CRLNO1DS. 



455 



FIG. 687. 



other countries, the stemmed 

 kinds are exceedingly abun- 

 dant, showing that these an- 

 imals lived in profusion in 

 the old oceans which ages 

 ago covered a large part of 

 our country and of other 

 countries. And the fossil 

 crinoids, especially, are so 

 various in forms, and so 

 beautiful in patterns and 

 markings, that no words 

 can fitly describe them. 

 The workman in the quarry 

 stops to admire them, and 

 the learned naturalist is 

 fascinated by their beauty, 

 and never grows weary of 

 studying them. They are 

 the "gems" of the geolog- 

 ical collection, and their pic- 

 tures are among the most 

 interesting to be found in 



the Geological Reports of the States where these fossils 



abound. 



Special students of the Echinoderms are referred to the writings of 

 A. Agassiz " On the -Embryology of the Echinoderms," and to his 

 work on the the " Revision of the Echini." 



Early stages of a free Crinoid Rosy 

 Feather-star, Comatula rosacea. A, very 

 early stage; B, farther advanced; 0, 

 just ready to drop from the stem and 

 become a free criuoid (Fio. 085). Mag- 

 nified. 



