176 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



fury of the storm, swinging like a vessel held by her 

 cable with equal ease in all directions around her 

 moorings. 



The root of the Briarean Pentacrinite, Dr. Buck- 

 land thinks, was probably slight, and capable of being 

 withdrawn from its attachments ; and the further fact 

 of its being frequently found in contact with masses 

 of drifted wood, now converted into jet, led him to 

 infer that the Briarean Pentacrinus was a locomotive 

 animal, having the power of attaching itself tempo- 

 rarily either to extraneous floating bodies, or to rocks 

 at the bottom of the sea, either by its side arms, or by 

 a moveable articulated small root*. 



In the year 1823 Mr. J. V. Thompson discovered 

 in the bay of Cork a singular little pedunculated 

 animal, which he called Pentacrinus Europ&us, which 

 immediately gave rise to much interesting discussion 

 both at home and abroad, for it was the first animal 



* The beautiful specimen of this Pentacrinus, figured by 

 Dr. Buckland, and taken from the Lias at Lyme Regis, adheres 

 laterally to a portion of imperfect jet, which forms part of a 

 thin bed of Lignite, or fossilized wood, met with in the Lias 

 marl between Lyme and Charrnouth. Throughout nearly its 

 whole extent, Miss Anning has constantly observed in this 

 lignite the following curious appearances. The lower surface 

 only is covered by a stratum entirely composed of Pentacrinites, 

 and varying from one to three inches in thickness : they lie 

 nearly in a horizontal position, with the foot-stalks uppermost 

 next to the lignite. The greater number of these Pentacrinites 

 are preserved in such a high state of perfection, that they must 

 have been buried in the clay that now invests them before 

 decomposition of their bodies had taken place. It is not un- 

 common to find large slabs several feet long, whose lower 



