu rotundo. Gasp. Bauhin*.
Scheuchzer, on the authority of Volkraann, adopted the same
figure and description. Nor will this error be considered as without
excuse, when the great resemblance of many of these substances to
terrestrial fruits is shewn. Indeed, I much suspect that, after all the
circumstances have been examined, some persons will be found who
will not be readily disposed to consider substances, bearing such ap-
pearances, as subjects of the animal kingdom. The propriety how-
ever of doing this will perhaps appear, when other bodies will be shewn
passing, through almost insensible gradations, from these bodies, which
so closely approximate, in their general appearances, to the subjects of
the vegetable kingdom, up to others, whose characters are sufficiently
marked, to leave no doubt whatever in the mind as to their animal
origin.

No one I believe has been more industrious, or more successful in
their inquiries, respecting these bodies than M. Guettard, as appears
by his very ingenious Essay, Sur qudques Corps Fossiles pen connus, in
the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences at Paris for the Year 175?.
M. Guettard observes, that at Verest, near Tours and Saumur, and at
Montri chard, in Touraine, there are found, at some depth in the
earth, numerous bodies, which from their very close resemblance, in
figure, to figs, pears, oranges, and other fruits, are there considered as
fruits, which, having fallen from their trees, have been buried in the
earth, where they have undergone the process of petrifaction. These
bodies, it appears, not only differ very much from each other, in
their forms, but also in their structure : and in Mons. Guettard's judg-
ment are divisible into two kinds ; those which possess somewhat of a
globular form, and those which are conical or funnel-formed.

The former, he observes, may be divided into the body or glo-
bular part, and the pedicle or elongated part. In the centre of

* Silesiae Subterraneae. Tab. XXII. Fig. 6.

81

super! or part of the body is a circular opening, which, in some of
the specimens, is closed by extraneous matter, derived from the ma-
trix in which they laid. This opening, which is larger in its upper part
than it is downwards, is continued almost to the pedicle, and in some
specimens appears even to penetrate it. This is however very difficultly
ascertained, since the opening is in general loaded with the extraneous
matter. From the circumference of this opening lines may be traced,
which not only pass over the whole of the spherical part, and inos-
culating, are continued to the elongated part, where they form strire
more or less plain ; but they are also found to penetrate into the sub-
stancej both of the body and of the pedicle. These bodies have, in
general, but one of these openings, but some have more; and Mons.
Guettard found one with three distinct openings. In this specimen,
the lines or striae just mentioned were seen to collect around the cir-
cumference of each of the openings, and after inosculating, to pass
into the pedicle, in nearly the same manner as in the others.

A great disproportion, it appears, is frequently observable between
the size of the globular part of these bodies, and their pedicle ; some-
times, the pedicle appearing very large, and sometimes very small in
proportion to the body : this difference is however frequently the con-
sequence of the pedicle having been broken off; a circumstance which
indeed so often occurs, that a perfect specimen is very rarely to be
met with: numerous fragments of the pedicles being dispersed about
in the places where these bodies are found. The pedicles are in gene-
ral of a conical form, and not unfrequently flattened.

By grinding the globular part, as well as the pedicle on a stone, he
discovered that their texture appeared to be similar, and that by the
frequent ramifications of the fibres, of which their substance was com-
posed, a net- work was formed, not much unlike the parenchyma of ve-
getables. We therefore perceive that a loose resemblance, sufficient to
excuse the vulgar opinion of their origin, is observable betv/een these
bodies and the terrestrial fruits. These bodies, like fruits, appear to

VOL. II. ft£

have been formed chiefly of a parenchymatous substance; their pedicle
seems to answer to the stalk; whilst the opening on their superior part
Agrees with what is termed the eye of fruits. But a little attention
shews that, unlike to the parenchyma of fruits, which is formed of
vessels terminating in minute points, the substance of these bodies is
formed of a species of net-work, which, as M. Guettard observes, if all
the matter contained within the meshes could be removed, would re-
semble a skain of thread, of which one part, answering to the pedicle,
is pinched together, and the other, answering to the body, is spread
out without being cut. Again, the eye, in fruits, is not pervious, as
is that part which answers to it in these fossils ; nor does the pedicle
at all agree with the stalk of fruits, either in proportionate size, or
in figure.

Scheuchzer describing a fossil of this kind refers it t o the Alcyoniwn
stuppomm Imperati *; but of the identity of these substances Mons.
Guettard, with much propriety, doubts ; although he allows that the
external form, and particularly the opening in the upper part, might
readily lead to this supposition. This doubt arose in the mind of M.
Gueltard, from comparing the structure of one of the Alcyonium
stupposum of Imperatus with the description of its structure as given
by John Bauhin and by Count Marsilli ; the result of his comparison
being, that both the descriptions were in some respects erroneous.
Taught by careful examination, he states it to be composed of fibres,
more or less fine, intersecting each other, without order or regularity,
and anastomosing together by their ramifications, by which they form
irregular meshes of various figures and quite empty. By this contexture
a spongy mass is formed, which is covered by a thin pellicle, constituted
in the same manner, excepting that the texture is more close and com-
pact, and extended into a membrane-like substance, which maybe de-
tached and easily raised from the body, and which, when examined by

* Lithograph. Helret. P. 1 5.

83

tt lens, appears to be a mass of fine fibres forming very small meshes,
similar to the large ones of which the body is composed. The foot
stalk, which spreads out and is a species of basement by which the
fig is attached to the body on which it grows, does not seem to differ
from the general substance in its conformation. Hence M. Guettard
concludes the sea-fig, to be merely a sponge, differing from other
sponges only in form, and possessing like them the property of im-
bibing water and losing it by compression.

On comparing the structure of the sea-figs with that of these fossils,
M. Guettard points out differences which are undoubtedly very essen-
tial. In the pedicles of the fossils, he observes that circular points
may be seen, which will be found to be continued into the spheri-
cal part of these bodies ; so that by different transverse sections they
may be traced, passing on like so many vessels, from the pedicle into
the substance, and even on to the surface of the fossil : whereas, in
the sea-fig, the fibres have no such regularity of disposition, nor are
they thus continued like tubes from the pedicle, into the substance of
the fig.

M. Guettard next describes the other kind of fossil, which belongs to
the class of fungites, and which, like the ficoid fossils just treated of,
are open at their superior and wider part, and in general possess
somewhat of a conical form: and from their varying in length, width,
and size, frequently bear a resemblance to cups, glasses, funnels,
cones, &c. whilst others are longer, cylindrical, and even fusiform.
This variety of figure is frequently dependant on the circumstances of
the fractures which they have suffered ; these fossils, like the former
being rarely found in a perfect state. M, Guettard appears to have
been entirely foiled in the attempt to discover any recent zoophyte
which might be considered as bearing any analogy with these fossils.
He first was disposed to consider them as being similar to the spongia
elegans of Clusius, or the spongia dura of Sloane, but this opinion he
found reason to relinquish, and was then induced to believe that they

84

bore a nearer resemblance, in their general characters, to'some species of
madrepores than to any of the sponges. In several of these fossils he
discovered an outer layer, which appeared to differ from the general
substance of the fossil ; and his opinion, he thought, derived support
from this circumstance, for, on examining the interior lamina of these
fossils, he conceived that it much resembled the hard smooth part
which forms the corresponding parts in madrepores, &c. Madrepores
and corals, he observes, are covered by a substance which has been
distinguished as their cortical part, and immediately beneath this,
there is a smooth substance of very close and compact texture, in
which there are no striae nor traces of any fibres. With this latter
substance, he thinks, the external layer of these fossils exactly agrees :
and he is confirmed in the supposition that it originally belonged to-
them, and was not derived from the matrix in which they lay, by
observing that, in one specimen, several little flat shells of oysters
were adhering to this surface.

Nothing, he thinks, in the fossil kingdom approaches so near to
these fossils, as the single-starred corals of the Baltic, described by
Fougt, and treated of in the former part of the present volume.
The only difference, M. Guettard remarks, is that the corals de-
scribed by Fougt have strife which extend from the centre of the
coral to the edge, in such a manner as to form a star. This diffe-
rence is however sufficient to remove all idea of similarity between
the two bodies ; since, as we have already seen, the star constitutes
the genus Madrepora, to which those corals belong, whilst in the
fossil bodies now under consideration, there exist none of the cha-
racters which mark any of the species of zoophytes, which we have
hitherto examined.

Many of these fossil bodies, it will be seen, differ so much from
any known recent zoophyte, that were it not that vast numbers of
these must be concealed from us, in the numerous recesses of the
ocean, they would be concluded to possess not the least resemblance

85

»
with any animal substance now existing : indeed, so considerable is

that difference, that some substances will be placed before you, which,
not only cannot be referred to any particular known species, but
which would almost authorize the formation of new genera for their
reception.

We shall proceed, however, as nearly as possible, according to the
generally accepted systematic classification ; and shall derive what
aid can be obtained, from the examinations which have been made of
living substances apparently of a similar nature. It is intended, there-
fore, to endeavour to comprise, under the genus alcyonium or spongia,
the substances so accurately inquired into by M. Guettard, as well
as several others which have not been spoken of by him, but are evi-
dently of the same kind.

With respect to the classification of these bodies, a difficulty almost
insuperable presents itself; since the characteristic marks by which
the substances belonging to these two genera are distinguished, in a
recent state, are frequently^ not to be discovered after they have sus-
tained the change of petrifaction. Previously, however, to proceeding
further in an inquiry on this subject, it will be proper to consider the
nature of both alcyonium and of sponge, and to ascertain what are
the distinctive characters of each.

The alcyonium is an animal which assumes a vegetable form, and
which is either of a fleshy, gelatinous, spongy, or leathery substance,
having an outward skin full of cells, with openings possessed by
oviparous tentaculated hydra: the whole substance being fixed to
some other body by a seeming trunk or root.

Count Marsilli, who carefully examined not only the physical, but
the chemical properties of these bodies, observes that they are all
surrounded by a porous leather-like bark ; and that the interior sub-
stance is, in some, a jelly-like matter, and in others, a mass of light ash
coloured acicular spines, which prick the hands on being handled, ia
the same manner as do the spines of the plant called the Indian fig.

Donati, in his Essay on the Natural History of the Adriatic Sea,
has made, in some respects, a more minute examination of the struc-
ture of two different species of alcyonia than even that of Count
Marsilli, and was enabled to ascertain by the aid of a magnifying
glass, the peculiar forms assumed by the spines of which these animals
are in a great measure composed. Of these we shall soon have occa-
sion to speak more particularly.

The forms in which these animals exist are very numerous ; this de-
pending not merely on the number of species, but on the different ir-
regular forms which the same species under different circumstances,
may assume. Thus Marsilli observes the same alcyonium, which
sometimes grows flat, and thus covers large pieces of rocks, is at other
times found in a rounded form.

From the different colours as well as forms which some of the
species of these substances possess, they have obtained names expres-
sive of their resemblance to certain fruits. Thus the alcyonium lyncu-
rium, being of a globose form, of a fibrous internal structure, of a
tubercular surface, and of a yellow colour, has been termed the sea-
orange : the a. bursa being of a sub-globose form, of a pulpy substance,
and of a green colour, has been termed the green sea-orange or sea-
apple : the a. cydonium, which is of a roundish form, and of a yellow
colour, has been distinguished as the sea-quince: and the a. ficus^
from a very close resemblance to the fig in its form, has been called
the sea-fig.

The sponge is a fixed, flexible animal, very torpid, varying in its
figure, and composed either of reticulated fibres, or masses of small
spiculae interwoven together, which are clothed with a living gelatinous
flesh, full of small mouths or holes on its surface, by which it sucks in
and throws out the water.

The vitality of sponges had been suspected by the ancients, even
in the time of Aristotle ; they having perceived "a particular mo-
tion ia their substance, as if from shrinking, when they tore them off

87

the rocks. This opinion of their possessing a degree of animal lite
was also entertained in the time of Pliny. Count Marsilli* confirmed
this opinion by observing, on their being taken out of the sea, a sys-
tolic and diastolic motion, in certain little round holes, which lasted
until the water they had contained was quite dissipated. Mons.
Peysonell supposed sponges to have been formed by certain worms,
which inhabited the labyrinthean windings of the sponge ; and be-
lieved, that whatever life was found in these substances, existed in
these worms, and not in the substance of the sponge, which he was
convinced, was an inanimate body. This point was, however, deter*-
mined by Mr. Ellis, who, in a letter to Dr. Solander f> relates the
observations which he had made ; by which he ascertained, that these
worms, which he found in the sponge in great numbers, were a very
small kind of nereis, or sea scolopendra; and that they were not the
fabricators of the sponge, but had pierced their way into its soft sub-
stance, and made it only their place of retreat and security. Upon
examining, in sea water, a variety of the crumb of bread sponge,
the tops of which were full of tubular cavities or papillae, he could
plainly observe these little tubes to receive and pass the water to
and fro ; so that he inferred, that the sponge is an animal mi generis,
whose mouths are so many holes or ends of branched tubes, opening
on its surface ; with these, he supposes, it receives its nourishment, and
discharges, like the polypes, its excrements.

Mr. Ellis also discovered, that the texture is very different in diffe-
rent species of sponge : some being composed wholly of interwoven
reticulated fibres, whilst others are composed of little masses of straight
fibres of different sizes, from the most minute spiculae to strong elas-
tic shining spines, like small needles of one-third of an inch long;
besides these, he observes, there is an intermediate sort, between ths

* Histoire Physique de la Mer, p. 53.
t Phi], Trans. Vol. LV. p. 2SO.

88

reticulated and the finer fasciculated kinds, which seem to partake of
both sorts.

In the substances considered as alcyonia by Donati, as well as in
some of those which have been described by Count Marsilli, similar
large bundles of elastic fibres like needles were discovered. These had
been reckoned alcyonia by most authors, but in Mr. Ellis's opinion
they should not be so reckoned, since neither Donati nor Marsilli
mention any polype suckers extending out of their pores ; he con-
sidering the existence of these as the distinguishing character of the
genus alcyonium, as much as the pores without the polypes in thesa
elastic fibrous bodies is the character of the sponges*.

It is evident that these needle-like spiculse cannot be considered as
belonging to the genus spongia only ; since among the alcyonia some
are admitted to be formed of a spongy substance, into the composition
of which these spicules may of course be expected to enter: on the
presence or absence therefore of polypes in the cells of the substance
must alone depend the necessary distinction.

But when the difficulty of distinguishing between the alcyonia and
the sponges, even in a recent state, is considered, the oryctologist will
easily find an excuse for his inability, to make a similar distinction
between these substances, after they have undergone the lapidifying
process : when their pores have become filled ; and their colour and
their substance, and, in fact, their whole nature has been changed.
Indeed, the assumed generic difference between the alcyonia and
sponges is such as must be entirely lost in most of these substances
which have undergone the change of petrifaction. Whether the pores,
which are discoverable in a fossil, were the dwellings of the polypous
hydrae or not, can no longer be ascertained; since their radiation,
which is supposed to characterize the openings in which these minute
animals exist, and which is frequently so faint in the recent alcyonium

* The Natural History of Zoophytes, &c. P. 183.

89

as hardly to be detected, is very likely, in the fossil substance, to be
still more difficult to be made out. Indeed, from this indistinct-
ness of the radiation, much difficulty appears to have arisen in mak-
ing the necessary distinction between, even the recent sponges and
alcyonia ; the graduation from the perfectly radiated opening of the
alcyonium, to the plain opening of the sponge, being so gradual and
imperceptible, as to render it a difficult task, even where the substances
are in a recent state, to draw the line where alcyonium ceases and
sponge begins. But here is not the whole of the difficulty : several
of the fossils, which will be presently described, possess some of the
characters of ascidia and actinia, with those of the sponge or alcyo-
nium; thereby rendering their distinct and correct classification al-
most hopeless. Hence, although I shall in general speak of these bo-
dies as alcyonia ; I am aware, that when their histories have been elu-
cidated by the inspection of more illustrative specimens, several of
them may claim other designations.

The consideration of another circumstance leads to the necessity
of giving up every idea of distinguishing the alcyonia from the sponges,
whilst in a mineralized state. Among the fossil zoophytes which claim
a situation under one or the other of .these genera, by far the greater
number are such as are so totally different, from any known species of
either alcyonium or sponge, as to render it almost impossible to de-
termine under which genus they ought to be placed. Under these
circumstances, you must perceive that the attempt to separate these
fossils, by specific distinctions, at present, would be hopeless : it can
only be effected when, by additional observations, their nature and
forms are more perfectly known.

When it is recollected what very considerable variations in form, are
found to take place in the recent individuals, of the several species into
which these substances are divided ; and when it is considered, that
whilst passing into a mineralized state, their figure and appearance
may be also much changed, it may be suspected that hardly any op-

VOL. II. N

90

portunitj of fair comparison could be found, between the recent and
fossil alcyonia.

This however is very far from being the case : and indeed when we
reflect on the transmutation which has taken place ; that a soft, gela-
tinous, or spongy substance, has become a hard and ponderous stone,
we cannot but be affected with a high degree of astonishment ; espe-
cially on perceiving, that this great and extraordinary change of sub-
stance has been accompanied by so little change of form. In conse-
quence of this I trust I shall be able to place before you many bodies,
even in a silicified state, which will immediately appear to have
been animals of this description, belonging to a former world. So
great indeed will be the variety of these bodies, and so perfectly well
preserved will they appear, as to render it necessary for me to say a
few words, respecting the state of preservation in which they are found.

This is rendered necessary ; since the comparatively frequent ap-
pearance of these bodies, in a fossil state, appears to contradict a
position laid down in the former volume, whilst speaking of fruits, that
substances possessing a pulpy consistence were not likely to be found
in a fossil state ; since their decomposition would most probably take
place, with too much rapidity to allow of that change being effected,
on which their mineralization would depend. But a peculiarity of
structure exists in these animals, which exempts them from the in-
fluence of this law. It appears, as we have seen from the observations
of Marsilli and Donati, that these animals have blended, with their
gelatinous and carneous substance, innumerable minute spiculae, which
may be considered as the bones of the animal. These manifest them-
selves by the prickling sensation they occasion, on being handled,
which has obtained for some of these animals the name of the sea-
nettle. That these spiculae, formed of a hard and durable matter
may, in some, and especially that the spongy fibres and coriaceous co-
vering may, in others, keep up the form of the animal, for a sufficient
time to admit of the petrifactive process being accomplished, seems

to be not improbable; and indeed appears to afford a satisfactory mode
of explaining this curious fact.

That the bodies now about to be more particularly described are
the remains of animals of a former world, seems to require no stronger
proof, than the circumstance of these inhabitants of the sea being
found in their changed state, in mountains much elevated above the
level of the sea, and at a considerable distance from the situations
which it now possesses. Whilst treating of the fossil corals, many-
were pointed out, whose recent analogues were positively not as yet
known, and which were therefore conjectured to be the remains of
certain species which might be now extinct. Any opinion of this
kind with respect to these animals appears to be hardly admissible ;
since from the innumerable recesses in which they lurk, and still more
from the comparatively small degree of eagerness with which they have
been sought, we are totally unable to form any conjecture, as to the
number of those which may have hitherto entirely escaped observation.
Analogy indeed may lead us to conclude, that by far the greater part
of these fossil bodies are actually the remains of extinct species ; but
where evidence of a stronger kind cannot be also obtained, the fact

O '

must be considered as undetermined.

Having made these few prefatory remarks, I shall now proceed
to a more particular examination of such fossils of this description, in
my possession, as are most illustrative of the history of these extraor-
dinary animals.

Those which are of a ramified form seem to be most rarely found in
a mineralized state. The specimen however which is figured, Plate
VII. Fig. 12, and which was found in Berkshire, is undoubtedly the
fossil remains of one of these species ; although it is impossible to say
to what particular ramified species it belongs, or whether indeed it is
at all referable to any known species.

An examination of the substance of this fossil, now a mixture of
silex and carbonate of lime, affords us internal evidence of its origin ;

92

since its texture is such, as I have found almost constantly to charac-
terise the fossil remains of any individual of this genus, which had
been composed of a sponge-like substance. This substance has evi-
dently, like sponge, been of a reticular texture; but the disposition of
the meshes, if so they may be called, is in the spongy alcyonium much
more uniform and determinate than in ordinary sponge, and though
not to be described in words, the texture is so peculiar and character-
istic, as directly to be known by those, who have been in the habit of
examining these and similar substances, by the aid of magnifying
glasses. The magnified appearance of its surface is shewn, Plate VII.
Fig. 7.

The fossil represented Plate VII. Fig. (5, and which is also from
Berkshire, appears to bear a tolerably close resemblance to alcyonium di-
gitatum of Linnaeus; or the dead mans hand, or dead man's toes of Ellis,
Its texture evidently appears to be of that kind, being finely reticu-
lated, which would correspond with the carneous spongy substance,
of which the recent zoophyte is formed. Its surface also, thickly beset
with minute openings, bearing somewhat of a stellated appearance to
the naked eye, serves to confirm the resemblance. This fossil is now
a carbonate of lime moderately hard, but friable.

In the elegant work of Knorr, Mr. Walsh describes several fossil
elongated alcyonia, by the silly term which the antients had adopted,
of priapolithi. One of these from Touraine is figured, Plate VII. Fig. 1.
It had at its superior termination that opening, observable in many
to these animals, which served for the reception of the sea- water,
from which, it is probable, they derived their support.

On rubbing down this substance on a sand-stone, at this termina-
tion, for the purpose of examining its structure, its hardness and the
partial polish it obtained, proved, that it had suffered an impregnation
with silica: and an examination of this surface with a lens plainly
shewed, that the flinty part was regularly distributed in continuous
meandering lines, bearing the peculiar and characteristic form of the

93

spongy part of alcyonia, whilst the intervening spaces appeared to be
filled by a softer substance, a carbonate of lime. The substance was
therefore partly immersed in dilute muriatic acid, by which the cal-
careous part was speedily removed, with effervescence, and the sili-
cious part left, possessing the fine retiform texture of the spongy alcy~
oniuin, surrounding the central opening already mentioned, as may
be seen in the upper part of the figure.

The fossil represented Plate VII. Fig. 9» approaches the nearest, in
its general form and appearance, to the alcyonium cydonium Linnsei,
the alcyonium primurn of Dioscorides, or rather to the representation of
this animal as given by Donati. It must however be, I believe, con-
sidered, as differing from any known animal of this genus.

This fossil is of a roundish form, rendered unequal by shallow de-
pressions about the width of a finger, which pass from the superior to
the inferior part of the fossil, and are separated from each other by
tuberculated ridges. At the upper part has been a circular opening
more than half an inch in diameter; and, at the lower part, is a rugged
spot as though the pedicle had been here separated : a circumstance
indeed which renders its affinity to the alcyonium described by Donati
rather more doubtful. The substance of this fossil appears to be a lime-
stone which, probably from some tinge of iron, has obtained a reddish
brown colour. It is not of a very close texture, apparently from the
superadded calcareous matter not having accurately filled all the in-
terstices between the fibres. Hence numerous small openings are,
even in its present state, observable on its surface, which on close in-
spection are seen ta be such as would result from a loose or spongy
texture.

Whilst treating of the alcyonium, of the species to which this seems
to approach, Donati particularly describes and delineates the curiously
formed spiculae which constitute a part of its substance. The body,
as well as the cortical part, he remarks, is formed of two substances:

94

the one of which is fleshy, and the other osseous. The latter, he adds,
is formed into spines ; which, near the cortical part, are in great number,
and closely intermingled ; being about the length of two lines, and
even longer. They are either of a fusiform figure, or are finely pointed
at one end, and then gradually enlarge towards the middle: then,
diminishing as they lengthen, they divide into three sharp conical
points, around which are fixed numerous minute globular bodies,
which are chiefly found in the cortical part.

A very strict examination, with a lens, of the surface of nume-
rous fossil alcyonia, did not however discover any appearance of si-
milar spines, and almost induced me to a ready concurrence with
Plancus, who relates, that he has dissected various bodies of this kind,
and has seen the osseous fibres disposed in a radiated form ; but as to
the wonderful *bark, the structure of which is so floridly described by
Donati, he says, I have not seen it, and observes that the same thing
has happened to him, with respect to the greater part of the figures in
Donates book, which, he says, are embellishments of the designer,
drawn by the rule and compass, rather than in agreement with the
truth and simplicity of nature*.

Being in possession of another specimen of this kind, formed of a
much harder and closer stone, and which from its appearance I sup-
posed to be invested with its cortical parjt, I resolved to sacrifice it to
a more rigorous search for the spines described by Donati, concluding
that, since all agreed as to their differing in their bony hardness from
the other parts of this animal, I should at least discover some traces
of them, although I might not be able to make out their form.

This fossil was therefore subjected to the only modes of dissection
which I could employ with substances possessing a stony hardness.
A polished section of it was obtained on different parts of it, and at

* De Conehis minus notis. App. II. page 115.

different depths ; by which the peculiar spongeous structure, already
noticed as belonging to these bodies, was perceived ; but no appear-
ance of spines could be detected.

The specimen was then immersed in dilute muriatic acid, and exa-
mined at different periods, to ascertain whether the new surfaces thus
obtained displayed any particular appearance. After rather more than
a quarter of an inch of its substance was thus removed, I was pleased
to find, with a lens of moderate power, several cruciform spines,
formed, as it were, by two fusiform bodies, not an eighth of an inch
in length, crossing each other at right angles, and terminating at each
end in a very sharp point.

When these bodies were first discovered, the specimen was still wet
with the water, with which the acid had been removed. In this state
they possessed a considerable degree of transparency, which they
rapidly lost, as the water evaporated : so that when dry, .they were
completely opaque, and of a chalky whiteness. From their possessing
this hydrophanous quality, and from their having withstood the action
of the muriatic acid, there appears to be the greatest reason for sup-
posing, that these bodies, which were originally the spines of the ani-
mal, are now formed of an hydrophanous chalcedony, and imbedded
ki a matrix of carbonate of lime, which has pervaded or has supplied
the place of the soft spongeous part. At Plate VII. fig. 8, is a repre-
sentation of the appearance which these bodies present when mode-
rately magnified. This and the preceding fossil alcyonia, are from Swit-
zerland.

Alcyonium jicus, Linn, accurately depicted in the Metallotheca of
Mercatus *, as Alcyomum quint urn antiquorum, and particularly de-
scribed by Marsilli as Figue de substance d'eponge Sf d'alcion-^, re-
sembles much, in form, the brown silicious fossil, Plate IX. Fig. 4.

* Arm. 6. C. 6. p. 102.

•f Histoire Physique de la Mer, p., 87.

96

The recent alcyonium, according to the Count, is of the form of a
fig, being attached to the rocks by branches proceeding from its
s/mallerend; its upper part being a little flattened, with a hole in the
middle. Its colour, he says, resembles that of tobacco, and its paren-
ctrymatous substance, he thinks, cannot be compared to any thing bet-
ter than to nutgalls, when well dried. In all these respects, a very
exact agreement seems to exist between the recent and fossil sub-
substances. Still, however, the fibres running over its surface, and
penetrating its substance, with the grooves which appear to have been
formed by other fibres, which are now removed, distinguish it, not
only from this, but, I believe, from all known alcyonia. This fossil is
from Wiltshire, and appears to be formed entirely of flint.

The fossil, Plate IX. Fig. 3, from Mount Randenberg, near Schaf-
housen, in Switzerland, possesses evident marks of its alcyonic origin.
This fossil, like those of the ramose kind, figured in Plate VII., has
that reticular texture, which appears to be peculiar to the spongy al-
cyonia. In this specimen also, as well as in those, the reticular fibres
are impregnated with silica, and have their interstices filled with cal-
careous matter. In this as in the fossil last described, the remains
of the pedicle, the organ, by which its attachment to its appropriate
spot was accomplished, are observable ; as well as the superior open-
ing, which passes deep into the substance of the fossil.

The fossil represented Plate IX. Fig. 5, and which is from the
neighbourhood of Saumur, being a very perfect fossil of the kind de-
scribed by Mons. Guettard, agrees, in its general characters, as well as
in its texture, with that one which has been just described. In this
specimen, at its superior surface, there are, as Mons. Guettard ob-
serves is sometimes the case, four openings ; and the pedicles, as well
a-s its lateral processes, which appear like roots, seem to have been
formed with a great degree of luxuriance.

A very perfect fossil of this kind, and similar in its substance and
texture to the alcyonia, which have been just described, but of a dark

red colour, where it is not invested with its cortical part, which is of
a grey colour, pervaded by a slight tinge of red, is represented Plate
IX. Fig. 8. The pedicle, and the opening at the superior part, are
here very perfect. Slight traces of lines, passing from the pedicle to
the opening, are discoverable on this specimen, and, doubtlessly point
out the arrangement of fibres, by which the animal was enabled to
draw in and eject the water which supplied it with food. This fossil,
I have reason to believe, is English.

The set of fossils, which I shall next place before you, is, in many
respects, extremely interesting. In the general outline of their form,
many of them so much resemble the fossils last described, as, at first
sight, to lead to the supposition, that they are only varieties of the same
species; but on a closer investigation, several circumstances are ob-
served, which seem to warrant a contrary opinion.

The following are the most remarkable circumstances, in which these
fossils differ from the former. First, They appear to be almost en-
tirely silicious. Secondly, In that part of the fossil, in which an opening
existed in the former species, a rather prominent substance is found.
Thirdly, Instead of the finely granulated surface possessed by the
former, which appears to have been produced by innumerable minute
openings, passing into the substance, the surface is, in the latter, such
as might be expected to result from the instillation of lapidifying mat-
ter, into a substance of spongeous texture, embraced by numerous
ramifying filaments. Fourthly, An entire difference in their internal
organization.

One of these fossils is represented, Plate IX. Fig. 12, with its lon-
gitudinal section, displaying its internal organization. The general
figure of this fossil approaches very nearly to that of the fossil last
described ; or, perhaps, it may be considered as bearing a nearer re-
semblance to a fig. Its spongy alcyonic texture is observable, not only
on its polished internal, but on its rough external surface; and like
the preceding fossils, it appears to have terminated at its lower end in
a gradually diminishing pedicle. At the centre of the superior part,

VOL. II. O

9B

in a -small depression, is a slightly projecting substance, appearing
like that part which is termed the eye in pomaceous fruits. From this
substance proceed numerous ramifying raised lines which spread over
the whole surface of the body, and are collected together towards the
pedicle. The manner in which these ramifications go off from the cen-
tre, is more plainly shewn in Plate IX. Fig. 11.

On viewing the polished section of this fossil, as here represented,
it is plainly seen, that the general substance of this petrified body was
originally of the alcyonic spongy nature. Numerous fibres are also seen
proceeding from the projecting body at the superior part; some of
which pass straight on the opposite surface, and others directly to the
sides; whilst others diverge immediately, pass along the superior part,
and then, spreading over the external surface, embrace the whole sub-
stance of the fossil.

In very few instances can the assumed sportiveness of creative nature
be illustrated better than in this series of fossils. Every mode seems to
have been here adopted to mislead the observer, and to occasion him
to consider as a vegetable, a substance which, in its original state,
doubtless owed its existence to the energies of animal life alone. To

o

lead to the general idea of a fruit, we have the pedicle bearing the ap-
pearance of a stalk, and a substance in the opposite surface resem-
bling that which is termed the eye of the fruit. In their general forms
are seen the resemblances of pears, apples, figs, &c. ; and in some,
marks on their surface, giving a similar appearance to that*of the nut-
meg. In all, the internal substance appears like the parenchyma of
fruits ; and in some, fibres like those of the ligneous kind are seen
traversing through ; whilst in others, small bodies, like the seeds of
fruits, are seen imbedded in the midst of this substance.

Thus we perceive that animals may be endued with forms, and may
«ven possess internal organization, so different from those of the ge-
nerality of animals, that they shall more resemble the subjects of the
testable than of the animal kingdom, and yet shall be so consti-

tuted as completely to perform the offices allotted to them in the rank
wh.ich they hold in the scale of creation.

This wonderful and close analogy also offers to our admiration a
plain demonstration, not merely of the power and of the wisdom of our
great Creator, but of the rich infinity of resources from which he has
been enabled to diversify his works. But to return to the animal, the
examination of which led to these reflections. It differs from the alcy-
onia already described, in having no particular cavity for the recep-
tion of the sea water. We are, however, fully authorised in consider-
ing this and all the rest of thi sseries not merely as sponges, since
they possess, beside the spongy parts, a more complicated apparatus
for procuring the reception and ejection of the sea water, the vehi-
cle of their food.

In this particular animal, an admirable contrivance appears to have
been employed for the performance of this function. In the alcyonia
already described it was remarked, that at their superior parts an
opening was always to be found, and from the sea water received
in this cavity, bearing an analogy with the stomach of the more per-
fect animals, the necessary portion of nutriment was supposed to have
been derived. But in this body no particular cavity seems to have ex-
isted : the sea water imbibed by the spongy substance of which this
animal body was composed, was most probably ejected by the con-
traction of that body, aided by the additional compression derived
from the contractions of those filaments, which we see pass through its
substance and over its surface ; and which, probably possessing the pro-
perties of a muscle, would occasion a regular alternate contraction and
dilatation of the cavities, by which a perpetual renewal of its matter
of nourishment would be obtained.

I am, unfortunately, unable to speak positively respecting the place
where this fossil was found : I have, however, great reason to suppose,
it was obtained from some of the gravel pits in this island.

The fossil depicted Plate IX. Fig. 11 and Fig. 1.3, evidently belongs

100

to the same species with the last described : a difference is, however,
observable in the appearance of the two fossils. This fossil, which
is silicious, has been divided transversely by the lapidary. Fig. 11 re-
presents the external surface of its superior part, and Fig. 13 the po-
lished interior surface of the inferior part. In Fig. 11 it will be seen,
that a slight cavity appears in that part in which, in the former fossil,
Fig. 12, a moderate degree of prominency had been formed; and that
in this fossil ramifying depressions are perceived in that part, on which,
in the former specimen, raised ramified filaments are to be seen. On
the polished surface of the interior part, numerous minute cavities are
observable, and which, particularly near to the centre, resemble the lit-
tle chambers for the lodgment of the pips or seeds of the pomaceous
fruits.

These appearances and apparent differences seem, however^ to be
sufficiently easy of explanation, without having recourse to the sup-
posing of any difference between the two original bodies, from which
the two fossils have proceeded. It appears to be exceedingly probable
that, in the former fossil, the silicious impregnation, which appears to
have been to saturation, had pervaded not only the whole of thespon-
geous part, but even the harder filamentous part ; whilst in the latter
fossil, the silicious impregnation which seems to have been much less
abundant, has only impregnated the spongeous part and the filamen-
tary part, not having been thus impregnated, has not been preserved.

The fossil, Plate IX. Fig. 1, which is a dark flint found in one of our
English chalk-pits, and which derives from the chalk the colour on its
surface, is a highly interesting and instructive specimen of this species.
The numerous ramifying filaments proceeding from the circular body
at its superior part, all terminate in, or rather appear to pass beneath
the line which is formed by a seemingly added substance, which covers
the whole of the inferior parts. The feeling yielded by the handling
of this specimen, excited a suspicion as to the nature of the substance
with which it is partially invested. On being handled, it occasions a

101

sensation, as if its surface were beset with innumerable minute -asperities,,
a sensation which I had been accustomed to i'eel, whilst handling such
petrified alcyonia as had not suffered from attrition, and which ap-
peared not to have been deprived of their cortical part. I am there-
fore led to believe, that on this fossil, a considerable portion of the
original cortical part still remains ; but which has been entirely re-
moved from those which have been just described. I am also induced to
suppose, from the appearance of this fossil, that the surrounding rami-
fying filaments were disposed between the cortical part and the body
of the alcyonium ; and that, besides the office just attributed to them,
they also served to connect the cortical investing part with the included
spongy mass.

The fossil, figured Plate IX. Fig. 7, appears to have been of the
same species, and is, in many respects, exceedingly interesting. It
has been imbued with silicious matter so transparent, that its highljr
polished transverse section displays the internal structure pi the alcy-
onium as plainly as it could have been discoverecHfl-fcherecent animal
itself. The greater art had evidently been of a spongy texture; the
spongy substance itself being most distinctly visible with a lens of a mo-
derate power. Through this substance, several interrupted lines, as the
figure will shew, pass in regularly disposed radii from the centre to the
circumference, and an examination of these with the magnifying lens,
gives every reason to suppose that they are distinct from each other,
and are transverse sections of those fibres which, passing from one part
of the body to the other, have, by supporting it, served to preserve its
form. They also have probably been fasciculi of muscular fibres, and
may have served, in the living animal, to have produced that alternate
contraction and dilatation of the external openings of this animal,
which we have already spoken of, and which Marsilli has observed to
take place in the external openings of sponges, when filled with the,
water, on being taken out of the sea. Another observation of this
same ingenious naturalist also leads to the supposition, that this coa-

102

.
jecture, as to theuseof these fibres, is well founded. In cutting with

a pair of scissars a recent alcyonium, which in many respects resem-
bled the present fossil, and which he calls the Sea Orange, (Alcyoniuni
bursa, Linn.) he remarks, that he perceived a motion in every part of
it as if it were alive*. On tracing these filaments, many of them may
be seen passing to the surface, on which, after ramifying, they are so
disposed as to embrace the whole mass.

The fossil zoophytes we shall next examine appear to be of a diffe-
rent species from those last described : the difference chiefly existing
in the retiform disposition of the filaments surrounding the alcyonic
mass. Like those of the former species, these fossils are formed entirely
of silicious matter, and appear to have been found in gravel. It is evi-
dently to one of these bodies that the following description from Dr.
Woodward applies :

" C. 252. A greyish brown flint of an obtuse conic figure ; an inch
in diameter at the base, and about three-fourths of an inch in height.
In the middle of the base is a round flat, about four-tenths of an inch
over, and somewhat raised above the rest of the base. The whole
surface besides is very rough, being thick set with very small pores,
excepting certain smooth ridges that run into one another, so as to
constitute an elegant reticulated work upon it. Found near Rumford,
in Essex f/'

On inspecting the fossil figured, Plate IX.. Fig. 9» it will be found to
correspond so exactly with the foregoing description, as to require no
other. The figure, here given, serves to furnish a tolerably correct idea
of the external appearance which this species of fossil in general pre-
sents.

From theappearance yielded by the section of this fossil, as shewn

* Histoire Physique de la Mer, *">. 80.

f An Attempt towards a Natural History of the Fossils of England, by J. Woodward,
M.D. Vol.1. Part I. 'p. 51.

Plate IX. Fig. 10, the internal structure of these bodies appear to
differ much from that of the preceding fossils. The zoophytes, from
which these, ibssils have derived their form, appear to have been hol-
low, and the substance, of which their surrounding part has been com-
posed, appears also to have differed from that of the other alcyonia, in
being made up, as is seen by examination of' the polished surface with
a magnifying lens, of minute quadrangular bodies, exactly fitting each
other. The cavity, which must have been answerable to the darker
central part in the figure, and which, in this specimen, is filled with
transparent yellowish flint, appears to have been of an irregular form,
dependent on the general shape of the including substance, and of
the processes, which are seen passing towards the centre. By what
openings the admission and the ejection of the sea water were se-
cured, does not appear to be discoverable.

Plate IX. Fig. 6, represents a most perfect and beautiful fossil of
this species. The reticulated work has been regularly disposed over
its whole surface, but appears to have been removed ; it has, how-
ever, left regular indentations and markings, which give it a very ele-
gant appearance. A view of this fossil will evince, how excellently
adapted this kind of reticular covering must have been to accomplish
the alternate compression and dilatation of the substance of the alcy-
onium, on which its existence seems to have depended.

Plate IX. Fig. 2, is a fossil of this same species, which is rendered
interesting by a considerable portion of its surface being covered by a
smooth coat, which, like the seeming superadded substance, described
in the fossil, Fig. 1, seems to agree exactly with the cortical covering of
the alcyoniurn. It is equally difficult to determine, whether the reti-
culated filaments of this, or the ramifying filaments of the former fos-
sil, in the original animal substance, passed under the cortical part, or
whether the cortical part was continuous with, and was formed, as a
production of the ramifying filaments, in the one instance, and of the
reticulated filaments in the other.

104

The small light-coloured, calcareous, spongite, or alcyonite, Plate
IX. Fig. 14, possessing somewhat of a conical form and a rugose sur-
face, and exhibiting, when examined with a lens, evident marks of an
original spongeous substance, was obtained by Mr. Strange from Swit-
zerland. A specimen, approaching exceedingly near in size and form
to the one here figured, was suspended in water slightly acidulated
with muriatic acid. As the acid acted on the carbonate of lime, the
membraneous part of the sponge began to appear ; and being libe-
rated, extended itself beyond the remaining solid mass, in tolerably

coherent flexible flocculae. When it had been submitted so long; to

i

the action of the acid, that the carbonate of lime was nearly removed,
a dark brown reticular mass was left, bearing the general form of the
fossil, and manifesting its original spongeous reticulated texture. So
coherent was this mass, as even to bear its removal, by pouring into
another glass, without suffering any material injury to its form. It
was, however, at last broken, upon pouring additional water into the
phial which contained it. Another specimen, as similar in its form
and size as could be found, was then subjected to the action of the
acid for the purpose of obtaining a correct sketch of the remaining
membrane, which is given Plate IX. Fig. 15.

The small calcareous fossils, Plate X. Fig. 7, 8, 9? and 10, are from
the Canton of Basle, in Switzerland. Their animal origin is rendered
evident by their alcyonic structure as discovered by the aid of a lens.
The specimen of a hemispherical form, delineated at Fig. 8, has a
central stellated opening, which has every appearance of having been
the residence of a polypous hydra, and which is surrounded by radi-
ating depressions, such as would seem to agree with the arms of the
animal. On close inspection, it is seen, that the whole substance of
the alcyonium is closely beset with innumerable minute openings,
which, in all probability, teemed with these extraordinary animals.

The natural history of these substances teaches us, that individuals
of different species are frequently found growing adherent to each

105

other. An instance of this kind is observable in this specimen, where
this small hemispheric, stellated alcyonium is seen connected into one
substance with another alcyonium, which is of a flat and tabular form.

The fossil alcyonium, represented Plate X. Fig. 7> differs from the
former, in its central cavity terminating in a regular circular opening ;
but the openings on the rest of its surface have the stellated form,
which so plainly denotes their having been the residence of polypous
hydra. A similar circular opening terminates the central cavity in
the superior part of the oblong alcyonium, Plate X. Fig. 9. The pe-
dicle by which it had been attached to some other body is very dis-
tinctly to be seen.

The triquetral pyramidal alcyonium, Plate X. Fig. 10, has been
raised on a pedicle, the remains of which are very distinct. It has no
central opening, but is closely beset, all over its surface, with very
minute circular pores, only discoverable by a strong magnifier. These
pores give to its surface that resemblance to shagreen skin, which, as
.Mr. Waleh observes, so generally characterises the fossil alcyonia.

VOL. II.

106

LETTER XIL

FOSSIL ALCYONIUM DESCRIBED BY ABBE FORTIS... .SPECIMENS OF
VARIOUS INEDITED FOSSIL ZOOPHYTES DESCRIBED.

J USTJCE to the Abbe Fortis impels me to remark, that the observa-
tions here adduced on the fossil alcyonium, depicted Plate X. Fig. 11,
are derived from a manuscript tract, which I was so fortunate as to
purchase at the sale of the late Mr. Strangers library, and which, I
have every reason to believe, proceeded from the pen of that excel-
lent oryctologist. The specimen here represented, I also obtained
from the previous sale of the fossils of Mr. Strange, and it appears to be
the more valuable, from my not having seen any similar specimen in
other collections. The above-mentioned tract was accompanied by a
plate exhibiting the specimens, now in my possession, with four others,
shewing the same substance adherent to different shells. According
to the Abbe's account, this species of fossil alcyonium commonly
forms a covering to shells, and is most frequently seen on a species of
nerite. These fossils are found in different parts of Tuscany : the
Abbe himself has not only seen them in the neighbourhood of Vo-
laterzano, and in a chalky tract towards Sena, which the inhabitants
call Le Biancane, but in some others of the Tuscan hills ; and he once
saw a specimen of this kind, which had been found in that neighbour-
hood, in the museum of Ferdinand Bassi, of Bologna. But these fos-
sils are chiefly to be found in the hills of Cerretani, which lay towards
Ficeclum, being brought to view by the washing away of the earth
by rain. It was from this spot that the specimens which I possess
were obtained. It is worthy of observation, that Mercatus does not

10?

appear to have known of this fossil, although he relates, that he had
received from his father many fossil shells which had been dug up in
the fields of Miniato, near to the hills of Cerretani *.

This fossil is of a yellowish white colour, and of a roundish tuber-
ous shape, it being furnished with several processes of different sizes,
which terminate in different ways; some being rounded, and others
flattened. An opening of somewhat of an oval form, answering to
the mouth of the shell which it invests, exists on that side which is free
from the processes just mentioned. By the side of this opening three
of the branches terminate abruptly, as if broken or worn down, shew-
ing that they are internally of a laminated structure. Upon examin-
ing the surface with a magnifying glass, it is found to be granulated by
innumerable minute risings, bearing somewhat of a mammillated ap-
pearance. Innumerable minute openings are also seen over the
greater part of the surface, and many of them in the centre of the
risings just described.

This alcyonium is formed on a nerite, which is the case also in the
two other specimens which I possess ; the nerites, thus incrusted, bear-
ing every appearance of fossil shells. This kind of shell, the Abbo
observes, is the most frequent nucleus of this fossil alcyonium, found
in these hills ; but he has also seen specimens enclosing other univalve
shells.

A curiously formed fossil alcyonium is depicted Plate X. Fig. 6 ;
it is now composed of a very dense limestone, the hardness and weight
of which, as well as the colour, sufficiently evince that it possesses a
very considerable portion of iron. From its inferior tapering part, which
is a portion of its pedicle, it gradually swells, and is then continued,
in a flattened cylindrical form, about four inches, when it gradually
contracts and terminates in an irregular surface, perforated with seve-
ral small circular openings. Other openings, much smaller than these,

* Metallotheca Vaticana, page 1 29.

108

but in all probability connected with them, are observable on the x
fractured part of the pedicle, and the whole surface is so closely be-
$et with openings, as small as the smallest pins' heads, as to give it
very much of a spongy appearance. The only information I can ob-
tain respecting the locality of this fossil, is from its being designated
an English long fungus.

Possessing two other fossils of this species, and one of these being
formed of a tolerably transparent calcedony, I have been able, by its
section, both longitudinally and transversely, to obtain some know-
ledge respecting its structure. The form of the fossil subjected to this
examination seems to have approached very nearly to that which has
been just described. Its substance has evidently been of a spongy
nature, as is shewn by an inspection of the polished calcedonic SUF-
face with a magnifying lens. This substance, however, appears to have
been not more than one-fourth of the thickness of the alcyonium in
the central part, but in the inferior part has been thicker, and the
superior part seems to have been filled by it. Through this supe-
rior spongeous part, a great number of openings are observable, which
appear to have opened into the large central cavity, where, as has been
already observed, there was a deficiency of the spongy matter. Into
this cavity innumerable openings, which are on its surface, also
seem to have penetrated ; and several tubes, which arose from the
inferior part, pass through it, and have their openings at the upper
surface of the superior spongy part. To attempt to explain any
particulars, respecting the offices of these respective parts, would be
vain; it may, however, not be amiss to remark, that every necessary
arrangement seems to have been here made, for the ingress and egress
of the fluid, in which the nutriment proper ta these animal bodies is
contained.

Still less successful must be the attempt to form any conjecture, re-
specting the habits or the peculiar nature of the living being or beings,
whose existence was connected with the animal substance which formed

109

the basis of the fossil, depicted Plate X. Fig. 5. Its general form and
tuberculated surface, with the risings and depressions passing from one-
end to the other, give it an appearance so much resembling a cucum-
ber, that, in the minds of those who were not a little conversant in
these inquiries, suspicions might arise, that it owed its- form to that
fruit.

By rubbing a part of it at one of its terminations with a sand- stone, I
ascertained that it was hollow, and that the substance of the fossil
was about a third of an inch in thickness. On examining this fos-
sil, by attrition on different substances^ and in various other waysr
it was discovered to he composed of a loose, spongy, calcareous mat-
ter, combined with a very small portion of siliceous sand, and incapa-
ble of acquiring a polish. On several parts of its ashen grey-coloured
tuberculated surface, patches of a thin pellicle, of .a reddish yellow
cast, were discoverable ; and the magnifying lens shewed that a de-
pression, and even an opening, were observable in the centre of some
of the tubercles. At one end, which in the plate I have made the
superior, no imperfection appears ; but at the other end a surface is
observable, from which, it seems, that a part has been broken off;
and on that surface the lenSj demonstrates strong marks of organi-
zation.

From the texture of the fossil itself, and from the appearances at
its inferior termination, the cellular, spongy, organized original
body may be inferred; and from the apparent fracture at the same
termination, the existence of a pedicle at that part may be supposed.
Additional reasons for supposing it to have been organized, in a man-
ner similar to alcyonia, may be deduced from the openings, observa-
ble in some of the tubercular risings, and in the thin cortical part, the
remains of which are so distinctly to be seen.

But the circumstance which serves most of all to corroboratethia
opinion respecting its origin is, that Count de Marsilli describes a re-
cent alcyonium, which agrees in. all its essential characters with tlii*

110

fossil. The figure of this alcyoniura,as given by the Count, is such as
would lead any one to say, that it bore a nearer resemblance to a cu-
cumber than to any thing else. At its inferior termination are several
projecting parts, which the Count describes as branches, but which,
as is shewn by the figure given by the Count, do not deserve such an
appellation; since, from their extending so trifling a distance from the
general surface, they can only be considered as protuberances, of
which many are to be found over the rest of the surface, having a de-
pression in their centre. Its interior part was hollow, the substance
consisting only of a coriaceous bark or shell, of an ashen grey,
mixed with a straw colour. When first taken out of the sea, it was
not filled with sea water, as the Count found was the case with the
sea oranges, but only contained a small portion of a glutinous mat-
ter. To preserve the specimen in his cabinet, the Count filled all the
cavity with cotton*:

By comparing the account of the recent alcyonium with that which
I have given of the fossil, I trust that in their form, structure, and co-
lour, the resemblance will appear to be sufficient to authorise the be-
lief of their relationship.

In some of my earliest researches in the gravel pits in the neigh-
bourhood of the metropolis, my attention had repeatedly been at-
tracted by a certain species of pebbles, which, from their general uni-
formity of character, I was convinced, must have owed their form to
either vegetable or animal organization. I therefore collected a con-
siderable number of them, hoping that, by frequently repeated exa-
mination and comparison, I might be enabled to form some probable
opinion respecting their origin : my endeavours, however, were by
no means productive of that satisfaction which I wished.

These pebbles, Plate X. Fig. 14, 15, 16, in general approach to a
rounded conical form, one termination being wider than the other.

* Histoire Physique dela Mer, Page 86, PL 15, n. 76, 77, 78.

Ill

The edge of the upper part, or that which forms the base of the cone,
is either pierced with several holes, or else is marked with traces of
holes, which are now filled up with flint. The lower termination,
which forms the apex of the cone, is also either pierced with one, and
sometimes with two holes, or bears marks which shew that such open-
ings have existed, but have been since filled up by silicious matter.
The specimen, Fig. 15, will give a tolerably correct idea of the gene-
ral appearance of these fossils.

Anxious to obtain what knowledge I was able respecting the forma-
tion of these pebbles, I broke many of them in different directions,
and was thereby enabled to ascertain, that their shape and their open-
ings depended on the figure of a body, which they contained in a ca-
vity in their central part. This was, of course, seen with more dis-
tinctness in those which, as in Fig. 16, had been broken in a perpen-
dicular direction.

By the aid of the opening made by fracture, Fig. 16, some of the
remains of this body will be seen. It will be there perceived, that it
is formed by a congeries of tuberculated tortuous filaments, which, by
intertwining with each other, form, in the apex of the cone, which I
presume to have been the inferior part of this body, a closely reticu-
lated columniform body, which, after having proceeded less than an.
inch, appears to have separated into about a dozen ramifications
formed in a similar manner. At the superior part, on the side, a por-
tion is still adherent, in which the original characteristic forms of the
ramifications of this body may still be seen, bearing a slight resem-
blance to the formation of the fan sponge.

That this body has derived its origin from some lost species of alcy-
onium or of sponge,! am firmly of opinion ; and trust that in this opi-
nion I shall be joined by those who are acquainted with the charac-
ters of these two genera. Positive evidence will not be obtained
until the nature and form of this body is ascertained in some more
perfect specimens : the difficulty of procuring which is considerable,

112

in consequence of the fragility of the inclosed body being such, that
it is almost always very much shattered by the blow, which is neces-
sary to break the pebble which incloses it. In the mean time, the re-
gularity and constancy "of the form which it bears in the multitude of
its specimens which may be met with, is no small proof of its having
derived its form from some organized being.

The constant uniformity of the figure Avhich this substance bears,
is by no means offered as a proof alone of its animal origin ; since, as
in the instance of the Ketton and other stones, a constant uniformity
of figure is observable, without any reason appearing for supposing
them ever to have existed but as minerals. A circumstance, however,
is observable in these pebbles, as has been already slightly noticed,
which at least proves three distinct stages in their formation ; and
also tends to confirm the suspicion of the inclosed body having existed
in a distinct state. The openings in the pebble, through which
the processes have passed, plainly shew, that this,, body must have
previously existed, and that it has been a nucleus, in which the sur-
rounding silicious matter has been deposited. Those marks in the
pebble, too, where traces only of these openings can be seen, the open-
ings themselves being filled up by silicons matter, shew that an ad-
dition of this silicons matter, in a fluid state, has been made, after
the pebble had been formed round this nucleus, and after the project-
ing bodies, which had filled those openings, had been removed by
some force.

At Fig. 14, a representation is given of the appearance which some
pebbles derive from this body. It is at the wide superior extremity,
where the processes have passed, that meandering lines are disco-
vered. These seem to have been formed by the concurrence of the
edges of two or three openings, which have been filled up by silicious
matter.

I am fully aware of the scepticism with which my conjectures on the
nature of the preceding fossil will be received : that a substance so lit-

tie resembling any known animal substance should be allowed a place
in this part of the work, will not, by many, be readily admitted. By
those, however, who are aware of the vast variety of forms which this
animal matter assumes, the probability of its having been the origin
of this fossil will not, I trust, be denied.

I have some reasons for supposing, that the terminatiqn of this sub-
stance is in small and very numerous ramifications ; and that these ra-
mifications occasion the small tubuli and foramina, perceived in cer-
tain pebbles which are frequently found among the gravel. To these
terminations of this fossil, I also attribute the light-coloured ramifying
veins, observable on the fractured surfaces of some pebbles : thevacui-
ties which those pebbles originally acquired, by having been formed
on those ramifications, being filled up by subsequently added sili-
cious matter. These,, however, are conjectures too little supported by
observation to be insisted upon.

Not less problematical than that of the last, is the origin of the
fossil, Plate X. Fig. 12. The one which is here figured was formerly
in the collection of Mr. Strange. These fossils are formed of chalk,
and generally have somewhat of a conical figure, the apex of the cone
being rather rounded. The surface is very closely beset with small
depressions, pretty regularly disposed in somewhat of a quincunx or-
der. From cursory observation I had been led to suppose this fossil to
have owed its origin to either a flustra or millepore ; but, on close in-
spection, especially with a glass, I found reason to dispose it among
the alcyonia. That it was not a flustra 1 concluded from being able,
as I imagine, to trace its organization to some depth into the chalk;
and that it was not a millepore I was satisfied, from perqeiving that,
with the glass, the substance interposed between the pores had every
appearance of alcyonic or spongeous structure. I have since obtained
a similar fossil by the kindness of Mr. Cunnington, from the chalk-
pits of the northern parts of Wiltshire.
There is no one among the fossil zoophytes which displays a more

VOL. II. Q

114

curious structure, than that which is discoverable in the very rare fos-
sil, Plate X. Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4. It is a tolerably fine lime-stone, nearly
of an hemispherical form ; and according to the best information I
can obtain, was found in some part of Switzerland. Its superior con-
vex surface, represented Fig. 4, has a groove, about a third of an inch
in depth, and as much in width, which possesses about three-fourths of
its length. The whole of this superior surface derives a smooth downy
appearance, from innumerably fine striae, formed by very minute ar-
ticulated fibres, which proce'ed from the inferior surface, pass round
every part of the circumference, and collect together and terminate in
the sides of the central longitudinal cavity. At Fig, 3 is given a mag-
nified view of a part of this surface, in which may be seen the appear-
ance of articulation observable in the fibres of which it is composed.

The inferior surface is nearly flat, and is seen, with the naked eye,
to be marked by completely concentric ridges and corresponding de-
pressions, intersected by numerous lines, radiating from the centre to
the circumference. On employing a magnifying glass, it is discovered,
as may be seen in the sketch, Fig. 1, that the cylindrical fibres are
continued, from the superior convex surface, to the centre of this in-
ferior surface, and are connected laterally, by fine transverse linear
processes, circularly disposed, as is represented, moderately magnified,
Fig. 2.

Having, fortunately, two of these curious fossils, I was struck with
a considerable difference in the appearance yielded by their inferior
surfaces. The circular ridges were more prominent, and, of course, the
depressions were deeper in one than in the other ; and in that one, a
concavity in the centre of the inferior surface was also observable,
which did not exist in the other. I was led by these differences to
conclude, that they had originated in a power which had been pos-
sessed by the animal, of effecting certain changes in this surface, de-
pendent on the particular circumstances under which it might have
been placed.

A striking peculiarity observable in this fossil, is its complete

ation from the other fossil zoophytes which we have noticed, in its
not possessing a footstalk or pedicle, by which it could have been at-
tached, like them, to any other substance. A little attention, how-
ever, to the organization of this animal mass, will, I think, discover
that such a structure has been here employed, as was well calculated
to afford a very efficient substitute for the pedicle, with which we
have seen that the alcyonia have been furnished. It has appeared,
in the course of our inquiries, that the animals of the alcyonic kind
are destined to derive their sustenance from the various contents of
the sea water, a frequent renewal of which is procured by the power
which they possess of alternately drawing it into, and ejecting it from,
certain cavities in the substance which they animate. This process must
of necessity be effected by the operation of muscular fibres, disposed
in such directions as are best calculated to produce the desired effect.
But that these muscular parts may act with a greater degree of force
and energy, it is necessary that they should be attached, at one of
their terminations, to a fixed point; towards which, the parts at-
tached to their other termination, may be drawn by their contraction.
Hence we find, that all the alcyonia we have hitherto described have
been fixed to some other substance, by a pedicle, not much unlike,
in its appearance, to the root of a shrub.

A view of the arrangement of the tubuli or fibres, in the particular
species now under our examination, will instruct us in the mode
which has been employed, in this animal, to establish a fixed point from
which the fibres might act; and at the same time, to allow the power
of removal from one place to another. Supposing the animal laid
on its inferior surface, on any substance wet with the sea water, a
retraction upwards of the fibres, about the centre of that surface,
would, of course, produce a cavity, and a vacuum between that sur-
face and the surface of the body on which the alcyonium was placed ;
in the same manner as it is produced by pulling the string in the centre of
the leathern suckers of children. Thus would be occasioned so strong;

116

a degree of adhesion, that whilst the animal secured this vacuum, no
removal of it from that spot could take place, unless accompanied by
destruction of the parts of which it was composed. On the other
hand, whenever the animal was disposed to submit itself, with its
dwelling, to the direction of the waves, it would only be necessary tx>
contract the perpendicular fibres terminating on tiie edge of the infe-
rior surface, by which that edge would necessarily be raided ; and by
continuing this process through each successive circle towards the cen-
tre, the air would gain access to the vacuum, and the animal would
be immediately loosened. Whilst affixed by its inferior surface to any
other substance, the whole of its circumference would be formed into
as many fixed points as there are fibres proceeding up its superior
surface. These fibres, thus fixed at their inferior part, and terminating
in the sides of the longitudinal cavity on the upper part, would, by
their contraction, draw downwards the whole alcyonic mass, and at
the same time widen the central longitudinal opening, by which ac-
tion the contents of the ventricular cavity must have necessarily been
expelled. The relaxation of these fibres would of course be accom-
panied by the refilling of the cavity, and by the alternate contraction
and relaxation of these fibres, the alternate filling and emptying of the
ventricular cavity.

The probability that the animal possessed this power of thus form-
ing a vacuum, and of fixing itself, like the remora, or sucking-fish, is
rendered exceedingly probable, by both the specimens which I pos-
sess, as has been already observed, having on their inferior surface
concavities, not only differing in their magnitude, but also in their
form, arising from different circles of the series having been more or
less acted upon, by which corresponding risings and depressions have
been left. From the rarity of the fossils, I was not disposed to insti-
tute any examination of them which should, either chemically or me-
chanically injure their surface.

117

LETTER XIV.

A/LCYONITES AGREEING IN THEIR FORMS,* BUT DIFFERING IN
THEIR STRUCTURE.... SPECIMENS OF FROM FRANCE, ITALY, SWIT-
ZERLAND, AND ENGLAND.. ..WILTSHIRE ALCYONITE.

1 HE fossil alcyonium, which I next present to your notice, is consi-
dered as very rare, both by Mons. d'Annone and Mr. Walch. It is
figured in Knorr's elegant work, Tome II. Planche, F. 3, from a
specimen obtained, as were those in my possession, from Randen-
berg. This fossil is figured Plate XL Fig. 2, where it will be seen ap-
proaching to a hemispheric form : its lower part, where was its pedi-
cle, being somewhat conical, and its superior part, which is somewhat
rounded, having a considerable cavity in its centre. The substance of
the fossil is divided into numerous lamellae of considerable thickness,
perpendicularly disposed round this centre, and concentrated at the
conical projection in the inferior part. Between these lamellae are
grooves of about a quarter of an inch in depth, which are transversely
divided by grooves less deep, and much more irregularly disposed.

Anxious to obtain some information respecting the structure of this
strangely formed mass, I devoted one of the surious specimens which
I possessed to suffer the required examination. By means of attri-
tion on a sand-stone of considerable hardness, a polished section was
obtained on its superior part. On examining this carefully with a
lens of considerable power, the substance of the alcyonium appeared
to have been formed in this part of minute tubes, opening side by side,
in lines crossing each other at right angles. To illustrate this arrange-

118

ment. A part of this surface is shewn, Plate XI. Fig. a. Another
section was then made across the inferior part, where it began to ter-
minate conically, and here also the lens made an exactly similar struc-
ture appear. Having thus obtained two transverse sections of these
tubes, I expected, by obtaining a section in the direction of the sides
of the fossil, to procure a longitudinal section of these tubes, but I
was surprised to find, after the necessary operations, that the appear-
ance yielded by this surface was exactly similar with that of the two
former ; it seeming that these tubes or vessels had their openings, in
the same manner, on every part of the surface.

The examination of the structure of the several fossil alcyonia,
which have preceded the present, has shewn, that it has been such in
all, as was best calculated to furnish the inhabitants of these substances
with an abundant renewal of sea water, fraught with the animalculae
or other matters, which would afford them nourishment. A very slight
degree of consideration will be sufficient to discover, that the form and
structure of the present fossil is such as would accomplish this pur-
pose, in a manner the most complete. The whole surface, we see, is
covered with the minute openings of tubuli, of which the substance is
formed ; and these are connected in fasciculi, which, being disposed
in a radiated form, round the large ventricular opening, might, in the
original alcyonium, by a pulsatile action, a regular systole and dias-
tole, have procured a rapid succession of sea water, teemirig with the
proper nutritious matters ; the water received in the ventricular cavity
being thus expelled by the vessels opening all over the surface. The
substance of this fossil appears to be lime, argil, and silex, in intimate
combination.

The account of this fossil, given by Mr. Walch in Knorr's work, is
very short. He merely thus describes it in the words of M. D'An-
none : — " Ce fongite est a peu pres de la forme d'un hemisphere ; du
sommet partent des sillons separes par des rides saillantes ou des
lames epaisses, qui descendent a la circumference de la partie platte

119

de dessous, & forment en traversans le bord, Sc en tirant vers le centre,
une quantite des plis irreguliers. Au milieu de sa base ce fongite a
une grande & pro ion de excavation *."

The specimen, represented Plate XI. Fig. 1, formed a part of Mr.
Strangers collection, and was obtained from Switzerland ; it bears a
a very close resemblance to a fossil of Bourguet's, described as Le
Cariophylloide a grandes Raiesf. Like the preceding fossil, its sub-
stance is divided into thick plicae, rarely ramifying, which are con-
nected together by very slender transverse filaments, very thinly dis-
posed. As in the former fossil, so also in this, a large cavity appears
to have existed in its superior part, but which is now filled by the mat-
ter of its matrix, which, as well as the substance of the fossil itself,
appears to be chiefly calcareous. Possessing only one specimen of
this fossil, I was loth to add. it to the numbers, which I had devoted
to the examination of their internal structure. By an examination,
however, with a lens, I was enabled to discover, that a spongy texture
existed in the substance of the plicae. .

Another specimen, of a similar substance and from the same place
as the preceding fossil, and, certainly, though not obviously, of the
same species, is depicted, Plate XL Fig. 3. In this specimen, the
lamellae are much smaller, they ramify more frequently, and are
connected by much more numerous transverse processes, which, as in
the preceding fossil, cross the perpendicular lamellae, nearly at right
angles, and thereby frequently form square or rhomboidal interstices.
The spongy texture is very distinctly seen, by the aid of a lens, in the
lamellae of this fossil also.

Another elegant variety of this species of fossil alcyonium is shewn,
Plate XL Fig. 9. This fossil possesses somewhat of the form of an in-
verted slender cone, the paint of which answers to the pedicle, and the
base to the central opening. The surface shews very distinctly, in 11111113?

* Monumens des Catastrophes,. &c. Tome II. Paite II, p. 50.
t Tcaite des Petrifications, Planche II. Fig. 16.

120

parts, the quadrangular spaces mentioned in the preceding fossil, and
which are, in this fossil, disposed with a considerable degree of regu-
larity. This fossil is apparently of a similar substance with the two
former, and was obtained from Randenberg near Schafhausen.

A circumstance, particularly deserving your attention, is observa-
ble in the three last fossils. In the first, the perpendicular lamellae are
slightly connected by very few transverse processes, and by still fewer
ramifications : in the second, the connection is preserved chiefly by anas-
tomosing ramifications of the lamellae; and in the last, almost entirely
by transversely disposed processes or filaments. This difference is
very obvious ; and if the two fossils, Fig. 1 and Fig. 9> had only been
obtained, no one would have hesitated to have regarded them as dis-
tinct species; but in the structure of the one, Fig. 3, so much of the
characters of both the former is to be found, as necessarily connects
them together, and shews that they all are referable to the same
species.

Hence you may perceive how little can be done, in the present
state of the science, in forming any useful classification of these fossil
animal remains ; since more opportunities are necessary to impower
any one to determine which may be considered as distinct species, and
which should be regarded merely as varieties.

The two fossils, which I shall next place before you, will also, I
trust, serve to shew the difficulties which I have just spoken of. These
fossils, although differing so much in form from the preceding, pos-
sess the same kinds of structure which were observable in them : the
one being characterised by the connection between their lamellae
being kept up by inosculation, and the other by the means of inter-
posed transverse processes. Whether these two fossils should be con-
sidered as of the same species with the preceding, I will presently en-
deavour to learn.

These fossils are of that kind which have been generally considered
as fungites, or petrified sea mushrooms ; nor have there been want-

121

ing those who have regarded them as the petrified remains of terres-
trial mushrooms.

The shape of these bodies approaches so nearly to that of a mush-
room, as to fully authorize the name by which they have been gene-
rally distinguished by oryctologists. This resemblance has, however,
led to an erroneous mode of describing them ; every author having,
as Mr. Walch has done, in his description of these fossils, considered
the convex part as the superior, and the concave as the inferior, as is
the case with terrestrial fungi. But analogy teaches us, that these
bodies grew in a contrary manner ; the pedicle, by which they were at-
tached to other bodies, proceeding from the centre of their convex
part, and their concavity being, of course, on their superior part.

The fungiform fossil, Plate VIII. Fig. 5, has a considerable conca-
vity on its superior part, and a corresponding convexity on its inferior
part. It is formed by tolerably distinct radiating lamellae, or plicse,
which, passing from the centre to the circumference, are frequently
seen to divide, and then again unite ; thus forming a species of inos-
culation. This structure is here shewn on its inferior surface, where
the laminae may be seen concentrating themselves, in that part which
had been continuous with the pedicle.

On comparing the radiating lamellae, of which this fossil is com-
posed, with those of the alcyonium, depicted Plate XI. Fig. 3, this
similarity will be directly perceived. In both these fossils it will be seen,
that the lamellae frequently unite, as it were, by inosculation, and
are but rarely connected by interposed transverse processes. In thia
fungiform specimen, this peculiarity of structure, shewn on its infe-
rior surface, is equally evident on its upper surface, which, however,
is not here represented ; since the general idea of the appearance
yielded by the concavity of its superior surface, will be sufficiently
obtained by the view given of the next fossil.

A very slight examination of the upper surface of this fossil ulcyo*
nium, Plate XL Fig. 7> will be sufficient to enable you to perceive

VOL. II, ft

122

that, as in its general form it resembles the last fossil, so, in its struc-
ture, it is very nearly allied to the fossil represented Plate XI. Fig. 6.
In both instances, the perpendicular lamellae are numerous and small,
and the transverse septa or processes very closely set, forming small
polygonal interstitial cavities.

A similar fossil is represented in Knorr's elegant work, Vol. II.
Plate F 3, Fig. 1. A specimen of the same kind is also figured by
Langius*, and is the figure erroneously referred to by Gmelin, as a
turbinated madrepore, as mentioned, in the seventh chapter of the
present volume.

The peculiarity of structure observable in all these fossils seems to
lead to the suspicion of their being all varieties of one species. Nor
does the difference in their forms make so much against this idea as
might at first appear ; since, as has been justly observed by Count
de Marsilli, the extension of the substance of one species of alcyo-
nium, in very different forms, is a circumstance of frequent occurrence.

With a view to ascertain the nature of the internal structure of
these bodies, I obtained a polished transverse section of the pedicle
of one, which had somewhat of a ficoidal form, nearly corresponding
with the one figured Plate XI. Fig. 3. By this section, the alcyonic
spongeous texture was rendered evident, as well as the transverse
section of tubuli, or small filamentary bodies. The alcyonium was
then immersed in diluted muriatic acid, until the whole of the exter-
nal surface was removed, when it was found, that instead of the per-
pendicular and horizontal processes, forming regular square interstices,
by their mutual decussations, they both appeared, directly on their
departing from the surface, to have divaricated and ramified in vari-
ous sportive contortions, thereby forming a reticular mass, evidently
different from the substance of any of the other species, but approach-
ing somewhat to that of the ficoid fossil, a perpendicular section of
which is shewn, Plate IX. Fig. 12. It is easy to conceive how accord-
ant the structure, which had been here employed, must have proved

* Historia Lapidum Figuratorum Helvetia;, Tab. XII. p. 52.

123

in securing, by the alternate contraction and relaxation of these tubes
or fibres, the repeated efflux and renewal of the sea water, on which the
Support of these animals appears to have depended.

To enable me to determine more satisfactorily respecting the struc-
ture of these fossils, I devoted two of the fungiform variety to an in-
ternal examination. The first of these was very similar to the fossil,
Plate XI. Fig. 4, but was about a quarter of its size, and had its com-
partments, resulting .from the decussations of the perpendicular and
horizontal laminae, more regularly square. A part of the inferior sur-
face of this fossil being removed, by rubbing down about a quarter of
an inch, and the new surface polished, the same disposition to sepa-
rate into ramifications^similar with those which have been just men-
tioned, was rendered very evident. With the hope of obtaining a
more distinct view of the mode in which the external lamina? termi-
nated, after ramifying in the manner already described, I placed the
other of these specimens in diluted muriatic acid, taking it out and
examining it, from time to time, until nearly a quarter of its substance
was thus removed. A very unexpected appearance then presented itself;
the ramifications, which, even at the least depth below the surface, had
assumed a contorted form, were here, at a greater depth, displayed in
the most elegant ramifications, bearing somewhat of a plumose ap-
pearance, as depicted Plate X. Fig, 13, where the ramifications are
magnified to about double their natural size.

In addition to the several forms, in to which this species has been al-
ready seen to pass, I have one, with a reticulated surface, in the form
of a bottle : the pedicle forming the neck ; and the body, first becom-
ing globose, and then contracting to a narrower base, forming the
belly and the stand of the bottle. This fossil, which is a hard and
close lime-stone, was obtained from Saumurs, by Mr. Strange, and
may be added to the number of curious forms, under which this spe-
cies of alcyonium is there found.

Plate XI. Fig. 5, is a part of one of the funnel-formed fossils, de-

scribed by Mr. Guettard, as found at Verest and Montrichard.
was selected in preference to a more perfect one, from its plainly
shewing the structure of the fossil and the mode of its formation. Its
external surface is covered with irregular risings and depressions, and
serves, as in the madreporite, Plate VII. Fig. 4, for the basement of
the fabric, erected by miriadsof hydrae. The tracks in which each has
laboured being evident on the broad edge of the fossil, where a frac-
ture, obviously before petrifaction, has well displayed the resulting
structure. Even with the naked eye, the little grooves formed by
these insects are discernible, and may be traced to the upper surface,
which is very closely beset with their terminations in small foramina,
with crenulated edges.

In another remarkably fine and perfect specimen of this funnel-
formed fossil, obtained by Mr. Strange from France, the structure is
also very manifest. The external ridges and depressions, as well as the
internal numerous foramina, are exceedingly distinct, and the grooves,
passing across the upper edge of the fossil from the external surface,
and opening on the internal, are very numerous and plainly marked.
This fossil is of an uncommon size, being seven inches in height,
nearly eight inches in its widest diameter, and an inch and a half in
thickness. The substance of both these fossils appears to be com-
posed of an intermixture of lirne and flint : the solid part of the ori-
ginal body having been silicified, and calcareous matter having filled
tip the interstices ; as has been remarked of several preceding speci-
mens. The alcyonic appearance is, I think, still more evident in an-
other most beautiful fossil, originally of a funnel form, but which has
the appearance of having suffered compression, the sides of the cone
being brought nearly within half an inch of each other. This was
also in Mr. Strangers collection, and marked as having been obtained
from Italy. It is about four inches in height, about the same dimen-
sions from one end of the upper part of the flattened cone to the
other, and little more than half an inch in its thickness. Its edge, at its

125

upper part, is exceedingly perfect ; and at its lower end, or point, part
of its pedicle remains, which appears to have been remarkably small.

Its external surface is marked by very strong alternate risings and
depressions, passing round it. Its texture, on this surface, appears to
have been very close and without any openings, except the very mi-
nute foramina resulting from a spongeous texture, so fine as to ap-
proach to the membraneous, and a few winding openings, apparently
the labour of some invading insect. The internal surface differs very
much from the external, being so remarkably smooth and regular as
to have the appearance of the pile of velvet. On being viewed with
a lens, it is seen that the villous appearance is produced by the infi-
nite number of minute openings arranged as close by each other as
possible over the whole surface. It is of a light brown, or buff colour,
and appears to have much less silex enter into its composition than in
that of the two last described fossils. Previously to passing to the
consideration of the next fossil, I must call your attention to the ob-
vious difference of structure between these fossils and those which are
represented, Hate VIII. Fig. 5, and Plate XI. Fig. 7, and which
possess somewhat of a similar form. This circumstance is also ob-
servable in the fossil we shall next examine.

This fossil, represented in the frontispiece, was found in Wiltshire,
and was originally in the collection of the Marquis of Donegal. At
its inferior termination, several processes are given off, which,
though broken, have much the appearance of the roots of a vegeta-
ble : an appearance, which is, however, much more similar in another
specimen. From the union of these, a narrow and nearly cylindrical
neck is formed, which, gradually enlarging, forms a conical cup-like
body, the sides of which are about the third of an inch in thickness,
but become much thinner at their edge. From the root-like pro-
cesses several fibres or tubuli originate, which, ramifying, pass along
or penetrate the surface, in a direction tending towards its superior
part.

126

Upon a minute examination of its external surface, a spongeous, or
rather porous structure, is discoverable : some of the pores appearing
to be the result of a peculiar reticulated texture ; whilst others, of ra-
ther an oval form, may be supposed to be the openings of the rami-
fying tubuli, already noticed. The examination of its internal sur-
face is prevented by a friable matter, which appears to be partly cal-
careous and partly silicious, with which its cavity is nearly filled. A
portion of the posterior part is covered with this same matter, which
seems to have invested the whole fossil, and appears rather to have been
a covering peculiar to the animal, than merely the matrix in which it
had lain. This fossil resembles, in its composition, several of the French
and Swiss alcyonic fossils, already mentioned, in being an intermix-
ture of silicious and calcareous earth : the former having possessed
the animal substance itself, and the latter the interstices.

Small fragments of this kind of fossil had been long discovered,
whilst digging or ploughing in the Vale of Pewsey : but their forms
were so indeterminate and various, as to have led to the most vague
and fanciful conjectures respecting their original nature. By some
they were imagined to be portions of petrified wood, and by others
to be fragments of bones ; but Mr. Townsend, who had met with
them in his own garden, collected numerous specimens, and in conse-
quence of his extensive knowledge in natural history, soon ascertained
their origin, and determined, that they were the mineralised remains of
some zoophyte of the former world.

According to Mr. Townsend's obliging information, these remains of
zoophytes are found immediately under the chalk, in a dark green sili-
cious sand, which contains many prism of quartz crystals; the colour
being; derived from the intermixture of an oxide of iron. In the same

o

green sand, nautilites are found of a loot or fourteen inches diameter;
and on digging deeper, similar bodies to those existing in the green
sand are found, approaching to an agatized state.

The farther I advance in my labours, the more reason I find for con-

127

gratulating myself on having declined the arduous attempt, of adapt-
ing a nomenclature to the substances examined in this volume, or of
disposing them in a systematic arrangement. Even to one who possessed
all the necessary qualifications, success, in the present state of our
knowledge, could not be assured. For such is the variety of form and
of organization discoverable in these substances, as to mock all en-
deavours at arranging them, or even comparing them with any known
recent substance.

Analogy, indeed, proves their existence to have depended on the
powers of animal life, but it seldom helps us any farther; since, with
respect to many of them, we can find no corresponding species nor
genus, under which, known existing beings are disposed, which will
also allow of their admission. New terms must therefore be also re-
quired to designate these hitherto unknown substances; but these can
neither be formed nor applied, until illustrative specimens, and farther
observations, have supplied a more correct knowledge of these sub-
stances, and of the circumstances by which their 'relationship with
each other should be determined.

Tiiese observations particularly apply to the fossils which have been
treated of in this letter; since considerable difficulty must occur in
the endeavour to arrange them, either according to their figure or their
external structure. If the fungiform or cup-like figure were to be takea
as the distinguishing character, we should then find, that under this
form would be classed substances, differing very materially in their struc-
ture. The fungiform fossil, Plate VIII. Fig. 5, is formed of lamellae
connected with each other by inosculation. The one, Plate XI. Fig.
7. is composed of lamellae perpendicularly disposed, and so con-
nected by small transverse septa or processes, as to produce po-
lygonal terstices. The specimen, Plate XI. Fig. 5, from France,
is formed of innumerable tubuli, extending horizontally from the
inner to the outer suface ; their bases being on the outer, and their
other, the open terminations, being on the inner surface. Lastly, the

Wiltshire fossil in the frontispiece, different in its structure from all
the rest, is formed of a spongeous substance, which is pervaded and
embraced by ramifying tubuli or fibres.

Thus, if the figure of the fossil be assumed as the leading character
of the species, subtances, differing materially in their structure, will
be classed together in the same species; and, on the other hand, if the
species be formed on the external structure, we shall have, under the
same species, substances differing as widely in their forms as the fos-
sils at Plate XI. Fig. 6 and 7.

LETTER XIV.

ALCYONITES INCLOSED IN FLINTS FOUND IN WILTSHIRE, OX-
FORDSHIRE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, AND HERTFORDSHIRE OTHER

SPECIMENS NOTICED,

IT is to my truly learned and respectable friend, the Rev. Mr. Towns-
end, that I owe the favour of having my attention first called to the
fossils, the investigation of which I shall next attempt. That gentle-
man, not only obliged me with a sight of his own beautiful drawings,
but also presented me with a specimen of hydrophanous flint, which,
Avith many other more perfect specimens, he had himself found in the
Vale of Pewsey. These he shewed me were evidently full of changed
organized matter, belonging to some unknown species of zoophyte :
of which he pointed out to me, not only their internal parts, but even
their cortical investments.

These flints were ofanoblong,andsomewhat of a rounded form ; they
seeming to differ from the common black flint, in having one of their

surfaces at least, much flatter, and in possessing less of the nodular or
mamillary form. Their colour was also materially different; their ex-
ternal surface being generally either of a light reddish brown, or of a
greyish white ; on which circular or longitudinal patches, of a pur-
plish hue, and possessing more transparency than the other parts,
were irregularly disposed. On breaking these flints, the purplish hue
and slight degree of transparency, were found, in many places, to
pervade the whole substance, whilst in other places they did not enter
far beyond the surface. The colour of the interior part of the flint
also varied considerably in different specimens, being in some chiefly
of a greyish white, and in others of a brown colour, in which a red-
dish or purplish tinge was discoverable: the more, transparent purple
patches, already mentioned, were seldom of so dark a hue in their in-
ternal, as in their external part.

Slight traces of organization might be discovered with the naked
eye, in many parts of these flints, but particularly in the more trans-
parent purplish patches. These were also thus seen to be surrounded
with a grey opaque matter, which Mr. Townsend considered as the
fleshy or cartilaginous coat, analogous with that which is known to
invest the interior harder part, in many coral bodies. On these flinU
being immersed in water, Mr. To \viishend discovered that they were,ina
great measure, hydrophanous, and that the traces of organization were
thereby rendered much more beautiful and distinct.

Returning, in the autumn of 1807, from a visit to Mr. Townsend,
then residing at Bath, 1 was agreeably surprised to find, that on the
road between Henley and Wycombe, and on Wycombe Heath, this
kind of flint existed very plenteously, the roads being here repaired
with such of them as were ploughed up in the adjoining meadows,
or dug out of the neighbouring pits. Proceeding westward along the
cross road through Amersham, Cheyness, and Chorley Wood, in
.Buckinghamshire, to Rickmansworth, a tract of twenty-seven miles,

VOL. II. S

130

and thence northerly about five miles to King's Langley, in Hertford-
shire, making a tract of road of upwards of thirty miles, I frequently
saw, in the road, flints of the same description. But at Watford, five
miles southwardly of King's Langley, and three miles east of Rickmans-
worth, very few of these flints were to be seen : a greyish flint, with a
brownish coat, not possessing any organic remains, appearing there to
be most prevalent. Aided by the specimens I procured in this route,
I was happy on being able to confirm the observations which had
been made by Mr. Townsend.

On immersing these flints in water, it may be seen, even without a
glass, that the original animal body was composed of an internal, and
of an external or cortical part. In the internal part, in consequence
of its great degree of transparency, the vesicular or alcyonic struc-
ture is very plainly discoverable. In the centre of this part, in some
specimens, a ramifying opaque white tube is observable, and at that
part which appears to have been the line of union between the in-
ternal and the cortical part, fibres or tubules are seen closely placed
by each other, appearing to pass, in a converging direction, from
the opaque cortical part, towards the centre of the transparent inter-
nal substance. Most of these different circumstances are illustrated
by the representation of one of these flints from Wy combe Heath,
Plate XI. Fig. 4.

Every circumstance which can be ascertained, respecting the ani-
mal substances thus inclosed, conspires to confirm the opinion, that
they were a species of alcyonium, invested with a cartilaginous or co-
riaceous covering. Very little to be relied on with respect to the
forms which these bodies originally possessed, can be inferred from the
different rude sections which are obtained by the fracture of these
flints, in different directions. From the figure of the alcyonium
which is observable in the flint from Wycombe Heath in Plate XL and
which, in a less perfect form, is frequently seen in the fracture of dif-

ferent flints, I have reason to believe that the cup-like form is the
most frequent which a longitudinal fracture of these bodies offers to
our view.

That this, however, was not the only form with which these bodies
were endued, I obtained a very pleasing proof, immediately on my
return to town from the excursion, in which these fossils had so much
engaged my attention. The late Mr. Jacob Forster, on leaving this
country for Russia and Siberia, nearly about twenty years since, had
carefully packed up his private collection of minerals and fossils, not
to be opened until his return or death. The latter circumstance hav-
ing taken place, I availed myself of the opportunity offered me by
Mrs. Forster, of purchasing some of the more interesting specimens
which that collection contained. Among these was that extraordina-
rily illustrative specimen which is represented, Plate XI. Fig. 8.

The most ample proof is afforded by this specimen, of the kind of
bodies to which this immense number of flints, spread over such avast
tract, owe some of their peculiar appearances. Here the alcyonium, of
a similar species with those which are represented, Plate IX. Fig. 4 and
8, with its surrounding cortical part, is seen, permeated with silicious
earth, and inclosed in a mass of grey flint. On immersing the specimen
in water for a small space of time, the flint, which is hydrophanous in a
considerable degree, acquires transparency, and shews the alcyonium
itself of a bright red colour, and penetrated by white fibres or tu-
bules ; whilst the whole of the surrounding flint is, by the same means,
discovered to be very closely filled with a white substance, which is
apparently similar to the cartilaginous or cortical part, which immedi-
ately invests the alcyonium itself.

I however here experienced some difficulty, since the fossil alcyo-
nium, which I had thus fortunately discovered, did not bear the cup-
like form, which appears to be so very prevalent in the flints which
had engaged our attention. This difficulty, however, disappeared, on
considering, that the cavity, in the superior part of the ficoicl fossil

132

being filled with the grey flint, a longitudinal section, which would
pass through that part, would give a cordiform or cyathiform figure,
from this dipping of the matter of grey flint, into the middle of the
substance of the alcyonium : and if the alcyonium was formed with a
broad base, similar to that which is observable in the specimen, Plate
IX. Fig. 4, the appearance yielded by its longitudinal section would
perfectly accord with the figure of the inclosed fossil, Plate XI. Fig. 4.
The colour of this fossil next excited my consideration, doubting how
far this instance would authorize the attributing of this colour, even to
other alcyonia of the same species ; but on looking over my collection
of these fossils, I found the detached ficoid fossil, purposely introduced,
Plate IX. Fig. 8, which exactly agreed in its form with that which in
this specimen is involved in the flint. Not only is the red colour very
evident in the body of this detached fossil, but it still retains, over
great part of its surface, a thin white covering, apparently the re-
mains of a similar coat, with that which is seen to surround the alcyo-
nium contained in the flint. It is hardly necessary to remark, that
the red colour of the animal, blended with the dark semidiaphanous
flint, will perfectly account for the purple hue so frequently observa-
ble in these specimens.

The flint stone, Plate XII. Fig. 5, found on the sea-shore, at South-
end, in Essex, had often engaged my attention. The curious contex-
ture of the plexus of tubuli, of which it is chiefly composed, kd me, at
first, to suppose it to be a mass of minute serpulse : this opinion was,
however, soon corrected, on discovering, by means of a lens, the fre-
quent inosculations of these tubuli. I became then suspicious of its
alcyonic nature; and after having attended to the alcyonic flints just
examined, was convinced that it owed its form to a substance of this
kind: the circular mark of its original cortical investing matter, yield-
ing the most corroborating proof that this opinion was correct.

Just before the plate which this chapter refers to was engraved,
the son of that ingenious artist, Mr. Springsguth, to whose labours this

133

work is so much indebted, found on the road, in the neighbourhood
of Islington, the flint stone, Plate XIL Fig. 10, which will serve, in
some measure, to connect these fossils together. On the side may
be seen, a little magnified, the external surface of the organized
body, formed of similar inosculating tubes, with those which are seen
on the surface of the preceding fossil. In the fore -part is seen a sec-
tion of its internal substance, also a little magnified, in which the
marks, occasioned by the various convolutions of these tubuli, are
beautifully displayed, being of an opaque grey, whils-t the intervening
transparent, silicified alcyonic matter is of a strong reddish brown ;
shewing that the red colour belonged to more than one species of the
antediluvian alcyonic genus.

The flint fossil, Plate XIL Fig. 7> found in the gravel at Seward-
stone, in Essex, is evidently of the same species with the two preced-
ing fossils. On its superior part, the convoluted tubuli are seen ; but
its inferior part is quite smooth, and appears like the external coat of
the alcyonium. This part is extended in such a form as to give rea-
son to suppose that the alcyonia of this species, like the preceding,
were supported by a peduncle.

The flint fossil, Plate XII. Fig. 12, is of very doubtful origin. The
confused <ind indescribable mass in the centre, now perfectly silicious,
I suspect, must have been of an alcyonic nature. Flints, distinguish-
able by the circularly disposed traces observable in the lower part of
this specimen, are very frequent*

134

LETTER XV.

MAESTRI CUT FOSSILS AMBIGUOUS APPEARANCES COMPARED,

WITH OTHER FOSSILS, FROM SWITZERLAND, ENGLAND, AND
AMERICA.

y

JL HAVE, in a former letter, mentioned the fossils of St. Peter's moun-
tain, and have there proposed to defer the examination of the more
minute corals, contained in the masses belonging to that mountain.
This I am the more inclined to do, since it would be required, in
consequence of their similarity, to take into consideration with them,
the gorgonice, flustrce, and corallince, which are to be found in the Dud-
ley limestone, and which, as well as the others, from their being so mi-
nute as to be almost microscopic objects, would require so much time
in their examination, and so many delicate engravings, as would have
too much protracted the publication of this volume. This objec-
tion, however, does not apply to the next subjects of our considera-
tion, which are those Maestricht fossils, which are discernible by the
naked eye. These particularly demand our attention, since their pe-
culiar forms and structure, so different from those of other districts,
render it exceedingly difficult to determine in what genus the greater
part of them should be placed. This consideration, of their differing
so widely from the fossils of other parts, is sufficient, I conceive, to
warrant their being examined in a separate letter ; and the difficulty
of determining whether several of them should be arranged among the

135

madrepores or the alcyonia, seems to render this a fit place for their
consideration. An apology is, however, necessary for introducing in this
place, among these fossils, one or two which should, perhaps, rather have
been placed among the madrepores than among the alcyonia. This
has been done, in consequence of my collection of the Maestricht fos-
sils, not having been sufficiently important, at the time I was writing
my observations on madrepores, to authorize my speaking of them
from my own knowledge. Having since then acquired some very per-
fect specimens, I have ventured to introduce the examination of them
in this place, trusting that their very considerable deviation from the
madrepores we have previously seen, and their approximation to the
characters of alcyonia; with the difficulties which now oppose similar
specimens being brought into this country, may render their admis-
sion, although not exactly in their place, not unacceptable.

St. Peter's Mountain, or Pietersberg, is situated within three quar-
ters of an hour's walk of Maestricht, forming an elevated escarp-
ment on one side of the Jaar, and being washed on the other by the
Meuse* On the side next to the Meuse, layers of a fine white sand,,
somewhat chalky, alternate with black, 'mamillated, and as it were,
ramified flints ; on some of which the regular organization of madre-
pores is plainly observable. Shells and wood are also found in this
part, impregnated with silex. This circumstance is the more de-
serving of attention, since the other side of the mountain, next the
Jaar, contains, chiefly, madrepores and shells, which are entirely cal-
careous, and in so perfect state of preservation, as sometimes to seem,
even to possess their original colour.

The zoophytes which are found in the calcareous mass, which forms
this part of the mountain, particularly merit our attention. Not
only will the beauty of their forms, and the wonderfulness of theic
structure, engage our interest; but the vast difference observable be-
tween them and every other zoophyte of this, and of such as we have
seen of the former world, must call forth our utmost astonishment, So

136

totally do they differ, except, perhaps, in one or two instances, from
any other known substance, that although it is sufficiently evident
that they are organized masses, which have derived their forms from
the energies of animal life ; yet, in most of the substances which we
shall examine, we shall find ourselves very much at a loss respecting
their original nature and the mode of their formation.

The matrix in which these curious substances are found, is a fine
tophaceous and pure calcareous substance, deriving a yellow tinge
from its impregnation with iron. It breaks, of course, into irregu-
lar fragments, an examination of which often shews the traces of va-
rious coralline bodies, as well as very small pieces, and sometimes
the casts of various shells.

Mr. Walch, who appears to have derived some aid from the inqui-
ries of Mr. Hoffman, Surgeon Major at Maestricht, and who has
evidently paid considerable attention himself to these fossils, is of
opinion, that they may be divided into three classes. In the first of
these classes he places those which are really petrifactions, in which
the actual substance of the marine body has acquired a stony na-
ture. In the second class he places those which are merely casts ; the
lapideous matter, which had filled the several cavities of the coral-
line bodies, having remained, after the removal of the original sub-
stance, by the action of some chemical agent. And, in the third
place, he disposes of those, which he considers as merely the impres-
sions of substances which have existed on the surface, or in the sub-
stance of these masses, and which have been entirely removed by the
action of some menstruum.

Perplexing as we shall hereafter see Mr. Walch found the investi-
gation of these substances, he was yet of opinion, that although
there exist among them so many new species of animals, yet he does
not see any reason to suppose, that for the arrangement of any of
them, the formation of a new genus is necessary. He, however, ac-
knowledges, that he found many bodies which, although he consi-

137

dered them as alcyonia, he was by no means convinced, that the}r
should be considered as species of that genus, or true alcyonia.

The real petrifactions, Mr.Walch describes, as being chiefly the rete-
porites, or fossil flustra ; the casts were chiefly of the astroites ; and the
impressions of the tubulites and fungites. Of the latter, he believed,
but; very little of the original substance remained on the Maestricht
fossils ; he having never succeeded in any of his examinations, which
he says were many, in discovering any of the fibrous texture, or of the
lamellated part of these bodies ; but, on the contrary, he very fre-
quently found, that these bodies were formed entirety of the same
substance as the matrix itself, and manifested not the least trace of
any extraneous matter. It must, however, be here remarked, that
Mr. Hoffman, agreeable to the candid acknowledgment of Mr. Walch,
did really find, among a great number, two in which he could per-
ceive the opening (oscula) proper to these animals. Still, however,
Mr. Walch supposes, that these fossils, which have acquired their
figures from these bodies, have been formed by the filling up of their
cavities with earthy matter.

The opinions of Mons. Faujas St. Fond, respecting the origin and
the formation of these fossils, correspond very nearly with those of
Mr. Walch, excepting that he considers several of these fossils as
formed of the changed animal matter, which Mr. Walch supposed
to be casts of earthy matter, deposited in the cavities of the original
bodies.

I shall now proceed to the unpromising task of inquiring into the
original nature of some of these mysterious fossils, commencing
with the examination of the fossil, represented Plate XII. Fig. 6.
This is a light yellow calcareous stone, on the surface of which arise,
at nearly regular distances, though not apparently in any determined
order, many small semi-globular, striated, and projecting bodies,
which, by the aid of a lens of about an inch focus, are found to be
formed of plates, regularly placed round the middle of these bodies ;

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138

thccentral part being filled by the same kind of substance disposed
somewhat in a r etiform manner, projecting a little beyond the la-
inellated exterior part. This peculiar structure presents to the eye a
floscular appearance, very difficult to describe, but which is very
faithfully represented by the magnified figure, Plate XII. Fig. 6, a.

By the aid of the lens it is also discovered, that the greater part of
the ground on which these bodies are disposed, is adorned by slightly
undulating, faint, and minute striir, which, in some places, appear to
unite with, or even proceed from, the plates of which those bodies arc-
formed. So numerous are these waving stria?, and so many are the
slight traces of them, as to render it quite fair to suppose, that they
were originally disposed over the whole surface. Mr. Walch describes
this fossil as a tubercular astroites, on a ground marked with deli-
cate striae ; the projecting parts, he thinks, may have been casts of a
columnar astroites, and now reduced to a mamillary form*.

In Faujas St. Fond's elegant work on the natural history of the
Mountain of St. Peter, in which many of the riches of that immense
mine of fossils are displayed, two specimens are depicted, which bear
considerable resemblance to the fossil which now demands our atten-
tion.

The one figured by Faujas St. Fond, which, in its general appear-
ance, approaches the nearest to our fossil, is to be found Pianche
XLI. Fig. 1, a. and Fig. l,b.f This specimen differs from our fossil
in two respects: First, the rose-like protuberances are placed with
a great deal of regularity, upon lines which appear to form concen-
tric circles round a centre, whilst in those of the fossil figured in this
work they are not disposed in any regular order. Secondly, the ground
of the fossil described by Faujas St. Fond is very finely granulated,
whilst in the fossil here figured, the rose-like stars are placed on a

* Rccueil des Momimens, &c. Tome III. p. 163.

f Histoire Naturelle de la Montague do Saint Pierre de Mae.tricat, p. 210.

139

ground enriched by numerous undulating striae, some of which unite
with the rays of which the stars are themselves composed. At Planche
XLI. Fig. 6, a. and 6, b. is a fossil which also bears a general resem-
blance to our fossil, but differs from it in having, instead of undulating
lines, superadded rays, which diverge in straight lines from the central
star. The fossil, Planche XLI. Fig. 5, which he describes, Astroite ma-
mellone, avec des rayons en tete de Meduse qui partent de chaque
mamelon, would, if reduced to a smaller size, approach much nearer
to our fossil than do either of the others.

The specimen, Plate XII. Fig. 4, like the former, is highly inte-
resting, from the difficulties which accompany an inquiry into its ori-
ginal nature; rendered still greater, by the want of any analogous
bodies, with which any instructive comparison might be made. This
fossil, also obtained from St. Peter's mountain, is formed of the same
substance as the former. The organic part of this fossil is confined
to the superior part, and to a small cleft on one side, and is composed
of a surface so finely granulated, as to give an appearance like the
pile of velvet. On this general surface are disposed, in small depres-
sions, oblong bodies, in an oblique but almost horizontal direction,
each body being composed of six similarly formed tubes or fibres,
from an eighth to a quarter of an inch in length. Most of these bo-
dies taper a little, at their more detached ends, and thereby obtain
somewhat of a conical shape.

A slender fibre branches from about the centre of some of these
bodies, and is inserted in the side of the adjoining depression. In.
some there are two of these fibrous connecting processes, and in others,
no traces of them are observable. But from considering the delicacy
of their structure, and their liability to be broken, and observing in
that lower stratum, at the one end of the specimen, which has been
protected in a considerable degree from injury by the superincumbent
layer, that this slender process is attached to every one of these cy-
lindrical bodies, I think there is very little reason to doubt, that this

140

process is essential to this fossil, and that one of them, at least, be-
longs to each of the cylindrical bodies.

As in the former fossil, so in this, these forms proceeding from the
wonderful labours of some lost polypean architect, do not appear to
have extended, in the least degree, lower than the surface ; the mass
of stone being formed, up to the very surface just described, of the
same calcareous matters, as in the former fossil.

Mr. Walch considers this fossil as a cast of a tubularia of six co-
lumns : he, however, observes, that the tubules from which the casts
have been formed, are not here the same as they are in the petrifac-
tions of other countries ; for that, instead of these tubes being resu-

O O

larly directed either obliquely upwards, or disposed horizontally, or
symmetrically placed at a distance from each other, the tubules, or
rather their casts, seem to owe their situation on the surface of the
stone to an accidental arrangement. Their form, in Mr. Walch's opi~
nion, shews, that they were moulded in striated tubulites, with den-
tated edges, and longitudinal slight depressions *.

Mons. Faujas St. Fond, speaking of this fossil, which he has
figured, Plate XXXVI. Fig. 7> of his work, remarks, that it is ex-
ceedingly perplexing to attempt to class this fossil in a distinct and
appropriate place. The extremely minute protuberances on the sur-
face, which, from their regular disposal, give to it an appearance of
ermine, he thinks has been, beyond a doubt, the work of polypes f ;
but in Faujas St. Fond's description of this fossil, no notice is taken
of the small lateral processes, which I have described as passing be-
tween, and connecting the cylindrical projecting bodies, and the gra-
nulated surface. The specimen, which has been here copied, agrees,
so exactly, in every other respect, with the fossil delineated and. de-
scribed by Faujas St. Fond, as not to leave a doubt of their being

* Kecueil des Monumens, &c. Tome Troisieme, p. 162.
t Histoire Naturellc de la Montagne de St. Pierre, p. 19

141

both of the same species. The absence of these processes, in Faujas
St. FoncTs specimens niay, in all probability, have proceeded from their
removal by accident ; since their extreme delicacy must render them
exceedingly liable to injury, and the specimen here figured is remark-
able for its excellent state of preservation.

Tlie mass, Plate XII. Fig. .2, from the same mountain, is, in every
respect, the most valuable specimen of the kind, which I have yet
met with, or have seen described. Since, from having almost escaped
from any injury, it not only furnishes us with the correct form of the
zoophyte, of which it is composed, but enables us also to make out
so met ing respecting the labours of the little animal by which it has
been formed.

Fossils, evidently of the same species, are described both by Mr.
Walch and by Faujas St. Fond. The characteristics of these fossils
are stellated substances, projecting from a smooth ground. In the
fossil described by the former, the stars are composed of seven stri-
ated rays; but in the specimen here depicted it will be seen, that
they are composed of six rays, standing, some less and some a little
more, but in general about an eighth of an inch above the com-
mon surface ; each of these rays being cordiformed in their trans-
verse section. These rays, as may be seen in the magnified re-
presentation of them, Plate XII. Fig. 2 6, do not rise exactly verti-
cally ; but, having their base more enlarged than their other parts,
they bear somewhat of the form of a wheatsheaf. The substance of
this, like that of the former fossils from this place, is of a fine-grained
calcareous stone, having much of a tophaceous appearance, and
bearing a slight yellow tinge. Faujas St. Fond considers this fossil as
an astroites ; but Mr. Walch believes it to be merely a cast of some
coral, the parts which formed its mould having been decomposed, and
passed away.

But, in the specimen here depicted, sufficient is discovered to shew,
that Mr. Walch is, in this respect, mistaken : partsare here displayed,

142

too minute, complicated, and delicate, to have been formed in this
manner. In consequence of the very perfect state of this specimen,
some circumstances in the structure of this zoophyte are discovered,
which are not noticed by either Mr. Walch or by Faujas St. Fond, in
the specimens which they describe. Whether these amount to speci-
fic differences, or are merely accidental varieties, cannot, perhaps,
be ascertained, until other illustrative specimens have been compared
with these.

The perpendicular lamellre forming the rays of each star, are closely
united to each other, by minute and regularly disposed, transverse
processes. Innumerable, intercurrent, circular filaments also spread
themselves, not only from the top of one of these stars to another, but,
in a similar manner, pass even through the bodies of several of these
stars, thus connecting all the stellated columns together. The whole
of this structure, so different in every respect from the other works of
madreporean polypes, is sufficiently inexplicable to excuse the various
conjectures which have been made, whilst endeavouring to discover
the mode in which this zoophyte originally existed.

On one part of the surface of this fossil, a substance is placed which,
at first glance, gives the idea of an echinite, possessing a rounded
form and a rnamillated surface. But a close examination of this
body gives considerable reason for believing it to be an alcyonium ;
marks of the stelliform oscula of which still appear on the apices of
the little mounds, from which it derives its mamillated surface. Se-
veral smaller bodies of this kind are also observed, rising up on dif-
ferent parts of the superior surface.

Another description of bodies are also observable on other parts of
this superior surface. These are oblong, and somewhat approach-
ing to the fusiform ; and from the appearance of delicate traces of
stellated figures, I at first conjectured that these bodies were alcyonia,
and that these stellated marks were to be considered as the remains of
the openings, which are the residences of the polypi peculiar to these

143

bodies. This opinion, however, was set aside, by a more accurate ex-
amination with a lens : it then appearing probable, that these stellular
marks had resulted from the adhesion of some of the bases of the stel-
lated columns already described. This opinion was, indeed, almost
proved to be correct, by discovering that one of the collumnar stel-
lated bodies, which have been described as proceeding from the gene-
ral surface of the fossil, has been so far lengthened, as to be attached, by
its other extremity to the inferior surface of one of these oblong bo-

•/ O

dies ; whilst, in another part, a fragment of one of these stellated co-
lumns is seen hanging from this same surface, the other end by which
it was connected with the general surface having been broken away.

What was the original nature of these bodies is exceedingly diffi-
cult to determine. At the first glance they excite the idea of simila-
rity with the tophaceous coverings of mytuli, which are sometimes
found in the neighbourhood of Bath. Faujas St. Fond, indeed, de-
scribes a fossil, Planche XXXVI. Fig. 3, which, though much larger
than the body here described, has the same oblong spindle-like form,
being gradually contracted towards its base, where it again gently
swells out, and bearing some resemblance to a large spineof an echinus.
The fracture at the base of the fossil described by Faujas St. Fond,
decidedly demonstrates that its whole body has been formed by the
madreporean polype, whose labours have also adorned its surface with
stars elegantly formed, and somewhat resembling the petals of a
rlower. This fossil is considered by its ingenious describe!* as one of
the most singular productions of the whole genus. The fossil body,
which is described by Faujas St. Fond, does not, however, exactly
agree with that which is discovered on the fossil now under our exa-
mination ; since, in the latter body, there do not appear., any traces
of polypean labours, to which its formation can be attributed.

To my worthy and respected fellow-labourer, Dr. Menish, of Chelms-
ford, I am obliged for the opportunity of having the engraving made,
Plate XII. Fig. 1, from a specimen in his collection. This fossil, which is

144

from a quarry in the neighbourhood of Bath, very much resembles the
one described and figured by Faujas St. Fond. The stellular forms on
this are, indeed, much smaller than those on the Maestricht fossil, and
do not possess so much of a rloscular appearance: the general figure of
the two fossils are, however, very similar. On one side of the Bath
fossil, a crystal of calcareous spar is adherent; and the fracture at its
lower end manifests a slight spathose appearance, in which, however,
no traces of organization, similar to those in the Maestricht fossil, are
observable. But, to return to the consideration of the general cha-
racters of the fossil, Fig. 2, it is worth}' of attention in this, as well as in
all the preceding Maestricht fossils, that the surfaces of those parts
which owe their form to animal organization, have none of the smooth-
ness of surface belonging to corals, but rather the granulated spongeous
appearance peculiar to alcyonia. Perhaps, this circumstance, cer-
tainly of ambiguity, may, in some measure, excuse the placing of
these unknown bodies among the alcyonia. Hesitation on this point
may appear unnecessary, since I have already remarked, whilst ob-
jecting to Mons. Guettard's opinions, respecting the French alcyo-
nites, that they possessed not the stelliform figure which was essential
to madrepore. In these fossils, it may be said, that the stelliform
figure exists, and that therefore no doubt should be entertained of
these substances being madreporean. But it must be considered,
that although no coral can be regarded as a madrepore, unless it pos-
sess a stelliform structure ; yet it is not every body possessing such a
structure that is to be considered as a madrepore.

The fossil, Plate XII. Fig. 9» being a flint from Essex, with which
I was kindly presented by Dr. Menish, illustrates this in a very satis-
factory manner. The stelliform appearance of this fossil would, at
first sight, induce many to place it among the madrepores; but a care-
ful inspection of it, with a lens of moderate power, proves that it is
indubitably a species of alcyonium. When thus exa-nin( d, it is dis-
covered, that this body possessed none of that hard or osseous sub-

145

stance belonging to corals, but that it was formed of a substance,
whose alcyonic texture is yet to be seen. This body, invested with
its highly-coloured cortical substance, as the figure shews, being dis-
posed in deeply indented folds, somewhat like the heraldic nebule,
must have possessed, in an eminent degree, the power of enlarging or
diminishing the cavity which it formed, by extending, and straighten-
ing, or contracting, and corrugating the line in which it was disposed.
As has been seen in two or three other instances, the original colour of
the animal, being here a reddish brown, has been preserved.

But to return to the Maestricht fossil. — With respect to its stellu-
lar columns, and connecting filaments, there can be no difficulty in
considering them as constituting a fossil whose form is the most sin-
gular, and whose history is the most difficult to make out, of any
which have come under our examination. Not only does it differ ma-
terially, from any known recent zoophyte ; but* even, from any fossil,
which, in my knowledge, has been discovered in any other part of
the world.

In the fossil substance which comes next under our examination,
insuperable difficulties will, I believe, oppose its arrangement under
any existing genus. It is figured in Knorr's elegant work. (Suppl.
Tab. VI. Fig. 1). This fossil has been considered by many as an in-
crusted millepore ; by Mons. Guettard it has been supposed to be a
coralline ; and by Mr. Walch, who observes that it bears no marks,
either externally or internally, of a coralline, it is believed to be an al-
cyonium. After inspecting the specimen figured Plate XII. Fig. 13,
with the utmost care and attention, I was unable to concur with any or
the opinions which had been formed respecting this fossil. Upon exa-
mining the largest and most distinct branch with lenses of different
powers, I was obliged to consider the marks on its surface, as bear-
ing no analogy with those peculiar to the surface of a millepore. In-
stead of pores, a lens of considerable magnifying power, enabled me
to discover, that the surface was marked by minute tuberculated lines

VOL. II. U

146

closely and spirally disposed. By the same lens I was enabled to
trace similar lines, undulating on several parts of the flatter surface ;
and, in one or two spots, could discover six or eight of these lines, run-
ning pretty straight, close and parallel with each other, and connected
together by numerous lateral minute fibres or tubuli, giving the ap-
pearance of a species of microscopic tubipore, rather than of mille-
pore, madrapore, or alcyonium. A magnified figure of this part of
the fossil is presented Plate XII. Fig. 13, c.

But were we even capable of determining the genus of this microsco-
pic polypean fabric, still we, perhaps, should thereby make but little
progress, in ascertaining the real nature of the large ramose bodies,
which seem to bear no other relationship to the minute tubipo-
rean bodies just described, than merely serving as a ground-work, on
which they have been formed. Of the real nature of the ramose bo-
dies themselves, I must confess myself unable to form a conjecture
•which seems to make any approach to probability. That they are the
remains of some animal substances, formed by the labours of poly-
pes, appears to be indubitable, from the situation in which they are
found, and from the bodies with which they are associated ; but
every character which they possess, differs materially from those of any
known substance, which has been marked by the pen or pencil of the
natural historian, as deriving its origin from such a source.

On examining the substance of which these several fossils of St. Pe-

o

ter's Mountain are formed, numerous variously figured cavities are
observable, evidently formed by shells and other marine bodies, which,
having been removed, have left spaces exactly corresponding with the
forms which they possessed. It is most probably from this circum-
stance, that some, especially Mr. Walch, have been led to the suspi-
cion, that the various figured bodies which we have been here examin-
ing, have been all casts or impressions of different substances of a co-
ralline nature, which have been involved in the mass, whilst it was in
a soft or fluid state ; but having been since removed by decomposi-

147

tion, have left their forms impressed on the mass, which has now as-
sumed a stony hardness. This opinion is, however, contradicted by
the appearances which these coralline substances yield, since the
most accurate examination proves that these fossils are actually
the changed animal bodies themselves, and not merely casts or im-
pressions. It is very true that some difficulty occurs in endeavour-
ing to explain why the shells, &c. should have been removed, and
should have left merely their casts and impressions, whilst the whole
substance of those coralline bodies and zoophytes have been left,
still possessing their particular forms. I at first imagined that this
might have been occasioned by the tophaceous mass which involved
these bodies having been so impregnated with silex as to resist the
action of such agents as might gradually decompose the shells and
those other bodies which it had inclosed. This opinion, however, also
proved to be totally unfounded, when tried by the touchstone of
analvsis.

The whole substance of the mass of which these fossils were formed,
proved to be completely soluble in nitric acid, carbonic acid gas being
at the same time liberated in considerable quantity. The addition of
sulphuric acid to this solution yielded a copious precipitate of sulphate
of lime, which, being separated, ammonia was added to the residual
solution, and no precipitate was formed : evaporation, however, yield-
ing a farther deposition of selenite. Hence it appeared that this sub-
stance was a very pure carbonate of lime ;. and although accurate ex-
amination has proved the fossils which have been here treated of, to be
really changed organic substances, nothing in the composition of the
mass assists in explaining why the shells, Sec. should have been en-
tirely removed, and these fossils have remained, with the rest of the
mass, unimpaired.

The Maestricht fossil, which next claims our careful attention, is
that which is shewn Plate XII. Fig. 11. It is formed of the same cal-

148

careous matter, of which the preceding fossils of this district have
been found to consist. Two distinct forms are in general to be found
on the masses which owe their figures to this zoophyte. The one of
these is nearly a hemispherical concavity ; a slightly rising, oblong
prominence possessing its lower part. The sides of this cavity are
formed of knotted or articulated tubes or fibres, which pass, side by
side, from its circumference, and terminate at the bottom, in a line,
on the oblong prominence, Fig. d. The other is a nearly flat, circular
space, covered with concentric risings and depressions, and radiating
striae. Fig. 11, e.

In the work of Faujas St. Fond, Plate XXXVII. Fig. 8, 9, are
given representations of both the forms in which this fossil appears,
it being considered by this celebrated philosopher as referable to the
Madrepora Porpita, Linn, already examined in the commencement
of this volume. It is not without due consideration that I venture to
differ from such respectable authority, but comparison immediately
manifests essential differences between the two fossils : omitting to
notice others, it may be sufficient to remark, that in the madrepora
porpita the radiating fibres originate from a point in the centre
of the madrepore ; but in the fossil now under examination, they ter-
minate in a line which is nearly three- fourths of its length.

I should not, however, have been disposed, I must acknowledge,
to separate this fossil from the porpital madreporite so decidedly, had
I not also seen reason to believe, that it bore a tolerably close resem-
blance to a zoophyte, which we have already noticed. Indeed it may be
adduced as one of the numerous instances, in which, for want of a suf-
ficient illustrative specimen, conjectures are formed, possessing almost
every appearance of probability, but which, on the discovery of such
a specimen, are found to be unfounded and absurd. The fossil, with
which I conceive this bears so close a resemblance, and which I be-
lieve to be actually of the same species with it, is the one which is res

149

presented Plate X. Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4, and described in the twelfth letter.
The propriety of this opinion we will proceed to ascertain.

On examining the concavity of the Maestricht fossil, d, it will be
found to correspond very closely with the convex surface of the above
fossil, Fig. 4. The structure of the fibres disposed round the conca-
vity of the former, shewn in their representation, as magnified with a
lens of but moderate powers, Plate XII. Fig. 11, /, agreeing, as
nearly as could be expected, with the magnified appearance of the
fibres of the former, as represented Plate X. Fig. 3. Considering that
the fibres of that fossil are shewn on its external, whereas, in the
Maestricht fossil, they are displayed on the internal surface. Suffi-
cient correspondence seems to exist between the two fossils, to mani-
fest the probability, at least, of their having both derived their exist-
ence from a similar source. In both are observable fibres passing
along the sides, uniting in a line at the superior part of the body, and
connected in a similar manner by lateral processes. In a word, in
both are seen the same appropriate arrangements, for enabling the
animal to adapt its form to the varying circumstances, under which its
existence must have been supported.

Should, however, any doubt remain respecting their agreement, it
must be: removed by viewing the circular impression e, on the same
mass, which agrees in every respect, especially in its alternate risings
and depressions, with the impression which might be expected to be
yielded by the inferior part of a small specimen of the fossil depicted
Plate X. the inferior surface of which is sketched, Fig. 1. of the same
plate. Faujas St. Fond gives also a representation of this surface, ex-
actly corresponding in its size with the deep concave impressions.
From his figures, the circumstance of these two different appearances
proceeding from two different surfaces of the same body, is rendered
evident, and is, so far, good evidence of their being the. impression
of the superior and inferior surfaces of the body to which I have at-<
tributed their origin.

J50

Mr. Peale, jun. who exhibited, in the year 1802, in this metropolis,
the astonishing skeleton of the Mammoth, found in the state of New
York, brought with him a few petrifactions, of which, he observes, an
infinite number is found in the neighbourhood of the morasses, from
which the remains of that wonderful animal were obtained. Of these,
he observes, they are in strange and unknown figures, and appear to
be generally marine productions, since various species of coral and
sea urchins were likewise found among them *.

Among the American fossils, which Mr. Peale shewed to me, the
only one which appeared to be novel, and particularly interesting was
a piece of dark ferruginous limestone, on which were discoverable the
remains of some body, which although it in some respects resembled
the cast of a single-starred madrepore, it essentially differed from it in
other respects. About a month afterwards, looking in the shop of
Mr. W. Humphries, of Rupert street, over some specimens which had
belonged to Mr. Strangers collection, I fortunately met with a similar
piece of limestone, with some very perfect remains of this same
fossil.

A careful examination of these shewed that they belonged to a
zoophyte, very like to that we have just examined. This fossil is
formed of an indeterminate number of lamellae, perpendicularly dis-
posed, with one edge towards the circumference, and the other in the
centre of a semicircular plane. The lamellae rise, in some of these
fossils, in a sugar-loaf form ; whilst in others, they rather expand at
their base, and then suffer a gentle contraction in their diameter, pre-
viously to their proceeding to assume a conical form. Around every
one of these conical bodies, a cavity exists, part of which has ne-
cessarily been removed, by the fracture which has exposed them to
view. Their form, therefore, cannot be ascertained ; their sides, how-
ever, may be concluded to be the inner sides of the parietes of a cavity

* Account of the Skeleton of the Mammoth, &c. by R. Peale, p. 39.

151

to an. animal of the genus alcyonium, I do not in the least
doubt, nor that the perpendicularly disposed lamellae are the muscu-
lar organs-, by which the animal was enabled, as in the fossil just de-
scribed, to elevate the more central part of its base, and thereby
produce that vacuum by which its attachment to any particular body
would be secured.

In two several parts of the stone, cavities are also observable, which
seem to be the moulds formed on the outer surface of the animal, as
the preceding appeared to be formed on the inner. On the inferior
surface of these cavities, which are circular, radiating stria3 are ob-
servable, and which, apparently, answer exactly to the disposition of
the inferior part or basis of the Iamella3, already described as forming
the projecting part in the cavity of the supposed animal. This flat
circular surface, I am therefore disposed to consider as the impression
formed by the inferior flat part of the alcyonium, corresponding with
the inferior surface of the fossil already described, Plate X. Fig. 1.

Previously to my quitting this tribe of zoophytes, I shall avail
myself of the opportunity afforded me by my friend Dr. Menish,
of placing before you a very curious fossil from his select and elegant
collection. This fossil, which is represented Plate XII. Fig. 3, is chiefly
composed, judging from its weight and hardness, of flint, a nd was
found in Essex. It is formed of roundish but rather flat bodies, in
the centre of each of which is a small depression. From two of these
bodies being, even at present, connected by a small process, and by
small protuberances, like the terminations of such processes, appearing
on the sides of several of these bodies, there is great reason to sup-
pose that they were all originally thus united. From all these circum-
stances. I trust that it will not be too much to presume, that this fos-
sil is of the same nature, if not of the same species, with those which
are represented Plate VIII. Fig. 10.

The almost transparent chalcedonic alcyonite, from France, Plate

152

XII. Fig'. 8, is an interesting fossil; terminating, at the lower end, in
a point, from which the pedicle proceeded, and having in its supe-
rior part, the opening into its larger cavity, and on its sides the nume-
rous openings, in which its peculiar hydrae had their residence.

I must once more observe, before I quit the fossils of this family,
that I have, in several instances, classed as alcyonia, bodies, which
appear , in some respects, rather to accord with the genus doris, ascidia,
or actinia; but which, in their general characters, differ so widely
from any of these bodies with which we are at present acquainted, as
to prevent their being placed under any existing genus. Here,
perhaps, they had better remain, until more illustrative specimens
shew their real nature, and the genus to which they more properly be-
long.

LETTER XVI.

NCRINITES AND PENTACRINITES....TROCHITES... HISTORY OP.. .VA-
RIOUS SPECIES DESCRIBED. ...ORIGINAL ANIMAL MEMBRANE DE-
MONSTRATED....SCREW-STONE.

WE shall now proceed to the examination of a series of animals,
which, whether we consider their extraordinary forms, the immense
numbers in which they must have existed, in a living state, in the for-
mer world; or their being now, except in a solitary instance or two,
to be traced only by their petrified remains, under the surface of the
earth, or on the summits of mountains, undoubtedly offer to us as
rich a field of observation as the most arduous inquirer could wish to
explore,

Differing essentially in their characters from every other zoo*
phyte, either fossil or recent, their examination, if pursued with
even a moderate portion of success, cannot fail to excite a high de-
gree of interest. It must, however, be remarked, that these circum-
stances, which are supposed to render the investigation so interesting,
are necessarily such as also tend to render it more difficult. The want
of analagous appearances in other substances, either recent or fossil,
must necessarily much impede the progress of the naturalist, who is
endeavouring to ascertain the original forms of these animals, by
putting together fragments, which have now actually become sub-
jects of the mineral kingdom; and which were separated and dis-
persed before the existence of the present world. Still greater will be
the difficulty, which must accompany the attempt, to obtain some cor-
rect notions respecting the various habitudes, and the different modes
of existence of these animals, from materials so imperfect.

These bodies are separated from all the other zoophytes, by this
distinguishing character — their trunks and limbs are formed of bones ar-
ticulated with each other by surfaces, marked with a Conform or stelliform
figure. From the external forms of these bones, a natural division
of these animals into two sections, or perhaps genera, takes place:
those, the bones of which have almost all a circular or oval circum-
ference, have been hitherto termed ENCRINITES ; and those, whose
bones nearly all possess a pentagonal circumference, have been dis-
tinguished by the term PENTACRINITES.

Many of the terms which are at present applied to the respective
parts of these animals are undoubtedly objectionable. This is, indeed,
a circumstance which might with reason be expected, since these
names were given to the several parts soon after their first discovery;
before any just notion could be formed respecting their real nature,
or the relationship which existed between them. A fancied resem-
blance to some known figure was generally, therefore, the capricious
circumstance on which their appellation depended, as may be per-

VOL. II. X

154

ceived, in the various terms which have -been employed to designate
the smaller parts of the animal ; such as asteriae, trochita3, &c.

Whilst seeking more appropriate names, I shall employ the same
delicacy, as is demanded on any other occasion, of interfering with
accepted terms : I shall endeavour to obtain such names as are fitted
to the parts of an animal, with as little change as possible of the
terms now in use ; many of which having been derived from the ve-
getable kingdom, must, however, of necessity, undergo alteration.

Whilst thus endeavouring to adapt proper names to the respective
parts of these animals, it will be proper to take a view at the same
time of the uses of those parts ; since it is hoped, that we may there-
by be led to the adoption of such terms, as may be employed with
most propriety for their designation.

Several bodies have been discovered, which, from their form, the
manner in which they are disposed, and from various other circum-
stances, have been considered as the inferior terminating, or radical
part of these animals. These it seems proper to regard as the inferior
extremities of the animal ; but whether these existed in a loose float-
ing state, furnishing the animal with the means of merely temporary
attachment, and voluntary removal; or whether they served, like the
extended and flattened bases of the Gorgonice, to fix the animal im-
moveably to one particular spot, cannot, perhaps, be known : the de-
termination of this question will not, however, affect the name here in-
tended to be employed. PEDICLE, or Astropodium, long used by
oryctologists, appears to be generally applicable to such substances.
Astropodium, implying the pedicle of a star-shaped animal, is un-
doubtedly very proper, in some particular instances ; but the word pe-
dicle appears to be preferable, on account of its being more capable
of general application.

Instead of the term stalk, so generally used with reference to the
stem of the stone lily, we .shall adopt that of TRUNK : and with re-
spect to its component parts, so long known by the names Trochitce^

155

Entrochi, and Asterice, I shall consider them, and shall most com-
monly speak of them, as VERTEBRAE, joined or disjoined; and penta-
gonal or cylindrical : and instead of stirts or wirks, we shall mark the
processes which go off laterally from the trunk, by the terms VERTE-
BRAL APPENDICES.

The basin formed at the superior part of the trunk, Ly that which
is termed the pentagonal base by Rosinus, and in which there is every
reason to suppose, that the organs for the reception and the digestion
of aliment were placed, I shall term the PELVIS: and the sub-
stances,fay which it is formed I shall consider as RIBS, CLAVICLES,
and SCAPCJLTE. The articulated parts, not longitudinally divided,
proceeding from these, I shall consider as the ARMS; when divided,
the HANDS formed of two fingers; and the innumerable, articulated
appendices, proceeding from these, the TENTACULA. The remains of
the vertebral column of these animals are so numerous, and at the
same time so varying in their forms ; and, in consequence of their
being seldom found united to the other parts of the animal, can so
rarely be classed, with any certainty, with the species to which they be-
long, that it appears to be advisable to examine them first generally,
and afterwards to point out, as nearly as may be, those which belong
to the several species of this animal which may fall under our ob-
servation.

Small stony bodies of a circular form, some very thin, others cy-
lindrical, and others almost orbicular, marked on their flat surfaces,
with minute striae ; and on their margins, with small indentations and
projections, have been long found in the earth, in different parts of the
world, and have acquired different names, according to the whims
and caprice of the vulgar. In Germany, they have been named Span-
gensteines, from their likeness to the beads of a necklace ; and Roeder-
steines, from their rays passing from the centre to the circumference
like the spokes of a wheel. In Upper Saxony, they are known by the
appellation of Bonifacius Pfenninge, or St. Bonifacius's money ; they

156

r-i -icr found in great plenty on a mountain near Giinserode, in the
neighbourhood of Frankenhausen ; which mountain obtains its name
from St. Boniface, the tutelar saint of the Thuringians. The West-
phalians have also called them Hiinuthrcenens; the vulgar having consi-
dered them as the petrified tears of giants. Those which have ac*
quired a deg/ee of thickness beyond some others, have been named
Lapides caseiformes, from their cheese-like shape ; or Muhlsteines, from
their supposed resemblance to a mill-stone in miniature : and those
whose length rather exceeds their width, have been termed Mo-
dioli lapidei, from their bearing in miniature the shape of a bushel
measure. When their sides were tumid or convex, they were, from
their cask shape, called Caditce, Volvolce doliatce, and Volvolce ut riculatce :
and from their surface bearing a resemblance to a wheel, they have
been termed Rotulce lapidea.

In some parts of England they are called Fairy-stones; and in others,
St. Cuthbert's beads, owing to their central foramen allowing them to
be strung like the beads of a rosary ; but the general term by which
they are known by the admirers of fossils, is that of Trochites. When
conjoined together by their flat surfaces, in a columnar form, the se-
ries is termed Entrochus.

Agricola* speaks oftrochita, lapides judaicce, and similar stones being
found in the fissures of the spotted, and of the whitish ash-coloured
marble. Because, he says, this kind of marble being wetted, the
water filtres, so that such stones are formed, by that which separates
from it. But because marble is for the most part hard, and but little
is separated from it by the water, these stones, therefore, are but
small, and are frequently forced out of these fissures by the force of
the water -f.

Not only the names and the descriptions, but this opinion, of Agri-
cola, respecting the formation of these fossils, were long adopted by

* De Natura Fossilum, p. 256. f De Ortu et Causis Subterr. Lib. IV. p. 513.

157

succeeding mineralogists. Lhwydd, however, in his letter to Dr. Ri-
chardson, in 1698, offers some very rational opinions respecting the
origin of these bodies : having, as he observes, suspected that every
species of entrochus had proceeded from some kind of sea-star, he
was induced, supported by the arguments contained in this letter, to
positively assert, that to be the fact, which before he had only sus-
pected. He also contributed much to promote the knowledge of
these bodies, by the figures of them which he annexed to his work.
Lachmiund had, however, preceded him in this respect; having
given a series of figures, in which he had marked several of the pecu-
liarities of both trochitae and of entrochi. The opinion of Lhwydd
was adopted by Langius, Scheuchzer, and others ; whilst Charleton,
Mylius, Leibnitz, and especially Buttner, who had so zealously con-
tended with Woodward, against the mineral origin of fossil corals,
were also convinced of the animal origin of these bodies ; although
they did not pretend to determine to what kind of animal they had
belonged.

Hellwing, although aware that Mylius had referred the trochitae,
£c. to the animal kingdom, and that Lhwydd had imagined them to
have belonged to some species of the sea-star, formed the opinion that
they were rather referrable to the fossil corals ; and, of course, consi-
dered these bodies, with the corals, as belonging to the vegetable king-
dom. Lesser, in his work entitled Litho-theology, as well as Haren-
berg, who had paid very considerable attention to this species of fos-
sil, were also satisfied of their vegetable origin.

To this opinion of their vegetable origin, our celebrated country-
men, Ray and Lister, agreed : they, however, contributed considera-
bly to increase the knowledge respecting them, by collecting and
comparing various specimens. In this work they were much assisted
by Mr. Beaumont, by whose industry several very valuable remains
of these animals were collected. I shall here introduce the opinion
of this gentleman respecting their original nature, since it will serve

158

to evince how little information on this point had been obtained at
that period.

61 The main consideration concerning these figured stones, which I
call rock plants, is, whether they are parts of plants or animals petrified,
or lapides sui generis, to which latter opinion I incline. Indeed, the
figured roots, on which these rock plants sometimes grow, (as appears
by the impressions of rays on their tops, answering to those in the
joints of the plants, and by the impressions of oval joints there,) may
give us some suspicion that they once belonged to an animal, whether
it were a species of the stella arborescens, or some other; but those
trunks of stone plants (entrochi) cannot be looked upon as parts of
animals, with the least show of probability; and I think them almost
as hardly reducible to any known species of vegetables*."

But it would be, indeed, endless to enumerate the various con-
jectures, which have been formed respecting these bodies ; by some,
they were supposed to be the vertebrae of some species of cartilagi-
nous fish ; by others, they were concluded to be mere capricious
forms of a sportive creation.

It remained for the intelligent and indefatigable Rosinus, to supply
us with accurate information respecting these bodies ; and to place
before us a correct sketch of their numerous species. Aided by his
labours, by the remarks of Mr. Walch, and by those specimens which
I may happen to possess, I shall now place before you an account of
such of these bodies as appear to me to be most necessary to be par-
ticularly noticed.

The TROCHIT^ are spathose circular stones, of different thicknesses,
with flat, concave, or convex surfaces, with various markings, and pierced
with a central hole. These we may divide into those, the central
hole of which is circular ; and those in which the central hole is poly-
gonal ; and then may distinguish them again by the markings on their

0

* Philosophical Transactions, vol. xiii. p. 277.

159

broader surfaces. Trochitae, with a circular hole, may be divided into
the following species :

The first species has strise passing nearly straight, from the centre
to the circumference. This trochites, or vertebra, is figured and de-
scribed by Rosinus, Tab. VII. Cap. III. Class A. 1, 2, 3, and is here
represented, Plate XIII. Fig. 13. The striae of this trochites appear,
to the naked eye, to pass straight and undivided to the circumference;
but it may be discovered, by the aid of a magnifying glass, that the
rays are not arranged exactly as might be expected, the same stride
not being continued all the way, but, in some places, apparently rami-
fying ; and in others, having fresh striae superadded in the intervals,
towards the margin, to supply the vacancies which would necessarily
be left by the diverging of straight rays, passing from 'the centre to the
circumference. A sketch of the manner in which the rays of this
trochites are disposed, is given Plate XIII. Fig. 14, as taken by the
aid of a lens.

On viewing these trochitae, when united together in the entrochus,
or vertebral column, with the aid of a strong magnifier, the articula-
tion will be seen to result from the reciprocal reception of the emi-
nences of one of these bodies into the depressions of the other. This
observation is applicable to the articulations of entrochi in general.

The second species of this kind, Fig. 15, has its exceedingly fine
rays passing directly from the centre to the circumference, arid dis-
posed, on the one side, on a concave, and on the other, on a corres-
ponding convex surface. It is figured by Rosinus, Tab. VII. Cap,
VIII. B. 2 t-

Possessing but one specimen of this trochites, I am unable to as-
certain the figure of the entrochus, into the formation of which it en-
ters. Neither is its entrochus noticed by Rosinus : but as the sides

* Tentaminis de Lithozois ac Lithophylis Prodromus, p. 64.
f Tentaminis de Lithozois, p. 70.

160

of the trochites are rounded, the sides of the entrochus must neces-
sarily be formed in alternate round ridges and depressions.

The third species, Fig. 16, has its opening in the centre of a de-
pressed area, the broad-raised margin surrounding which is radiated
with fine striae, like the former. This trochites is noticed by Rosinus,
Tab. VII. Cap. III. A. 3.

The fourth species, Fig. 11, has a flat, smooth, central surface, sur-
rounded by a crenated margin, and is of a cylindrical form. Tro-
chitae of this species are figured by Rosinus, Tab. VII. Cap. I. A. 1,
2, 3, 4; Cap. II. A. 1, 2, 3, 5,6. The entrochi belonging to this spe-
cies, Fig. 1 and 2, assume different forms dependent on the shape of
the sides of the trochitae, of which they are composed ; the trochitae
in the one, Fig. 1, being gently depressed in the middle part ; whilst
in the other, Fig. 2, they possess a small degree of convexity : the
articulating surface in each specimen being formed by a smooth cen-
tral surface, with a crenated margin. Fig. 12 represents one of this
species, which has a smooth central surface surrounded by a deeply
crenated margin ; the radiating eminences being so broad and so
rounded off, as to bear somewhat of the appearance of a folded leaf.
Rosinus describes several trochitae which have a similar appearance.
The corresponding entrochus, as might be expected from the size of
the marginal notches, is characterised by the greater width and round-
ness of the indentations and markings at the articulation. Rosinus
describes another trochites, in which a circle is interposed between the
central hole and the crenated margin. He also describes another tro-
chites of a singular kind, having the two sides unequally marked ;
eleven rays being observable on the margin of one side, and fifteen on
that of the other. The trochites, Fig. 17, which I consider as the
fifth species, has rays of a curious structure. Concentric depressed
circles, closely set, repeatedly divide each ray into several parts.
The surfaces, therefore, are covered with small protuberances, regu-

161

larly disposed in concentric circles, and, at the same time, in
converging from the circumference to the centre.

The numerous different markings of figures, observable on the flat
surfaces of the trochitae, shew what various means nature some-
times employs to produce a similar effect : thus increasing the beauty
of her productions, by an unceasing variety of forms. In no instance,
hardly, is this sportive luxuriance more evident, than in the en-
trochite, Fig. 18. It is there seen, that the striae are more thickly-
disposed in some places than in others. Some of these striae pass di-
rectly from the centre to the circumference; others pass through only
half that space. Some are undivided, whilst others are bifurcated ;
the whole forming a surface singularly beautiful in its appearance,
and well fitted for the office for which it was formed. This trochites is.
represented nearly double its size, that the disposition of its striae
may be better seen.

The sixth species, Fig. 33, is rather uncommon ; it is beautifully
marked over the whole of each surface, with undulating and ramify-
ing ridges and correspondent depressions, elegantly disposed from
the centre to the margin, where they terminate in exactly regular dis-
tances. This trochites is represented of twice its natural size, the
better to shew the curious forms onits articular surface.

The eighth species of trochites, Fig. 19, I believe also to be rare.
It is perfectly circular ; and from its circular central foramen pro-
ceed five phylloidal rays, which terminate in equal distances, in a
narrow crenated margin.

The trochitae with a stellated central foramen, as well as those with
a circular foramen, may be divided into several species. The first of
these, Fig. 20, is closely beset with very fine striae, passing directly from
the centre to the circumference, in a similar manner with those of the
trochites, Fig. 13. The central foramen of all the following specimens
are pentagonal, except where otherwise described. In the second spe-
VOL. n. y

162

cies, the central opening is in a smooth concave surface, which is sur-
rounded by a finely crenated narrow margin, as is shewn in Fig. 21.

In the third species, the opening is in the centre of a circular, de-
pressed, central surface, which is surrounded by a broad, raised, and
finely crenated margin, as delineated in Fig. 22. No representations
are given of the entrochi which are formed by these three species of
trochitse, since, as their margins are similar, no difference can be ob-
servable in their articulations, when viewed externally : for similar
4'easons the figures of several of the entrochi are omitted.

The fourth species, Fig. 23, is of a very curious structure. Its five-
rayed opening is surrounded by a small finely striated circular area,
around which is a smooth circular groove, surrounded by a raised
marginal ridge, the upper and inner part of which is finely crenated.

The corresponding trochites with the last, appears to be the one re-
presented, Fig. 25, the body of which bulges out considerably, and
its articulating surface, which is formed of a smooth area round
the central opening, surrounded by a margin crenated on its outer
part, is exactly fitted to be received into that of the former trochites,
and to constitute a series, such as is represented Fig. 44.

The most common form of the stellated opening is that with five
rays. There are deviations, however, from this form, as in the tro-
chites, Fig. 26, where the central foramen has three obtuse rays, from
which proceed minute stria?, which pass directly to the margin.

By different arrangements of trochitae, varying like those repre-
sented Fig. 23 and 25, in their size and form, entrochi of different
figures are obtained, as are instanced in Figures 5, 6, 8, 42, 43 and 44.
~The specimen, Fig. 8, which is a little bent towards its upper part,
is particularly interesting, since it serves to demonstrate, that this
peculiarity of form is particularly fitted for those entrochi which
form that part of the trunk of the animal which is nearest to its head.
But this circumstance will be particularly attended to, when inquir-
ing into the uses of these parts.

In several trochitae, projecting points are observable on their sides :
some of these , appear to have been intended chiefly for ornament :
such appear to be the five regularly disposed processes on the trochites
at Fig. 27, which, from their regular position, almost give to the tro-
chites a pentagonal form. The entrochus, Fig. 7, is of a very peculiar
form. It is composed of plain trochitae, alternating with sharp-ridged
and with knobbed trochitae of a larger diameter. This specimen is
not in that state of perfection to allow of its being determined, whe-
ther or not the knobbed processes have served the purpose of articu-
lation with any other bodies, which have gone off laterally ; a circum-
stance which is rendered very probable, by the regularity of their
form, and disposition. It is to trochitae of this species that Mons.
Davila gives the name of Trochites epineuses, and to the minuter
points of which Rosinus applies the term Aculei minimi.

The entrochi, Fig, 4, 9> 45, 46, have also lateral processes. In
these sufficient marks are. discoverable, by which it may be determined,
that these have been certainly for the purpose of articulation. Thus,
for instance, by the aid of the lens it is discovered, that the lateral
process of the trochites, Fig. 4, is not only a regular concavity, with a
crenated margin, but that there is also, in the middle of the cavity, a
swiall canal, which pierces through the body of the trochites, and
passes into the common central cavity of the chain of trochites, or
spinal canal. By this is shewn, not merely that this was an articulating
surface, but that a due communication was here also preserved with
the general organ of sense and of motion.

Fig. 45 represents an entrochus which is very interesting* On the
uppermost of the trochitse which compose it, three of these articulat-
ing processes are observable : a minute trochites is also discoverable on
two of these processes, beiag the first of the new or second series of
trochitae, N

The distorted column, Fig. 9, presents us with a set of trochitae
which are ornamented by small projections on their sides. These-

164

have evidently been intended for the purpose of articulation ; since,
on two of these trochita?, a real crenated articulating surface is ob-
servable.

Fig. 28 represents a single trochites, on one side of which is a cir-
cular, concave, articulating surface, with a crenated edge and a cen-
tral foramen.

Entrochi are sometimes formed of trochita?, which are smaller at
one end than at the other ; and the trochitae being adapted to each
other, by the small end of the larger being attached to the larger ei\d
of the next trochites in size, the entrochus itself bears a conical form.
Other varieties are observable in the forms, both of trochitae and of en-
trochi, which will be noticed as they occur.

There is, however, one species of trochites which may be noticed in
this place. This species is chiefly found, it appears, in Somersetshire:
it is of an oval form, with a central foramen, from which, towards
each end of the trochites, passes a slight ridge, and in others a small
groove. The following account of this fossil, given by Mr. Beau-
mont, jun. of Stony Easton, in Somersetshire, appears to be so
very accurate as to claim being introduced here in his own words*.

" Mr. Lister mentions one trochite he found, of an oval figure, the
rays scarcely apparent, and a very small point in the place of the pith.
I have of this species, with entrochi the same, (if these, having lost
the figure, may retain the name of T(0%£*») some of them have good
large holes in the middle, like other trochites ; but their bore is oval,
according to the stone. I have many other trochites of this kihd,
but with this difference, that these have no rays, but are joined toge-
ther only by one ridge, which passes directly along the middle of the
stone, the long way, there being a furrow in the other answering to it ;
these have also a small peck in the middle, making but very, little
impression in the stone, and seldom passing through it, though 1 have

* Philos. Transact. Vol. XT. p. 121.

16.5

of this sort with indifferent holes as the other trochites, but such arc
commonly pointed at their ends, and not carried out with an oval
round as the others. There are some single joints, which are shaped
with a double oval, that is, the oval in the upper part of them stands
clean contrary to the oval in their lower part. In some again, the
ovals do not stand extremely opposite to each other, but only the oval
in the upper part of the trochite seems a little wrested from the di-
rect line of the oval in the lower part, so that they stand bend-ways
to each other, like a St. Andrew's cross; and there are entrochi made
up after this manner ; and I find most of the oval entrochi grow
crooked and twisting. There are of these oval kinds of all degrees
of thickness and thinness in their joints, as are found in the round
ones, and so for the bigness of their circumference, their smoothness
in their outward circle, and their roughness with ridges, knots, and
branches, the length of the entrochi, their injuries, &c." The speci-
mens delineated at Fig. 32, 40, and 41, will illustrate the foregoing
remarks.

I believe the difference of colour, observable in different trochitae,
almost always depends on the nature and quantity of any impreg-
nation with which they may have been pervaded, whilst acquiring a
lapideous state. Their general colour is white ; but from different de-
grees of ferruginous impregnations, they pass from a yellowish white to
a pretty full yellow colour. They are also sometimes of a greyish
blue; and, according to M. Schulz, of a greenish colour. One spe-
cies in particular, I have frequently seen of a reddish brown, and M.
Walch speaks of some as being sometimes of a pale red. With re-
spect to these M. Walch remarks, that when they possess a red tinge,
which their matrix does not partake of, we may have some right to
suspect that it may be the remains of the colour of the recent ani-
mal ; since, he observes, there are jointed sea stars of a red colour: in
this opinion I am disposed to concur, from what I have observed in
one particular mass of these; substances. M. Walch, however, will

166

not allow that a similar inference should be made in favour of those
which are of a green colour ; although the recent Palmier Marin of
M. Guettard was of a green colour; since the other petrifactions from
Plauen, whence the green trochitac have been obtained, are many of
them of the same colour, and evidently from an impregnation with
copper.

Upon exposing the external parts of entrochi, &c. to the action of
weak acids, I had repeatedly observed, that on handling them, they
yielded a slippery feel ; and was thence led to conjecture, that, be-
sides the investing matter so evidently observable about the inferior
extremities of encrinites, a membranous covering might have been
spread externally over the whole of the vertebral column, limbs, &c.
of these animals.

With the hope of obtaining some information on this subject, I
therefore suspended an entrochius, consisting of two trochites similar
to that which is depicted Plate XIII. Fig. 12, during twelve hours in
vinegar. Upon examining this, it was found to be reduced to nearly half
its size ; the remaining fragment being perfectly smooth, and free from
any adhering matter. Suspecting that the acid had acted with too
much force, I suspended a similar entrochite, formed of two trochites,
in two ounces of water, to which ten drops of muriatic acid had been
added. On examining this, after twenty-four hours, I found several
membraneous flocculae adhering to its sides, and on attempting to re-
move it, for the sake of obtaining a closer inspection of it, the bot-
tle, by accident, suffered a sudden jar, and immediately a fine trans-
parent membrane separated from about three-fourths of the inferior
surface of the trochite, and hung suspended from it in the fluid; bear-
ing every mark of that surface, and most particularly of its crenated
edge. A faithful representation of the appearance of this preparation,
which was preserved two or three months, is given Plate XI II. Fig,
47- Thus was afforded another instance of the curious fact, of the
extrication of an animal membrane from a mass of stone, in which it

had been imbedded, and with the particles of which it had been
pervaded for several thousand years.

Rosinus, having remarked the separation of several laminae front
fossil shells, each preserving the regular form of the shell : and having
also observed in several circular asteriae, which had undergone a con-
siderable degree of decomposition, that one layer separated after an-
other; and that, although the size of the stone became thus dimi-
nished, the figure, which it had before possessed, was still preserved,
he was led more closely to examine into their internal structure. For
this purpose he rubbed down several asteriae on a proper stone, and
found, that although he thus reduced their size, yet the same figure
which had adorned their surfaces was still discoverable, when the new
surface was brought up to a polish. This circumstance, though most
easily demonstrated, in pentaphylloid asteriae, is, he observes, al-
though not so constantly, nor so easily, also demonstrable in the other
asteriae.

From this circumstance he infers, that the increase of these bodies
must have taken place, by the regular apposition of new matter on
the original figured surface ; and that hence the original figure is found
to pervade through the whole substance *. M. Walch, however, con-
tends that Rosinus is here mistaken, and asserts, that the markings on
the horizontal surfaces of these bodies are but superficial, and should
be considered as so many apophyses f.

To enable me to form a just opinion on this point, I rubbed down
several trochites and asteriae ; and was thereby satisfied, that neither
the star nor the flower passes through the whole substance, but, on
the contrary, that, in by far the greatest part, they are not discover^
able at all beyond the surface. Jn that species of asteriae, whose cir-
cumference is nearly circular ; and this species Rosinus describes as ex-

* De Lithozois, p. 9.
f Recueil des Monumens des Catastrophes, &c. Tom. II. p.67.

168

hibiting appearances most agreeable to his opinion, this circumstance
appears to be more difficultly ascertained. The figures are here strongly
relieved from the surface on each side, these forming the chief thick-
ness of the stone, so that whilst rubbing these down, if much care be
not taken by frequent examination, the intervening space is soon
passed through, and the figure of the other side becomes gradually
displayed. To make this examination with most success, the asteria
should be rubbed down obliquely ; and then, on that part where it is
most rubbed down, the figure will be found first to disappear, and an
opportunity will thus be given, by which the intervening substance
between the two stars may be discovered.

This circumstance appears, however, to be completely decided by
the agency of the muriatic acid in the preceding experiment, since,
upon the separation of the crenated membrane, on which had been
deposited the earth, forming that which we may, with M. Walch,
consider as anapophysis, or rather as the cartilaginous medium for ar-
ticulation, the acid was allowed to continue its action; and the sur-
face from which this apophysis had separated, being then examined,
was found perfectly plain.

One of the ossiculae of this animal, which I have considered as the
ribs, was also exposed to the action of the muriatic acid in a very di-
luted state. In this instance, as in the former, as the calcareous earth
was removed by the muriatic acid, numerous membraneous flocculae
were very distinctly observed, depending from various parts of the
fossil.

The fossil, PlateXIII. Fig. 10, known inthis country by the ill-applied
term of SCREW-STONE, and called by the French Vis Depressoir, is a cy-
lindrical column, composed of lenticular disks marked with fine ra-
diating striae, attached to each other at the centre. The edges of
these disfcsare, of course, from the apposition of two convex surfaces,
separated at some distance from each other ; considerable difference,
however, is observable, in this respect, in different specimens. The

169

convexity is sometimes so trifling, that the edges very nearly approximate.
In this case, the disks necessarily exceed in number those which till the
same space, but whose convexity, and, of course, whose central thick-
ness is more considerable. The size of the disks is not always the
same, even in the same column ; nor is the shaft with which they are
united always of the same form, it being in some circular, and in
others, pentagonal or stelliform. A variety of appearances also are
observable in these fossils, dependent on the absence of the shaft, or
the absence of the whole or a part of the disks. The size of the co-
lumns, and of course, of the cavity in the stone in which they are con-
tained, varies, from the eighth of an inch to nearly two inches in
width ; the size of the cavity in which the column is contained, it
must be, however, remarked, always exceeds, and sometimes very
considerably so, the size of the column. The number of disks in a
column is also very various : sometimes not exceeding three or four,
and at other times amounting to upwards of thirty. The ends of the
several cavities containing these columns are striated, in the same
manner as the disks themselves, and have the columns attached to
their centres ; the vestiges of the broken shaft being observable, when
the column has, by accidental injury, been removed. The sides of
these cavities are also marked by concentric rings r which, as has been
observed of the disks, are, in some specimens, disposed much more
closely together than in others. On the sides of these cavities, and
between these rings, very small projections and depressions are also
sometimes observable. The substance of which these stones are
formed have generally been supposed to be of a silicious nature^ but
Mr. Walch supposes them to be a hard and compact spar; acknow*
ledging, however, that those specimens which are obtained from Hut-
tenrode are of a hardness nearly equal to quartz : a circumstance
which he attributes to the ferruginous particles with which they are
penetrated. They are most commonly of a deep brown colour ; evi-

\7OL. II. 2

170

dently from the introduction of a considerable proportion of carbo-
nate or oxide of iron into their composition. Those which are ob-
tained from JBlackenburg, are generally of a deeper colour than those
which we find in England.

The nature of these bodies was, for a long time, entirely unknown.
In 1751 Mr. Lieberoth, of Hettstedt, published an essay on the ori-
gin of these substances in the Hamburgh Magazine, in which he en-
deavoured to prove, that these cylindrical bodies were the remains
of some totally unknown animals, which, like the earth- worm, had the
power of contracting and of elongating themselves. This opinion was
.opposed by Mr. Lehman, who contended, that these stones owed their
peculiar forms to the rays of the Caput Medusae, impregnated with
iron. M. Vogel hazarded a conjecture, that these forms might arise
from particular species of strombites. A satisfactory explanation of
the origin of these bodies was first given by Mr. Schulze, who attri*
buted their formation to the introduction and deposition of an
ochrous matter in the cavities of entrochi.

Whoever will take the pains to examine the internal structure, and
the cavities existing in the vertebral column of the encrinite, and will
also attentively view the screw-stone, cannot but perceive, how exactly
the cavities of the one correspond with the projecting parts of the
other ; and how certain it is, that the screw-stone is the cast of the
internal part of this column.

But little difficulty will, I believe, occur in explaining the manner
in which this cast is formed. These columns, being immersed in
water, holding earthy particles, merely in a state of diffusion,
would gradually have every cavity filled with the earth which would
be hence deposited ; and would also become surrounded with an
earthy mass, which, having gradually acquired a pulpy state, would,
as evaporation proceeded, obtain, with that which had filled all
the cavities of the column, a stony hardness : thus we should
have the cakareous animal remains completely filled with, and im-

171

bedded in, stone. The next stage in this assumed process would be
the filtration through this stony mass of some menstruum, probably
water slightly impregnated with sulphuric acid, yielded by the de-
composition of superincumbent pyrites, carrying with it a portion of
iron. The effect of the filtration of this fluid through the mass may be
easily conceived : — the acid, combining with the lime, would part
with the iron, which would be left united with the silicious and ar-
gillaceous particles, whilst the lime would be gradually removed.
Thus, by the perpetual accession of this very dilute acid metallic
solution, the whole of the calcareous matter, as well of the involv-
ing matrix, as of the animal remains, would be carried away :
and iron, with perhaps a minute portion of silex, deposited in the
smaller interstices of the investing stone, and of that which fills the
cavities of the entrochal column. By this removal of the calcareous
earth, the space which it possessed would, of course, be left empty,
and a solid substance would remain, exactly answering to the cavities
which the vertebral column originally possessed.

The doubt expressed by Mr. Walch with respect to the presence of
silex in the screw-stone, led me to make an examination of such spe-
cimens as I possessed.

All the detached specimens which I could obtain, being thirteen in
number, were placed in a glass vessel, and covered with diluted ni-
tric acid, when a very considerable effervescence took place, which
was soon found to proceed from one specimen. This specimen be-
ing removed, it was directly ascertained that the acid exerted no ac-
tion on the remainder ; and that they, like their containing mass, were
chiefly formed of silex and alumine, whilst this specimen alone was
formed entirely of a very pure calcareous spar.

I will now endeavour to explain the formation of thi-s fossil, aware
of the difficulty of the task, as was observed, when speaking of some
of the fossil substances from St. Peter's mountain. This fossil body
is entirely composed of a carbonate of lime in a spathose state, and

172

has taken its form by exactly filling the cavities of the original or-
ganized fossil, which also owed its solidity to the same earthy sub-
stance, a carbonate of lime, disposed on, and held together by, a very
small portion of gelatin. The difficulty of the explanation consists
in the ascertaining of what agent could have so completely removed
the mould, without having manifested the least influence on the cast,
whilst the component parts of both so nearly agreed.

The consideration of the actual difference in the constitution of
the cast and of the mould leads, in my opinion, to the desired expla-
nation, and shews that the only agent employed in the removal of the
mould was water. Let us suppose a part of the vertebral column of
the encrinus to be so situated as to be immersed in, or constantly ex-
posed to, the instillation of a fully impregnated solution of car-
bonate of lime. From this circumstance, after a certain period, the
cavity of the vertebral column may be expected to become accurate-
ly filled with a crystalline calcareous spar ; whilst the original animal
matter in which it is formed may be considered, either as impregnated
or not with the same substance. After another lapse of time, this
body thus filled, it is to be supposed, may be subjected to the action
of water. To determine what would here take place, it seems to be
only necessary to consider that calcareous spar exposed to the action
of water suffers, through a long period, little or no change or diminu-
tion ; whilst, on the other hand, animal substances, such as shells,
the crustaceous parts of animals and other bodies formed by the in-
termixture of animal membrane, or gelatine, with carbonate of lime,
suffer a very rapid decomposition by the agency of water alone, as is
the case with dead shells, &c. on the sea or river shores. In these in-
stances it may be ascertained, that the animal membrane, suffering
resolution, particle after particle, and layer after layer ; the carbonate
of lime, deprived of its cement and support, gradually separates,
and moulders away.

Thus also it is likely to happen with shells or trochitae, enveloped

and filled by the drusy crystallization of tufa. The animal part
suffers decomposition, in the manner just described, by the constant
action of simple water, whilst the crystalline calcareous matter, suf-
fering little or no change, retains perfectly the forms, which it had
derived from the animal remains which have passed away.

In this manner, I presume, the calcareous casts of shells, &c. have
been preserved in the mountain of St. Peter ; and thus also I sup-
pose the parts of the vertebral column have been removed in the
specimen which gave rise to these remarks, whilst the perfect form of
the cavity of the column has been preserved. Calcareous casts of
these bodies are, however, I believe, very scarce, when compared with
those which are formed in Chert.

LETTER XVII.

LILY ENCRINITE... .TRUNK PELVIS. ...SUPERIOR EXTREMITIES...,

NUMBER OF BONES IN THE SUPERIOR PART OF THE ANIMAL. ...v
INFERIOR EXTREMITY.

ROM the view winch has been hitherto taken of the component
parts of the vertebral column of fossil encrini, no doubt can exist of
their being divisible into several species: to discover the respective
characters of these species is now to be attempted.

From this same general view of the mineralised remains of these
animals, there appears to be sufficient reason for adopting the follow-
ing definition, as containing the generic characters of the fossil en-
crinus :

ENCRINITE, the lapidified skeleton of a zoophyte ; in which pentago-

nal, cylindrical, or oval vertebra, with radiated or stelliform articular
surfaces, compose a trunk, supporting a pelvis, from which proceed Jive
arms, terminating in fingers and numerous tentacula.

The first species which we shall examine, is that which, from the lily-
like form yielded by its closed arms, has been hitherto distinguished as
the Encrinus, Lilium lapidium, or Stone Lily.

The LILY ENCRINITE is distinguished by each of its arms, dividing
into a hand, formed of two fingers, from the inside of which proceed ar-
ticulated tentacula : the whole folding up in the form of a closed lily.

The vertebrae, forming the trunk of this species, appear, from the
examination of several specimens, in which the vertebrae and pelvis
of the animal are united, to be the trochitae, figured Plate XIII. Fig.
1, 2, 8, 19, 43, 44, as are shewn in the outline sketch, supposed to
be continued from the specimen, Plate XIV. Fig. 1.

As these vertebrae approach to the body of the encrinus, a cu-
rious change is observable: the crenated surface gradually quits
the centre, and a slight stelliform figure assumes its place. Thus the
vertebra attached to the body of the encrinus obtains a stelliform sur-
face, fitted to articulate with the stelliform surface which always ex-
ists in the centre of the pentagonal base of the pelvis: An idea of
the manner in which this change takes place may be obtained by in-
spection of the trochites, Plate XIII. Fig. 19-

By the vertebrae, three in number, which are yet adhering to the
pentagonal base of a very perfect encrinite, I am enabled to per-
ceive that the third vertebras has a slight approach to the pentagonal
form, the effect of five slight indentations on its sides. Its edge is
slightly crenated, and it bears slight traces of five radii on its sur-
face. The second vertebra, with which this articulates, is larger, and
has also a little of the pentagonal form. Its sides are rather tumid,
and its border, which is broad, receives within its inner eclge the
third vertebra on the one side, and on the first the other side, which
is similar in form to the third, and doubtlessly bears a star-like ira-

pression on the surface which joins the pentagonal base of the en-
crinite.

From the peculiar nature of the articulation of the vertebras of the
whole column, the crenated edges being exactly fitted to each other, al-
most in the manner of a dove-tail joint, it is obvious that no rotatory
motion could have been performed. It is also evident, that as the
motion admitted is that which accompanies the sinking in of the
teeth of the articulation into the notches of one side, and the raising
them out of the other, as may be seen in the specimen, Plate XIII.
Fig. 8, it can only be in a lateral direction ; but from the circular
arrangement of the crenated surface of articulation, it is plain that
the animal would possess the power of bending laterally, with equal
facility, in any direction, and would thereby enjoy all the advantages
of a rotatory power, without the insecurity with which that might
have been attended. It is, indeed, true, that as the motion must be
regulated by the depth of the crenated edge, and the thickness of the
intervening ligament, the quantity of motion depending on each
joint, must have been very small ; but when it is considered that all
the neighbouring joints, and, perhaps, those of almost the whole co-
lumn, would partake of this motion, it will be evident, that in so
long a trunk as this animal may be supposed to have possessed, the
power of flexion must have been very considerable.

But in almost every other animal, a greater degree of mobility is
given to the vertebral C9lumn, as it approaches to the head, or to that
part of the animal which is intended to seize and receive its prey ;
so in this animal a corresponding modification of the articulating sur-
faces of the vertebrae nearest to the body of the animal, will be found
to exist.

In every specimen of the . vertebral column of the lily encrinite
which I have seen attached to the superior part of the animal, that
part of the column next to the pelvis has been thus composed of

176

vertebrae, differing nearly alternately from each other, both in size
and form ; larger orbicular vertebrae having smaller cylindrical ones
placed between them, as at Plate XIII. Fig. 43 and 44, and at Plate
XIV. Fig. 1, where a sketch in outline is given of the conformation
of the vertebral column from another specimen.

By this most curious and well adapted species of articulation, the
external edge of the smaller vertebrae, articulating with the inner
edge of those which include it, the mobility is very considerably in-
creased ; since, instead of being limited to the depth of the crenated
edge, it is only limited by the -collars of the largest vertebrae coming
into contact, whilst moving on the external surfaces of the smaller
vertebrae which they encompass, as is seen in the specimen, Plate XIIL
Fig. 8, and has already been observed, whilst describing the trochitae,
Fig. 23 and 25. By this admirable contrivance, it seems, that the
animal possessed the power of moving its superior parts, with all the
facility and freedom which its instinctive pursuits might require.

Of the kngth of the vertebral column but little can be said deci-
dedly, since no instance has yet been met with, in which both the na-
tural terminations have appeared on the same specimen of the trunk,
without which, it is obvious that no positive judgment respecting this
circumstance can be formed. Reasoning, however, from the vast num-
bers of the vertebrae, and from the very small number of the extremities
of this animal which have been found, there appear to be sufficient
grounds for imagining that the trunk must have been of considera^
ble length indeed. In one of my specimens, that from which the
sketch in outline, Plate XIV. was taken, the vertebral column, still
united to the body of the animal, is nearly eleven inches in length.

I shall now proceed to the examination of that part of the skeleton of
this animal which formed its body and superior extremities, and which;
lias been hitherto called the lily, the crown) the head, or the body
part, Plate XIV. Fig. 3. I shall first examine the basin, (pelvis} in

177

which, in all probability, the parts subservient to the reception and
digestion of food were placed *.

This basin, Fig. 3, #, &, c, d, is composed of twenty pieces, in four
different series. The first of these series consists of Jive cunei-
form pieces, (ossa innominata,) so adapted to each other, as when
united, (which, in the living animal, they doubtlessly were, by an ap-
propriate ligament) to form a stelliform floweret, fitted by its risings
and depressions to articulate with the first vertebras of the trunk.
One of these is separately depicted, Fig. 3, (a) and the five are shewn in
their natural situation in the centre of the inferior part of the basin,
where their several risings and depressions are seen to compose a flori-
form figure, which has the appearance of consisting of five petals.

These are encompassed by five other pieces, (b), which, from their
exterior surface being of a trapezoidal figure, are named by Rosi-
nus Articuli trapezoides ; but these I shall consider as RIBS. Their
outer surfaces are smooth and slightly convex, but their internal sur-
faces, (b) are rendered rough and unequal, by several risings and de-
pressions, which produce such surfaces as are fitted to unite with the
corresponding surfaces of the next series. By the union of these two
series of bones is formed the pentagonal base (Basis pentagona, of Ro-
sin us) of the pelvis, as is represented Plate XIV. Fig. 2.

Upon these are placed five other bodies, of an irregular form, which
I term CLAVICLES (c). The outer edges of these are flat and smooth,

* Since it may appear improper, in thefollowing description, to have designated the parts
of this animal by terms which belong to the parts of the more perfect animals ; it is necessary
to observe, that in the less perfect animals no parts are discoverable, by which those of the
encrinus can be so well illustrated.

Thus a basin, or pelvis, is here formed for the reception of the viscera of the animal, by
the ossa innominata and the ribs. From the external part of this basin proceed the a tins
of the animal, each of which, as in the more perfect animals, articulates on another bone,
which I therefore have termed scapula, and which, like the scapulae of the more perfect ani-
mals, is connected by one part with the bones of the arm, and by the other with the ribs j
its attachment being rendered still more firm by the medium-of a clavicle.
VOL. II. A A

173

and nearly form a segment of a circle : their internal edges, which
are also somewhat circular, are finely crenulated. Their inferior sur-
faces, (c, 1) have a few ridges and depressions, by which they are fit-
ted for articulation with the superior surfaces of the bodies (ribs) de-
scribed in the last paragraph; but their superior surfaces (2) are tolera-
bly smooth, having only a little rising on each, by which they are fitted
for articulation with the inferior surfaces of the next series of bodies.

These, (d) in their general form, bear some resemblance to the
former bodies, but are considerably thicker on their outer than on
their inner edges. Their inferior surfaces (d,l) are a little hollowed out,
by which they are adapted to the superior articulating surfaces of the
former bodies (clavicles) ; but their superior surfaces (2) rise gra-
dually in the centre of their outer margins, so as to render their outer
surfaces of a triangular form, and to separate their upper into two
obliquely disposed surfaces. These oblique superior surfaces are
the parts adapted for articulation with the inferior surfaces of the
next series. Rosinus unites these with the preceding pieces, and
names them, when thus united, Radices radiorum. With these bodies,
and which I have therefore termed SCAPULAE, are articulated the
ARMS of the animal (e) ; one proceeding from each of the ob-
lique surfaces of these bodies, and are therefore ten in number. In
the specimens which were seen by Rosinus, these arms were formed by
seven pieces ; but from the examination of those which I possess, I
find a considerable difference in this respect: in one instance there
are seven; in another, four|; and in others, six of these pieces. The
first of these, that which immediately articulates with the scapula,
is thicker than the rest, and is of an irregular form, much better to
be comprehended from its representation, than from any description.
To this is adapted a thinner, but somewhat similarly shaped piece ;
on which,, in succession, are disposed other thinner pieces, with which
the arm is completed. At (f) is represented the two first ossiculse of
the arm united together.

179

Immediately after these pieces another arrangement takes place-,
the pieces gradually diminish, h, ^Y A-, and /, and form into two se-
ries in the following manner : the first two or three terminate at
their inner end in a gradually tapering point, and all the succeeding
ones terminate in a point suddenly formed, as if by two oblique sec-
tions, at that termination. A triangular space is thus formed be-
tween the points of each two of these pieces in each row ; and by
the mutual reception of the several terminating points in these cavi-
ties, a remarkably neat hinge-like articulation is formed. These two
ranges of ossiculae, of which about forty are contained in each range,
compose two articulated fingers, the number of these fingers being
twenty, since two proceed from each of the ten arms.

From the internal part of these fingers a considerable number of
articulated tentacula are produced : from each ossiculse of the fingers,
a series of from about twenty to thirty still smaller ossiculae being
given off; the contiguity of these series to each other, making it
appear as if an articulated web was attached along the inside of each
finger. This curious arrangement of these tentacula is very accu-
rately delineated in the representation of the rare specimen, Plate
XIV. Fig. 1.

With the hope of acquiring a more accurate knowledge of this part
of the skeleton, I have, for the purpose of obtaining a view of their
internal structure, destined several of these bodies to destruction,
by transverse and longitudinal fractures and sections ; and in the
latter case, by such polishing as their substance would admit. By
this mode of examination, I have been enabled to ascertain, that
on the internal part of each ossicula of the finger a deep cavity ex-
ists, to which the first ossieula of each tentaculum is attached by an ap-
propriate articulation; and that, by the articulation of nearly flat;
surfaces, the ossiculae of each tentaculum are also connected together.
By th£se means I have also been able to ascertain, that about twenty

180

ossiculae enter into the formation of some of the upper and shorter;
and between thirty and forty, in some of the lower and longer ten-
tacula. Rosinus, whose accuracy cannot be spoken of in terms too
high, remarks, that in all the ossiculae of which the pelvis, arms, and
fingers are formed, foramina, or sinuses, are observable, fitted for the
reception of nerves or vessels. Every examination which I have been
able to make, confirms these remarks ; and by examination with a
lens of moderate power, of a longitudinal polished section of the ar-
ticulated tentacula themselves, I found that all their ossiculae are
nearly tubular, having a cavity, which is nearly cylindrical, passing
through their substance. That these cavities served for the transmis-
sion of nerves and vessels is highly probable; but it appears to be also
very likely that the muscular parts also passed through these cavi-
ties ; this disposition of the muscles appearing to be such as would
fully admit of the performance of those motions, on which the exist-
ence of the animal depended.

A longitudinal section also shewed that these tentacula, when con-
tracted, are disposed with great regularity side by side, their smaller
ends laying towards the upper part of the closed fingers ; and by the
transverse section I perceived, that in consequence of grooves running
along the inner sides of each tentaculum, they became, whilst closed,
exactly nitched into each other, so as to give the appearance, in
their transverse section, of the mutual insertion of the teeth of two
saws.

Rosinus had remarked, that these tentacula commenced where the
rays or arms began to divide; but by the polished longitudinal sec-
tion just referred to, I was enabled to ascertain, that these tentacula
exist even at the very commencement of the arms.

A careful examination ascertains the curious fact, that, indepen-
dent of the number of pieces which may be contained in the verte-
bral column, and which, from its probable great length, may be very

181

numerous, the fossil skeleton of the superior part of this animal con-
sists of at least twenty-six thousand pieces. To shew this, the fol-
lowing statement is annexed :

Of the bones forming the pelvis, there are five central cuneiform bones

(Ossa innominataj 5

five ribs 5

. . . „ . . five clavicles 5

. . , . . . . five scapulae 5

arms . . . six bones in each of the ten

arms 60

hands. Each hand being formed of two fingers,

and each finger consisting of at least 40 os-
siculae, these, in 20 fingers, make . . . 800

tentacula, 30 proceeding from each of the

6 bones in each of the ten arms, make . 1,800

30 proceeding, on the average, from

each of the 800 bones of the fin-
gers, make . 24,000

; «______^

Total . . 26,680

Respecting the inferior termination of the trunk of this animal our
knowledge is so exceedingly limited, as not to have furnished us with
sufficient materials to have allowed its mention in the preceding
character of this animal.

The considering of zoophytes as belonging to the vegetable king-
dom, would necessarily lead the earlier oryctologists to suppose, that
the encrinus had been affixed to rocks or some other solid bodies, by
a part analogous to the roots of vegetables. Thus Agricola remarks,
" Saepenumero lapis informis reperitur una cum trochite et entrocho,
rotae in se continens figuram; quae in eo quasi quoedam RADIX, tro-
chitis jam abruptis, remansit." The industrious Rosinus also noticed
certain bodies, which he thought might be considered as the primary
branches or rays of some species of stellce marines, and which certainly

182

demand attention, from the great probability of their having formed
the inferior termination of the trunk of the lily encrinus. His at-
tention was first drawn to these bodies by the accounts which he re-
ceived from a quarry-man at Asseburg, who had been employed by
him in the search for fossils in those quarries. From him he learnt,
that there had frequently been found, in those quarries, irregularly
formed roundish bodies, of the size of a fist, from which the stems
of entrochites stuck out like so many fingers ; but which, not being
heeded by the quarry-men, were consequently lost. Rosinus did not,
however, rest, until he had obtained a sufficient number of speci-
mens to enable him to form a tolerable judgment as to the nature of
these bodies.

The only specimen which I have been able to obtain of this fossil
is that which is represented Plate XIV. Fig. 4. This specimen is formed
by two series of trochitae, or by two entrochi, the one twined round
the other, and both closely united by a spathose matter. Various si-
milar masses are figured by Rosinus, Tab. X. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7» 8, who
considers them as the roots or beginnings (exordia) of the trochitae,
belonging to some unknown crustaceous selenitic body, or rather to
some hitherto unknown species of sea-star, which he supposes to be
characterized by this spathose suffusion *. Harenberg, who, although
apprized of the discoveries of Rosinus, believed the encrinus to be a
marine plant, necessarily concluded that this plant was attached by a
root, which he supposed to be formed of trochitae of the smallest or-
der, and gives a representation of three masses, similar to those de-
scribed by Rosinus, marking them as roots consisting of trochita3 -f.

Others had regarded these masses rather as concretions of coralline
bodies ; but it is justly observed by Mr. Walch, that the crenulated
articulations of these bodies, which are peculiar to the encrinites,
and which are never to be observed in corals, plainly point out to
which class these bodies belong.

* Tentam. de Lithozois, p. 8 1 . -j- Encrinus seu Lilium Lapkteum, p. 7.

183

Possessing only one specimen, which can fairly be referred to the
stones here treated of, my inquiries respecting them are not likely to
be so successful as I could wish. In this specimen alone, however, I
am convinced, that I have discovered marks sufficiently strong to
prove, that the coat by which these entrochi are united, was ex-
tended over them during the life of the animal, to produce some effect
essential to its ceconomy.

One of these entrochi (a) passes upwards in a straight line, and is
nearly surrounded by a spiral turn of the second (b) ; both being
nearly invested by a superinduced spathose matter, marked by two
seams running in the line of contact of the two entrochi.

In the lower and fore part of this specimen the twisted column
is less thickly covered by this additional matter, and the straight
column is quite free from it, for a small space. It is to the exar
mination, which is thus fortunately admitted, of this small part, that
I am indebted for the ability to add one more conjecture, as to the
nature and use of this substance by which the two series of trochitre
are united together. Part of the trochitae of the straight column are
thus brought to view ; and these are, at first sight, seen to differ in their
colour from trochitae in general : the discolouration being very diffe-
rent from that which is found to proceed from different impregna-
tions of a mineral nature. The colour which is here observable is a,
livid grey, such as would not demand any long consideration in one
accustomed to see diseased bone, to induce him to suspect, from the
colour alone, that these parts had been under the influence of disease.
Being thus impressed by this appearance, I anxiously sought for evi-
dence which might determine how ill or well this suspicion was
founded ; and therefore proceeded to make inquiry, whether such con-
comitant circumstances existed here, as might be expected, if any
analogy existed between the effects of the assumed disease of these
parts and those which are known to accompany the disease of the
bone.

184

Referring to that series of bones, which seems to approximate the
nearest to the entrochi, I mean the vertebrae, to the diseases of which,
in the human body, particular attention has been paid, two most
prominent facts are observable. The one is, that in every disease of
these parts in which the substance of the bone has been so materi-
ally affected, as to have been rendered unfit for motion, the articu-
lating surfaces anchylose together, so that the morbidly tender parts
are no longer liable to injury by motion. The other fact is, that as
these parts, weakened by disease, must, of course, be less capable of
supporting the weight naturally imposed on them, an exudation of
lymph is thrown out, in which is deposited that portion of earthy
matter which is necessary to the constitution of callus. By this pro-
cess, the consequence of injury and of inflammation of these parts,
the requisite degree of support is obtained, although the motion im-
mediately belonging to these parts is lost.

The specimen to which I have called your attention bears indubi-
table marks of these entrochi having been the subjects of both these
processes. The naked eye at once sees, in that part of the straight co-
lumn which is uncovered, an unnatural state of the trochitae or verte-
brae : their forms are not similar, nor are their lines of articulation re-
gular. By a closer inspection, especially with a magnifying glass, it
may also be discovered, that the processes forming the crenulated
edge have been removed, and that a line only slightly undulated,
marks where the articulation existed, and shews plainly such a species
of connection between the trochitae as must have occasioned a com-
plete anchylosis.

Equally positive is the evidence in favour of the substance, in
which these entrochitae are involved, being produced by the powers of
restoration possessed by the animal. Its colour, its texture, and, in-
deed, its general appearance, accord so exactly with those of the en-
trochi themselves, as to render it indubitable that it has proceeded
from a similar organization.

185

Presuming that the discolouration of the parts, their anchylosis,
and their superadded powers of support, prove previous disease, and
the consequent exertions of the healing powers of nature, I shall next
endeavour to discover, whether these circumstances will at all contri-
bute to any further knowledge respecting the nature and economy of
this curious animal.

Attention to the principles by which these processes are conducted,
teaches us, that such an union as has been just remarked, does not
take place between the parts of different animals, except between
such as either do not possess the powers of locomotion, or are incapa-
ble of any considerable motion of the parts of which they are com-
posed, as is the case with shell-fish. But the form and structure, and
in particular, the numerous articulations of this animal, shew that, even
if the animal itself had been fixed, like other zoophytes, to a base, this
part of it was susceptible of considerable play, and that therefore such
an union would not be likely to take place between the parts of diffe-
rent animals, even of the same species ; and hence we may conclude
that the two united columns of vertebrae in this specimen belonged to
one animal. But further, since, upon the authority of Rosinus, it ap-
pears, that several of these columns may be thus united, we may con-
clude that several of these trunks may proceed from the same base.
That it is that part of the vertebral columns nearest to their inferior
termination, or to their union with their base, appears to be highly pro-
bable, from these united vertebra being apparently of the largest or-
der; and from the marks of injury, and of most careful reparation, being-
most reasonably expected to be found near to their termination or
point of attachment, where, necessarily, must have been their greatest
play, and the greatest probability of their sustaining injury and re-
quiring support. Every circumstance, then, being taken into consi-
deration, there exists, I think, considerable reason for supposing that
this fossil was the inferior termination, or organof attachment of this
animal.

VOL. IT. B B

186

LETTER XVIII.

DEFLECTIONS ON THE NATURE AND STRUCTURE OF THIS ANIMAL..,
THE ANIMAL DESCRIBED IN VARIOUS STATES.

\VHEN the various contrivances observable in the skeleton of this
animal are examined, but particularly when its nature and economy
are assumed, from inferences fairly drawn from the peculiarities of its
structure, the contemplation of such a display of the Supreme Wis-
dom cannot but excite a high degree of admiration and reverence. In
the trunk we perceive every arrangement made in the articulation of
the vertebrae, to yield to the animal the power of seeking its food in
every direction : whilst the most careful provision has been also made
by the adjustment of numerous corresponding projections and de-
pressions, to secure the vertebrae from dislocation.

In that part of the skeleton which formed the superior extremities
of the animal, and which has been here occasionally spoken of as the
fingers and tentacula, such a disposition of the parts is at once dis-
coverable, as is most excellently adapted for the promptly opening
and closing of these parts, as the economy of the animal might de-
mand. It is evident, from the structure of these parts, that the ani-
mal possessed the power of almost, if not entirely, displaying them
in a horizontal position :

In this position, it may be supposed, the animal would dispose these
parts whilst seeking his prey ; but to ascertain his mode of seizing it

IB?

requires a little further examination. The pieces forming the fingers
are evidently capable of two kinds of motion ; the one being that of
flexion and extension, and the other a degree of lateral motion, by
which the two webs of tentacula of the two fingers of each hand,
would be either made to recede from each other and assume a hori-
zontal position, or to approximate to each other, and acquire at the
same time a perpendicular direction.

Supposing these parts extended in an open and horizontal position,
and the prey within reach, then the animal, by raising the tentacula
in a perpendicular position, would bring them together, and secure
the prey betwixt them ; and if by bending the fingers together at the
same time he closed these, the prey would then have been directed to-
wards the mouth of the animal, which, with the stomach, £c. may
be expected to have possessed the central part of the pelvis formed
by the ossainnominata, ribs, Sec.

Viewing that part which has been suspected to be the inferior ex-
tremity of the animal, we see every reason for supposing that it pos-
sessed to a great extent that property, which might apwon have been
expected in that part which might be considered as the organ of at-
tachment, and by which the animal was to be firmly secured to his des-
tined dwelling-place. In that part we find a propensity to pour out a
coagulable lymph, or ossific matter, so abundantly as must have been well
fitted, not only to fix him firmly to any particular spot ; but to sup-
ply the means of repairing any injury which this part might sus-
tain ; and, perhaps, of furnishing an additional mode of increasing
the species, by enabling any detached columns to attach themselves
to a new spot, where they might live independent of the parent
stock.

Hence it not only appears, that this fossil was originally the osseous
or crustaceous covering, fitted for the reception of the softer parts of
an animal; but it is also apparent, that here existed the most curious
arrangement of parts, in every respect fitted for securing the means

188

of nourishment and existence to an animal which was intended to
dwell like a plant on one particular spot.

The fossil, Plate XIV. Fig. 1, formerly in the collection of the late
Mr. Jacob Forster, is beautifully illustrative of the internal structure of
this animal. The lower part of the closed encrinus, with a part of
its vertebral column attached, is here imbedded in a matrix, formed
of detached vertebra? of this animal, mingled with the mineralized
remains of other marine animals. In the upper part of this speci-
men, the accidental removal of the terminating bones of the fingers,
has afforded a clear and distinct view of the tcntacula in the natu-
ral situation which they hold, whilst the superior extremities of the
animal are in a state of contraction. I am indebted to the correct
pencil of Mrs. Sheffield, of the Polygon, Somers' Town, for the exact
delineation of this specimen, as well as for the elegant drawing of the
fossil which appears in the frontispiece.

From this animal having been generally found in a contracted state,
it has been supposed that this state, resulted from its thus con-
tracting itself together during its dying struggles. It is, indeed, most
probable, thaton the sensation of the least injury, theanimal would im-
mediately firmly contract itself, as appears to have been the case with
the animal in the specimen here figured. But in another specimen,
instead of this close firm contraction, the arms and fingers appear to
have merely collapsed together; the terminations of the fingers lay-
ing out so extended as to give much more the appearance of priva-
tion of power, than of that of energetic contraction. In another speci-
men, appearances very different from these last mentioned offer them-
selves to our observation. The body, arms, &c. are not only in the
finest preservation possible, but have, at the same time, that sharp-
ness and fullness, which cannot fail to give an idea of the high degree
of health and power which the animal possessed at the moment pre-
vious to its death. In this specimen, as if prevented by some inter-

189

vening retained substance, the fingers are not completely closed ; but
their points, as if to secure the seized prey, or overcome the opposing
resistance, appear to have been forcibly contracted downwards and
inwards.

The knowledge of the several parts of the world in which this spe-
cies of encrinus has existed in a mineralized state, is only to be at-
tained by the discovery of the skeleton of the body part, the ver-
tebras themselves not possessing characters always sufficiently dis-
tinguishing to determine whether they belonged to this species, or not.
There is no part of the world in which this species has been hitherto
known decidedly to exist, but in some of the states of Germany.
Lachmund first discovered a part of the encrinus, with its appro-
priate vertebrae, in the neighbourhood of Hildesheim, in. Lower
Saxony*. Rosinus also discovered the specimens,, the nature of which
he so successfully investigated, on the summits of the mountains
in the neighbourhood of Obernscheden and Azzenhusen, not far from
the town of Gemenden, in Lower Saxony f. Bitter mentions a moun-
tain named Rakenberg, near Goslar J, in the territory of Brunswick,
in Lower Saxony, where this fossil is found. The six-rayed encrinus,
described by Bruckmann, is also enumerated by him among the sub-
terranean treasures of this part of Saxony §. Beuth describes two
encrinites of this species which were dug from a mountain at Sewer-
ven,in Juliers, in Westphalia [|.

The southern part of Lower Saxony, and the adjoining part of
Westphalia, appear to be almost the only parts where this fossil has

* Oryctographiae Hildesheimensis Praefamin, p. 3.

•f- Di Lithozois ac Lythophytis, p. 2.

| Oryctographiae Goslariensis, p. 20.

§ Thesauri Subterrariei Ducatus Brunsvigii, p. 65.

\\ Juliae et Montium Subterranea, &c. Francisco Beuth, p. 84.

190

been obtained ; and here its remains are so plentiful, that, in several
parts, the buildings are formed of a stone almost entirely composed
of its vertebras. But specimens of the body part of the skeleton, espe-
cially those with any part of the vertebral column attached, are now
exceedingly rare, which is not to be wondered at, when it is consi-
dered with what avidity they have been sought ; and that the finer
specimens, those which have had one side free from the matrix, must
have almost, of necessity, laid near to the surface of the rock, ex-
posed to the search of collectors. The matrix in which these remains
are found appear constantly to be limestone, and the organic remains
themselves are always spathose : but, perhaps, from the deficient
proportion of the crystalline matter, interposed between the animal
remains, the stone does not, on polishing, yield an appearance suffi-
ciently beautiful to occasion its being employed for ornamental pur-
poses.

191

LETTER XIX.

•

CAP ENCRINETE OF DERBYSHIRE, AND, PERHAPS, OF YORKSHIRE....
SUPERIOR TERMINATION. ..SUPPOSED INFERIOR TERMINATION....
TURBAN ENCRINTTE OF SH ROPSH IRE.... PELVIS DECRIBED IN-
FERIOR EXTREMITY PECULIARITY OF ITS TR U NK....S AME CO-
LUMN FROM GOTHLAND.

THE species of encrinus to which I shall now lead your attention,
is one which, although its remains are most extraordinarily abundant
in our own country, its history is, perhaps, least of all known to us.
Indeed we at present know little more of it than, that the petrified re-
mains of its vertebral column, either in detached pieces, or aggluti-
nated together in masses of limestone or marble, have long been
found in quarries of an immense extent in some of the northern coun-
ties of this island.

Mr. Da Costa remarks, that the whole metallic tract of the
county of Derby is, as it were, one continued quarry of this mar-
ble ; most of the strata of limestone are of this kind, it being the
common stone which is burnt for lime. The upper parts of these
strata, he observes, are always filled with amazing quantities of
these bodies and other marine remains, which seem to have been lodg-
ed there by subsidence; and to have formed a crust over the lime-
stone. This crust is generally of a very great thickness, and when
they have passed it, they find the limestone to contain fewer marine
remains : and at greater depths it even becomes quite pure and free

190

been obtained ; and here its remains are so plentiful, that, in several
parts, the buildings are formed of a stone almost entirely composed
of its vertebrae. But specimens of the body part of the skeleton, espe-
cially those with any part of the vertebral column attached, are now
exceedingly rare, which is not to be wondered at, when it is consi-
dered with what avidity they have been sought ; and that the finer
specimens, those which have had one side free from the matrix, must
have almost, of necessity, laid near to the surface of the rock, ex-
posed to the search of collectors. The matrix in which these remains
are found appear constantly to be limestone, and the organic remains
themselves are always spa those : but, perhaps, from the deficient
proportion of the crystalline matter, interposed between the animal
remains, the stone does not, on polishing, yield an appearance suffi-
ciently beautiful to occasion its being employed for ornamental pur-
poses.

191

LETTER XIX.

CAP ENCRINITE OF DERBYSHIRE, AND, PERHAPS, OF YORKSHIRE....
SUPERIOR TERMINATION. ..SUPPOSED INFERIOR TERMINATION....
TURBAN ENCRINTTE OF SH ROPSH I RE....PELVI S DECRIBED IN-
FERIOR EXTREMITY PECULIARITY OF ITS TR U NK....S AME CO-
LUMN FROM GOTHLAND.

THE species of encrinus to which I shall now lead your attention,
is one which, although its remains are most extraordinarily abundant
in our own country, its history is, perhaps, least of all known to usi
Indeed we at present know little more of it than, that the petrified re-
mains of its vertebral column, either in detached pieces, or aggluti-
nated together in masses of limestone or marble, have long been
found in quarries of an immense extent in some of the northern coun-
ties of this island.

Mr. Da Costa remarks, that the whole metallic tract of the
county of Derby is, as it were, one continued quarry of this mar-
ble ; most of the strata of limestone are of this kind, it being the
common stone which is burnt for lime. The upper parts of these
strata, he observes, are always filled with amazing quantities of
these bodies and other marine remains, which seem to have been lodg-
ed there by subsidence; and to have formed a crust over the lime-
stone. This crust is generally of a very great thickness, and when
they have passed it, they find the limestone to contain fewer marine
remains : and at greater depths it even becomes quite pure and free

192

from them. The marble does not always display the forms of these
remains with equal fineness and perfection : Rickledale, Monyash,
and Breks, he mentions as affording the most beautiful*. At present,
none, perhaps, exceeds that which is obtained in the neighbourhood
of Ashford in the Waters. Da Costa remarked, fifty years since, of the
Derbyshire marble, that it is degraded by the common name of lime-
stone ; and the country people, ignorant of its value, only burn it
for lime, although for hardness, beauty, and susceptibility of polish,
it may vie with the most esteemed foreign marbles.

Mr. Mawes, in his Instructive Mineralogy of Derbyshire, ob-
serves, that the limestone, the whole of which stratum is composed
of marine exuviae, is of various thickness, from four fathoms to more
than two hundred ; beneath which, separated from the former by
a stratum of toadstone, it is ascertained that there is another stra-
tum of limestone, beyond which no mine in Derbyshire has pene-
trated •}%

Anxious to obtain all the information respecting this animal which
I might be able, I obtained from Ashford a slab of marble, which
had very much excited the attention of Mr. Whitehurst, and of seve-
ral philosophical characters who had visited that part of Derbyshire ;
it being the largest level slab, with the animal remains in relief, that
had been there met with. This slab, almost entirely composed of these
remains, has one surface, which is completely covered with projecting
fragments of the vertebral column of this animal, and is four feet and
six inches long, two feet and six inches wide, and from two to three
inches in thickness.

On this very considerable quantity of surface, I entertained great
expectations that I should be able to discover some traces of the su-
perior and inferior extremities of the animal ; but in this I was en-

* Natural History of Fossils, p. 236.
f Mineralogy of Derbyshire, p. 12.

193

tirely disappointed. In this whole mass, in which is a connected se-
ries of vertebrae of nine inches in length, and which may fairly be
extended to more than three times that length, by reckoning the dis-
placed pieces which it is evident were once in continuation with it :
in this mass, in which not half an inch is free from the vertebrae of
this animal, and in which it may be safely inferred, that some of the
vertebral columns passed through the whole length of the slab, not
the least trace of any regular termination can be discovered. Its ex-
amination, however, furnished the following facts :

In this assemblage of vertebrae, which there is every reason to sup-
pose must have belonged to one particular species of this animal only,
a very considerable variety of form and of combination may be dis-
covered : some being exactly the same size, forming a column uni-
formly smooth and even ; some being alternately larger and smaller,
forming a column with alternate risings and depressions ; some be-
coming gradually larger, and then again contracting in size, and there-
by acquiring a bulging form ; and others having regular articular de-
pressions in their sides for the reception of lateral processes. Besides
these, a great number of varieties are here observable, too many, in-
deed, to allow of being particularized ; and sufficient to shew, that it
would be rather difficult to detect the species of the animal by the
form and appearance of the vertebrae.

The general character of the trochitae of this species appears, how-
ever, to be, that they are pierced with a much larger foramen than
that which is observable in trochitae of other species. The trochitae,
Plate XIII. Fig. 29, and Fig. 42, appear to have belonged to this spe-
cies ; as well as the silicious cast, Plate XV. Fig. 10, and the casts
existing in the mass of screw-stones formed of chert, and represented
Plate XV. Fig. 6.

In another slab from the same place I was, however, more success-
ful, it containing that part of the skeleton of the body which has
been called, in the stone lily, the pentagonal base. It, however, dif-
fers essentially from the corresponding part in that species, as appears

VOL. n. cc

194

by the annexed figure, Plate XV. Fig. 2, the central pentagonal
part, projecting in a more rounded form, and with the same sweep
with the five surrounding and including pieces ; whilst, in the cor-
responding base of the former species, the central part is considera-
bly sunk.

What was the form of the rest of the pieces constituting the pelvis
for the reception of the body of the animal ; or what was the shape
of the ossiculae forming the arms, fingers, tentacula, £c. ; or in what
manner these were given off and divided, are questions which I
do not possess the means of solving. Numerous ossiculse, however,
are observable on the surface of the matrix ; but their forms are
not seen with sufficient distinctness to allow them to be clearly made
out.

Whilst this sheet was in the hands of the printer, I was favoured
with a letter from Stevens, Esq. of Bakewell, near Chats-
worth, informing me, that he was in possession of the only head, or
superior part of the Derbyshire encrinite, that he had heard of. The
sketch which Mr. Stevens sent, at once assured me, that this encri-
nite differed essentially in its general form, as well as in the arrange-
ment and division of its limbs, from any encrinite which I had seen.
Anxious to fill up the chasm which existed in the natural history of
this curious, animal, I gladly accepted of this gentleman's very
obliging offer of the opportunity of having a drawing made from his
specimen, and of presenting to my readers its correct representation y
Plate XV. Fig. 9- This fossil presents, at first sight, a sufficient dif-
ference in its general outline to authorise the conclusion of its being
of a different species from the lily encrinite of Germany.

By a closer examination of this interesting fossil it will be seen,
that from a pentagonal base, similar to that which, has been just de-
scribed, as the supposed pentagonal base of this encrinite, ten arms
proceed, as in the lily encrinite, but which soon assume a very diffe-
rent character from those of that fossil. In the lily encrinite, each
of the arms divides at the same distance, and in the same manner ;

195

but in the Derbyshire encrinite, as far as can be judged from this
specimen, hardly any two of the arms divide alike. Indeed, so irre-
gular is their division, as to render it very difficult to give an idea of
it by words. In some of the arms the division takes place very low,
even at the third, and in others not until they have reached the se-
venth or eighth articulation. Unlike, too, to what takes place in the
lily encrinite, the fingers, which are formed by this division, divide
and subdivide, and that, apparently, not in any particular order; one
of the fingers of the same arm appearing to pass undivided to its
termination, whilst its fellow finger suffers a still further division.
How many divisions actually take place before their termination is
completed, cannot be determined by the present specimen, since full
a third part of it is concealed by being immersed in its matrix; nor
can any thing be said of its tentacula, excepting that analogy will
lead us to conclude that they are nearly alike in form and arrange-
ment to those of the lily encrinite.

I had already remarked, that the contour of the pentagonal base of
this species which I had first noticed, Plate XV. Fig. 2, differed from
that of the lily encrinus in being more rounded ; and by the specimen
of Mr. Stevens, it is-seen that this circumstance results from its adap-
tation to the general form of this species, which is characterised by its
rounded and pyriform figure.

"With respect to the lower extremity of this species, I do not know
that any conjecture has been made, as to the form it assumes : I, how-
ever, have some reason for suspecting that the spathose fossil,
Plate XIV. Fig. 5, is a polished section of this part. It was originally
in the collection of Mr. Strange, but where it was obtained from I
have had no opportunity of knowing.

This fossil has been longitudinally divided, so that the section
shews a trunk, which seems to have been transversely divided, at small
distances, and from which appear to have proceeded cup-formed la-
mellae, disposed like those of a truncated bulb. These have been

196

about seven in number; and although their continuity appears to
have been broken, their number may be pretty correctly ascertained
at the other end, where they are seen contracted together, and having
their terminations adorned with fimbriae of a plumose appearance. Al-
though by no means assured of the real nature of this fossil, I have
thought it right to place a sketch of it before you, since the observa-
tions of others may correct the opinion I entertain respecting it. It
may not, however, be amiss to remark, that I have seen forms on the
polished surface of the Derbyshire marbles, which, I think, bear an
exact resemblance to that of the substance which is here figured.

The pear-like shape of this encrinite would seem to direct the best
term by which this species might be distinguished ; but an encrinite
to be hereafter described offers an equal claim to be denominated the
pyriform encrinite. Besides which consideration, there is another of
some weight. The pelvis of the encrinite now under examination, has
much of the form of a cap, whilst that of the encrinite which we shall
next examine, is so much more elegantly formed as rather to resem-
ble a turban. To distinguish these two, it therefore seems well to
term the former the CAP ENCRINITE, and the latter the TURBAN
ENCRINITE ; whilst that, the pelvis of which is pjriform, appears best
to deserve the denomination of the PEAR ENCRINITE.

In several parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire marble formed of en-
crinal remains are found in very considerable quantities ; but whether
this encrinite is the same with the cap encrinite of Derbyshire, I am
incompetent to determine, the Yorkshire encrinite being only known
to me by its vertebrae. With the hope of obtaining some information
respecting the animal whose remains were thus preserved, and especially
for the sake of ascertaining whether it was of the same species with
that whose remains are detected in the Derbyshire marble,! requested
my worthy and intelligent neighbour, Mr. William Inman, to collect
for me some illustrative specimens, as well as to make such observa-
tions on the quarries, &c. as he should be able, whilst visiting that

197

part of the country. By the kindness of this gentleman I was fur-
nished with such specimens as served to shew me, that as in the Der-
byshire, so in this marble, the remains of any other part of the ani-
mal, except of the vertebral column, are exceedingly rare : indeed I
was unable to discover the least trace of either the superior or infe-
rior extremities in any of the specimens which came under my obser-
vation. With respect to the situations, in which the marble, with
.which he favoured me existed, Mr. Inman gave me the following in-
formation :

" These specimens were obtained from a place called Garsdale,
situated in the north-west part of the West Riding of the county of
Yorkshire, on the confines of Westmoreland. It is a deep and nar-
row dell or dale, about seven miles in length, running due east and
west, having no level ground, except a few fields at the foot of two
exceedingly high mountains, which form its sides. This level, accord-
ing to all appearances, consists of the various substances which
have been washed by the rain from the top and sides of the adjoining
mountains, and now form some of the richest pasture-ground in the
kingdom. The specimens were taken from a quarry, lately disco-
vered to be fine rich marble, about half way up the side of Bafell, or
Bowfell, (being something like a bow in appearance on one of its sides) ;
one of the mountains forming Garsdale, and one of the highest and
grandest in the north of England, being, in my opinion, as high, if
not higher, than Skiddaw, and much grander in appearance. It is at
its foot, I should think, full thirty miles in circumference ; and its top
(except in very clear weather) is mostly enveloped in the clouds. The
highest parts cannot at any time be seen from the vallies which sur-
round it ; to see its highest elevation will require nearly two hours of
persevering labour, in ascending its rugged side. The prospect from
one point of the top of this mountain is very extensive, as the sea
may be seen from it on a clear day, over about thirty miles of moun-
tainous country in Westmoreland. Some parts of the top consist

198

of broken moorish earth, with scarcely any vegetation on it; others
are covered with loose sandy stone. There are also at the top, at, I
think, about two miles distance from each other, two tarns, or lakes,
of many acres extent each, the bottom of one of them, so far as can
be seen, is formed of fine light grey sand. There are also, on diffe-
rent parts of this mountain, many slate quarries and coal-mines, like-
wise vast tracts of peat earth.

" But to return to the marble quarry : it lies, as was observed be-
fore, about the middle of the ascent, up the side of Bowfell, fronting,
or forming one side of Garsdale. The ground there, and in its vici-
nity, is moderately level, compared with that which lies above and
below, and is rather of a swampy nature, abounding with springs,
where the earth has been moved to uncover the beds of stone, which lay
near the surface of the ground; the blocks of which are of great mag-
nitude. At a small distance from this spot, east and west, are two
projecting dry limestone hills, parts of which appear to be formed
of similar marble, and it is, perhaps worthy of observation, that on the
mountain on the opposite side of the valley, are seen two other hills
of a similar nature, (as near as the eye can form a judgment) on the
same level. This marble is in great request in the north part of the
island ; it is carried to Kendal, about eighteen miles from the quariy.
where it is manufactured into chimney-pieces, slabs for sideboards
and monuments. In the course of my journey I saw several chimney-
pieces and monuments which had been made of it. There is a great
demand for it at Manchester, Liverpool, Sec. It is worthy of ob-
servation, that at the head of Garsdale, the water separates and runs
east and west, and joins rivers which fall into the sea at opposite sides
of the island, viz. That which goes east forms a part of the river
Swale, which passes by Richmond and Thirsk and falls into the Ouse,
and then into the Humber : that which runs west down Garsdale, is
called the CloufF, and joins the JLune near Sedbergh, and falls into
the Irish Sea below Lancaster/'

199

Plate XV. Fig. 3, is the representation of a specimen of the York-
shire entrochal marble, in which the organic remains are very beau-
tifully disposed in relief on its surface. As I have already remarked,
I am unable to discover any essential difference between the entrochi
existing in the Yorkshire and in the Derbyshire marble. Those in the
Yorkshire marble seem, however, to be generally smaller, and of a neater
conformation than those in the marble of Derbyshire ; but whether
this proceeds from real difference of species cannot, perhaps, be
determined from such specimens only as I have had the opportunity
of seeing. The colour, in different specimens of the Derbyshire and
Yorkshire marbles, varies much from a light to a dark brown. This
specimen is of the latter hue.

Plate XV. Fig. 2, represents a polished specimen of this marble,
formed of the mineralized remains of separated columns of trochital
vertebrae. By attention to the different sections of these columns, a
tolerably correct knowledge of their construction will be obtained ;
remembering, that the lighter parts are the remains of the original
animal substance, and that the darker is the interposed crystalline
matter.

From the observations which I have been able to make on the re-
mains of the encrinus in the limestone, or rather marble, of Wen-
lock Edge, in Shropshire, I am fully satisfied that it is a species dif-
ferent from both the lily encrinite and the cap encrinite of Derby-
shire. My reasons for forming this conclusion, I shall now offer to.
your consideration.

The calcareous masses of the remains ofencrini which are obtained
from Wenlock, possess certain characters which immediately distin-
guish them from such masses of entrochal marble as are obtained
from any other part. The organic remains themselves are formed of
calcareous matter, which being apparently very free from any ferrugi-
nous impregnation, is nearly white ; and hence the organic remains
are, some of them, beautifully white and opaque ; whilst others, with

200

an equal portion of whiteness, possess even some degree of transpa-
rency. Besides the difference of appearance proceeding from the na-
ture of the calcareous impregnation, a considerable difference arises
from the combination of other animal remains with those of the
encrinus, a circumstance seldom occurring in the Derbyshire or
Yorkshire masses. These other animal remains, which nearly equal
in quantity the remains of the encrinus, are of the coral kind :
chiefly of small, elegant, ramose milleporae, mingled with fragments
of the Tubipora Catenulata, and with other marine remains, the na-
tures of which are not to be correctly ascertained. Much of this
difference of appearance also depends on the different characters of
the remains of the encrini themselves, as will appear from the fol-
lowing remarks.

The fragments of the vertebral column are almost all composed of
vertebrae which are exceedingly thin, and disposed in a series, in
which very thin vertebra alternate with those which are less so, the
latter projecting a little beyond the former ; so that the column is
transversely ridged in a regular and elegant form, similar to what is
represented at Plate XV. Fig. 7.

The vertebral columns in the specimens I possess, are marked by
characters which seem almost certainly to point out a specific dif-
ference between the encrinite to which they belong, and those which
have been already examined. Extreme thinness of the vertebral tro-
chites is a character which, alone, seems to be sufficient to separate
the animal of this species from those already noticed ; this property
being observable in every part of the vertebral column which I have
seen. From a careful examination of the two masses of these remains
which I possess, I was much pleased to discover, that the one was
chiefly composed of the fragments of ossiculae which had belonged
to the superior, whilst the other was almost entirely made up of the
remains of the inferior part of the animal. To the investigation of the
characters which these possess I now claim your attention.

201

Plate XV. Fig. 7> is part of the mass belonging to the superior part
of the animal, which is proved by the body part, or pelvis, being
imbedded in it, and being surrounded by a confused mass of minute
ossiculse, which had formed the arms, fingers, &c. of the animal. As
in the skeleton of the body part of the other encrinites, so we find in
the skeleton in this specimen, that the first of the vertebra? is sur-
rounded by five bony plates, which, in the account given of the pre-
ceding species, were considered as ribs : but the similarity of struc-
ture ceases here, the remaining parts of the skeleton being essentially
different.

Each of the ribs, viewed externally, the only view which I have
hitherto obtained of them, presents a roundish flattened surface, ter-
minated by six articulating edges. The first of these, the inferior
concave edge, is that which surrounds the external surface of the
first vertebra. This edge is on- a line which forms the fifth part of
the internal and smaller circle of the pelvis. Opposite to this, is the
exterior convex edge, on which the compound clavicle of this species
articulates ; this edge forms also the fifth part of a circle, but is ne-
cessarily larger than the former, as it includes the more external part
of the pelvis.

The ends of each rib terminate in two obliquely disposed edges,
forming the articulation by which the ribs themselves are connected
together. By a truncation, as it were, of the angle resulting from the
edge just described, and of the superior edge, an oblique edge is
formed, which, with that on the corresponding part of the adjoining
rib, leaves a triangular cavity immediately over the commissure of the
ends of the ribs. In this triangular cavity, is placed the inferior ter-
mination of an oblong body, which appears to have had an analo-
gous office, with that which was considered as the scapula in the lily
encrinite ; since to its superior part, the arms, fingers, &c. of the ani-
mal appear to have been attached.

Between each of these five scapula?, and on the superior edges of the

D D

ribs, are placed the clavicles, each of which is composed of five
pieces: a central orbicular piece placed on the centre of the superior
edge of the rib, with an oblong piece, attached to it on each side, and
two triangular pieces filling up the cavities left between the tops of
the last-mentioned pieces, of the orbicular pieces, and of the scapula?.

It was endeavoured to be shewn, whilst treating of the lily encri-
nite, that a greater extent of motion was given by the alternation of
"wider and narrower vertebra?, and by the edges of the former over-
lapping those of the latter ; and it was seen, that this arrangement
constantly took place, in that part of the column which was nearest
to the body of the animal. A similar conformation and arrange-
ment of the vertebras exist in, by far the greater part of the fragments
of the vertebral column which are found in this mass, and therefore
may be concluded to be the fragments of that part of the column,
which was nearest to the skeleton of the body of the animal.

I was much pleased by obtaining, at the sale of Mr. Strangers mu-
seum, a calcareous mass fromWenlock, which is rendered exceedingly
interesting, by its containing that, which I conceived myself to be fully
warranted in considering as the inferior termination of this species of
encrinite. Like the former, this mass is chiefly made up of the frag-
ments of the vertebral column, intermixed with pieces of a small ra-
mose millepore, and a few other marine remains ; but, unlike those
of the former mass, the fragments of the columns, with the exception
of two or three only, are composed of vertebrae of a similar thick-
ness, from which it may be concluded, that they did not belong to
that end, to which the skeleton of the body part of the animal was
attached. The vertebrae are here all exceedingly thin, with a cir-
cular central foramen, and a very finely crenated surface. In some
of the vertebra?, which form the column most distinguishable for its
size, an obvious peculiarity of character is observable : some in one
part and some in another, lose their circular form, by lateral pro-
trusions, in which a central foramen is observable. By these pro-
ections from the sides of the vertebrae, the column acquires a rough

and unequal surface ; being beset with knobs, which are the com-
mencement of so many radicles.

The vertebrae terminate in the body above alluded to, as the infe-
rior termination of this encrinite. It has been accidentally broken,
but in the most desirable manner ; since the fracture having been
made longitudinally through its middle, its central structure is fully
displayed. We thus also perceive eight very thin and very finely ere-
nated vertebrae, over which a thin coat appears to be extended, which
is likewise extended over various tubular radicles, which ramify and
diverge in every direction around the vertebral trunk. In one part,
one of these radicles is seen, so fractured as to shew its crenulated
articulations, the crenulae, however, being so exceedingly shallow
that they could have yielded little or no capacity for motion. In the
other part of this radicle, the substance is considerably contorted ;
several projections, with a foramen in the centre of each, are seen on
its surface, and the articulations are so obliterated, as plainly to shew
that no motion could here have taken place.

The nature and uses of the parts just described are clearly ascer-
tained by the extraordinary and unique specimen, Plate XV. Fig. 5,
which, from the purity and whiteness of the calcareous matter of the
organic part, and from the colour and other sensible qualities of
the matrix in which it has been imbedded, there is no doubt was
also obtained from Wenlock Edge.

Extreme thinness of the vertebrae, it has been already observed,
appears to be one of the characteristics of this species of encrinite ;
and, in this specimen, this character is very observable ; since although
the trunk, from which the roots proceed, is only about an inch in
length, upwards of thirty vertebrae enter into its formation. These
vertebrae exactly resemble those of the column, in the mass alrea-
dy noticed, in their articulations being so little crenulated, that
they have been evidently capable of little or no motion; and, in their
being, in the same manner, beset with numerous projections ; each

204

of which is pierced by a foramen. These foramina, as may be seen
on the flat surface of the uppermost vertebrae of this specimen, reach
to, and unite with, the central circular foramen. Each of the verte-
brae being thus beset with these projections, the trunk is thereby
rendered very rugged ; and still more so, as the vertebrae approach to-
wards the ramose termination, where the projecting processes gradu-
ally acquire an increase of length. On acquiring about a quarter of
an inch in length, these processes separate into ramifications, and con-
tinue thus to ramify, at the distance of a quarter, or of half an inch,
until they form a brush -like mass, as is above represented.

It was observed, when speaking of the lily encrinite, that the crenu-
lated articulation was obliterated, or nearly so, in those parts which
appeared to have performed the office of pedicles to the animal. A
similar circumstance is observable here; for among the ramifications
above described, there are several in which traces of the almost ob-
literated crenulated articulations may be perceived : and where the
internal part of these bodies is exposed, as may be seen in the figure,
they are found to be hollow, and manifesting similar traces of the
original crenulated articulations.

When the similarity of the vertebrae in this specimen, and in that
mass in which the skeleton of the body part of the animal is imbed-
ded, is considered, little doubt can exist as to their both being parts
of the same species : and when the form and construction of the ra-
mose parts of this specimen, so well adapted for performing the of-
fice of pedicles, are contemplated, as little hesitation can occur in
admitting, that these parts constituted the inferior termination, the or-
gan of attachment, of this species of the encrinus.

Having, I trust, established the existence of this peculiar species,
I shall call your attention to the peculiarities observable in its verte-
bral trunk.

The specimen, Plate XV. Fig. 4, which is formed ofaspathose sub-
stance, with a reddish tinge, is particularly interesting from its differ-

205

ing so very materially from every other species of trochital vertebrae.
Like other entrochi, it is of a cylindrical form, but is somewhat
flattened, and, most probably, by compression. The vertebras of which
it is composed are extremely thin in proportion to their width, being
scarcely an eighth of an inch in thickness, although upwards of an inch
in their medium diameter; every vertebra being most thickly, and at
the same time irregularly, beset with very small holes. In consequence
of the exceedingly fine striae on their surfaces, the lines of articula-
tion are so very fine, as hardly to be visible, except the eye receives the
aid of a magnifier ; when it is discovered, that the notches in the
lines of articulation are so small, as to have the appearance of being
very finely serrated. The direction too, of the articulation, is also
very uncommon, being irregularly undulating; this irregularity evi-
dently proceeding, not from any modification of their form, from any
circumstance attendant on the change from the animal to the mineral
kingdom ; but certainly from a concurrence of arrangement with the
minute openings which have been just particularized. Hence it is to
be seen that the line which marks the articulating surface takes the
middle of the intervening spaces between these openings, so as some-
times to include one, and sometimes two rows of the openings, fall-
ing in with, and exactly adapting itself to, their irregular disposition.

This specimen also formed apart of Mr. Strange's museum; but of
where it was obtained from, I have no information ; its close agree-
ment, however, with some specimens, of which I shall presently speak,
seems to determine, almost decidedly, on its having been obtained from
the Isle of Gothland.

The fossil, Plate XV. Fig. 8, accords so nearly with the pre-
ceding, as to render many of the observations which I shall now make,
applicable to both. Like the former, this specimen is composed of
very thin trochitse, which are connected by the articulation of their
very minutely serrated edges. In this the small openings are disposed
with much more regularity than in the former specimen, they being

206

placed at nearly equal distances, and almost in straight lines: the lines
of articulation preserving the same direction. This specimen, I have
reason to believe, is from Wenlock Edge, to which place, or rather
to its fossil productions, I shall soon have to recur. In another speci-
men, not marked with sufficient distinctness to be employed as"a sub-
ject for delineation, a middle state, as it were, is to be observed. The
minute openings, as well as the lines of articulation, are disposed
with much less regularity than in the specimen just described, but
with considerably more than in the preceding.

In Knorr's elegant work, a fossil is depicted which is evidently of
the same species with those which are here figured ; the regularity with
which its lines of articulation and its small openings are disposed, ren-
dering it most like that which is represented Fig. 8. From the re-
marks of Mr. Walch on this fossil, we learn that it was obtained from
the Isle of Gothland; and that its specimens are sometimes, as is the
case with Fig. 6, pervaded with a tinge of red. They differ much, he
observes, in thickness as well as in length; some being not more than
half an inch, whilst others are two inches in thickness ; they vary also
in length from one to five or six inches. It is, however, well de-
serving of remark, that according to Mons. Klein's account, the
limeburners of Gothland often find these entrochi of the length of an
ell. Their central opening, Mr. Walch observes, varies as in the
other entrochi, being sometimes circular, and sometimes, though
very rarely, stellated. It is only with the assistance of a glass, he
observes, that the lines of connection between the trochites, as well
as the numerous little openings between these lines, are to be plainly
seen. Of these openings, he says, it is observable, that they pass
through the substance of the trochites, and open into the central ca-
nal ; and in general, he says, they do not bear any marks of having
given off branches; although, he observes, it is certain that some, at
least, do ramify ; since, in a specimen which he possesses, there is a
ramification, which is given off from the larger trunk, possessing similar

'20?

openings and similar articulations with those which are seen in the
trunk itself. On the specimen described by Mr. Walch, he remarks,
that there also exist several mamillary projections, resembling small
branches, and which, being placed over some of the openings which
pass from the centre to the circumference, have these openings or
holes continued quite through them. If, he observes, we have a
right to suppose that similar little branches were placed over all
these little openings, these branches must have been exceedingly
small, and so prodigiously numerous, as to give it the appearance
of a brush.

The following differences, it must be admitted, serve to place these
entrochi, and of course the encrinus to which they belong, under a
distinct species. The width of the column appears to much exceed
the width of entrochi in general ; the lines of articulation are much
finer than in other entrochi, and are not so regularly disposed :
hence a degree of irregularity in the thickness, and in the figure of
the trochites themselves, which is unknown in other trochitae. From
this discordance many had been disposed to consider these bodies ra-
ther as ramified corals than as entrochi ; but Mr. Walch observes, that
they agree with these bodies in every essential circumstance, and
therefore should be considered as the parts of the trunk of an encrinus,
which, judging by the size of the stem, must have been of a very consi-
derable size. If the stems of an ell in length, found by the limeburners
of the Isle of Gothland, were but of the ordinary thickness, then, as
Mr. Walch observes, the stems of such a thickness, or that which is
possessed by the specimen, represented Fig. 6, should be, in propor-
tion of three ells or more in length. How much, he remarks, does
there here remain to be discovered !

The exact accordance of the Gothland fossils with the stern of the
Shropshire (the turban) encrinite, in the thinness of the trochitre, the
fineness of their radiating lines, the numerous lateral openings, and
the protruding processes, shews indubitably, that these fossils*have all
belonged to the same species of encrinite.

208

LETTER XX.

PEAR ENCRINITE OP BRADFORD. ...SUPERIOR EXTREM1T Y.... INFE-
RIOR EXTREMITY FOUND ALSO AT PFEFFINGEN.

ALTHOUGH aware of the very imperfect state of the several fossils
which I shall place before you, in illustration of the next species of
encrinite, I arn yet induced to hope, that 1 shall be able not only to
satisfy you of its having existed as a distinct species, but to supply
you with the means of forming a tolerably correct notion, respect-
ing the form and structure of the skeleton, and of its superior as well
as of its inferior extremity.

The first, and I believe, indeed, the only notice which has been hither-
to taken of the remains of this animal, is to be found in the " Descrip-
tions and Figures of Petrifactions, found in the Quarries, Gravel-pits,
(j-c. near Bath. Collected and drawn by John JFalcott, Esq." Page 46,
Fig. 6'1, seven of the connected vertebrae, and one of these separated,
are figured by Mr. Walcott, whose only account of the former is "a co-
noid body of seven joints;" and of the latter, "one of the joints, except
a small breadth from the edge, which is flat, both sides are concave,
which makes the edge of the hole, which is in the centre, very thin.
Found in the pits from whence they dig stone to make the new road
leading from Kingsdown to Bradford, &c."

Not being able to obtain any farther information respecting this
fossil,than the little which was yielded by Mr, Walcott's account, I,

209

for three or four years, procured all the specimens which I thought
would throw any light upon its history. My endeavours would,
however, I suspect, have been attended with very little success, if my
very kind friend, Mr. Townsend, had not availed himself of his vici-
nity to Bradford, and favoured me with such specimens as he consi-
dered would be most likely to facilitate my inquiries.

The vertebral column of this species, at least in such specimens as
have come under my observation, does not appear to be marked by any
very remarkably distinguishing character. The vertebrae are, indeed,
thin, but not so much so as those of the last species ; the articula-
tions are particularly nicely fitted, and, in consequence, the whole co-
himn has a very neat and elegant appearance, as may be seen in the
representation of this part of the animal, Plate XVI. Fig. 1.

At the superior termination of this column, the vertebra?, for the
space of about half an inch, and for about the number of eight or
nine, comprised in that space, gradually increase in their diameter,
but still retain, very nearly, the same degree of thickness, as may be
seen in the specimen, Plate XVI. Fig. 2.

Beyond this point the vertebrae increase in their diameter much
more suddenly, have a much larger central foramen, and acquire more
than double their former thickness. These vertebrae are generally
about six in number, and occupy about twice the length of the for-
mer, Plate XVI. Fig. 7- These, when separated, are found to differ
very materially from the preceding vertebrae : their inferior surfaces
are concave to a considerable depth, whilst their superior surfaces, so
far from possessing a corresponding degree of convexity, are, in gene-
ral, but slightly rounded, and are very frequently quite flat, Plate
XVI. Fig. 3. Hence, between each of these vertebrae, a central cir-
cular space must exist, deeper in its centre than at its margin; its mag-
nitude, of course, depending on the degree of disparity existing be-
tween the opposed surfaces of the united vertebrae.

To these succeeds a body of a different form, in which the general

VOL. II. E E

character of the encrinus, the separation into a pentapetalous form,
begins to be displayed. In this body, the inferior surface, like that
of the vertebra?, possesses a regular concavity ; but its superior sur-
face is formed of five nearly triangular depressions, separated by
as many linear projections, passing from, the centr^ to the circum-
ference.

From the form and situation of this body, it may 'fee considered as
analagous with those parts which, in the preceding encrinites, I have
considered as clavicles : the only difference being, that here they are
united in one piece, whereas in the former species they exist in five
separate pieces. This body, or clavicle, is represented separate,
Plate XVI. Fig. 4, united with the vertebrae at Fig. 7, and with the
other parts of the animal, Fig, 8, a.

That formation of the solid parts, or of the skeleton of the animal,
next takes place, which we have already seen adopted, in the preced-
ing species, as preparatory to the formation of the limbs of the ani-
mal. Five separate bodies, externally of a rhomboidal form, with in-
ferior surfaces fitted to the superior surfaces of the bodies which have
been just mentioned, and with superior surfaces exactly resembling
their inferior, form the next series of solid parts, and which appear to
answer to those parts which in the preceding species we have consi-
dered as scapulae. These are represented, Plate XVI. Fig. 8, b. where
it will be also seen, that in the centre of the side of one of these, a fo-
ramen, and in that of another, a projection is observable, showing that
from these parts articulated processes had been given off, in the same
manner as from some of the trochitae already noticed.

On the superior surfaces of these last-described bodies are placed
five others, which are the first series of those which may be considered
as forming the arms of the animal. The inferior surface of each of
these bodies forms an obtuse angle exactly agreeing with the angle
formed at the union of the preceding bodies, and in which angle
these bodies are disposed, whilst the superior surface is regularly

211

concave. In the concavities of these are placed another series of
five other bodies of a similar form, whose inferior surfaces possess a
degree of convexity, which adapts them for reception in the concavi-
ties of the former bodies, and whose superior surfaces, like those of
the former series, are regularly concave, Plate XVI. Fig . 8. c.

In these concavities are placed five other bodies, being the last se-
ries of those which appear to form the arms. Their inferior surfaces
are convex, fitted to the cavities which receive them ; and their su-
perior surfaces are each divided by a ridge, into two pits or concavi-
ties, Plate XVI. Fig. 8, d. which are more distinctly seen in the spe-
cimen, Plate XVI. Fig. 6. These appear to have been the articulat-
ing surfaces of other bodies which have not been preserved, but
which may be presumed to have been the articulated fingers of the
animal, analagous to those which are seen to exist in the lily
species.

From the regular diminution of size in the three last series of bo*
dies, the part of the skeleton which they compose becomes contracted,
and the whole mass assumes somewhat of a pear-like shape ; a cir-
cumstance which may be employed for distinguishing this species,
as I have presumed to do, by the designation of the PEAR ENCRI-
NITE.

Although this species differs so much, in form, from the lily encri-
nite, yet the analogy existing between their component parts is very
close. As in that, so in this species, those parts exist, which, from
their serving to unite the upper extremities to the body of the animal,
have been considered as the clavicles and scapulae: and in both
species the five arms of the animal divide and form hands, each con-
sisting of two articulated fingers.

Having taken this view of the structure of the superior termina-
tion of this animal, as far as its imperfect remains will allow; and
having also found its structure to accord in its general characters with

212

that of the other species, I shall now proceed to the inquiry respect-
ino- its inferior extremity, or organ of attachment.

In the same spot where the fossil already described has been so fre-
quently found, at Bradford, small protuberant masses, of a peculiar
nature and form, have for some time been noticed on the surface of
the limestone. These masses are evidently of a spathose nature, and
their colour is remarkable, being a very dark grey, with so much of
a purplish hue, as to have very much the appearance of the purple
fluate of lime.

Having obtained, in addition to those which I already possessed,
several very illustrative specimens from the Rev. Mr. Townsend, and
having purchased several others from different collectors in the neigh-
bourhood of Bath and Bristol, I proceeded to their examination.

Rubbing several of these masses down in different directions, and
giving to them the necessary polish, their real nature and their peculi-
arity of structure became manifest, Plate XVI. Fig. 5, 12, and 14.
That they were formed of a continuation of the entrochal column
of this species of animal was rendered obvious, by several of the spe-
cimens ; the same peculiar neatness in the general form of the co-
lumn, as well as in its crenated articulations, being observable in
these, as has been already noticed in the column, Plate XVI. Fig. 1.
But if a doubt existed as to the identity of the species to which these
several parts belonged, it must be removed by the examination of
the column, Plate XVI. Fig. 5, which, with all the properties ob-
servable in the preceding column, possesses the particular characters
of that substance which is found adherent to the limestone rock, and
which may be considered as the pedicle or radicle of this species,
and as answering to the astropodium of Lhwydd, and to the radii
stellarum polyactinobolorum of Rosinus.

In this specimen the same circumstance is observable, on which it
was found necessary to dwell so particularly, whilst examining the

213

inferior termination of the lily encrinite. An effused lymph, or a
membranous expansion, appears to have involved this column, in
the same manner as was observed in that fossil, as well as in the infe-
rior termination of the turban encrinus ; and appears, in the same
manner, to have diminished the mobility of its articulations.

The longitudinal section of a somewhat similar specimen, Plate XVI.
Fig. 12, shows more plainly the nature and use of this investing part.
The vertebral column is there seen surrounded with different layers of
*this substance, each of which appears to have been formed on the sur-
face of the column, and to have separated, and extended itself by its
growth to a considerable distance, at its inferior part, from the column
on which it had been formed, whilst it has still closely adhered to the
column at its superior part.

A curious fact is here observable: in these membranes, which
at different distances surround the vertebral column, crenulated
articulations, similar to and exactly concurring with those of the
vertebrae, are plainly to be seen. By this curious conformation of
the organ of attachment, it is obvious that a more widely extended
base was obtained ; and in consequence of the points of union being
thus increased by so many concentric lines of adhesion, the firmness
of the adherence of the animal must have been well secured. From
the crenulated articulations which these tunics possessed in com-
mon with the vertebral column which they inclose, it is evident that
they must have possessed a certain portion of mobility, such, most
probably, as would be necessary for the animal to employ at this part ;
whilst, by the coherence of these tunics with each other, and with
the column itself in the superior part of the pedicle, the vertebral co-
lumn must here have acquired a considerable portion of strength.
The transverse section of another of these specimens, Plate XVI.
Fig. 14, serves to furnish us with a still more correct idea of the mode,
in which the osseous tunics or membranes were disposed, on the spot
to which the animal was affixed.

The peculiar structure of this extremity of the animal is very clearly
displayed, in the beautiful polished agatine specimen, from Soissons,
which has been divided by a longitudinal section. Plate XVI. Fig, 13.

In this specimen, but particularly in its lower part, the vertebral
column itself, is seen surrounded by numerous investing tunics.
These, at their lower part, are spread out like roots, and are evidently
well calculated to fix the animal to his devoted spot, whilst a little
higher up these several tunics cohere together, as well as with the
column which they include, and having their crenulated articulations
exactly concur with those of the included vertebra, they form a ver-
tebral column, which, having thus acquired a considerable additional
degree of solidity, must have evidently been well calculated to form
the main support of the animal.

In the several species of encrini which have been hitherto treated
of, it was found necessary to notice how very few specimens of their
extremities have been found, in comparison with the remains of the
trunk of the animal. This, however, is not the case with this species,
since both the extremities of the animal appear to be tolerably abun-
dant; indeed, judging from the specimens of this fossil, which I have
obtained, remains of its superior and inferior parts appear to have ex-
ceeded in proportion those of its vertebral column.

The lower extremities of this species of encrinite, we have already
seen, have been found in Wiltshire and at Soissons. They have also
been found at Pfeffingen, in Germany, but no correct notion respect-
ing them had been hitherto formed.

Mons. le Professeur d' Annone fa voured Mr. Walch with drawings for
three plates, from specimens in his museum, obtained from Pfefiingen^
and which were employed by Mr. AValch in Knorr's elegant work,
and illustrated by Mons. d'Annone's observations, which I shall now
proceed to notice *. You will, whilst attending to these remarks, be

* Recueil des Monumens, &c. Tome II. Sect. II. p. 119.

215

soon led, by several coincident circumstances, to discover that the
fossils to which the Professor refers, are similar to those of Wiltshirer
the nature of which I have just been endeavouring to ascertain.

The Professor remarks, that many had doubted the existence of ra-
mified entrochi, and had supposed that their apparent branches were
corals formed on them, in consequence of the coral-forming polype^
having by accident become attached to their trunks. Of this opi-
nion, he observes, he might perhaps himself have been, had not some
of these specimens proved to him, that these branches were not merely
attached to the surface of the column, but had actually proceeded from
its interior part. The crenulated articulation, one of the essential cha-
racters of the entrochi, he observes, was discoverable in these ramifi-
cations, which convinced him that the matter of which these branches
were formed had not been applied accidentally to the surface of the
column, and satisfied him that these were ramified entrochi, and parts
of some zoophyte of the family of enerini.

The first specimen, represented Tab. G. II. Fig. 1, of Knorr's works,
is evidently formed of a fragment of the tumid part of the lower ex-
tremity of a large pear encrinus, with its proportionally thick invest-
ing tunics. This investing part, as well as the part which it involves,
bears very plainly the marks of the crenulated lines of articula-
tion ; and as plainly, also, manifests its laminated structure. So evi-
dent is this latter circumstance, that Mons. d'Annone, who compares
its lamellae, so regularly disposed on one another, to the coats of an
onion, is inclined to think that these concentric rings bear some ana-
logy to those which mark the successive annual increase of trees. The
circumstances here remarked are particularly obvious in Tab. G. II.
Eig. 4, of the above work.

In one of the specimens of Prof. d'Annone, the entrochus, after di-
viding at its base into five branches, is spread along the surface of, and
imbedded in. the calcareous stone, in such a form as to give at once the
idea of its being the radicle or foot-stalk of the encrinus. (Astropo-

(Tiurn encrini). Mr. Walch is induced, from this extension of its
branches along the lime-stone, to consider it as a particular species,
and from this property, to term it Entrochus Ramosus repens.

One similarity between the fossils of Pfeffingen and those of Wilt-
shire, and which may be implied from the colouring of the plates
which represent the former in Knorr's work, deserves to be particu-
larly noticed. The artist, who has executed his part with great fidelity,
has thrown a purple tinge into the specimens from Pfeffingen, which,
I well remember, when I first saw, appeared to me to be gaudy and un-
natural ; but, as has been already observed, this same purplish tinge
characterizes the specimens found at Bradford, and gives to the spa-
those matter very much the appearance of purple fluor.

The resemblance between the fossils of Pfeffingen and those of
Bradford extends still farther. The entrochi of both places agree
in a peculiar characteristic neatness in their form, and particularly in
the neatness of the line of articulation, resulting from the fineness of
the radiating striae, which mark the surfaces of their trochitae. So ex-
act is this agreement, that there is not a doubt, that any one who was
acquainted with the forms of different entrochi, but who had not
seen those of Pfeffingen, would, immediately on seeing the figures of
these, in the work of Knorr, have named them for the entrochi of
Bradford.

217

LETTER XXI.

NAVE ENCRINITE.. ..DISCOVERED IN YORKSHIRE BY MR. MARTIN
LISTER.. ..IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE BY MR. JOHN BE AUMONT....SU P-
POSED TO BE THE RADIX OF AN ENC RINUS....SHE WN TO BE THE
PELVIS OR SKELETON OF THE BODY PA'RT.... SIMILAR FOSSILS

DESCRIBED OTHERS PROM THE ISLE OF GOTH LAND.... ENCRI-

N1TE IN MR. DONOVAN'S COLLECTION.

IN the year 1674, Mr. Martin Lister dicovered in Braughton and
Stock, little villages in Craven in Yorkshire, stony bodies which he
considered as the radices of entrochi *. Having referred to the passage
of Agricola, noticed in a former letter, in which he speaks of the Ra-
dices Entrochorum, Mr. Lister says, " we, in these rocks, find certain
rude stones, of the bigness of walnuts, which have many impressions
of trochitae upon them, as though they had been the roots of them :"
aiid proceeds to observe, that all these stones are not to be considered
as Lapides informes ; instancing to the contrary, the encrinital remains,
to the consideration of which this letter is devoted *.

These fossils, he describes as being about the size of a walnut, but
in the fashion of a pine-apple or cone, with a hollow bottom, sur-

* Philosophical Transactions, No. 1 00.
VOL. II. F F

218

rounded by five double points or feet, in the figure of crescents, and
having on their top the impression of a trochites, or a trochites itself
yet adhering. He describes these stones as incrustate, from their being
covered with rough polygonal plates, and says, " I can compare the
incrustation of these stones to nothing so well, as to the skins of the
pi sets triangular is, thus described by Margravius: " Cujus cutis (nam
caret squamis) figuris trigonis, tetragonis pentagonis, hexagonisque
mire distinguitur et notatur."

Mr. John Beaumont relates, in the Philosophical Transactions for the
year 1676, that the bodies termed radices by Mr. Lister, were to be
found in the Mendip Hills, Gloucestershire, and says, " Agricola com-
pares these stones to a wheel ; and truly the body well resembles the nave
of a cart or coach-wheel, the shape of it being conical towards one
end, till you come just to the top, where it is a little flat, with a hole
in it ; and it has another hole in the middle of the broad end, oppo-
site to this, very fit for an axis to pass through, and the five hollow
stirts or feet, issuing sideways, at equal distances from the broad bot-
tom, somewhat resembling spokes ; the said stirts standing about
half an inch out from the body of the stone, so that it may not very
improperly be called Modiolus quinque radiatus ; and at the ends of
the stirts, where the hollows should show themselves, there grows,
after a very artificial manner, a pretty large seam of the same stone,
just over the middle of the hollow, from the upper part of the stirt
to the lower part of it, parting the hollow in the middle, and cover-
ing about a third part of it, not that this seam enters farther into the
hollow than the mouth of it, so that the hollow of each stirt presents
itself with two eyes. Hence, it appears, that those stirts or feet were
never longer than they are, and that no stone ever grew to them."

Mr. Lister says, " the feet were like crescents at the end, whereby I
find the fore-seams of his stones were broken off, as two of them are
in mine. The stone seems wrought all over like the fish mentioned
by Mr. Lister, being composed of trigonal, tetragonal, pentagonal,

219

and hexagonal plates. The upper part of the conical end is wrought
round with six large hexagonal plates, and these reach half-way the
stone; then follows a second round, made up of eleven pentagonal
plates, pretty large, and these reach almost to the broad bottom,
which is a little convex, the bottom itself and feet contain plates of
all makes, but most of them are very small.''

Mr. Beaumont calls them, with Mr. Lister and Ray, Rock Plants,
and adds, " we may truly say, that there have been and are whole
fields or forests of these in the earth, as there are of coral in the Red
Sea/'

" I must own, (Mr. Beaumont says) the knowledge of its being a
radix to Mr. Lister's hint, though I have Agricola by me, but did not
well mind him : and because the perfect radix was smooth on the
top, and many other pieces of radixes which I have by me, they did
not well indicate the thing, though upon a review I find one of them
with small rays there." Mr. Beaumont thus designates the particular
fossil, of which he has given a figure. " A curious radix, somewhat
more entire than elsewhere to be found, on which those rock plants
sometimes grow, though it be manifest, that they often grow also from
plain roots */'

Both Mr. Lister and Mr. Beaumont have supplied the Philosophi-
cal Transactions with figures of these bodies ; that furnished by the
latter gentleman being exceedingly correct. But entertaining a di-
rect contrary opinion respecting this fossil, from that which these gen-
tlemen were led to adopt; believing, that instead of its being the
base or radix of the entrochus, it is the summit of the column, or the
pelvis, from which the arms, fingers, and tentacula of the animal
proceeded, and which was supported by the trochital column, it be-
came necessary to represent it, in a reverse position to that in which
it had been placed in those figures. I therefore availed myself of the po-
lite and prompt assistance which I have always received during my re-

* Philosophical Transactions, Vol. X.

220

searches, from the officers of the British Museum, and procured a
drawing from, I believe, the identical specimen described by Mr,
Beaumont, and which now makes a part of that superb collection.
The representation of this fossil is at Plate XVII. Fig. 3, where at a
is shewn the surface which was applied to the superior termination of
the vertebral column, which supported the pelvis or viseral cavity,
from which proceed the five hollow arms, each dividing into two,
whence, I suppose, proceeded the fingers, tentacula, &c.

To enable me to shew you the grounds of this supposition, I must
place before you a few other fossils, the examination of which will,
I trust, lead you to agree with me in the conclusions I think myself
authorised to make. I lament the being unable to determine where
these fossils were found ; but this circumstance, however to be re-
gretted on other accounts, will, fortunately, in no respect interfere
with my present object. It is right to observe, that from the similari-
ty of their matrix, and from my having obtained them all from one
person, there is reason for supposing that they all came from the same
place, and I suspect from the Ise of Gothland.

One of these fossils, Plate XVII. Fig. 4, although very imperfect
in some respects, retains sufficient of its original form and matter, to
prove that it is of the same species with the fossil just described.
Like that fossil, it has a small circular radiated area at its lower part,
evidently adopted for articulation with the superior vertebra of the
vertebral column ; and, like that fossil, it had five hollow arms, each
divided by a partition down the centre. This fossil is entirely filled
with a very hard pyritous clay.

Another, Plate XVII. Fig. 2, is a fragment of either a variety of
this species, or of a much larger specimen than those just described ;
it has a trochital articulating surface, nearly six times as large as that
of the former, with a central pentagonal opening. This surface ap-
pears to have been formed by a circular plate, with five obliquely

221

raised triangular processes, between each two of which is placed a
pentagonal plate, about a quarter of an inch in thickness.

The small one, represented Plate XVII. Fig. 5, exactly agrees, in
every respect, with a fossil which is in the British Museum, in the same
box with the one already described in the words of Mr. Lister and
of Mr. Beaumont. Like that fossil, this smaller one has its trochital
articulating surface, its five arms, and its surface made up of polygonal
plates ; but it has no opening on the upper surface. On this part,
instead of the opening which is observable in Mr. Beaumont's fossil,
there are six round protuberances of different sizes ; one projecting
about an eighth, and the other about the thirty-second of an inch.
The articulating surface in this fossil is very indistinctly seen : it ap-
pears to be formed of three pieces, the form of which cannot be po?
sitively ascertained. Around these are disposed six hexagonal pieces;
on which other smaller ones are placed, forming the visceral ca-
vity ; but the form and arrangement of these cannot be well made
out.

The fossil fragment, Plate ..XVII. Fig. 1, is particularly interesting
on several accounts. The crenated articulating surface is very dis-
tinctly observable on it, especially towards the edge of the circle. It
is also distinctly perceived, that this articulating surface is formed by
the union of the flat surfaces of three hexagonal ossicula?, the com-
missures of which are not, however, discoverable on the articulating
surface, in consequence, as it appears to me, of a portion of the in-
tervening cartilage still remaining adherent 011 the articulating sur-
face.

The ossiculae in this fossil, having a more rounded external surface,
appear more separated than those in the preceding specimens, and
are therefore more distinctly seen : their edges, when viewed with the
assistance of a lens, display an osseous structure, very much resem-
bling that which is seen on the edges of the fossil bony palates of
fishes.

ArouncHhe three hexagonal bodies forming the articulating sur-
face, is a series of six other hexagonal bodies, which are articulated
with the former ; four of these bodies are shewn in the figure ; the
other two cannot easily be shewn in this view of the specimen. To
these, another series of smaller hexagonal bodies appear to have been
united, four of which now only remain. It is impossible to determine
from this fossil, in its present state, what was its original complete
form ; but as far as can be judged from the arrangemen tcf the few
remaining ossiculae, it may be concluded, that its form was somewhat
similar to that of Mr. Beaumont's, Plate XVII. Fig. 3. This con-
clusion will, I think, be strengthened by the examination of some
other fossils, which have hitherto been too little regarded.

Subjoined to a letter of Dr. Capeller to Scheuchzer, on the study of
Lithography, £c.* are figures of three different encrini, which ap-
pear to be referable to the species just treated of.

These are described as Stony Gothlandic Encrini or Stars, with ar-
ticulated rays or fingers, and ossiculce like carpal bones, proceeding
from the extremity of the trochitae, different from any encrini hither-
to known.

One of these, here represented, Plate XVII. Fig. 10, taken from Fig.
3, of Dr. Capeller's plate, very much resembles, in its metacarpal part,
the fossil, figured Plate XVII. Fig. 1. The figure from Dr. Capeller's
plate, besides pointing out the similarity between that fossil and the
fossil in my possession, figured above, Fig. 1, serves also to shew,
that the encrinite described by Mr. Lister and Mr. Beaumont, are
also of a similar kind. The fossil remains, which I possess, are suffi-
ciently similar, in their trochital articulating surface and general form,
to evince their affinity with the English fossils ; whilst the disposition
of the metacarpal ossiculse of the one, at Plate XVII. Fig. 1, makes
out the relationship of both with the Gothlandic encrini of Dr. Ca-

* Epistolu ad .1. J. Scheucbzerum, 1729.

peller, and, of course, the general agreement of these fossils with
each other.

The figure of Dr. Capeller's fossil, is useful also on another account.
Articulated tentacula are seen passing from the inside of the ringers,
plainly evincing that these fossils are the superior terminations, and
not as Mr. Lister and Mr. Beaumont supposed, the radices of encrini.
The form of the ringers 'of the encrinus, figured by Dr. Capeller, so
much accords with that of the fingers of the encrinus in Mr. Dono-
van's Collection, and which I shall next notice, as to induce me al-
most to think, that Mr. Donovan's fossil may be of the same species
with those which have been just examined.

One of the encrini figured by Dr. Capeller differs from the rest suf-
ficiently, to allow it to be considered as a variety of this species ; the
metacarpal ossiculae being so thickly and deeply radiated, as to give
to each of them somewhat of a roselike form.

The fossil figured Plate XVII. Fig. 12, is a small specimen, appa-
rently of this species, which is in the British Museum. The only ac-
count of this fossil, which I could obtain, is that which is contained
in the label accompanying it, describing it, " Modiolus galeatus, from
Benbuisghen, a high mountain near Murlach Mor, in the county of
Sligo."

I am at present unable to offer any opinion respecting the nature
and form of the trochital trunk of this animal, or of its inferior extremi-
ties. I, however, hope, that having traced it thus far, I shall learn,
before long, that some other admirer of these subjects, resident in the
neighbourhoods in which they are found, will have more success-
fully extended this investigation. Then, and not before, can this
animal be designated by an appropriate name ; at present, it may be
proper to term it, agreeable to the resemblance which it bears to
the nave of a wheel, the NAVE ENCRINITE.

In the very valuable and interesting museum of Mr. Donovan is, I
believe, an unique specimen of the remains of an enerinite, which
seems to have been nearly intermediate, with respect to the length of

the fingers, and of the tentacula, between the lily encrinite and the
Briaracn pentacrinite : these partaking of the great length of those in
the latter fossil ; whilst, like those of the Lily Encrinite, they appear to
have been capable of being contracted into the form of a closed
flower. The arms and fingers are much more slender than in the lily
encrinus ; and the articulated tentacula, which are arranged along
the whole length of the fingers, have very much the appearance of the
terminations of the abovementioned pentacrinite. It is much to
be regretted, that the parts forming the pelvis are not discoverable
in this specimen ; in consequence of which, no correct opinion can be
formed, respecting the modes in which the arms were given off from
the pelvis, or of the manner in which this was united to the vertebral
column. For a particular account of this curious fossil, I must refer
you to the subjoined information respecting it with which I have been
favoured by Mr, Donavan.

" PLUMOSE ENCRINUS.

" A large flat piece of compact grey limestone, of nearly a triangu-
lar form, and very uneven surface, at its greatest extremities, 10 inches
by 81. In one part of this is imbedded an encrinus, having a great
number of long arms or rays, each furnished with numerous delicate
tentacula or claspers, disposed like the feathery appendages on the
quill of a pen, and on account of which resemblanceit has been named
ENCRINUS PENNATA. Fourteen of these arms are visible, or maybe
traced, on one side of the stone, and sixteen or more on the other.
Some of these arms being in relievo on the surface, shew the tentacu-
la very distinctly and fine; others are partially concealed in the stone.
Near these are a number of the finer or extreme parts of other arms
of a similar structure. The arms are cylindrical, and composed of a
great number of flat joints with a rounded edge, the largest about

225

one eighth of an inch in diameter, from which they taper, in regular gra-
dation, to a point; the tentacula consist of many articulations. The
main stem seen in this mass is of a circular form, somewhat hollow
within, having the edges rounded off, and a small hole in the centre.
There were several fragments of branched madrepores, and striated
shells of the anornia genus, also imbedded in the stone/'

From Dudley, in Worcestershire.

LETTER XXII.

THE TORTOISE ENCRINITE....THE STRAIT ENCRINITE.. ..THE BOTTLE

ENCRJNITE....THE CLOVE ENCRINITE KENTUCKY ASTERIAL

FOSSIL.. ..UNCOMMON ENCRINAL VERTEBRAS.. ..FOSSIL, APPARENT-
LY AN OVAL ENCRINITE.

THE first mention which I find made of any part of the extraor-
dinary fossil, which, from the disposition of the plates of which it
is formed, may be termed the TORTOISE ENCRINITE, and whose
nature I shall now attempt to investigate, is in Mr. Lister's paper on
the Radices Entrochorum *, already noticed. He there gives an en-
graving of one of the plates of this animal, which he describes only
as, " a pentagonous plate embossed with angles/'

One of these plates, from the chalk-pits in Kent, is exhibited, Plate
XIII. Fig. 30, adhering to its chalky matrix. A considerable degree
of variety is observable in the markings on these scales ; those which
are seen on the scale here figured, showing, from their extreme irregu-

* Philosophical Transactions, No. 100, February 1614.
VOL.11. GG

226

larity, how difficult it is to describe them in words. In general, how-
ever, the markings are made by lines passing perpendicularly from
each edge of the plate, and terminating in radiating lines extending
from the centre of the plate to each of its angles. These markings
not only differ very considerably in different specimens, thereby form-
ing numerous varieties ; but, as will be presently seen, they vary in
the different series of the plates in the same specimen, being adapted,
in some measure, to the different forms of the plates ; which also vary
in their respective series, by which their better adaptation to each
other is secured, and the required form of the animal is obtained.
Their connection with each other is also secured, by their rays or
markings so terminating at the edges of each plate, as to form crenu-
lated margins, which are reciprocally received into each other.

In the specimen of this animal, Plate XIII. Fig, 24, from a chalk-
pit in Kent, its inferior part has evidently been formed of five pen-
tagonal plates, circularly disposed, two of which are seen in this view
of the fossil, with a semicircular notch in the middle of each inferior
margin. The surfaces of these plates have but few markings ; four
or five risings only passing from the centre of each plate, and meet-
ing at each articulation with similar risings in the adjoining plates,

In the five angular recesses which result from the junction of these
bodies, at the upper part are placed the corresponding projecting an-
gles of the next series of five hexagonal plates ; and in five superior
angular recesses, formed by these, are placed the corresponding pro-
jecting angles of the third series, which are all pentagonal : each of
these having its superior side articulated with one of the sides of a
pentagonal plate at the top, which completes the marsupial form be-
longing to this animal*.

* This description is adapted to the annexed figure, which is, by mistake, placed in a re-
versed position to that which was, perhaps, most common to the animal ; the close part of
the purse at the bottom, and the open part from which the tentacula proceeded, at the su-
perior part, as in the description by Mr. Donovan.

227

As Mr. Donovan possessed a more perfect specimen of the fossil
remains of this animal, than I could procure, I requested and ob-
tained of him the following accurate description from the ticket
which accompanied his specimen.

" The Tortoise Asterio Encrinus, an animal partaking of the nature
of marine crustaceous creatures. It is composed chiefly of sixteen
angulated pieces or plates, of which five pentagonal ones surround
the mouth, in the upper edge of each of which is a semicircular notch,
from which depends a jointed arm or tentacula, which is dichoto-
mous after the first two joints, and is probably again divided and sub-
divided towards its extremities. Those arms were, no doubt, designed
by nature to assist in taking its food: Immediately under these five
plates are five other hexagonal ones ; and below these, five more that
are pentagonal, and the bottom is terminated by a single pentagonal
plate. All the plates fit closely into each other in the same manner
as the scales of a tortoise, so that no interstices appear, and these are
radiated from the centre to the edges ; the upper plates with four
or five rays each, the rest with six rays each : from the sides of these
ridges proceed lesser ones, terminating at the edge, and giving them
a pennate appearance. The plate from which the branched arms
proceed, are not so much striated between the larger rays as the other.
In some plates, the striae are broken, and form a rugose surface. The
plates vary in their markings in different individuals, and even in the
same specimen, some are coarsely ridged, or rayed; some finely
ridged, or rather striated, and some are nearly smooth. The body
does not seem capable of extension. Found in a chalk-pit in Surry."

Mr. Ingham Forster's Museum, O. 98 -

Whilst attending to the forms, as well as to the different markings-
of the plates, of which this animal is composed, you will not fail to ob-
serve some similarity with those of the encrinite just examined, and
designated by the term Nave Encrinite. One material difference,

228

however, exists between these : in that encrinite evident marks are
seen of its having been attached to a vertebral column ; whilst in this,
(the tortoise encrinite) there is no trace whatever of any mode, in
which such a combination could have been accomplished.

Mr. Donovan's specimen is rendered particularly interesting by the
two first bones of one of its arms being still adherent to one of the
semicircular openings, and in such a manner as not only to show
that its divisions were dichotomous, but also to furnish us with some
slight intimation of the nature of the trochitula? of which this mem-
ber was formed. The articulating surface of one of these may be
seen to be evidently formed by a slight concavity, in the centre of
which is a small foramen : two ridges, with a narrow intermediate de-
pression, passing in a line from this foramen to the two opposite points
in the circumference : this articulating surface closely resembles that
of the fossil trochites depicted Plate XIII. Fig. 40. But even with
this aid, I must acknowledge that rny researches respecting the arms
and tentaculae of this animal have been entirely unsuccessful.

Whilst striving to connect bodies together to form the ramifying
arms of this animal, I however discovered two other species of en-
crinites, possessing similar articulating surfaces with those of the ossi-
culae of the .arms of the tortoise encrinus, which I shall now proceed
to place before you, with some other substances, wrhich bear generic
marks of distinction sufficient to warrant their being considered as be-
longing to encrinites, although not always sufficient to admit of their
being respectively connected, so as to make out their respective species.

Following the particular character of the articulating surface of the
trochitula3 attached to the body of the tortoise encrinite, I first call
your attention to a fossil body, frequently found in the Kentish chalk-
pits,, which is of a cylindrical shape, and has at its ends two articu-
lating surfaces, much resembling that which is observable on the ossi-
culae attached to the tortoise encrinite. One of these bodies is repre-
sented on its matrix, Plate XIII. Fig. 35. Its surface is smooth, and

229

the articular ridges, which at each end traverse its axis, cross each
other, passing in opposite directions ; as is also the case with the tro*
chites, Fig. 41.

With the hope of learning more of the animal to whichthis part
belonged, I sought for some body which, with a similar articulation,
possessed some variation of form, and at length discovered the body,
Plate XIII. Fig. 34, which is also attached to its matrix. These bo-
dies are found in the same chalk-pits as yield the bodies just de-
scribed. At the one end of this body exists a similar articulating
surface with that of the former body ; but at the other end, such a
conformation is observable, as seems plainly to mark it as the base of
the pelvis, from which the arms of the animal had proceeded. Five
pentagonal pieces are first disposed in a circle on the end of the tro-
chite, and on these are placed five other pieces, which are rather longer
than the former. An inferior angle of each of these is let into an an-
gular recess, formed at the junction of each two of the former bodies ;
and at their superior part, each of these bodies terminate in a concave
surface, with two denticulse on its interior margin, forming, at their
union, a surface, which bears very much the appearance of a flower
with five petals. From this surface must have proceeded the arms,
fingers, &c* of this animal ; to discover the structure of which was the
next object of my research.

Following the clue yielded by the particular species of the articula-
tion, I am led to place next before you, as parts, in all probability,
composing the articulated arms and fingers, the series of ossiculae,
Plate XIII. Fig. 70, which are here depicted rather beyond their na-
tural size. These, from the resemblance which their articulating
surfaces bear, appear to be deserving of being classed with the
preceding body. The middle part of these ossiculae is cylindrical,
but the ends are contracted, as if compressed, in two contrary direc-
tions, so that two narrow elongated surfaces are formed at each end,
exactly crossing each other, and having a ridge running the length of

230

these surfaces, by which they articulated together, similar to the arti-
cular surface of the former bodies. Pursuing the examination of these
bodies, through the different sizes which I possess, I found others of a
smaller size, as at Fig. 71? and at last arrived at a soliary specimen,
Fig. 72, which is evidently one of the terminations of this series. Thus
we discover the superior termination of an encrinite, entirely different
from any which we have yet seen, and which appears to be rather re-
ferable to some species which has been hitherto totally unnoticed, than
to the tortoise encrinites, to which, from the peculiar mode of its ar-
ticulation, there seemed at first to be reason for supposing that it be-
longed.

That it does not belong to that animal is, indeed, rendered almost
certain, by the fortunate discovery of the small illustrative specimen,
Plate XIII. Fig. 73, where a vertebra, with an articular surface simi-
lar to those we have been describing, is seen to proceed from a flat,
expanded, and ramifying base, which, on its inferior part, has every
appearance of having adhered to some other body, and which, there-
fore, may properly be considered as the pedicle of this animal. Of
this small species of encrinite we therefore seem to possess, the organ of
attachment just described, the vertebrae, the pelvis, and the ramifying
superior extremity. The only peculiar character by which it can be
distinguished from other species, appears to be the strait manner in
which the ossiculse are disposed, of which its pelvis is formed. From
this circumstance I am led to distinguish it by the appellation of
the STRAIT ENCRINITE.

Pursuing the examination of such bodies as are characterised by
this particular species of articulation, I was led to the examination of
the spathose vertebra, Plate XIII. Fig. 74. This fossil, which was
also imbedded in chalk, is barrel-formed, having a similar articular
surface at each end with the fossil just treated of, the surface of its
sides being finely granulated ; but in some of these bodies, this sur-
face is tuberculated or even rugose, and in others nearly smooth,

Whether these differences on the surfaces of these bodies are the dif-
ferences of varieties only, I am unable to determine, from any of the
specimens which I possess. Nor am I able to point out, with any
degree of certainty, any of the other parts of the animal to which
these vertebrae have belonged. I have, however, very little doubt,
that they served to constitute the vertebral column of the animal, the
body part of which is represented Plate XIII. Fig. 75 and 76.

This body of an encrinite, Fig. 75, gradually enlarges from its ar-
ticulating surface, and assuming somewhat of a tumid utricular figure,
terminates in a superior floriform surface, on which are five triangu-
lar depressions. By the assistance of a glass, this body part may be
seen to be divided into ribs, clavicles, and scapulae, very much in the
same manner as is done in the strait encrinital body just placed be-
fore you, Plate XIII. Fig. 34. At Fig. 76 is represented another of
these fossils, in which the first vertebra is still adherent to the body
part, a very fine, somewhat raised line, marking the union of the ver-
tebral column with the pelvis. The utricular form assumed by the
body part of this encrinite has disposed me to name it the BOTTLE
ENCRINITE: the workers in chalk also distinguish these bodies by
the term chalk-bottles.

Hence it appears, that two other species of encrini must have ex-
isted, the articulating surfaces of whose vertebrae bore a very close, if
not an exact, resemblance with the ossiculae of the extremities of the
tortoise encrinite.

The next objects of research were the fossils corresponding with
those just described, in their tuberculated, granulated, or rugose
surface. This inquiry terminated in only ascertaining that there ex-
isted a species of encrinus, whose vertebrae, represented Plate XIII.
Fig. 69, bore on their sides these peculiar markings : these trochitae
differing, however, essentially, from the vertebrae of the preceding
species^ by radiated or trochital surfaces of articulation, and by being
pierced with a much larger foramen.

The three specimens of encrinital remains, still adherent to their
chalky matrix, Plate XIII. Fig. 31, 38, 39, decidedly belong to a
species entirely different, especially in its mode of ramification, from
any which have been hitherto noticed.

The curious mode in which the ossiculoe are articulated in these
specimens is particularly deserving to be remarked ; it is therefore
carefully made out in the specimen, Fig. 31, where the form of the
arms seems to warrant the appropriating to this species of encrinite,
the appellation of the STAG'S-HORN ENCRINITE.

The calcareous fossil, Plate XIII. Fig. 77> with an extended flat
base, gradually assumes a columnar form, and terminates upwards in
a small round crenulated surface, pierced with a hole which passes
through the substance of the fossil. There can be little doubt, that
this fossil has been the organ of attachment of some minute animal
of the genus encrinus. This is confirmed by the appearance of its
under part, which shows no fitness for motion, but appears to have
been well formed for securing its adherence to any other substance.

The probability of this conjecture being correct, is increased by the
appearances yielded by the next fossil, Plate XIII. Fig. 78, which is
a small, long, slender trochital vertebra, agreeing so nearly in its
size, colour, and articulating surface with the preceding fossil, as to
give strong reason for supposing that a series of these formed the ver-
tebral column to which it served as pedicle.

The fossil represented, Plate XIII. Fig. 79? has been long noticed
by oryctoligsts for its close resemblance in form to a clove ; from
which circumstance it derived the name, Caryophillus lapideus, which
is in general applied to it. Various have been the opinions enter-
tained respecting it, some having believed it to be actually a petrified
clove ; others, that it was part of the spine of an echinus of a particu-
lar form. Lhwydd seems to have been the first who entertained a ra-
tional opinion respecting its origin. Referring to a specimen which he
had received from Germany, and to the only specimen which he had

233

met with, and which he had found in Caldey Island, he says, " At
'originem, si attendamus, non aliud revera est, quam stellae cujusdam
•fossilis modiolus *."

These fossils are found in great numbers in- the mountains of
Switzerland, 'particularly in those of the Canton of Zurich, and of
SchafThausen. The form which they bear certainly approaches very
nearly to that of a clove. The lower extremity is pierced in its centre,
•with a small opening, which is surrounded by a crenulated surface,
fitted for articulation with a tfochital vertebrae, From this termina-
tion the body of the fossil gradually enlarges, and is so extended, as
to terminate in five points, with five intermediate circular margins ;
and to form, in the upper part, a slight concavity, answering to the
pelvis in the larger encrinites, with a relieved stellated figure in its
centre. In each of the circular margins ate two depressions, in which,
in all probability, were fixed the first ossiculae of the arms of this ani-
mal. Viewing this body with a lens of tolerable power, it is seen,
that a suture passes from each of the five points, just described,
through the centre of the inferior extremity; dividing this body into
five ossiculae, as we saw was the case with the Ossa Innominata of the
lily encrinite. That this, agreeable to the opinion of Rosinus, is the
central part of some species of encrinites, not yet known, is all that
can at present be asserted of it. With respect to its vertebrae, it is
observed by Mr. Walch, that one of the barrel -formed trochitae has
been seen attached to the articular surface of this body. This obser-
vation encouraged rne to offer a conjecture, that it may be the pelvis
belonging to the barrel-formed vertebrae, Fig. 7'8, last described ; jj-ie
organ of attachment belonging to which, I have ventured to suppose,
was the bodies represented Fig. 77. This opinion being correct, the
appellation of THE CLOVE ENCRINITE appears to be applicable to
it his species.

» i

* Epistola ad Augustum Quirhmm Rivinum
VOL. II. H H

to

234

To future discoveries must also be left the ascertaining of the ori-
ginal nature of the other fossils -which remain to be noticed in this
letter. The first of these, Plate XIII. Pig. 80, claims its admission,
merely from the floriform figure which it assumes, like the lily encri-
nite, from the closing of its arms. From the base of this body a
neck proceeds, which soon terminates in four arms or claws, in a con-
tracted state. In other bodies, apparently of a similar species, the
number of the claws varies from two- to even five. There exists no
mark in these bodies to determine whether, in their original state, they
were attached to vertebral columns, or were occasionally attached to
some foreign bodies. These specimens, as well as the former, are cal-
careous, and were also obtained from the mountains of Switzerland.

This petrifaction is figured by Mons. Bourguet, who describes it
as the hexagonal flower of a coralloid (fleur hexagone d'un coralloide* . )
An examination of the figure of this fossil, which is here given, will
sufficiently show that it partakes more of the nature of the encrinus
than of the coral ; a remark which has been already made by Mons.
Davila f and by Mr. Walch. The latter gentleman appears only to
have seen it figured by Bourguet, from which representation of it he
is unable to determine whether it is jointed or not ; and he observes
that it is an extremely rare fossil J.

The ramifying fossil body, Fig. 81, has somewhat of the appear-
ance of the former fossil in an expanded state. Some of these fossils
have three, four, and even more branches, expanding in a similar
manner. Mons. Davila considers these as, vertebres noueuses diffe-
rentes des entroques et qui semblent appartenir aux rayons du sommet de
Tetoile ; and in another place he calls them, des petites articulations
branches des sommets. Mr. Walch acknowledges that he cannot with
certainty say to what substance they belong. When viewed with

* TraitS des Purifications, Tab. XIII. Fig. 70, 71.

f Catalogue systematique et raisonn£, Tom. III. p. 194, No. 242.

t Monumens des Catastrophes, &c. Tom. II. p. 104.

235

a magnifying glass, their form and structure is seen to agree very ex-
actly with the ramified arms of the preceding fossil.

The small calcareous fossil body, from the same place, delineated
Plate XIII. Fig. 82, is here introduced, in consequence of the am-
biguity of its appearance. From the resemblance which its general
surface bears to that of the last fossil, it might be concluded to be
the detached arm or tentaculum of that animal in an extended state;
a smooth circular pit at its inferior extremity, renders this opinion
not improbable. A magnified representation of one of these bodies
is given, Plate XIII. Fig. 83.

The nature of the calcareous fossil, represented Plate XIII. Fig.
36 and 37, is very ambiguous. I was favoured with it by Dr. Wood-
house, of Philadelphia, who, avowing his inability to ascertain any
thing respecting its original mode of existence, informs me, that it
was obtained from Kentucky, where similar bodies are frequently
found of a larger size, and that they are there considered as a species
of petrified nuts.

This fossil is somewhat of a conical roundish form, the centre of its
base terminating in a small round projection pierced in its middle,
with a little opening into the centre of the fossil: from this projec-
tion the base extends nearly horizontally to five prominent points, be-
tween each of which exists a shallow depression. At the apex of the
cone five small openings are placed at the angles, formed by the
meeting of the lines, which bound five long triangular surfaces, which,
commencing at the summit of the fossil, are disposed tapering, down
the sides, and terminate in the projecting points which are placed
round the base. Along the middle of each of these surfaces, a
grooved line passes, from which upwards of forty minute processes
on each side, pass to the lines which bound these surfaces at their sides.

The opinion which I formed on the first view of this fossil was, that
it belonged to some animal approximating to the encrinus. The cen-
tral projection at its base has, however, suffered so much by friction

as not, I believe, to show its original surface; and hence it is impos-
sible to determine at present any thing respecting the substance with
which it was connected at this part, or the kind of articulation which
was here employed. It however very nearly resembles the smaller
modiolus, from Ireland, which is represented in Plate XVII.

Among the enigmas which must be left to be solved by the indus-
try of future inquirers, into the original nature of the various species
of encrinites, there is no one which appears to me to be more difficult
than the determining the original properties and mode of existence
of the animal, of which a part of its vertebral remains, m the state of
lime-stone, is represented Plate XVI. Fig. 16. Two remarkable cir-
cumstances in this fossil must attract your admiration, and, of course,
excite your curiosity: the contorted forms in which the vertebralco-
lumn is disposed, and the remarkable processes, which appear to
have issued from the sides of the vertebrae-.

The first inquiry which naturally arises, on viewing the parts of
an animal disposed in a form entirely different from that which
any other species of that kind of animal assumes, is, whether or
no that position is the effect of accident? To this question I ac^
knowledge, tha% on the first view of this specimen, I was much in-
clined to anticipate an affirmative answer. A careful examination
into the structure of these fossil remains soon, however, convinced me
that these contortions were natural to this part of the animal, and
that the construction here adopted, displayed the most admirable in-
stance of the wise adaptation of means to the accomplishment of a
proposed end, In the examination of most of the preceding species
of encrinites, we discovered that, for the purpose of securing a
greater degree of freedom of motion, in that part of the vertebral co-
lumn which- was nearest to the superior extremity of the animal, a
peculiar structure was employed - — the vertebrae were alternately
wider and narrower, and the narrower were received into the perpendi-
cularly lengthened margin of the wider; the outer crenulated edge of

237

the narrow included vertebrae articulating with the inner crenulated
surrounding edge or collar of the wider vertebrae. By this contriv-
ance, a degree of flexibility was secured, proportionate to the extent-
to which the several vertebrae were capable of obliquely moving on
each other.

In the specimen now under examination, a similar arrangement is
observable through its whole extent. Narrow and wider vertebrae,
with the former included in the margin of the latter, thereby admit-
ting a certain degree of lateral motion, and at the same time present-
ing a check for the prevention of dislocation, manifest a curious
contrivance, and leads us to the conclusion, that, in this part of the
animal, the power of performing this kind of motion was particularly
demanded.

To explain the uses of the digitated processes, given off from the?
wider and larger vertebrae, and which, in its present lapideous state,
connects in several parts the opposite windings of the column, I ac-
knowledge myself entirely incompetent. I am equally incapable of
forming any opinion with respect to the other parts of this animal ;
not ever having seen any part which appeared at all to correspond
with it, in its peculiar and extraordinary conformation.

How far this last assertion requires an excepting clause in favour
of the fossil, Plate XVI. Fig. 9> I will leave you to determine, after
having attended to its form and appearance. This fossil is com-
posed of ten vertebrae closely conjoined ; each vertebras having about
one third of its sides covered with a process divided into five denti-
culae, which are placed at regular and accordant distances in each
vertebra. The other two- thirds of the sides of the vertebrae are very
closely beset with small points and tuberculae, almost linearly dis-
posed, and giving to the surface a very uncommon and indescribable
appearance. Indeed the extraordinary form and con tour of the whole
fossil is so difficult to describe, as to render a reference to the an-
nexed figure indispensably necessary to its comprehension. Except-

ing the slight resemblance which it bears to the preceding fossil, 1 do
not know a single instance, in which I can trace any similarity be-
tween it and any other encrinital remains.

I cannot, however, help concluding that these two specimens,
although both possessing digitated processes, are of two distinct spe-
cies. This seems probable from the much greater regularity in the
disposition of these processes, in the specimen Plate XVI. Fig. 9>
than in that of Fig. 16: besides that in the specimen, Fig. 9, the sur-
face of the trochitae is very closely punctuated, except immediately
where the processes are given off: a circumstance which does not ex-
ist in the specimen, Fig. 16. A similar but much handsomer speci-
men of this species, is figured and described in the tenth volume of
the Philosophical Transactions; the original specimen being now in
the British Museum.

The curiously formed fossil body, represented Plate XVIII. Fig. 4,
must await the illustration of more perfect specimens to determine
whether it should be considered as the remains of an alcyonium or
of an encrinus : its form sufficiently characterises it as a zoophyte ;
and does, I believe, afford decided evidence of the justness of the
opinion which I entertain, of its owing its origin to some unknown
species of the encrinus.

The whole specimen is formed of a feruginous, cherty substance,
which yields sparks but sparingly with the stroke of steel, and on
which the nitric acid manifests no action. I am unable to state where
this specimen was obtained from ; but from its bearing several impres-
sions of the alcyonite already mentioned, as observable on a specimen
supposed to have been obtained from America*, from other points of
resemblance between the two specimens, its being an American fos-
sil appears to be no ways improbable. The substance to which I
particularly call your attention is imbedded nearly in the centre of

* Page 150.

239

the mass : it is of a compressed oval figure, and has its surface marked
by numerous longitudinal alternate ridges and depressions. That
which appears to have been the inferior part of this body, and which,
I suppose, was attached to that part, which, in the encrinus, I have
considered as the pelvis, is slightly and irregularly concave, and being
a transverse section, its surface is of an elliptical form. On this sur-
face eight bodies lay parallel with each other in the longest axis of the
ellipsis, and eight shorter bodies are disposed on, and almost at right
angles with, the external surface of the two outermost long bodies.
Each of these twenty-four bodies, at its outward termination, is bi-
furcated, and thus forms two processes, which pass parallel with each
other the length of the fossil. Thirty-two of these, sixteen from each
end of the eight longest bodies, and thirty-two from the external ter-
minations of the shorter, making sixty-four of these processes, are thus
continued, and form the external surface of this fossil, which is thus
marked by alternate ridges and depressions.

Having thus far noted the appearances presented by this fossil, the
inferior part only of which, as high as the ridge which marks it trans-
versely, being then seen, the remaining part of it being imbedded in
and concealed by the surrounding mass, I ventured to endeavour, by
a blow of a hammer, to obtain a more full display of it. The attempt
succeeded, and the superior part of it was brought to sight.

By this extended view of its surface, the organization of this
body was more fully discovered ; and, I think, very strong evidence ad-
duced of its being a species of ENCRINITE, of an oval form, the trunk
of which was composed of vertebra, which also were oval. But, although
entertaining a strong belief that this is the case, I am aware that far-
ther observations and more illustrative specimens may be required to
determine its being so, I shall therefore lay before you a farther de-
scription of it, with those observations on its structure, which appear
to support the opinion which I have offered.

In consequence of the more enlarged view which was obtained of

240

its surface, a very important, and I think, a very decisive, circum-
stance, in the structure of this body, was discovered. In the superior
part of the processes, of the exterior edges of which the abovemen-
tioned ridges are formed, numerous transverse separations exist, at
the distances of about the thirty-second part of an inch, which ap-
pear to be articulations similar to those which occur between the os-
.siculae of the fingers of the lily encrinite, and must have given to
these parts of this animal a capacity for similar motions, with those
which were performed by the fingers of the lilv encrinus. Consider-
ing these parts then, for a moment, as the fingers, let us trace back, as
far as we can, and we find, as has been already noticed, that two
of these fingers proceed from each of the bodies, in the inferior part
of the fossil; which therefore bear, in this respect, a close resem-
blance to the arms of the lily encrinite. Besides this we also disco-
ver, in those parts of these bodies which form the inferior surface of
the fossil, several transverse fissures which may have been the joints, by
which the extension and contraction of these bodies might have been
admitted. Everything, indeed, in the form and structure of this
body, serves to show that, like the lily encrinus, it was capable of
being alternately expanded and contracted for the obtaining and the
securing of its prey. Whether the digital processes were beset, on
their internal part, with articulated tentacula, this specimen will not
allow us to discover.

On various parts of the surrounding matrix are oval impressions,
which evidently appear to have derived their figures from the oval ver-
tebrae with which the trunk of the animal had been formed. This
conjecture receives considerable confirmation from the impression,
which is faithfully represented as existing on the matrix by the side
of the above-described body : this impression having very much the
appearance of being produced by the oval trunk of an encrinus, the
vertebrae of which must, however, have materially differed from the
oval vertebrae, represented Plate XIII. Fig. 32, 40, 41.

241

BETTER XXIII.

PENTACRINITES.... DIFFERENT VERTEBRAE NOTICED.

AGREEABLE to the distinction which it has been already determined
to adopt, I have first examined all the species of this kind of fossil,
which from their trochital vertebrae, required to be placed among the
encrinites; I shall now proceed to examine such, as from their penta-
gonal vertebra, may be considered as pentacrinites. These, as far as
our limited knowledge of them will allow me to judge, may be de-
scribed as the mineralized osseous parts of a zoophyte, which posesssed
a pentagonal, articulated, vertebral column, from the superior part of
which, from Jive bases, proceeded as many articulated arms, speedily rami-
fying into innumerable smaller branches, closely beset with articulated ten-
tacula, bearing, in the mass, much of a plumose appearance.

Adopting, as nearly as I am able, the same order in the investiga-
tion of these bodies, as was employed whilst examining the several spe-
cies of encrinites, I shall, in the first place, make inquiry respecting
the nature and history of the fossil vertebrae of these animals. Small
fiat stones have long been found, being angular and almost con-
stantly pentagonal ; bearing on their flat surfaces a stellated figure,
somewhat resembling the five expanded petals of a flower. To these
stones was given the name of ASTERIJE, or Star-stones ; and when.

VOL. II, II

found united by their flat surfaces, like the trochites; and thus forming
a prismatic column, they were termed ASTERIAE COLUMN ARES, or
Columnar Star-stones. To these, branches were found united, which,
terminating in bodies disposed in beautiful floscular forms, were termed
ENCRINI.

The Asteriae, or Star-stones, are small, flat, stellular, or pentagonal
stones, ornamented, on both their upper and under surfaces, with a
star or flower of five rays or petals, formed by very minute ridges,
placed obliquely in two curved lines, meeting, either in a pointed or
in a rounded form, at their outer extremities, and approaching to, and
sometimes meeting each other nearly in the centre of the body, where
the marks of a minute circular opening may be seen. These stones
have been also termed Stellarice andLapides Stellares, and by the Ger-
mans, Sternsteines. The species or varieties of these stones, like those
of the trochites, are very numerous ; but, in the subsequent inquiry,
I shall think it necessary to notice those only which differ essentially
from each other.

" Palmati circa Mundam in Hispania, ubi Caesar Dictator Pompei-
um vicit reperiuntur, idque quoties fregeris*." From this passage Mr.
Walch is disposed to believe that Pliny had some knowledge, if not of
the encrinus, at least of the trochites and asteriae. These words, he
thinks, can bear no other meaning than, that on breaking these stones,
markings resembling those of the leaves of a palrn-tree, were disco-
vered: and therefore, he supposes, that the stones spoken of were en-
-trochi or columnar asteriae, which, on being separated, displayed the
markings resembling leaves. This opinion, he supports, by observ-
ing, that Torrubia, in his Natural History of Spain, informs us, that in
that country trochites and asteriae are at present found -J-.

* Historiae Naturalis. Lib. XXXV. cap. 18.

t From some specimens which I possess, from the mountains in the neighbourhood of

243

The probability that the stones, of which Pliny here speaks, were
either trochites or asteriae, appears, however, to have been very slight
indeed. In the first place, the marks which are displayed on the sur-
faces of these bodies do not appear to be such, as would be likely to
excite the idea of the leaves of a palm-tree : and, in the second place,
it appears to be much more probable, that such an idea might have
been rather excited by stones marked with impressions of some real
vegetable substance.

Before the time of Lachmund, who first gave the name of encrinus
to the stone lily, it was considered, that as the separated entrochus
presented the figure of a wheel on its surfaces, so the separated en-
crinus (columnar asteriae) gave the representation of lilies. By the
term encrinus, therefore, the columnar asteriae were then designated.
Thus Agricola, who speaks of these fossils, says, referring to the co-
lumnar asterioe, " Quaelibet vero talis pars quinos habet angulos, la-
tera totidem, utrinque quina lilia, unde pentacrinos Graec6 dici potest.
Quemadmodum vero entrochus constat ex multis interdum trochitis,
sic encrinos ex multis pentacrinis *."

It may not, however, be necessary to notice, in historic order, the
opinions which were entertained respecting these bodies, or the vari-
ous names which were applied to them ; I shall therefore proceed to
the examination of such of these bodies as seem particularly to claim
our notice.

A considerable variety is observable in the forms as well as in the
markings on the surfaces of these bodies. Some are nearly circular,
having a small circular hole in their centre, round which is disposed a
pentaphylloidal figure, the spaces between which are filled with fan-r-

Cordova, it appears that the remains of encrini are there very abundant, and assist in form-
ing a marble of very beautiful appearance; the animal remains, which are nearly white, being
imbedded in a ground of a dark red colour.

* De Natura Fossilium, Lib. V. page 610.

244

ciful and elegant markings, Plate XIII. Fig. 60. Rosinus describes
several varieties of this species of asteriae, Tab. IV. et V. usque ad
class um, M. In some of these species, the petal-like rays obtain
somewhat of a curved form ; and in others, a flowret is disposed on
the centre of the star already mentioned. With respect to their sides,
they may be seen to tend in every degree to a pentagonal form. In
some the circumference is formed by five slightly curved lines, united
at angles hardly perceptible, Fig. 61; whilst in others the curvatures
become much greater, Fig. 62 ; and in some a considerable indenta-
tion is formed on each of the five sides ; giving to the body an ap-
proach to the stellated form, as in Fig. 63 and 65, and increases in
different specimens, as in Fig. 64 and 67» until it is found to form the
complete five-rayed star, Fig. 66.

All these, as may be seen in the respective figures, differ again
considerably, in the form of their rays, and the disposal of their
markings. In one species, Fig. 68, these indentations, on a margin
approaching to the circular, are so sudden, and comparatively so deep,
as to give a truncated appearance to the ends of the rays. The mar-
gin of this asteria is finely crenated, and being a little raised, the
star is imbedded in a small concave depression.

Bourguet describes a species, which instead of being marked with
five petals, has five circular holes or cavities, at equal distances round
the central foramen *.

Rosinus, Hofer, Wolfart, and others, have spoken of asteriae with
four sides and four rays. The only one of this kind which I have
ever seen is depicted Fig. 59. Too little, however, is known respect-
ing asterire of this form, to enable us to determine whether this should
be considered as marking a difference of species, or that of a variety
only. The former supposition, however, appears to be the most pro-
bable.

.

* Traite des Petrifactions, Tab. LVIII. No 425.

245

The elegant markings with which the flat surfaces of these bodies are
adorned, are, like those on the surfaces of the trochitae, calculated to
form an appropriate articulation with the surfaces of other similar
bodies. By the union thus obtained, are formed those pentagonal
columnar bodies, which are generally known as columnar star-stones,
mAsterice Columnar es, and by some as angular stellated entrochi, (En-
trochi Angular es Stdlati.)

These columns derive a considerable degree of variety, from the
difference, in structure and size, of the asteria3 of which they are
composed, as well as from the order in which they are arranged ;
their external markings, therefore, differ considerably. These diffe-
rences have been very accurately described by Rosinus, and shall be
here noticed, as closely as appears to be necessary.

In some, as in Fig. 52, the constituting asteriae are of a similar
size and form : the line of articulation is therefore at the same dis-
tances through the whole column. See Rosinus also, Tab. IV. B. 1.
But in those columns which are formed of asteriae of different thick-
nesses, a correspondent difference in the distances will be observable
in the lines of articulation , since these will be more or less frequent,
as the asteriae are thinner or thicker: their lines of articulation will
also be more or less undulating, as theasteria3 are more or less grooved
on their sides.

Fig. 48 and 53, consist of thicker and of thinner columns of aste*
riae, alternately disposed. Fig. 49 is formed by the thicker asteriae so
ranging with those which are thinner, and with those which are of the
thinnest kind, that between two of the thicker are placed two of the
thinnest, between which is placed one of a medium thickness. Rosi-
nus describes several varieties of this species, depending merely on the
different degrees of thickness in the thinnest asterras, and in the de-
grees of fineness in the crenulated markings in the line of articulation.

Fig. 51 represents a columnar series of round asteriae, and composed
of thick, less thick, of thin, and of the thinnest asteriae, so disposed,

246

that one of but medium thickness is placed between two thin ones,
which, again, are comprised between two of more than ordinary thick-
ness, the thinnest of all being interposed between each of the pre-
ceding articulations. Round the thickest of these asteria3 are placed
five little pits, evidently intended for the insertion of lateral pro-
cesses.

From similar changes in the arrangement of pentagonal asteriae ;
from the intermixture of those differing in thickness, and the disposi-
tion of their ornamental protuberances, great variety arises. Some
specimens are figured by Rosinus as being remarkable, from their as-
teriae being joined together in an anomalous manner; the lines of ar-
ticulation, in some, assuming somewhat of a spiral twist ; whilst in
others, additional lines appear irregularly to intersect and divide
the asteriae in various directions. Some of these differences appear
to be the effect entirely of injury from violence, inflicted either dur-
ing the life of the animal, or whilst passing from the animal to the
mineral state ; but others may properly be regarded as sports of na-
ture.

The sides of the asteriae, forming the column, Fig. 54, is marked on
its sides by transverse lines of points, gradually diminishing in size,
from the centre of the line, and differing in their length, and even their
arrangement, in different columns. In the column, Fig 55, each star-
stone is adorned by a line of minute projections, placed on each angle
of the star, and extending each way about one-eighth of each side.
The whole surface of the column is thus made to assume a richly em-
bossed appearance, to which the conspicuous appearance of the cre-
nated line of articulation much contributes.

The column, Fig. 56, has a still more elegant appearance. The pat-
tern of its ornament may be seen to comprise five of the asteriae ; the
uppermost, lowest, and most projecting of which are encircled by a
line, which swelling boldly in the middle of the sides, terminates ia.

a round point on the angles themselves. Next to each of these is an
asteria which does not project, but which is ornamented on its sides
by round points disposed in the form of a flowret, and on its angles
by single round points. These include another asteria, which par-
takes, but in a less degree, of the ornaments of each of the preced-
ing. It is encircled by a line which does not project, nor swell out,
as in the first described, but it is ornamented with a flowret somewhat
similar to, but not so large, as that which is to be seen on the asterioe
which are next to it.

The column, Fig. 57? has a neat as well as a rich appearance, in con-
sequence of being composed of asteria, the angles in some of which
are more acute, and the intervening recesses greater than in others.
In the column represented Fig. 58, a very neat form is observable :
the column is composed of similar asteriae, possessing considerable in-
dentations on their sides, the column being characterised like the
one Fig. 52, by foramina in the angular recesses of the column, in the
line of articulation.

The entrochus, Plate XVI. Fig. 10, has some resemblance to the
one represented, Plate XIII. Fig. 55. It is rendered interesting by
the form and appearance of its superior part ; a depression being there
formed on every one of its five sides, in which were deposited the first
ossiculae of the vertebral processes which were there given off.

LETTER XXIV.

BR1AR.EAN PENTACRINITE VERTEBRAL COLUMN VERTEBRAL

PROCESSES. ...TWOFOLD OFFICE BONES FORMING THE PELVIS

SUPERIOR EXTREMITIES ANASTOMOSING PENTACRINITE.

THE species of pentacrinite which first demands our attention is the
one which most abounds in this country. This circumstance, and
that of its being the species which has been longest known to orycto-
logists, give it a fair claim to this preference. The distinguishing cha-
racteristic of this species appears to be its vertebral processes passing
out from every part of its column.

In the trunk of this animal, are several circumstances of a
very interesting nature. The constant intermixture, in various ways,
but chiefly in an alternate order of thicker and thinner vertebrae is
observable, I believe, in most of the specimens of this fossil : but so
nicely are these vertebrae arranged and fitted ; that, except where they
have been displaced by accident, they always seem to preserve an
exact linear regularity. It is not, indeed, common to see any well
connected column of this species detached from its matrix, but
in no one specimen, however long it may have been, have I ever seen
the least diminution or tapering of the column. This last-mentioned
circumstance is particularly deserving of attention, since from it may

249

be inferred the vast length to which these vertebral columns may have
been extended.

In that part of the vertebral column of the lily encrinus which ap-
proaches to the pelvis, it was shewn, that a greater power of motion was
given by a peculiar arrangement of the vertebrae ; whilst security from
dislocation was also obtained, by the lapping of the edges of one ver-
tebra over those of the other. In this animal, a still greater latitude
of motion must have been yielded, by the extreme thinness, and of
course, greater number of the vertebrae, in this same part, as is seen,
Plate XVII. Fig. 15 : whilst a similar formation of the vertebrae is
observable, for the prevention of dislocation ; this appearing to have
been also guarded against, by the peculiar arrangement of those parts
which we shall next examine. These parts are the articulated ver-
tebral processes, which, as has been already observed, proceed from
every part of the vertebral column.

Plate XVII. Fig. 16, shews the appearance yielded by these curi-
ously formed bodies, as proceeding from the vertebras. A single
ossicula of which, of a rhomboial form, from that part of these
processes which is nearest to the vertebrae, is shewn, Plate XVII.
Fig. 14, of its natural size, as well as slightly magnified. In these
figures are also seen the flat surfaces by which these ossiculae are
articulated.

When commencing the examination of these bodies at their origin
from the vertebrae, Plate XVII. Fig. 16, a remarkable circumstance
immediately arrested the attention : these articulated processes
seemed to have passed out through the bodies of the thicker ver-
tebrae. But that this had not been the case, appeared to me to
be most reasonable to conclude, when I considered how much
readier a passage, apparently, must have been found by them, between
the vertebrae. Led by this consideration, I sought to discover the
openings by which they had proceeded : but after examining various
specimens, with the utmost attention; hoping to detect some of these

VOL. II. K K

250

bodies in their passage out of the column, I was at length satisfied
that they had not passed in that manner ; I, however, observed a con-
siderable difference between the vertebrae; and, indeed, between the
columns which they form, in those parts where these processes are seen
coming off, and in those from which these processes do not appear
to have been yet separated. A considerable groove is observable on
that part of the flat side of the vertebrae, from which the processes
have proceeded ; whereas in the latter no such groove or depression
appears.

From repeated examinations, I have been therefore induced to sus-
pect, that these, processes are not given off in either of the ways hither-
to mentioned ; but that, in succession, they are formed on, and de-
tached from, the ;Surfaces qf the vertebrae, somewhat in the manner
of epiphyses. I was first led to this suspicion by remarking on the
sides of the vertebrae where these processes did not appear to have
been given off, that a prominence was observable in that part, in
which, when they had been given off, a considerable depression ap-
peared. This prominence, in some instances, also appeared to bear
the figure of the ossiculaa of the processes, and even seemed to be
surrounded by a line, at which, perhaps, the separation would have
taken .place. This opinion, however, derived most support from the
appearances yielded by the detached columns of other species, where,
not only the ossiculse may be seen adhering, but even the foveolse
in which others have been fixed.

The ossiculse of the vertebral processes, in whatever manner formed,
appear to have been closely connected with each other, by such a spe-
cies of articulation, as was well calculated to admit the kind and de-
gree of motion which these parts were intended to perform. The
whole of the articulated process is composed of similarly formed bo-
dies, which gradually diminish in their size, until they terminate in
a small point. The animal seems to have possessed the power of coil-
ing up very closely the terminating parts of these processes, so as to

251

have been able firmly to grasp even any small substance, A magni-
fied view of one of these terminations is given, Plate XVII. Fig. 17.

Taking this circumstance in conjunction with that of the distance
at which the greater part of these bodies are placed, from that cavity
in which the mouth of the animal most probably existed, there seems
to be sufficient reason for considering these parts as answering two
purposes ; being supplementary to the organ of attachment, as well
as serving to assist in securing the prey of the animal.

The notion of their having been serviceable to the animal in pro-
moting its attachment to adjoining bodies, cannot fail to be formed in
the minds of every one who observes the manner in which, like web-
bed feet, they are spread out in every direction, Plate XVII. Fig.
9. Besides, by this power of laying hold of different bodies with
these tentacula, they were probably enabled to secure themselves in
any particular spot, by clinging to a substance whose size and figure
would admit of being thus grasped^ That those also which are near
to the superior part of the animal, might also assist in securing its
prey, and in conducting it to the fauces of the animal, is rendered
evident by the specimen, Plate XVIII. Fig. 3, where these parts are
very differently disposed, from what is observable in the specimen last
noticed. Here all the upper processes, instead of being widely ex-
tended, are closely laid together, extending upwards, parallel with the
vertebral column, with their terminations collected round the brim
of the pelvis, exactly as if aiding in preventing the escape of the
prey.

Proceeding now to the superior part of the animal, I must again
have recourse to analogy with the more perfect animals, as in the
encrinites, to obtain names expressive of the parts to be here de-
scribed. At this superior extremity, on the five sides of the vertebral
column, are disposed those parts which, from their use, as I have al-
ready done with the corresponding part in the encrinites, I shall con-
sider as the scapuke of the animal, Plate XVII. Fig. 15, a. This

252

part is, in this species, formed of three trigonal pieces, the two
lowermost of which are very thin, and are applied by one of their
sides to the vertebrae ; but the uppermost suddenly widens, so that
the upper part of the surface, which is applied to the vertebral co-
lumn, is exactly of the width of the vertebrae themselves*. On the
summit of this body is a semilunar cavity, sloping outwards and
downwards, in which a central foramen and a transverse ridge is ob-
servable. Between each of these scapulae, on each of the angles of
the vertebral column, a small body, 6, is placed, which, from its
assisting in attaching the scapula to the column, I consider, as I
have done in the encrinites, as performing the office of a clavicle.
The whole of these bones form the pelvis, in which the visceral part
of the animal was, in all probability, deposited.

Immediately on the semilunar cavity of each scapula is disposed the
piece which forms the first joint of the arm of the animal, Plate
XVII. Fig. 15, c; and on this is placed the second piece, d, the lower
side forming the surface with which it articulates with the preceding
piece, and the two upper sides forming the surfaces with which the
two first pieces of a new series of ossiculae are articulated. At Fig. 13,
is represented one of these ossiculoe of its natural size, with its sur-
face of articulation : and beneath it is a representation of the same
body slightly magnified.

The first ramification of the arms may be said to be completely dicho-
tomous; but of the subsequent innumerable ramifications, a correct idea
can only be obtained by a view of this part of the animal, or its repre-
sentation, which has been endeavoured to be faithfully given, Plate
XVII. Fig. 9, and Plate XVIII. Fig. 1. Another view of these parts
is given, Plate XVIII. Fig. 2, where the ossiculoe are denoted by
the same letters as in Plate XVII. Fig. 15. The specimen, Plate X VIII.

* Were it not that it might have the appearance of aiming at too great a degree of
nicety, and of labouring too much to make out the supposed analogy, 1 should have
named the two lowermost of these bodies ribs, from the circumstance of their connection
with the vertebrae and the scapulae, and for the sake of preserving a greater degree of uni-
formity in the nomenclature.

Fig. 2, is well calculated to give a satisfactory notion of the form
which the arms, fingers, and tentacula assume in a contracted state.
In the middle of the lower part of this specimen, three of the sca-
pulae and the ramified arms may be seen ; the fingers and tentacula
closely filling every intermediate space.

In the specimen from Charmouth, Plate XVIII* Fig. 1, a very beau-
tiful display of the arms, Sec. of this animal is exhibited. In this spe-
cimen, neither the arms nor tentacula are more than half extended ; a
tolerable notion may, however, be obtained, from this figure, of the ex-
tensive power which this animal possessed of collecting its prey, and
of directing it to its mouth.

On viewing the numerous arms with which this astonishing animal
is gifted, you will, I trust, readily agree with me in the propriety of
distinguishing it as the BRIAR^AN PENTACRINITE.

The finest specimen of this species which is, I believe, known,
is in the possession of Charles James Harford, Esq. of Stapleton,
near Bristol, a gentleman well known for the zeal and ability
with which he has prosecuted his researches in this Science. This
fossil was found in a quarry at Keynsham, on the spot where Mr.
Harford's extensive works are carried on. It was discovered eight feet
below the surface, and beneath one solid bed of stone, two feet eight
inches in thickness. By very great care in its removal, under the di-
rections of Mr. Harford, a slab upwards of five feet in length, and
four feet in width, entirely made up of the remains of this animal, was
taken up, and deposited in that gentleman's valuable collection. Five
or six of the vertebral columns of the pentacrinite traverse the length
of the slab, the remaining part of the surface containing the detached
as well as the connected pieces of the articulated vertebral processes,
and of the arms and tentacula of this astonishing animal.

Having never seen, in any fossil, any body which could be consi-
dered as the lower extremity or organ of attachment of this species

254

of pentacrinite, I anxiously examined Mr. Harford's fossil, with the
hope of discovering its inferior extremity, but without success : even
in this very large mass, nothing of this kind was discoverable.

Small slabs of the remains of this animal are found in various parts
of England, particularly in Dorsetshire, where, in several parts of the
cliff on the sea- shore, the remains of the animal are found attached
to the rocks in a pyritified state, in very considerable quantities ; but
it very rarely happens, that any pieces much larger than the two
hands, and at the same time in tolerable preservation, can be sepa-
rated from the rocks.

But the vertebrae of different pentacrinites are much more fre-
quently found in a detached than in an united state. They are often
found in this state in different parts of Gloucestershire, Leicestershire,
Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Somersetshire, Warwickshire, West-
moreland, Cumberland, Yorkshire, and Lancashire. They are most
commonly found in the bottom and sides of streamlets, and in the
gravel of the rivers and sea, having been washed from the banks.
Dr. Woodward observes, that they are found plentifully in two banks
at Whitton, in Lincolnshire, where the people call them Castles and
Apostles. They are also frequently found in elevated situations : thus
they very much abound on Breedon Hill, in Worcestershire, and on
Lassington Hill, near Gloucester, where they have obtained the name
of Lassington Stones. Both these and trochital vertebrae, from hav-
ing been found in abundance in particular streams, have, from time
immemorial, given particular names to such streamlets : thus a brook
at Strickland Head, in Westmoreland, has hence obtained the name
of Fairy-stone Brook.

A curious inquiry, perhaps worthy of the heraldic antiquary, is,
how far the origin of the heraldic symbol, the mullet, has depended on
the frequent discovery of these pentagonal vertebrae ; since this sym-

255

bol is found v^ry frequently in the coats of arms of the more ancient
families, in those districts, in which these fossil bodies have been long
known to abound. This circumstance has been particularly noticed
by Dugdale, with respect to the family of the Shuckboroughs, for a
knowledge of which I am indebted to that assiduous antiquary Mr.
Thomas Fisher, to whom we are indebted for the publication, with se-
veral other interesting pieces, for a series of ancient paintings disco*
vered in the Ghapel of the Trinity, at Stratford upon Avon, in War-
wickshire.

« This family," Dugdale observes, do bear for their arms, Sable,
a Cheveron betwixt three Mullets argent ; relating, as 'tis observable, to
those little stones called Astroites, which are very like a mullet, and
are frequently found in the plowed fields hereabouts*/'

The calcareous masses of the remains of this animal will, in gene-
ral, bear a very good polish, and then present a very pleasing appearr
ance, from the delicate variegation of the marble by the slight traces
of the animal remains : every part being so thickly beset with these

* The Antiquities of Warwickshire illustrated, p. 219,

256

remains, as not to leave the least appearance of any intervening mat-
ter. A specimen of this marble, in which the sections of the verte-
bral column are observable, is represented, Plate XVI. Fig. 15.

In the year 1724, Dr. Eberhard Frederic Hkmer, of Wirtemberg,
published a letter to Dr. Scheuchzer, describing a pentacrinite mate-
rially differing from any which have since been described *. The re-
mains of this animal were found on a schistose slab, which was taken
out of the quarries of Ombden, in the dutchy of Wirtemberg, and
which was about four feet in length, and rather more than three feet
in width. The whole of this slab appears to have been covered with
the remains of the animal ; several of its arms traversing the whole
length of the stone, which was also exquisitely ornamented by the ex-
tremely minute, but perfectly distinct branches. The arms or larger
branches were formed of pentagonal vertebrae, and crossed each other
in different directions, appearing to have united and inosculated with
each other at all these points of contact. The terminations of these
arms are described as being a congeries of the most minute and slen-
der branches, giving exactly the resemblance of a flower.

The distinguishing characteristic of the pentacrinite of Hiemer
seems to be the union of the several vertebral columns, or of the arms
or branches, at those points where they happened to have crossed
each other, no such circumstance being observable in any of the
other species of this animal.

The fossil here described was afterwards purchased of Mr. Hie-
mer, by Mr. Keysler, who presented it to M. de Hugo, in whose
cabinet it was deposited. The size of this specimen, and the distinct-
ness of the fossil remains which were displayed on its surface, ena-
bled its original possessor to give that accurate description and

* Caput Medusae utpote novum diluvii universalis monumentum detectum in Agro Wir-
temburgico et brevi dissertatiuucula Epistoiari expositum, ab Eberhard. Frider. Hiemero j
S. S. Theol. Doctore. Stuttgard.

257

delineation of it which allows me to conclude, that it must be quite
a distinct species of encrinite, from any which are figured in this
work.

Until farther observations have been made, or more specimens have
furnished us with additional information respecting this species, I
shall propose that it be distinguished by a name, derived from the cha-
racteristic difference of its structure, and that it be therefore termed
the ANASTAMOSING EXCRINITE.

LETTER XXV.

REMAINS OF THE GLOUCESTERSHIRE, SOMERSETSHIRE, AND YORK

SHIRE PENTACRINITES.

WE have seen that the stratum of the Briaraean Pentacrinite, which is
so abundant on the Dorsetshire coast, at the south-west extremity of this
island, appears to have extended northward within a small distance
of Bristol ; Mr. Harford's specimen having been found at Keynsham,
between Bath and Bristol. On the other side of Bristol, on the banks
of the Severn, the remains of pentacrinites of other species are met
with ; the stratum which has been formed by the remains of different
species of pentacrini, appearing to have extended from Porsetshire,
and from where the Severn empties itself into the sea, to nearly the
northern extremity of the island. This tract, which is of considerable
width, comprises Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire,

VOL. II. LL

Staffordshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Westmoreland, and Cumber-
land.

The avowal which I have now to make, cannot but appear extraor-
dinary to you : — although I have examined several portions of the
remains of this animal, from most of the counties which I have enu-
merated, I am unable to speak, from my own knowledge, of any other
part of its skeleton, than merely its vertebral column, with its lateral
appendices ; and, consequently, am unable to speak of the charac-
teristic differences of the animals whose remains are found thus widely
scattered. A part of a vertebral column of this species of pentacri-
nus, found in the mill-stream of Samuel Holbrow, Esq. of Leonard
Stanley, in Gloucestershire, is represented, Plate XVII. Figure 8.
At the upper part of this column, the terminating vertebra is rather
enlarged, and has on each of its sides a considerable depression.,
which, with that of the adjoining vertebra, forms a pit, evidently fit-
ted for the reception of one of its vertebral appendices. One of these
vertebral appendices, obtained from this same stream, is shewn, Plate
XVII. Fig. 7.

In the Briaraean Pentacrinite it was seen that the vertebral appen-
dices issued from every vertebra, and were as closely set as possible.
In this species, on the contrary, they must have been very thinly dis-
posed ; since one series only of these lateral processes appears to have
belonged to this fragment, which consists of twenty vertebrae.

That the pentacrini which existed in these parts differed materially
from the recent pentacrinus, as well as from the Briaraean pentacri-
nite, is rendered almost certain by the fortunate discovery of the fos-
sil, Plate XIX. Fig. 3, the representation of which is taken from the
Fifty-second volume of the Philosophical Transactions. This fossil
is described by Mr. Ellis, as the head of an encrinus, with the rami-
fied arms drawn up together. It is said to be in the cabinet of Mr.
Francombe, and to have been found at Pyrton-Passage, Gloucester-

• -v

259

shire, in which part of the country, the asteriae are found in very
considerable quantities.

In the specimen, believed to be from Yorkshire, Plate XVII. Fig,
11, which is considerably bowed, the vertebrae have very deep angular
recesses between the rays. This specimen is very interesting, since it
teaches us a fact respecting these bodies, which is not always pointed
out by these fossils. The sides of the vertebrae on the inner sweep
which they form, are not above half the thickness which they possess
on the outer part : this side of the vertebrae having been evidently
compressed by the flexion of the column, during the life of the ani-
mal, and whilst capable of having their volume diminished by pres-
sure. In the lower vertebra of this column, also may be perceived,
the depressions in which the vertebral processes had been attached ;
and above this are fifteen vertebrae, in none of which are any marks
of similar attachments having existed.

The column from Yorkshire, Plate XVII. Fig. 6, is deserving of atten-
tion on account of the circumstances attendant on its distorted form.
Following its flexion with a lens of moderate power, the circumstances
on which its flexibility depended, will be immediately perceived. As in
the former specimen, so in this, in the inner line of each wave, the
vertebrae are evidently thinner than on the outer. In the inner line,
the crenated edges of the vertebrae are also seen, most closely pressed
into each other; whilst, in the opposite line, they are separated
nearly as far as can take place, without absolutely disengaging the ere-
nulated edges of the articulating surfaces from each other, at this part.

This column is composed of three sets of vertebrae, of a larger,
smaller, and medium size, thus arranged :-— On each side of one of
the medium size, is disposed one of the smallest ; beyond each of
which is placed one of the largest size. This column is formed of
thirty-one vertebrae, on the sixteenth of which, reckoning upwards,
are the marks on each of its sides, where the vfertebral processes have

adhered; and on the thirty-first, the uppermost, not only these marks
<are observable on three of its sides ; but on one side the first ossicula
of the articulated process is seen, and on the other surface five of
these ossiculae, two of which are still adherents to their original place
of attachment, and the three which have slid off from the* others, are
remaining close by their side.

On carefully examining and comparing together the ossiculae of dif-
ferent articulated vertebral processes, I discovered an unexpected
and important difference between those of the Gloucestershire pen-
tacrinite and those which I conjecture to have belonged to the York-
shire pentacrinite. This difference exists in their articulating sur-
faces ; besides which, a difference is also observable between their re-
spective forms. The ossicula of the Gloucestershire fossil are penta-
gonal, and in each articulating surface, a perfect stellated figure ex-
ists, differing only in its size from the star which appears on the ver-
tebrae themselves. But in the Yorkshire fossils, the ossiculae are ra-
ther of an oval form, similar to those of the Briaraean pentacrinite,
and their articulating surfaces are formed on the side by four small de-
pressions, and on the opposite side, by four corresponding eminences.
These differences in the forms of the ossiculae, and in their articulat-
ing surfaces are, doubtlessly, sufficient to separate these pentacri-
nites decidedly in two species.

The characteristic differences which will serve to distinguish from
each other the Briaraean, the Gloucestershire, and the Yorkshire pen-
tacrinites appear to be these. The Briaraean has its vertebral processes
given off from every vertebrae, whilst, in the Gloucestershire and
Yorkshire fossil, they are given off from distant vertebrae. In the
Gloucestershire pentacrinite, the ossicula? are pentagonal, and their
articulating surfaces are radiated and crenulated like the vertebrae
themselves ; whilst the ossiculse in the vertebral processes of the York-
shire, as in the Briaraean pentacrinite, are of an oval or round form,

and their articulating surfaces are formed by corresponding slight emi-
nences and depressions.

What other differences exist between these pentacrinites can, how-
ever, be only determined by more successful observations and more il-
lustrative specimens than 1 can adduce, but which may be confidently
expected from such admirers of fossils as reside near the places where
these several species are found^ and are disposed to make the neces-
sary inquiries.

The observations of Mr. Lister on the vertebral processes of the
pentacrinite, whose remains are found in the wolds of Yorkshire, are
so illustrative of the history of these animal remains, as to render it
probable that their admission in this place will be found advantage-
ous. This gentleman remarks, that

" There may be observed, in the deep-jointed pieces, just under
the top joint above described, the vestigia of certain wyers rather than
branches ; and sometimes two, three, or more joints of the wyers yet
adhering. These wyers are ever five in number, viz. one in the mid-
dle or hollow part betwixt angle and angle. Again, in their jointed
pieces, there are ever five of these wyers, or a set of them inserted
into every conjugation of joints, so that it were some representation
of the thing, to imagine the stalk of Asperula or Equisetum. Also I
have seen, but that very rarely, (not in one piece among five hun-
dred,) a set of wyers in the middle of a deep jointed piece. One
pointed piece I have by me, where a wyer of twenty joints and up-
wards (and how much longer they may be I know not,) lies double
within the hollow side, and by that accident was preserved in its na-
tural place. It is no wonder," he observes, " that these wyers are
knocked off, and but very rarely found adhering to the stones they
belong to, being very small and slender, of a round figure, and smooth
jointed, being set together per harmonium, and not indebted suture.
Nothing that I can think of is so like these wyers as the auturnae of

262

lobsters. Lastly, some of these wyers are knotted, and others of them
fairly subdivided or branched */'

Besides the several species of these animals, which have been
spoken of in the foregoing pages, some others have also been described
which differ sufficiently from these to allow of their being considered
as different species.

Mons. Davila has given a plate, representing a dark schist from
the Duchy of Wirtemberg, on which appears a group of articu-
lated tentacula, adhering to a calyx-formed basis f. This, in Mr.
Walch's opinion, is one of the terminations of a pentacrinite, disco-
vered by Gmelin^. This, however, does not differ in the least from
the remains of these animals, which are constantly observed in the
slabs from Dorsetshire. In the same work a specimen is represented,
which is a piece of the yellow fissile stone from Pappenheim, bearing
on its surface the remains of some animal, in many respects analagous
with the pentacrinites. Ten arms, rather thinly beset with jointed
tentacula, are discoverable ; but no traces are seen of the trunk of the
animal, nor do the parts, which are here preserved, bear a resemblance
to any species of this animal which has been hitherto noticed. This
specimen belonged to Professor d'Annone §. A specimen of part of
a vertebral column, formed of four sides, has been represented, Plate
XIII. Fig. 59? similar to what has also been remarked by Rosinus.
Mons. Schultz describes one of these animals as having a quadrangu-
lar base and eight rays ||. Mons. Guettard also describes one of these
animals, the primary rays of which are four, and dividing repeatedly
dichotomous, terminate in numerous small branches ^f .

* Philosophical Transactions, Vol. IX. p. 276.

t Catalogue Systematique & Raisonne, Tome III. Tab. I.

t Monumens des Catastrophes, Tome I. Tab. XI. 6'.

§ Monumens des Catastrophes, &c. Tome II. Parte 2de. p. 93. Tab. LI,

H Betrachtung der verschinten See-sterne, § i 9. p. 22.

^ Memoires de V Academic Royales des Sciences, 1156.

LETTER XXVI.

OPINIONS AND DISCOVERIES RESPECTING THE LIVING ANALOGUES

OF THE PENTACRINITES.

THOSE who admitted the presence of animal life in the recent ana-
logue of the pentacrinite, divided themselves into the supporters of
two opinions. The one considered the whole of the encrinus, or pen-
tacrinus, as belonging to a single individual animal, and place the
mouth in the centre of the base of the pelvis^ supposing the rays
which are disposed round the pelvis, to be so many arms which are
used by the animal to convey its food to its mouth, and the projecting
parts proceeding from the little cavities in the vertebrae as the instru-
ments of motion. The others consider this body as a mass of as
many separate polypes as there are articulations. The learned Hofer
adopted the latter opinion, in his Tentamen de Polyperitis * He re-
presents the formation of such an assemblage of polypes, to which,
when it has become a subject of the fossil kingdom, we give the name
of Encrinite, to take place in the following manner. When one of
these polypes, clothed with its testaceous covering, happens to be torn,
and separated from those to which it was united, the waves drive it
from one side to another, until it happens to fix itself by its arms to

* Act. Helvet, Tome IV. p. 182,

264

some solid body. Then, by degrees,, it changes its form, so that from
a simple trochite with a, cylindrical, smooth, and uniform surface, it
becomes a tuberculous entrochite, and forms that part which is called
the base of the encrinite, basis radiorum encrini, destined to become*
as may be said, the stock of a numerous family : he forms five small
polypes, which fix themselves in the five grooves on its surface. These
five young polypes form others, and hence proceed the five branches
from the base; the number of these doubling by the new polypes
which push out from these ; and thus forming a body with ten, and
indeed at the end, with twenty rays, since the number of these po-
lypes are doubled a second time. At the sides of those rays, small
ossiculse also attach themselves, with which are formed the fingers,
and in this manner that which may be called the summit of the en-
ciinus is completed. It now wants only that part which we name the
stem of the encrinite ; this he conceives to have formed by the suc-
cessive apposition of new polypes, the first of which attaches itself to
the inferior part of the base, and the succeeding ones apply themselves
in the same manner to each other.

Such is the opinion of Mons. Hofer. He, however, modestly offers
it merely as a conjecture subject to numerous difficulties, and thus we
£nd it. This theory is composed of too many gratuitous suppositions.
The structure of the pelvis, &c. does not seem to be at all reconcil-
able with the idea of the arbitrary assemblage and apposition of po-
lypes. How is it possible that a trochite can transplant itself into
the various parts composing the pelvis, none of which parts bear any
resemblance to a trochite ? and nevertheless, according to this theory,
all these parts ought to have been formed by polypes of the same spe-
cies. How is it possible that one polype should form a body of a tri-
angular shape; another, of the same species, a hemispherical body;
and another again, a body of a cylindrical form ? If every joint has
its own separate polype, how happens it, that upon contracting at its
death, the whole body preserves so much regularity in its form ? If

265

the stalk is the work of new polypes which have chanced to place
themselves there, how happens it that sometimes they form cylindri-
cal bodies, and at other times, at certain distances, spherical bodies ?
If the stem is constructed by a string of polypes, which fix themselves
beneath the base, how happens it, that only one, and not several rows
of polypes thus attach themselves ? and how does the first of these
polypes find, so exactly,the centre of the base? These are questions
which, as Mr. Walch justly observes, the supporters of this opinion
would have much difficulty in 'resolving. It does not appear to be
necessary to make any farther remarks on this opinion : that the en-
crinal compages is the labour and habitation of a single animal, is
sufficiently obvious.

Respecting the animal, whi h should be considered as the recent
analogue of these fossils, numerous fruitless conjectures have been
formed, the more important of which it seems to be proper briefly to
notice, as nearly as I shall be able, in the order in which they have
been proposed.

The separation of the rays of the Asterias Caput Medusa, Linn, into
numerous minute articulated branches, led several naturalists, among
whom may be mentioned Rosinus, Gesner, Bourguet, and Bertrand,
to believe that the encrinites and pentacrinites were fossil remains of
some animal of a nearly correspondent species. Lhwj'dd very strongly
maintained this opinion in a Dissertation (Prclcectio de Stellis Ma-
rinis) annexed to Linck's elegant work, De Stellis Marinis; but
Linck himself, having pursued the inquiry with requisite care and
zeal, informed Mr. Lesser, that he could not discover any sea-star
which could be considered as being analogous with the encrinite
described by Rosinus and Harenberg.

The ascertaining of the important differences existing between
these fossil bodies and the Caput Medusae ; particularly in the mode
in which their ramifications are formed, and in the absence of the
trochital or asterial column ir* the Stelloe Marine, left these fossils

VOL. II. M M

266

without any recent animal, with which they could be considered as
analogous.

In the year 1753, Mr. Mylius, in a letter to Haller, described a new
kind of zoophyte caught in the North Sea, which somewhat resem-
bled the encrinus. Mr. Ellis also, about the same time, obtained
another of these animals caught in the same sea*. Some slight agree-
ment having been observed between the general form of this animal
and that of the lily encrinite, several naturalists were inclined to sup-
pose, that the real analogue of the fossil animal was discovered.
A very slight degree of attention, however, was necessary to dis-
cover, that no real similitude existed between the two animals. It
will be sufficient to observe here, that neither the column nor the
rays of the recent animal are, like those of the encrinus, articulated;
nor do its rays proceed from a regularly formed base, as do those of
the fossil animal. Indeed, to the present day, no animal has been dis-
covered which can be said to bear the feast analogy with any of the
different species of encrinites.

Various conjectures were also formed, and numerous researches
were made, with the hope of discovering the recent analogue of
the pentacrinite, but without any success, until Madame de Bois-
jourdaine, of Paris, was presented by a friend from Martinique, with
a fragment of a new and curious zoophite, which he had received
from a captain of a ship, who was unable to say in what sea it had
been found. At the death of Mad. Boisjourdaine, this curious spe-
cimen came into the possession of Mons. Davila. But it is to Mons.
Guettard that we are indebted for having first manifested the relation-
ship between it and the peritacrinites.

This zoophyte appears to be undoubtedly a species of pentacrinus,
in its recent state. Like the fossil animal, it is described as possessing
an articulated vertebral column, on which is supported a cluster of

* The Natural History of Coralline, Plate XXXVII.

articulated and ramifying arms. The vertebral column, which is pen-
tagonal, is from seventeen to eighteen inches in length, and might
have been much longer, as it has evidently been broken off, at its
lower part. It is formed of flat pentagonal vertebrae, pier cedin their
centre. Every vertebra possesses a stelliform surface on each side,
derived from the arrangement of the depressions, and the apophysal
eminences : the eminences and depressions of each opposed surface
being mutually adapted to each other, so as to produce an exactly
fitting articulation. Through the central foramen, a membranous,
nervous, or filamentous substance passes, which, from its introduction
into all the minute lateral foramina of the vertebrae, seems to contri-
bute much to the retaining the parts of the vertebral column in their
proper situation : and between each vertebra, a soft cartilaginous
body is interposed, by which the necessary motions of the trunk
must have been greatly facilitated. At regular distances, diminish-
ing as they approach the superior part, articulated processes are given
out, from each of the five sides of the vertebral column. The arms of
this animal, which are five in number, proceed from the sides of the
superior vertebrae, and form, by their divisions and repeated subdivi-
sions, innumerable ramifications or fingers, the sides of which are be-
set with articulated tentacula *.

With respect to the substance of this body, it appears to hold a mid-
dle place between bone and cartilage, approaching to that of which
the shells of echini are formed ; and even in this its recent state, it
bears some resemblace to a spathose substance from its lamellated
texture, and the brightness of its fracture. To this specimen the
name of Palma Marina had been given. A slight sketch of the re-
mains of this recent animal is given, Plate XIX. Fig. 1.

Mr. Ellis also gave the following account of what he terms a re-
cent encrinus, or star-fish, with a jointed stem, found on the coast of

Barbadoes.

* Memoires de 1' Academic des Sciences de TAn. 1755.

268

" Encrinus, capite stellato ramoso dichotomo, stipite pentagono,

equisetiformi.

" The stem and head of this animal, in its present state, measures
about fourteen inches, the stem is about thirteen inches in height, and
about the third of an inch in diameter,, lessening a little towards the
top : it is formed of pentagonous joints, or vertebrae, placed regularly
over one another, which are of a testaceous substance, and united by
very thin cartilages, as appears by examining minutely the base of
the lowest vertebra, where it is fastened to the starry indentures of
the joint: this makes the vertebrae capable of bending at the will of
the animal, in any direction *.

" If we examine the five furrows or channels along the stem, we shall
discover a small hole between every vertebra ; and in the centre of the
base of the lowest, we shall find a small hole there, which probably
communicates through the middle of all the vertebrae, to the cavity
in the centre of the head.

" Along this stern, at different distances, from an inch and a quarter
to a quarter of an inch in length, we observe many series of five cy-
lindrical jointed arms, each series is of equal length, and placed in a
wheel or whirl-shaped form, like the equisetum or horse-tail plants.
Each arm is inserted in one of the five cavities of a vertebra, and each
joint into one another, that the upper end of one joint inclines over
the lower end of the next to it, which it appears, at the same time,
to inclose with a small margin. These joints are generally about one-
twelfth of an inch in length, and the same in diameter, and have a

* There can be little reason to doubt, that the membranous substance, mentioned Page
1 66, as separated from the surface of a trochites, by the action of the muriatic acid, was
originally of a similar nature, with the cartilage which is here described as interposed be-
tween the vertebrae of the pentacrinite.

26*9

small hole communicating with the starry centre of the vertebrae, and
running through their centre to the hooked joint at the extremity of
these arms.

" On the under or inner side of these joints, their surface is rendered
uneven by minute tubercles, by means of which, and of the hook,
which the last joint forms, the animal can take a more secure hold of
whatever he seizes.

" But as the stem of this animal appears to be broken off at the
bottom, we must remain in doubt whether it moves about in the sea,
or is fixed to rocks and shells by a base, like corals, sponges, and ke-
ratophytons.

" We now come to what is called the head, perhaps the body,
of this animal ; for in the centre of this dry specimen, there still re-
mains a cup of a crustaceous substance, and of an oval form, about
an inch in length, and three quarters of an inch over, and a quarter of
an inch deep : in the centre of this is a small hole, which apparently,
communicates with the internal part of the vertebrae of the stem :
in this cup or cavity, it is probable, were the intestines and stomach
of the animal, as in the asterias, called Caput Medusae. This cup is
supported by the bases of six dichotomous testaceous arms or
branches, (perhaps five is the natural number, for one seems irregularly
placed). These lower parts or bases of the branching arms, consist of
three joints each, and surround the cup, to which they seem united ;
each of these divide into two other jointed branches, that are round
or convex on their under side, but flattish on the upper, with a deep
groove running along the middle, which is furnished with two rows of
suckers, like the sepia? or asteriae. From the upper edges of each al-
ternate joint of these branches arise two rows of small jointed claws,
like fingers; these two opposite rows bend in towards each other:
each small branch or finger is about half an inch long ami one-twen-
tieth of an inch broad ; the size of these joints diminish a little, till
yau come to the last joint, which ends in a point. Each of these

270

joints is pointed at top, and being concave, embraces the lower con-
vex part of the next above it; these are likewise furnished on their
concave side with two rows of suckers, clasping together ; they secure
their prey with these opposite claws or fingers *."

The specimen here described was in the museum of the late Dr.
Hunter, which has been lately transferred to the University of Glas-
gow. Another specimen, apparently of the same species, was also in
the museum of John Hunter, Esq. and is now in the possession of
the Royal College of Surgeons, of London.

By the discovery of these valuable remains, it has been ascertained,
that recent animals exist, which are at least of the same genus with
the pentacrinites whose remains have so long engaged the attention of
the curious. It does not, however, appear certain, from the opportu-
nities which have hitherto occurred of making the necessary compari-
son, that either the specimen of the recent animal of Mad. Bois-
jourdaine, or those which we have in this country, can be considered
as being of the same species with those with whose fossil remains we
are acquainted. The difference between the Briarsean pentacrinite
and the recent pentacrinus is very evident, not only in the formation
of the pelvis, but in the much greater number of the vertebral pro-
cesses and tentacula in the former than in the latter. The fossil re-
mains of the pentacrinite, which chiefly abound in Gloucestershire,
Warwickshire, and Yorkshire, are in too imperfect and uncon-
nected a state to admit of any comparison with the recent animal,
which can lead to any important decision.

But it indeed appears from the superior part of a pentacrinite,
slightly sketched, Plate XIX. Fig. 2, and copied from the fifty-se-
cond volume of the Philosophical Transactions, that the pentacri-
nite of Gloucestershire must have materially differed from the recent
pentacrinus ; the latter not appearing to be capable of being con-

* Philosophical Transactions, Vol. LII. Part I. p, 357.

271

tracted into a body of a similar form. The fossil referred to is de-
scribed " as the ramified arms of the head of an encrinus, closed up
together. From the cabinet of Mr. Francombe ; found at Pyrton
Passage, Gloucestershire."

In the several species of encrinites, whose superior parts have been
sufficiently perfect to allow of their examination, it has appeared that
the ramifications or fingers were given off in so regular and uniform a
manner, as to render them capable of being closed exactly together ;
the projecting parts all fitting into corresponding depressions on the
opposite parts. In the pentacrinites, on the contrary, the branches
not appearing to be given off with such regularity, and being at the
same time extended to a considerable length, and amply supplied
with lateral processes or tentacula, which are also very long, there
does not appear to be reason for supposing that they were capable of
being contracted into a compact assemblage, bearing a regular form,
similar to those of the different species of encrinites.

But in this fossil, which is evidently a pentacrinite, since a penta-
gonal asteria is depicted as still adherent to its base, ten arms pro-
ceed from its pentagonal base, much in the same manner as in the
lily and cap encrinite. These arms also bifurcate somewhat in the
same manner as is observable in the arms of those fossils ; trie divi-
sions, however, more closely resembling the divisions which take
place in the arms of the cap encrinite ; a first division taking place
at about the third articulation, and the fingers which are thus formed
being repeatedly subdivided in a dichotomous manner. The whole
of the arms and fingers, although .so repeatedly separated, as is
shewn in the figure, evidently possessed the power of so contracting
themselves, as thereby to acquire a regular and determined form.
We are, I think, fully warranted in considering this fossil as the supe-
rior termination of the Gloucestershire pentacrinite.

LETTER XXVII.

ATTEMPT TO ASCERTAIN THE NUMBER OP SPECIES OF THESE

ANIMALS.

IT is my intention to devote the present letter to the endeavour to as-
certain, as nearly as I may be able, the real number of species, under
which such of these extraordinary animals, whose remains we are at pre-
sent acquainted with, may be arranged. With this view, I shall
place before you a recapitulatory sketch of the several species which
have been described in these pages, and shall add to these, such
species as have been mentioned by some authors ; but the specimens
of which are so rare, as not to have come under the observation of but
very few others.

The several species which have been particularly noticed in this
volume are,

I. The LILY ENCRINITE, described by Walch as the encrinite with

a pentagonal base, and ten bifurcated rays ; being the Stone-
Lily of Germany, so accurately examined by Rosinus, and de-
scribed in Letter XVII. of the present volume.

II. The CAP ENCRINITE of Derbyshire, and perhaps of York-

shire ; see Letter XIX.

Ill The TURBAN ENCRINITE of Shropshire; see Letter XIX.
Some very indecisive remarks on some remains of this species,
from the Isle of Gothland, I have shewn, have been made in
Knorr's celebrated work.

273

IV. The PEAR ENCRINITE, of Bradford; see Letter X.

Some imperfect remains of this fossil appear to have been
also found in Germany, and are noticed in the work just
mentioned.

V. The NAVE ENCRINITE, of Yorkshire and Gloucestershire;
see Letter XXI. Dr. Capeller has described several speci-
mens which appear to be of this species, and which he had
obtained from the Isle of Gothland.
VI. The PLUMOSE ENCRINITE, of Staffordshire, in the possession

of Mr. Donovan, and described in Letter XXI.
VII. The TORTOISE ENCRINITE, of the English chalk-pits.

Letter XXII.

VIII. The STRAIGHT ENCRINITE

IX. The BOTTLE ENCRINITE

X. The STAG'S-HORN ENCRINITE -

XL The CLOVE ENCRINITE s

This fossil is also frequently found in the mountains of
Switzerland.
XII. The DIGITATED ENCRINITE.

Although the great difference observable between the speci-
mens represented Plate XVI. Fig. 9 and Fig. 16, is sufficient
to warrant the supposition that there must be two distinct
species possessing these digitated processes, I have not ven-
tured to assume this as a fact ; choosing rather to wait for
the discovery of specimens which may prove more illustra-
tive of this particular circumstance.

XIII. The OVAL ENCRINITE. Both this fossil and the foregoing are

described in Letter XXII.

XIV. The BRIAR^EAN PENTACRINITE, of Dorsetshire and Somer-

setshire, described in Letter XXIV. »

XV. The ANASTAMOSING PENTACRINITE, described by Hiemer.

VOL. II. N N

274

XVI. The FIG PENTACRINITE, of Gloucestershire, described in
the Philosophical Transactions ; see Letter XXV.

XVII. The — PENTACRINITE, of Yorkshire.

To these I shall add the following fossils, which have been
described by other authors, but whose rarity has hitherto
prevented their nature from being duly investigated.
XVIII. The Encrinites with four rays. This fossil is spoken of by
Mons. Guettard, in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of
Sciences, for the year 1755*. He remarks, that in this spe-
cies of encrinite each of the principal rays is divided into
two, which are again divided into two others, from which
proceed a considerable number of small branches. The
opinion of Mr. Walch, that this species might, perhaps, be
referable to the pentacrinites, derives support from the ex-
istence of quadrilateral asteriae, which would, of course,
have belonged to a pentacrinite possessing four arms.
XIX. The Encrinite with five or six rays. Such a fossil is described
by M. Harenberg, in his treatise De Lilio Lapideo ; but it
does not appear to have been seen by any other author.
XX. The Encrinite with eight rays and a square base. This spe-
cies is mentioned by M. Schulz, in his description of the
petrified stellce marina. No other author appears to have
described this fossil.

XXI. The Encrinite with twelve rays and a hexagonal base. This
encrinite is figured and described by Rosinus, in Plate I. and
page 34 of his excellent treatise de Lithozois. Rosinus de-
scribes the trochitae of this species as being characterized
by concave articulating surfaces, bearing the figure of a
pentapetalous flower, with a similar but much smaller
floweret in the centre.

* Recueilde Monumens des Catastrophes, &c. Tom. II. Sect, II, p. 89.

275

An Encrinite with twenty rays is mentioned by M. Schulz;
but M. Walch, although unwilling to doubt the fidelity of
the description given by M. Schulz, remarks, that it is pos-
sible that the arms of the common encrinus, or stone-lily,
might have been reckoned after their division, and thus the
real number might have been doubled. The probability of
this will be allowed, when it is considered that the imper-
fect state of a specimen often occasions very deceptive ap-
pearances ; and this probability will be still more readily
admitted, on considering the formation of the cap encrinite,
Plate XV. Fig. 9? in which, from the irregularity and
the greater frequency of the subdivision of its limbs, the
animal might be supposed, by an inspection of its supe-
rior part only, to have possessed double the number of
arms which it really does.

The appearances presented by the polished slab of marble,
containing the pentacrinite of M. Gmelin, hardly at all
differ from those which present themselves in the pentacri-
nital marble of Dorsetshire.

Of the supposed pentacrinite, discovered by M. d'Annone in
a piece of the calcareous stone of Pappenheim, little posi-
tive can be said. Since only the terminating branches and
no part of the trunk of this animal was discovered, it is
impossible to determine whether it should be considered as
an encrinite, pentacrinite, or fossil stella marina ; but from
the very close resemblance which it bears to the Stella
$sKctKVYipo$ barbata sen Jimbriata Barrellieri, figured by Linck,
Tab. XXXVII. Fig. 64, as well as to 'others of the Stella
Crinitce, there appears to be very strong reason for suppos-
ing this fossil to be the remains of some of these species of
Stellae.

The Encrinite described by Dr. Capeller, and mentioned in

276

Letter XXI. which agrees in every respect with the nave
encrinite, excepting that the plates composing its base, in-
stead of being smooth, are strongly marked by lines form-
ing rose-like figures, is in too imperfect a state to allow of
its being determined whether it should be considered as a
different species from, or merely a variety of, the nave en-
crinite.

An Encrinite is described by M. Guettard, as bearing seve-
ral bodies or flowers on the same stalk. M. Guettard ob-
serves, that several encrinites of this description were found
in Franche Compt6 by M. Loreau ; but M. Walch sus-
pects, with reason, that these were rather pentacrinites of
the same species with the one described by M. Hiemer,
and already noticed. This I therefore consider as not de-
serving to be considered as of a distinct species.

The pentacrinite described by Mons. Davila, as the petrified
marine palm, and as exactly agreeing with the recent pen-
tacrinite of Madame Boisjourdain, is thought, by M.
Walch, of the same species with the preceding.

From the foregoing enumeration it will appear, that without as-
suming the American fossil, Plate XIII. Fig. 36 and 37, which, how-
ever, bears strong marks of an affinity with the nave encrinite, and
the fossil represented Fig. 80 of the same plate, to be encrinites ;
and without reckoning, as probability would almost authorize, that
the trochitae, Plate XIII. Fig. 7, 18, 27, 33, and 69, belong to sepa-
rate species of these animals, we are yet able to reckon upon the ex-
istence of twenty-one decidedly distinct species.

It cannot but be highly gratifying to the British naturalist to learn,
that among her subterranean treasures, Britain can reckon fourteen
of the species above enumerated, viz. 1, the cap encrinite; 2, the
turban encrinite ; 3, the pear encrinite ; 4, the nave encrinite ; 5,

277

the plumose encrinite ; 6, the tortoise encrinite ; 7> the straight encri.
nite; 8, the bottle encrinite ; 9> the stagVhorn encrinite; 10, the
clove encrinite; 11, the digitated encrinite; 12, the briaraen penta-
crinite ; 13, the fig pentacrinite ; 14, the pentacrinite, of York-
shire.

Besides the species here particularized, numerous fossil fragments
have been found in this country, which bear evident marks of having
belonged to species of these animals very different from any which
are at present known : a circumstance which cannot fail to add to the
zeal and industry of those who have justly appreciated the aid which
these inquiries may yield in the establishment of geological prin-
ciples.

278

LETTER XXVIII.

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE FOSSILS ALREADY DESCRIBED.

IN the series of letters, composing the former volume, various facts
were adduced, in proof of the solid part of this globe having, at some
very distant period, been covered by water. An unexpected circum-
stance was at the same time noticed : — hardly any agreement could
be found between the fossil vegetable remains and those vegetables
with which the earth is at present clothed ; and in the present volume,
an equal want of agreement has been observed between the fossil re-
mains, and the actually existing animals, of the order of zoophytes.

That, in the stupendous changes which this planet has undergone,
several species of beings endued with vegetable or animal life should
have become extinct, is by no means inconsistent with the conclusions
to which an unbiassed consideration of those grand events would lead.
The discoveries, therefore, in the vestiges of a former world, of the re-
mains of innumerable vegetables and animals, such as would consti-
tute a prodigious number of species, and such as, according to the
strict laws of arrangement, might be even disposed in new and distinct
genera, although quite unexpected, is not in contradiction to what,
on reflection, we should have admitted, might, from the influ-
ence of particular circumstances, have occurred. But a fact has been

279

established in the former and in the present volume, to the expectation
of which no chain of reasoning could have led. Of the numerous ve-
getables and animals with which the earth is at present furnished, the
mineralized remains of very few species indeed can be found : of man
himself, the mineral world presents not a single trace — an explanation
of which I in vain attempted in the preceding volume.

Whilst instancing this wonderful want of accordance of the mine-
ralized organic remains of a former period, with those beings which
are known now to exist, I shall here confine myself to such facts only
as have been noticed whilst examining the fossil bodies which have en-
gaged our attention in the present volume.

The examination of fossil corals was commenced, as may be seen,
with the expectation of being able to preserve somewhat of a paral-
lelism between the corals of this and those of the former world. But
it soon became necessary to abandon this attempt, it appearing that
of the fossil corals, which, it may be said, have been only fortuitously
discovered, many more species have existed than are known of even
the recent corals, which, from their beauty and various other circum-
stances, have been so long and so assiduously collected. This aban-
donment was further authorized by its also appearing, on comparison,
that scarcely any specific agreement could be established between the
recent and the fossil corals.

With respect to the kdegree of accordance of the fossil with the re-
cent alcyonia, sponges, and other soft, and, consequently, easily al-
tered zoophytes, I considered myself as not authorized to speak with
confidence; since it being probable, that from these bodies never hav-
ing been the object of very general attention in a recent state, many
may be yet withheld from our knowledge, which might, when found,
considerably reduce the number of those fossil species, which we are
obliged, at present, to consider as without any recent analogues.

With respect to those zoophytes, with the examination of which the
latter part of this volume has been engaged, it must be acknowledged

280

that they seem to point out most decidedly a considerable want of
agreement between the inhabitants of the former and of the present
world. It appears that of these zoophytes, which, perhaps, should be
arranged under two genera, encrinus and pentacrinus, upwards of
twenty species are known in a mineralized state ; but that, incalcula-
bly numerous as these animals must have been, not a single fragment
of any individual, of any of the numerous species belonging to the
genus encrinus, has ever yet been seen in a recent state. Two or
three fragments of pentacrini have indeed been discovered, but whe-
ther exactly agreeing with any of the fossil species, I have not been
able to ascertain.

No stronger proof need be required of the sea having long covered
this globe, than the various mineralized remains of zoophytes, which
have been found in different parts of the world, imbedded at conside-
rable depths and at very great elevations, in some of the loftiest lime*
stone mountains. But it may be argued, that although the marine
origin of these remains be admitted, and although they are found thus
imbedded, still it is not yet proved that the sea has rested on the
parts where these fossil remains have been found ; since they might
have been brought there by floods from distant parts. But that
these animals dwelt, and perished on the identical spots, where they
are now found, in a mineralized state, may be fairly, and I trust, un-
questionably, inferred from the circumstances of the congregation of
similar animals, and of their bearing but few marks of external
violence ; since, had they been thus transported from distant regions,
individuals of similar species would have been separated, and scarcely
any individual, except of very strong fabric, would have been found,
that had not suffered material injury.

Reverting to what has been remarked of corals, that it is not very
frequent that the superior external face of the coral is found in our
fossil specimens, it might be thence remarked, that this was most pro-
bably the result of attrition, during the conveyance by the waves from

283

state: their having existed being proved, only by the discovery
of their fossil remains.

4th. That the traces of very few of those species which now exist
can be discovered in the wreck of a former world.

5th. That even in rocks of the newest formation, and in alluvial
strata, which are comparatively of but modern deposition,
the remains of extinct animals are as frequently to be found,
as in what are termed Transition Rocks, (those which are sup-
posed to contain the first traces of organic remains.)

6th. That there appears to have been no line of separation between
the creation of species now extinct, and of those now exist-
ing ; since not only the remains of extinct species, but per-
haps of extinct genera, are found, with the remains of species
very similar to, if not exactly agreeing with, species known in
a recent state.

7th. That many of the pebbles, found in gravel pits, on the shores
of rivers, and on the sea beach, do not appear to have been
bowldered down to the form in which they are now found; but
that, on the contrary, their present forms are precisely those
which they, at first, derived from the silicious impregnation of
different animals, which existed in the former ocean.

8th. That judging from the original delicacy of structure in these
bodies, and from the little injury which they have sustained, it
appears reasonable to suppose, that this solidification was ef-
fected, in several instances, previous to the removal of the
waters from their former bed.

LETTER XXIX.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE PROCESS OF PETRIFACTION.

I ATTEMPTED, in the preceding volume, to shew that the generally
re eived opinion, respecting the formation of petrifactions is errone-
ous; and endeavoured to support my conjectures by a particular ex-
amination of various vegetable fossils. It has been supposed, that in every
instance of petrifaction, the lapideous is substituted for the vegetable
or animal matter, as this is decomposed and removed. This removal and
substitution has been also supposed to be so gradually performed, mole-
cule by molecule, as to allow the earthy parts, whilst arranging them-
selves in the spaces left by the removal of the organized matter, so to
mould themselves in those spaces, as to take exactly the form of the
organized part, and to imitate it precisely, in every trace. In this man-
ner the petrifaction, as it is termed, is supposed to have acquired the
exact form, and most of the characteristic appearances, of the original
body, without retaining any at all of its original particles. This mode
of explaining the formation of petrifactions has been adopted by al-
most every chemist and mineralogist who has written on the subject;
and has been particularly described by Kirwan, Walch, Daubenton,
Fourcroy, and Haiiy ; the latter gentleman giving it as the explana-
tion which is most generally admitted, although he acknowledges that
it may not be free from difficulties.

Dissatisfied with this explanation, I suggested that the organized
part was not removed; but that it remained in part, at least, and be-
came the substratum of the fossil, on which was deposited the lapidi-
fying matter. I endeavoured to shew that vegetable substances.,
in certain situations, were rendered bituminous ; and were, in that
state, capable of being thoroughly pervaded by water, and, of
course, of being imbued with the saturated solution of any
earth ; and that by the formation of minute crystallizations through
the whole impregnated mass, a consolidated silicious or calcareous

substance would be formed, without disturbing the existing arrange-
ment of those parts, on which the form and general appearance of the
fossil would depend. To determine how far this opinion was cor-
rect, wood petrified by flint, was subjected to simple distillation over
a naked fire, when an oily sublimated film, possessing a strong empy-
reumatic smell, was obtained. It could not be expected, from the re-
fractory nature of silica, that any thing more decisive could be ob-
tained, from any experiment on opaline wood; since no agent could,
perhaps, be employed for the removal of the earth, which would not
at the same time entirely decompose the bituminous substratum.

But in calcareous fossil wood this objection did not exist, since by
the employment of any dilute acid, the earth might be removed, and
it might be clearly ascertained whether the presumed vegetable or
bituminous matter was present or not. The experiment was made,
and with complete success : the carbonate of lime was removed by
diluted muriatic acid, and a dark brown, friable, but coherent mass,
remained, which bore every appearance of bituminous wood, and
which, when brought into contact with the flame of a candle, directly
burned with a small, bright, lambent flame, and yielded a strong
bituminous odour.

From this experiment, I conceived, that I was warranted in con-
cluding that, with respect to vegetables, the process of petrifac-
tion is not merely, as Mr. Kirwan supposes, the substitution of stony
or metallic bodies, in the place of the organic substance which has
been destroyed by putrefaction * ; nor, as is taught by Fourcroy, that
the petrifying matter is deposited as in a mould ; the complete de-
struction of the vegetable matter, and the disappearance of whatever
constituted its elements, taking place at the same time f. But that a
part of the organic matter still remained, though somewhat changed ;
and that the process of petrifaction was the impregnation of this sub-

* Geological Essays, p. 137.

t Systeme des Connoissances Chimiques, Tome VIII. p. 255,

286

stance, and the filling up of the interstices with the lapidifying
matter.

But it still remained to determine if a correspondent organic mat-
ter existed in animal fossils. To ascertain this point, therefore, the va-
rious kinds of animal fossils noticed in this volume, were subjected to
a chemical examination, by which the most satisfactory proofs were
obtained of the existence of this animal matter, and even of its re-
taining, in several instances, very much of its original form.

This circumstance was beautifully illustrated by the examination of
an entrochus of the lily encrinite, the particulars of which are men-
tioned, page 166, and are illustrated by the engraving, Plate XIII.
Fig. 47- A similar examination of the fossil tubipore, Plate I. Fig. 1,
was equally successful ; the animal membrane belonging to the
coral, from which the marble derived its origin, being rendered ex-
ceedingly evident Indeed, in a subsequent examination of this mar-
ble, the success was far beyond expectation ; the animal membrane
was displayed, retaining the general external form, with the original
colour of the coral. The experiment was performed with equal suc-
cess with several other substances ; particularly with a piece of the
Derbyshire entrochal marble, the animal membrane of which was
rendered perfectly distinct.

Other experiments have already convinced me, that the presence of
organic matter in animal fossils, of almost every kind, is sufficiently
frequent to authorize, in the fullest manner, the opinion which I have
already advanced, respecting the principles on which the process 9f
petrifaction" is accomplished. In the vegetable fossils, it is true, that
the organic matter appears to have undergone a particular change,
having been previously brought to the state of bitumen ; and I have
strong reasons, the result of actual observation, for believing that,
in the animal fossils, a correspondent change has been previously in-
duced; and that the animal matter has suffered a conversion into
adipocire.

281

one spot to the other. But when it is considered what prodigious
masses are often formed by one species of coral, as in the recent co-
ral reefs in the South Sea, it will naturally occur to the mind of every
one, that, in cabinet specimens of fossils, which are the small fragments
of such masses mineralized, by far the greater number of specimens
may be expected to be found, not possessing this, the most charac-
teristic surface of the fossil.

Instances of the vast quantities in which these corals were accumu-
lated, may be found in various marbles of which they form the basis,
and which are in masses sufficiently large, to allow of being cut into
slabs, of very considerable size, and to shew that they could not have
been brought by the waves to the places where they now are found.
Corals, in a mineralized state, yield also ample testimony of similar
species having congregated together in particular places. The Swe-
dish islands of Gothland and Oeland, as well as many other parts of
Sweden ; Worcestershire, Shropshire, Perthshire, Fifeshire, and many
other parts of Great Britain, possess considerable numbers of the sim-
ple turbinated madrepore *. In Wales are to be found considerable
masses of the remains of the curious madrepore, distinguished by
Lhwydd as Lithostrotion, sive Basaltes minimus striatus et stellatus. In
Westmoreland, Cumberland, the bishopric of Durham, and several
other parts of Great Britain, as well as of the Continent, are consider-
able accumulations of particular species of the aggregated and com-
pound madrepores.

The softer zoophytes, such as the sponges, alcyonia, &c. evince still
stronger marks of their not having been conveyed by torrents to their
present residences. Many of these are of such a structure as certainly
could not have borne such a conveyance, with so little injury as is dis-
coverable in the several specimens, which have been examined in the

* I lately received, from some unknown friend, two of these fossils, which were found
about thirty feet deep, in a mass of calcareous rock, at Lord Elgin's lime-works on the banks
of the Firth of Forth, in Fifeshire.

VOL. II. O O

282

preceding pages. But the congregation of so many of these bodies
in particular districts, as has been already noticed, particularly in
France, in Switzerland, and in this island, still more strongly proves
these to have been the identical parts where they lived.

But should any doubt remain of the fossil zoophytes having inha-
bited the sea, in the identical places where they are now found, pene-
trated with and entombed in stone, those doubts must yield to the
still more convincing circumstances, which attend the fossil remains
of encrini and pentacrini. The marine origin of these animals, we
have seen, has been determined by the discovery of the recent re-
mains of two or three pentacrini in the Atlantic Ocean : and that
the fossil species must have had their existence where they are now
found, is plainly evinced, not only by the vast accumulations of
distinct species in particular districts ; but by several instances occur-
ring, particularly with the lily encrinite, where, notwithstanding the
extreme delicacy of their construction, even the more minute, and
more easily separable parts, have been repeatedly found, in their mine-
ralized state, preserved in almost their natural connection.

In concluding the present volume, it seems necessary to remark,
that the circumstances observed whilst examining the several fossils
hitherto noticed, have appeared to be sufficient to warrant the follow-
ing conclusions.

1st. That the water has rested for a considerable period over the
general surface of the earth.

2nd. That the mineralized zoophytes found imbedded in dif-
ferent parts of the earth, and even in mountains of consider-
able height, have lived and died on those identical spots, which
in the former world constituted parts of the bottom of the
ocean.

3rd. That in a previous state of this planet, many species of organ-
ized beings existed, which are not known to us, in a recent

PLATE 1.

FIG. 1. A tubiporite, somewhat approaching to the Tubipora Musica, imbedded in a
dark coloured limestone, from Derbyshire, p. 13.

2. A piece of marble, chiefly formed by a tubiporite of this species. This marble

has a red tinge, apparently from the original colour of the coral.

3. The remains of a fragment of marble of the preceding kind. In consequence of

having been exposed to the action of dilute muriatic acid, the lapideous part of
the marble has been removed, the animal membrane of the coral, still retaining
its colour, only remaining.

PLATE II.

1. A tubiporite agreeing with the fossil tubipore of Linnaeus, described as Tubi-

pora Strues, forming a lightish brown marble.

2. Longitudinal section of the madreporean star.

3. One of the feet, or rather nrrrK, of the. madreporean insert, described by Donati,

as employed in forming its habitation, the madrepore.

4. The whole animal ; its head being in the centre, surrounded by its numerous

arms, which may be considered as the instruments with which the animal
forms the lamella of the madrepore.

%* The three last figures are copied from a plate in Ellis's Zoophytes, being there unde-
scribed: no description of them having been found in the papers of Mr. Ellis.

f/JI.

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ftl.28.

PLATE III.

FIG. 1. A ramose turbiporite from Mendip Hills. The corallite, which is silicious, is
imbedded in a dark lime -stone.

2. Is taken from the twenty-seventh plate of Mr. Ellis's natural history of Zoophytes,

and serves to shew the material difference which exists between the recent
Tubipora Musica and the fossil tubipores, Plate I. Fig, 1.

3. A fragment of black and white marble, which derives its marking from the tubi-

porite, Fig. 1.

4. Chain coral (Tubipora Catenulata) in its matrix ; but sufficiently cleared to shew

its form and structure.

5. A view, transversely, of the same tubiporite, imbedded in its matrix.

6. A transverse section of the same fossil, placed between the eye and the light.

VOI» II. Q Q

PLATE IV.

J. Turbinated madreporite, possessing somewhat of a pyramidal form: remains of
its radicle being observable around its lower parts.

2. A fossil of the same species; but more of a discoidal form.

3. Another fossil of the same species ; at the lower part of which traces of the root

like projections are also observable. About the middle of the coral a cleft
divides it through about half its diameter : the coral-forming insect having
there partly finished his labours and began them a-new.

4. The stellated surface of a madrepor.te, bearing a very peculiar form.

5. A turbinated madreporite somewhat resembling Madrepora Cyathus. Linn.

6. The shirt-button madreporite, (Madrepora Porpita}. Linn.

7. A turbinated madreporite, the external coat of which having been removed, the

disposition of its perpendicular lamellae is displayed.

8. A section of an elongated turbinated madreporite: displaying its tranverse and

longitudinal lamellae.

9. A simple madreporite, bearing the form of a compressed cone.

10. A turbinated madreporite from Gothland : its disk bearing very much the appear-
ance of the porpital madreporite.

H. A turbinated madreporite, apparently of the same species with the former, but of
a more conical shape. Fossils resembling this and the preceding specimen
are, I believe, frequently found in the island of Sheppy.

12. Is a cast of calcareous spar, formed in the vacuities of a turbinated madrepore :
the remains of the animal having been removed by decomposition.

1.3. and 14. Two transverse polished sections of a large turbinated madreporite of the
species at Fig. 8. The section, Fig. 14, made near to the pedicle, is seen to
possess much fewer laminae than the section Fig. 13, which was made where
the coral had obtained its full thickness.

15. A delicately formed turbinated madreporite found in chalk.

16. A fossil of the same species in chalk. In this specimen the mode of attachment

peculiar to these animals is shewn, the pedicle of the madreporite being ad-
herent to the shell of an echinus.

IT. Is the section of a piece of Blankenburg marble, in which is imbedded a turbinated
madrepore of the species represented, Fig. 1, 2, and 3,

PLATE V.

Fro. 1. A madreporite resembling the fossil madrepore of Helwing, Fought, Volkmann,
and others, which has been named Madrepora slnanas. At «, is shewn the
mode in which, as in proliferous flowers, the newly-formed parts proceed from
the centre of each existing disk. At kt is represented the mode of growth in
the Madrepora Stellaris.

2. The madreporite from Gothland, known as Madrepora Truncata. At c, is shewn

the proliferous mode in which the new joints arise from the surfaces of the al-
ready formed stars.

3. A polished transverse section of the Lithostrotion of Lhwydd, from Wales.

4. A fossil stellated madrepore, from Lincolnshire.

5. A madreporite, from Steeple Ashton.

6. The lithostrotion, or basaltiform madreporite, the transverse section of which is

shewn, Fig. 3.

7. The spider-stone, or Arachneolithus, of Bruckman.

8. A stellated madreporite, from Ribieze, in Transylvania.

9. A madreporite, bearing somewhat of a honeycomb appearance, from Masbury,

near Mendip.

PLATE VI.

FIG. 1. A polished slab of Kilkenny marble, which derives its figures from one species of
the madreporites which have been called Junci Lapulci.

2. A species of madreporite of this kind from Derbyshire.

3. A polished slab of marble, deriving its figured appearances from a smaller species.

4. A madreporite, found in France, and frequently in Wiltshire, apparently the

fossil described by Linnaeus as Madrepora Arachnoides.

5. A fossil madrepore which has been hitherto named Madrepora Pectmata.

6. One of the stars of the madreporite, Fig. 4, magnified.

7. A madreporite, the stars of which are very uncommonly formed.

8. A madreporite bearing much of the appearance of the Madrepora Flexuosa,

from Bristol. This fossil is coloured by the red ferruginous impregnation
which so generally tinges the fossils of this neighbourhood.

9. A madreporite of a very singukr form and appearance, from near Ingleborough.

10. A slice of marble from Switzerland, beautifully figured by a fossil madrepore,

which has been named Madrepora Vermicularis.

11. A madreporite which has been named Madrepora Fascicularis, and is remarkable

for the frequency with which its transverse lamellae occur.

12. Shews the general appearance of a polished section of chert, which is found fre-

quently in some parts of Wiltshire. In this specimen a cast seems to have
been formed, and the coral itself removed: the cast being afterwards impreg-
nated with silex.

13. Is the appearance observable in other specimens of this chert, where the calcare-

ous part of the madrepore has remained, having undergone the silicious
impregnation.

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PLATE VII.

FIG. 1. An elongated alcyonite from Touraine. In the superior part is seen the alcyonic
texture; the calcareous matter having been removed by an acid, and the
reticular silicified texture left.

2. A longitudinal section of the perpital madreporite ; the inferior surface of which

is represented, Fig. 4; and its superior, Fig. 5.

3. The under surface of an interesting compound madreporite of the porpital species

from Dudley. An outline of part of its superior surface is represented, Fig. 7.

4. The inferior surface of a porpital compound madreporite. In the centre is the

pedicle, which is surrounded by successive risings and depressions, concentri-
cally arranged.

5. The superior surface of the porpital compound madreporite, the inferior surface

of which is shewn at Fig. 4. Here crenulated openings are seen, surrounded
by similar openings of a smaller size.

6. A ramose alcyonite, from Berkshire, bearing some resemblance of Alcyonium

Digitatum.

7. The magnified appearance of part of the superior surface of the madreporite,

represented Fig. 3, and which may be assumed as representing also the general
alcyonic texture.

8. A magnified representation of the cruciform spines existing in the surface of the

following fossil.

9. An alcyonite, somewhat resembling in its form Alcyonium Cydonium of Linnaeus.

10. A compound madreporite of the turbinated species. Its general character re-

sembles that of the fossils shewn at Fig. 2, 3, 4, and 5, excepting that by a
protraction of the labours of the polypes several areae have been formed, each
extending beyond the last formed.

11. A stellated madreporite from Steeple Ashton. On its superior part is a sketch,

shewing the manner and form in which madrepores of this species increased.

12. A ramose alcyonite, from Berkshire.

PLATE VIII.

FIG. 1. A piece of lime-stone composed of minute round bodies, the nature of which is
unknown; but a magnified view of which is given, Fig. 12.

2. A branch of a fossil coral of the Isis genus, from Sicily.

3. A ramose milleporite, imbedded in a compact lime-stone, from Wiltshire; a mag-

nified representation of a part of the surface of which is shewn, Fig. 11.

4. A joint of the trunk of the fossil Isis, a branch of which is represented, Fig. 2.

5. The inferior part of a fungiform alcyonite, or spongite, the plicoe of which are

connected by anastamosings, similar to what takes place in the specimen,
Plate XI. Fig. 3.

6. Part of a ramose madreporite, from Switzerland.

7. A joint of a fossil Isis, imbedded in it's matrix.

8. A pebble, from the Hackney gravel-pits, bearing marks of organization in its

surface. This fossil obtains illustration from the one at Fig. 10.

9. A ramose madreporite, imbedded in chalk, from France.

10. A pebble, from the gravel-pits Hackney, on the surface of which are small

roundish bodies connected by minute fibres.

11. A magnified representation of the surface of the milleporite, Fig. 3.

12. A magnified representation of some of the minute bodies forming a great part of

the mass of the fossil, Fig. 1.

13. A magnified representation of a section of one of the round bodies, of which the

following specimen is composed.

14. A silicious stone, composed of round bodies, the nature of which is at present

unknown.

It. ////.

Fl.IX.

PLATE IX.

FIG. 1. A flint, from a gravel-pit. In this fossil are seen the ramifying filaments round
the central opening ; with the cortical part, under which these filaments seem
to pass.

2. Is a silicious alcyonite, the surface of which is reticulated, except where part of

its original external coat remains. The fossils depicted, Fig. 6, 9, and 10,
appear to be of the same species.

3. A fig-like alcyonite, from Switzerland. In this fossil the pedicle, or organ of

attachment, as well as its superior opening, is very evident.

4. An alcyonite, from Wiltshire, bearing somewhat of the form of Alcyonium Ficus.

5. A very perfect alcyonite, from the neighbourhood of Saumur, having four open-

ings in its superior part, and the remains of several root-like processes.

6. A silicious alcyonite, beautifully marked, externally, with various risings and in-

dentations.

7. A polished transverse section of a silicified alcyonium, resembling the supposed

petrified nutmeg of Volkmann and Scheuchzer. In this specimen the regular
arrangement of the muscular fibres, or tubuli, is seen.

8. A fig-formed alcyonite, of the same species with that which is imbedded in flint,

Plate XI. Fig. 8.

9. A calcedonic alcyonite, possessing a reticulated surface.

10. A longitudinal section of the preceding fossil, shewing its internal structure.

11. The external superior part, with the opening of a ficoidal alcyonite.

12. A section of a ficoidal alcyonite, with fibres ramifying through its substance.

13. The polished transverse section of the ficoidal alcyonite, Fig. 11, shewing in the

centre appearances like the receptacles for the pips of fruits.

14. A small calcareous spongite, or alcyonite, from Switzerland.

15. The appearance yielded in consequence of subjecting a similiar fossil to the action

of diluted muriatic acid.

PLATE X.

FIG. 1. A sketch of the inferior part of the fossil represented, Fig. 4. In this sketch is
seen the arrangement of the circular and the radiating fibres, by the action of
which a vacuum would be, probably, formed or destroyed, and the animal
thereby fixed or liberated.

2. A magnified representation of the same fibres.

3. A magnified representation of the geniculated fibres on the convex surface.
4-. The superior convex surface of the fossil.

5. An alcyonite resembling a cucumber in its form : and bearing some analogy with

Champignon de Mer of Count Marsilli.

6. An alcyonite of a very singular form.

7. A small alcyonite,. almost hemispherical, with a circular central opening.

8. A small hemispherical alcyonite, with a stellated central opening, and adherent

to a flat alcyonite.

9. A small oblong alcyonite, with a circular opening.

10. A triquetral alcyonite, beset with minute circular pores. This, and the three

preceding fossils, are from the canton of Basle, Switzerland.

11. An alcyonite investing a fossil nerite.

12. An alcyonite found in the chalk-pits of Wiltshire.

13. An alcyonite which much resembled the one, Plate XI. Fig. 7, deprived of its

outer surface by the muriatic acid, and shewing the beautiful ramifications of
its fibres, or tubuli.

14. A pebble, the figures on which are formed by the union of circular markings

similar to those in Fig. 15.

15. A pebble frequently met with in gravel-pits; the markings on its surface having

been the holes through which ramifications of an alcyonite have passed.

16. A pebble of the same kind with the preceding, longitudinally fractured, and

thus shewing the alcyonite possessing a situation in its centre.

d <v tin Act tirca*. jh-

. ///

PLATE XL

FIG. 1. An alcyonite formed of plicae, connected by transverse processes thinly disposed.

2. An alcyonite, from Switzerland, of a singular form, having in its superior part a

large central opening. 0, represents the magnified appearance of its structure
as obtained by polishing a part of its surface.

3. An alcyonite, the plicae of which are more frequently connected by ramifying

fibres, or tubuli, than those of Fig. 1, as is represented on the superior part of
the fossil.

4. A flint, from Wycombe Heath, containing an alcyonite, which is of a purple hue,

and is surrounded by its original covering, from which, numerous tubuli
may be seen passing into the more internal part.

5. Part of a funnel-formed alcyonite, from France. The labours of the polype may

be traced on the edge at its superior part.

6. An alcyonite, in which the plica? are very frequently connected by transverse

processes, leaving quadrangular spaces.

1. A fungiform alcyonite, the structure of which much resembles that of Fig. 6.

8. A ficoid alcyonite, imbedded in a flint. The white matter which immediately
surrounds the alcyonium, appears to be its original cortical covering, as is
observable in the fossil, Fig. 4. On the back part of this beautiful fossil is
a purplish spot, where the pedicle passed out, produced by the transparent
dark flint acquiring a tinge of red from the alcyonite : explaining the reason of
the purple hue in the alcyonite, Fig. 4.

VOL. 11. R R

PLATE XII.

FIG. 1. A fossil body, found near Bath, the surface of which is nearly covered by stelli-
form markings, which seem to have been formed by a coralloid resembling that
which is observed on the fossil, Fig. 2.

2. A coralloid fossil, from St. Peter's Mountain, near Maestricht, the nature of which

has not been determined. This, and the other fossils from this mountain,
Fig. 4, 6, 11, and 13, have been considered as casts; but this opinion appears
to be incompatible with the numerous fibrillac which exist in this specimen.
b, a magnified representation of one of the stellated columns.

3. A silicious fossil from Essex, apparently of a similar nature with the fossils repre-

sented, Plate VIII. Fig. 1, 8, and 10.

4. A coralloid fossil from St. Peter's Mountain, the original nature of which has not

been determined.

5. A flint, containing an alcyonite from Southend, Essex.

6. A coralloid fossil from St. Peter's Mountain, the original nature of which has not

been determined, a, the appearance yielded by one of its protuberances when
viewed with a lens.

7. A silicious alcyonite from Sewardstone, Essex.

8. A calcedonic alcyonite from France.

9. An alcyonite of curious structure, in flint, from Essex; its substance, disposed in

undulating plicae, appeared to be capable of lengthening and contracting by
the extension or the corrugation of its folds.

10. A silicious alcyonite, found in the neighbourhood of Islington.

11. A fossil from St. Peter's Mountain. In this fossil the alcyonic structure, already

noticed in the fossil, Plate X. Fig. 1, 2, 3, and 4, is very evident: at d, is
seen the inner side of the superior concave surface, a part of which is shewn,
slightly manifested at f'} and at €, is seen the flat inferior surface. From the
appearances yielded by this fossil, it appears to be probable that the other
fossils from St. Peter's Mountain, figured in this Plate, may have all partaken
more of the nature of alcyonia thai/ of corals.

12. A flint, supposed to owe its figure to an alcyonium.

13. A coralloid fossil from St. Peter's Mountain, the nature of which has not been yet

determined : the marks on some parts of its surface, as shewn, magnified at ct
seeming to point out some resemblance to a microscopic tubipore, whilst the
ruder and more numerous forms do not appear ,to be referable to any known
form of organization.

FIG. i.
2.
3.

4.
5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.

24.

25.
36.
27.
28.

29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.

PLATE XIII.

Vertebrae of encrini, or trochitae of different kinds.

A series of vertebrae, in which is shewn the kind of motion of which these bodies
are capable.

A distorted column, with the marks of attachment of vertebral processes.

The screw-stone, or pully-stone, being the cast in the hollow of a series of vertebra?.

•The articulating surfaces of different encrinal vertebrae.

The tortoise encrinite
f The articulating surfaces of different encrinal vertebrae.

A series of vertebrae.

A single plate belonging to the tortoise encrinite.

The stag's horn encrinite.

A series of oval vertebrae.

A vertebra with a curious articulating surface.

The straight encrinite.

A vertebrae of the straight encrinite.

r An asterial fossil from America; probably of the nature of the encrinus.

The apparent base of the stag's-horn encrinus.
Branches of the stag's-horn encrinite.
An oval vertebra.

A vertebra of the same animal, shewing the articulating surfaces crossing each
other, and thus allowing a total change in the position of the different parts of
the vertebral column.

'Parts of different vertebral columns of encrini.

PLATE XIII, CONTINUED.

FIG. 47.

48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.

59.
GO.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.

69.
70.

71.
72.
73.
74.

75.

76.
77.
78.

79.

Two trochitae of the lily encrinite immersed in diluted muriatic acid, with the
detached membrane, or rather cartilage.

Various columnar star-stones, or series of different pentacrinal vertebra'.

A quadrangular vertebra.

articulating surfaces of different pentacrinal vertebrae.

An encrinal doliform tuberous vertebrae, with radiated articulating surfaces.

A series of vertebrae which are contracted in the middle of their length, and have
their articulating surfaces oval, and disposed at right angles with each other on
each vertebrae.

A smaller series, as though belonging to a branch or arm of the animal.
A still smaller series, apparently with its terminating tenaculum.
The base or organ of attachment, probably of this species.

A doliform vertebrae, supposed to belong to the succeeding species, from the simi-
larity of their articulating surfaces, and of the substances of which they are formed.

The superior part of a bottle encrinite.

A similar specimen, to which is united its first vertebra.

The base or organ of attachment of a small species of encrinite.

An oblong vertebras, agreeing so closely in its colour and articulating surfaces with
the former fossil as to leave but little doubt of their belonging to the same species.

A clove-formed body, which is concluded to be the superior termination of a small
encrinite, from being formed of ossiculas united by suture, somewhat similar to
what is seen in the bottle encrinite. From the exact agreement of their surfaces
of articulation, its belonging to the same species with the two former fossils may
be fairly inferred.

•Fossil bodies, the nature of which is unknown.

Pa.

s thf .-Jit .fcr&tt.f'i •

PLATE XIV.

FIG. 1. The Jily encrinile, with part of its vertebral column attached to it. In this speci-
men is seen the extensive capacity for motion yielded by the peculiar form of
the vertebrae in the superior part of the column ; and by the fortunate removal
of a portion of the fingers, a fair view is given of the natural arrangement of the
tentacula.

2. The pentagonal base, composed of the ossa innominata, and forming with the sca-

pulae and clavicles, the pelvis, in which were contained, perhaps, the organs of
digestion, &c.

3. The lily encrinite, detached from its vertebral column.

a the centre of its base, formed by five cuneiform ossiculae, or ossa in-
nominata.

a one of the ossa innominata detached.

b the ribs, or articuli trapezoides ; forming, with the preceding bones, the
pentagonal base.

b one of the ribs detached, shewing its internal surface.

c the clavicles.

c 1, the inferior surface.

c 2, the superior surface.

d the scapulae.

d 1, the inferior surface.

d 2, the superior surface.

e the arms.

f the two first bones of the arms united.

g, h, i} k, I, m, the bones of the fingers gradually diminishing.

4. Part of the supposed base, or organ of attachment, of the lily encrinite.

5. The supposed base, or organ of attachment, of the cap encrinite.

PLATE XV.

FIG. 1. A polished slab of Yorkshire entrochal, or encrinal marble, shewing different sec-
tions of the vertebral column.

2. The pentagonal base of the cap encrinite of Derbyshire.

3. A specimen of encrinal marble, shewing the manner in which the fragments of the

column are disposed in relief on the exterior surface, both in the Yorkshire and
the Derbyshire marble.

4. A part of a large vertebral column belonging to the turban, or Shropshire, en-

crinite.

5. A part of the vertebral column, with the base, or organ of attachment, of the

turban encrinite.

6. The screw-stone, or rather pulley-stone, being casts of the internal parts of the

vertebral column of the cap encrinite.

7. A piece of marble from Shropshire, in which is discovered a part of the pentagonal

base of the turban, or Shropshire, encrinite; the difference observable between
which and that of the lily encrinite, Plate XIV. Fig. 2, and that of the cap
encrinus, Plate XV. Fig. 2, shews plainly that this must have belonged to
another species.

8. A small vertebral column of the turban encrinite.

9. The superior or body part of the cap encrinite of Derbyshire, and perhaps of

Yorkshire.

PLATE XVI.

FIG. 1. Part of the vertebral column of the pear encrinite of Bradford.

2. The superior vertebrae, gradually increasing in their diameter. The granulated

appearance at the inferior part of this specimen proceeds from the attachment
of some coralloid body, which has become petrified with the encrinus.

3. One of the vertebrae, last described, seen detached.

4. The clavicle, which is seen attached to the other parts, Fig. 6, 7, and 8. a,

shewn separate.

5. Part of the vertebral column, which has acquired an additional covering of a pur-

plish hue.

6. One the most perfect specimens of this encrinite that I have seen. Here all the

parts, particularly pointed out, Fig. 8, are again seen in their natural situation,
and connected with the first joints of the fingers of the animal. The existence
of the first bones of the fingers was ascertained by careful examination, after
a farther clearing of the specimen, but not until the account of this specimen,
page 211, had passed the press.

7. In this specimen the vertebrae are seen in connection with the clavicle and

scapulae.

8. A specimen * shewing the several parts in connection :

a, the clavicle.

b, the scapulae.

c, the bones of the arms.

d, the last series of the bones of the arms, the superior surface having two

concavities for the reception of the bones of the fingers.

9. Part of a vertebral encrinal column, with digitated processes passing out of each

vertebra.

10. Part of a pentacrinal vertebral column, in the superior vertebrae of which are de-
pressions for the insertions of the vertebral processes.

t

* A variety of formation seems to be observable between this specimen and the one,
Fig. 7, in the line connecting the clavicle with the superior vertebrae : in the former a body
is discoverable bet ween the last vertebrae and each of the inferior convex points of the body,
which I have considered as the clavicle. The admission of these bodies as ribs would render
the analogy complete: and sufficient reason seems to exist for this admission j since the
specimen, Fig. 7, is much more distinct in its markings than is either of the speci-
mens, Fig. 6, or Fig. 8, both of which have a hacked surface, from the spathose crystallized
substance.

PLATE XVI, CONTINUED.

FIG. 11. A body, apparently of ferruginous lime-stone, having much of the appearance of
a pentacrinal vertebra. These bodies are worn by some of the Africans,
strung together and forming necklaces.

12. The perpendicular section of a column, from Bradford, in which are seen the

superadded coats, such as are also seen on the specimen, Fig. 5. In this spe-
cimen they are seen spreading out and giving an increase of thickness to the
lower part of the column.

13. The perpendicular section of a beautiful agatine column, from Soissons, in which

the superadded coats extending at the base of the column are very plainly per-
ceived, forming a body well calculated to be the base or organ of attachment
of this species of encrinite. -

14. The section of the side of a column, from Bradford, in which the circumstances

noticed in the preceding specimen are very evident *.

15. A section of pentacrinal marble, shewing longitudinal sections of the vertebral

columns. '

16. Vertebral columns, variously contorted, and connected together by lateral digital

processes.

* Since the finishing of this Plate, I have procured a transverse section of the base of this
species of encrinite, from Pfeffingen. It seems to yield similar appearances, except being
three times the size, and of a purple colour, inclining to red, with those which a transverse
section of the lower part of the French fossil, Fig. 13, might give.

PLATE XVII.

FIG. 1. Part of a nave encrinite, with a circular central opening, the carpal bones * of
which much resemble those of the specimen, Fig. 10, taken from Dr. Ca-
peller's plate.

2. Part of another encrinite, differing from the former in the size and form of its

plates, and in having a stellated central opening.

3. The nave encrinite. This figure was taken from the original specimen in the

British Museum. The opening at the superior part I believe to be the effect
of injury.

4. Part of another encrinte, which seems to have very much resembled the preced-

ing specimen.

i

5. Part of another encrinite, which appears to have much resembled the two former

specimens.

6. A vertebral column of a pentacrinite, from Yorkshire.

7. A vertebral process, or appendix, of the Gloucestershire pentacrinite.

r ., . , T i ' • > ,1 r-i i •

S. A part of the vertebral column of the Gloucestershire pentacrinite.

9. The superior extremities of the pentacrinite in an extended state.

10. A sketch of an encrinite, taken from Fig. 3, of a plate of Dr. Capeller.

11. A part of the vertebral column of a pentacrinte, supposed to be from Yorkshire.

12. The superior part of an encrinite, in the British Museum, from Ireland.

13. One of the ossiculse, of the arms of the pentacrinite, of its natural size, and

slightly magnified.

14. One of the ossiculae of the vertebral processes, of the natural size, and slightly

magnified.

15. The superior part of the briaraean pentacrinite,

it, the scapulae.

b, the clavicle.

c, the first bone of the arm.
</, the second bone of the arm.

e, the commencement of two series of bones, attaclied to the superior part
of the last bone of the arms, analagous with what has been seen to take
place in most of the encrinites.

16. The vertebral column of the briaraean pentaerinte, with the articulated vertebral

processes.

17. The termination of one of the vertebral articulated processes, slightly magnified.

* The propriety of the term carpal bones, will appear when the forms of these bodies
are attended to, and especially when it is observed that these bones, like the carpal, con-
nect the fingers with the arm,

VOL. II S S

PLATE XVIII.

FIG. 1. The extended arms of the animal, with their various ramifications, on a slab of
pyritical lime-stone, from Charmouth.

2. The arms of the animal collected together, as if for the purpose of confining its

prey.

3. The vertebral articulated processes surrounding the pelvis, as if assisting in

directing the prey to the mouth of the animal.

4. A fossil body, supposed to be a species of oval encrinite.

PlUX

2

PLATE XIX.

FIG. 1. A sketch of the part of the recent pentacrinus described by Mons. Guettard.

2. The superior part of a pentacrinite, found at Pyrton Passage, Gloucestershire.

This sketch is copied from the fifty-second volume of the Philosophical Trans-
actions.

3. Part of a funnel-formed alcyonium, filled with, and surrounded by, the green

sand of Pewsey, in which it was found *.

* Not having been favoured with this specimen in time, I was unable to notice it in the
body of the Work, or introduce it in the earlier Plates: and not having it, therefore, in my
power to compare the Pewsey fossils with that represented in the Frontispiece, I was unable
to determine whether the information which I had received respecting the locality of the
latter fossil was correct or not. Comparison now enables me to state, that the alcyonite in
the Frontispiece appears to agree exactly in structure with the Pewsey alcyonites; but that
the latter have evidently undergone a much more considerable chemical change than the
former. The degree and kind of chemical change which the latter fossil has suffered,
seems indeed to authorise its being considered as a French fossil.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE BINDER.

The plates at the end of the work, opposite to the description of each.

The unnumbered plater frontispiece, facing the title.

-

•

•
, • . •

INDEX.

ACRICOLA. ..................................... -

Alcyonites, considered as fruits, by Volk-
mann, Scheuchzer, and others .............

___ of France, described by Guet-

tard ...................................... •- 80'

___ of Switzerland .................. 82,

___ of Wiltshire ........................

— compared with sea-figs
. - -.. madrepore

ramified ....................... •

remora like...

__ - from Switzerland
, - from Maestricht

— spines, discovered in

— difficult to distinguish from spon-

gites

-- investing shells
in pebbles
in flint....
bottle-formed

130,

funnel-formed

not conveyed by torrents

Alcyonium, recent, described

-- Cydonium ..................... ...

____ , spines of ............

Animal coal in marble ...........................

- membrane in marble ...... . ........ 16,

, - , -- in madrepore ...............

--- in tubipore ..... ...........

i -- in trochites . ...............

-- in spongites ...............

Arachneolithi .... ...................................

Aristotle knew of the vitality of sponges ....

Arms of encrinites .. ............ . ..... ..... ......

-- of pentacrinites .... ....... . ......... . .....

Arrangement of petrifactions, by Linnaeus ..

• -- , by Wallerius.
-- — - adopted in this

Page

156

79

104
113

83

84

114
147

94

89

106

110

132

123

123

281

85

93

94

67

65

70

16

166

101

45

€6

178

252

4

4

work

Page

Articuli trapczoides of lily encrinites 177

Asteriae 155, 241

• noticed by Agricola 243

described by Rosinus 244

Astroites 45

Astropodium ... 154

Baier 42

Base, pentagonal 155

• — of lily encrinite 177

Bath, fossils of. ' 54, 144

Beaumont, Mr. his remarks on rock plants.^ 157

Berkshire, fossil alcyonium of 91

Bertrand .- 42, 56

Black-marble, colour owing to animal coal.. 67

Blankenburg, marble of 33

Bones, number of, in lily encrinite 181

Bottle encrinite 231

like alcyouium 123

Bourguet 53, 60, 244

Brain-stone 37

Briarsean pentacrinite 248

: vertebral column of.. 249

• — — — — — vertebral processes... 249

pelvis of 251

arms of 252

specimen of, in Mr.

Harfbrd's collection, described 253

Bristol, encrinital remains of 51

Britain, numerous encrinites of 277

Bromel 34, 40, 48

Bruckman's description of spider-stone 45

Buttner 7, 34, 157

Cap encrinite ....« 191

Cellipora 71

Chain coral .. 20

its curious forms noticed... 20

Cheshire, fossil coral of ...,,,,....,.,.,, 45

INDEX.

Page

Classification of Linnaeus 11

• - of Wallerius 11

' adopted for this work 11

Clavicle of encrinus 155

•• lily encrinus 177

Clove encrinite 232

Golebrook-dale, fossils of 64

Columelli 35

Columnetee 35

Cometita..... 54-

Corallia baltica 25, 35, 49

Corals recent, remarks on 5, 8

• i • component parts of 10

disagree with fossil 77

Corallites in flint 60

accumulated 281

Cunnington, Mr r 49, 113

Dacosta, Mr 44, 45

Dead man's hand 92

Derbyshire encrinite < l'J3

. . pentagonal base of..... 193

. body of 194-

— marble 196

Digitated encrinite 236

Donati's description of the madreporean

hydra 23

_ of alcyonia 86

Donovan, Mr. description of plumose en-
crinite • 224

. .. of tortoise en-
crinite 227

Dudley, fossils of 73

Ellis 9, 36, 60

— — observed the vitality of sponge 37

Encrinites • 153

enumeration of 272

Encrinite, lily 173

cap 196

turban 199

— pear 208

nave 217

plumose 224

tortoise 225

Page

Encrinite, straight 230

bottle 231

stag's-horn 232

clove 232

digitated 236

-oval 238

• conjectures concerning 263

species of, enumerated 272

Encrinr.s, supposed recent 2£>G

Entrochi 155, 104.

oval... 164.

colours of 165

Faujas St. Fond 137

remarks on Maastricht fos-

sils 138, 140

Fig-like alcyonite 9$

Fingers of encrinite 179

Flint, alcyonium in... i$2, 133

hydrophanous, containing alcyonite ... 130

Fortis, Abb6 106

Fossils, anomalous 73

from Hackney gravel-pit 75

• from Leverian collection 75

Fougt 40, 48

France, fossils of 54

Fungites 120

Fungus, long English 108

Gloucestershire, fossils of 69, 258, 270

Gothland, fossils of 31, 35, 49,205, 220

Great Britain contains several species of

encrinites 276

Guettard, Mons 80,96, 144

Harenberg 157

Harford, Mr. Charles 253

Hatchett, Mr 6, 8, 15, 16

Hellwing 40, 157

Herbert, Mr. Joseph 40, 67

Hofer 244

Honeycomb petrified 40

Horns, madrepores resembling 27

Hyppurites, corallinus.. . 35

INDEX.

Page

Inman, Mr 197

Isis in fossil state 71

Junci lapidei 63

Kent, fossils of 32, 223, 230, 233

Kentucky, fossil of 234

Kilkenny marble 65

Knorr's work referred to 118, 8f passim

Lachmund , 157

Lancashire, fossils of 4-5

Lancisius 63

Langius 35

Leibnitz 157

Lhwydd 35,42, 157

Li thostrotion 42

Lily encrinite described 173

anatomical examination of ... 175

4- seq.

supposed inferior extremity of 181

noticed by Rosinus 181

where obtained 189

Linnaeus 4, fy passim

Lister's remarks on encrini 157

Madrepora fungites 36

patella 36

cyatheus , 36

labyrinthica 37

frivosa 39

retepora 39

ananas „ 40

radiata

truncata 47

stellaris 48

. flexuosa 51

• — pectinuta 53

fascicnlaris 52

arachnoides 5 j.

vermicularis ..s 55

Madreporite , 24

simple turbinated 25

. porpital 33

compound porpital 68

VOL. II.

Page

VIadreporite,compound porpital animal mem-
brane discovered in 70

— compound turbinated 68

Maastricht, fossils of. 71, 73, 134

Marble formed of tubiporite 14, 17

• animal mem-

brane discovered in 16

formed ofjunci lapidei 64

red , animal mem-

brane discovered in 65

black, animal coal discovered in ... 66

Marsilli, Count de 15,36,85,95,101, 109

Membrane, animal, in marble 10, 64, 65

w spongite 104

in encrinite 166

Menish, Dr 143> 144.

Mendip-hills, fossils of 40, 218

Mercatus ,...63,95, 106

Milleporite 71

Money, St. Bonifacius's 155

Mountain, St. Peter's, described 135

fossils of 71, 136

Mullet, probably derived from asterije 255

Mycetitce conoides 35

discoides 35

Mylius .....*. 42, 157

Nave encrinite described 217

by ]vjr Ljster 217

- by Mr. Beaumont.. 21 S

an encrmus

supposed to be the root of
shewn to be a superior ex-

217

tremity

220

from Craven in Yorkshire ... 217

Mendip-hills 218

Gothland 220

described by

Dr. Capeller 222

Nerite, fossil enveloped in fossil alcyonium.. 106

Nomenclature, remarks on n

Nutmeg, fossil of Volkman and Schuechzer,

shewn to be an alcyonium go

Ocean, covered the earth 282

Oligerius , j

PP

INDEX.

Page

Orange, sea • 86, 102

Ossa innominate of lily eocrinite 177

Oval encrinus 238

Palma marina 9^7

Palmier marin 166

Pear encrinite of Bradford 208

vertebral column

,. 209

of

tion of

of Pfeffingen.

pelvis of 210

arms of 211

inferior termina-
, 211

. 214

Pelvis of encrinite 155

lily encrinite 177

pear encrinite '210

recent pentacrinus 269

Pebbles formed in the water 288

Pentacrinites 153, 241

recent 266

ofMad.deBoisjourdaine 266

of the Royal College of

Surgeons 266

described by Ellis 268

« • briaraeau 24-8

. — vertebral column of 24-8

— . . • processes of 248

. . superior extremity of 270

- — anastamosing of Hiemer 257

. of Gloucestershire 2.t>7

of Yorkshire 259

Perthshire, fossils of 27

Petrifaction, observations on 283

Peysonell, his remarks on sponge 87

Plancus 36

remarks of, on Donati 94

Plates, pentagonal, of Encrinus 226

Pliny aware of the vitality of sponge 87

Plumose encrinite 224

Polype madreporean 23

Porpital madreporite , 33

Priapditlii 92

Ray, re-marks of, on encrinal remains 157

Remora-like alcyonite, from Switzerland.... 1 14

Page

Remora-like alcyonite, from Maestricht,.,... 147

RhoditaB 54

Ribs of the encrinus 155

- lily encrinus 177

Roedersteines 155

Rosinus 158, 167, 181

remarks on trochitae 159

„ asteriae 177

Sardinian coral marble 50

Scapulae of encrinus 155

Scheuchzer 54, 66

Scilla Angustino 72

Screw-stone 168

supposed to resemble a species

of earth-worm 170

referred to strombite 170

examined chemically 171

Sea covered the earth '280

Sea-apple 86

Sea-fig 86

• compared with fossil alcyonium 83

Sea-orange 86

Sewardstone, fossil from 133

Shropshire encrinite 199

vertebral column 204

inferior extremity of... 202

•- pelvis of 201

Shuckborough, arms of 255

Sicily, fossil from 72

Siiicious tubiporite in limestone 18

Solander 60

Somersetshire, fossils from 13, 40, 218

Southend, in Essex, fossil from 132

Spangensteines 155

Species, recent and extinct, found together.. 238

Spider-stone 45

Spines discovered in fossil alcyonium 94

Sponge, vitality of. 86

- spines in , 87

compared with ateyonium 88

Spongites 85

• small, of Switzerland 104

Stags-horn encrinite 232

Steeple Ashton, fossils of 49, 67

INDEX

Page

Straight encrinite 230

Swedish fossils 31, 35, 48,49, 220

Switzerland, fossils of 96, 104, 118, 233

Tentacula of lily encrinite 179

Townsend, The Rev. Joseph. ..50, 126, 128, 212

Tortoise encrinite 225

Trochitae 154

defined 158

described 159

. . cartilages of 166

animal part of, discovered 166

Trochites epineuses .... 163

Trunk of echinites 154, 191, 204

Tubipora 12

. catenulata 20

fascicularis, &c 22

musica 12

— experiments on, by Mr.

Hatchet 15

struts 16

marble formed by it 17

Tubiporite 12

approaching to tubipora musica ... 13

in a silicious state 14,

forming marble 14,

colour preserved during its de-

composition

animal membrane detected in ....

18
17

16
16

Page

Tubiporite, ramified 18

forming marble 20

Turban encrinite of Shropshire 199

- pelvis of 201

- inferior extremity of 202

- vertebral spine of 204

of Gothland 205

Tuscany, fossils of 96

Vale of Pewsey, fossils of 126, 128

Vertebrae of encrinites 158

Vertebral column of lily eucrinite 154

cap encrinite 191

turban encrinite 204

• pentacrinite 248

Walch, Mr.96, 105, 118, 121, 136, 138,158, 165

Wales, fossils of. 14, 22

Wenlock Edge, encrinus of. 199

Westmoreland, fossils of 16

Wiltshire, fossils of 54, 60, 71,73, 113

Woodhouse, Dr 235

Wy combe Heath, fossil from 129

Yorkshire, fossils of. 17,61, 196, 259

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