THE COLLECTION OF FOSSIL ECHINODERMS 



BY 



R. T. JACKSON 



The collection of fossil echinoderms in the Museum is a very exten- 

 sive one and is important in that it includes so many species, both 

 American and European. It is also important from the fact that it 

 contains numerous types and figured specimens as the result of the 

 studies of many investigators who have made use of it in earlier or 

 later years. 



It is practically impossible to make even an estimate of the num- 

 ber of specimens in the several groups of echinoderms, but with the 

 exception of what is on exhibition, the collection is all stored in 

 wooden trays which measure 26 i /2" X 1 7" inside measure. The 

 trays, with few exceptions, are nearly or quite filled, so that the 

 number of trays occupied gives some adequate measure of the 

 amount of material therein contained. 



The main large collections, of which the Museum collection is 

 made up, are as follows: the Louis Agassiz collection, mainly Euro- 

 pean; the Gustave Cotteau collection, mainly European echini; the 

 Charles Wachsmuth and the William Barris collections, both 

 mainly from the lower carboniferous of the western states; the first 

 C. D. Walcott collection from New York State; the L. G. de Koninck 

 collection from various formations in Belgium and other European 

 countries; the L. Schultze collection from the Devonian of Germany. 

 These important collections were all received during the administra- 

 tion of Louis Agassiz. Of other collections received, the second C. D. 

 Walcott collection, mainly from the Ordovician of New York State; 

 the C. B. Dyer collection, mainly from the Ordovician of Ohio; the 

 F. H. Day collection, mainly Silurian of Wisconsin; the Schary col- 

 lection from the Palaeozoic of Bohemia and the Haeberlein collec- 

 tion from the lithographic slates of Solenhofen, were all the gift of 

 Alexander Agassiz. Recently much fine material was received from 



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