TJie President's Address. By Henry Woodward. 149 



Many living genera range back into Mesozoic times. 



The Monticulipokoids, a peculiar group, perhaps related to the 

 Polyzoa, were dominant in Ordovician and Silurian times, but 

 doubtfully survived the Palaeozoic period. 



Of the Cryptostomata, such genera as Fcncsiclla, Polypora, 

 llhabdomeson, and their allies are Palaeozoic. 



The Chilostomata, forming the bulk of living Polyzoa, date 

 back to the Jurassic period. 



VI. BEACHIOPODA. 



The Bkachiopoda have their maximum development in Palaeo- 

 zoic times. Productus, Spirifcr, Pcntamerus, Cyrtia, Merista.Uncites, 

 and String ocephalus show not only great abundance and extraordi- 

 nary specialisation of forms, but also remarkable variety of shape,, 

 size, and condition of their brachial supports. They have a com- 

 paratively short range in time, both in genera and species. 



The long-winged Spirifers, dominant in the Devonian, were 

 rapidly extinguished, but the simple Spvrifer glabra ranges from 

 the Devonian into the Carboniferous. Any striking peculiarity of 

 growth or size seems to be followed by rapid extinction. 



In the Mesozoic period both genera and species are much- 

 reduced in numbers, the forms chiefly belonging to the persistent 

 Tcrcbratida and PJiynclionella types, with slight variations in their 

 shell markings. 



With these are some exceptional forms, such as Lyra, Magas, 

 Kingcna, Trigonosemus— strictly Cretaceous, while a few others as 

 Pygope, Dictyothyris (specialised Terebratulcc), have a limited range 

 in the Jurassic period. 



From the Lower Palaeozoic period genera like Lingida, Crania, 

 and Piscina have continued on, and are living now. Such forms 

 may be truly termed persistent types. 



In this division hermaphroditism (so rare in this class) occurs. 



Lingida shows great resistance to death, surviving after being 

 out of water and in a dry condition for some time. 



VII. VEEMES (Worms). 



Worms being all soft-bodied animals are seldom found in a 

 fossil state. Their former existence is, however, proved by their 

 tracks, burrows, and castings which they have left in the sedi- 

 mentary rocks from the Cambrian to the present day. Their 

 chitinous teeth and jaws have been exhibited by Dr. Hinde, F.K.S., 

 before this Society and described and figured in the Quart. Journ. 

 Geol. Soc, London, 1879, 1880, and in the Transactions of the 

 Royal Swedish Academy. 



