220 BULLETIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM VOLUME 1 



limn 70 pcntacrinoids, all nearly in the same stage of development, were attached to the 

 surface of a patch of Memhranipora that was encrusting a frond of Laminaria; and in 

 another, wliicli he owed to the Idndncss of Sir Wyville Thomson, 35 pcntacrinoids in 

 the prcbrachial stage were so closely clustered together that the discoidal bases of then- 

 stems had come into mutual contact and had acquired a polygonal form. This was 

 bred in an aquarium, and tlie circumstances under which it was formed are thus de- 

 scribed. An early embryo when losing its power of locomotion was frequently seen 

 floatmg in such a manner that its incipient discoidal base spread itself out, often in a 

 stellate form, on the surface of the water, while the stem and body of the rudimentary 

 pentacrinoid hung downward from this; and it sometimes happened that by the ap- 

 proximation of a number of individuals in the same condition the stellate extensions of 

 the disks became mutually adherent. Similar clusters were found by Sir Wyville 

 attached to the inner surface of a dead valve of Modiola modiolus. 



History.— The main features of the history of this species from the systematic and 

 from the anatomical viewpoint have already been given (part 1, pp. 21-58, 118-125). 



First recorded from Penzance in Cornwall by LIhuyd in 1699, it was next reported 

 from the western coast of Scotland by Pennant in 1777, and later from Milford Haven by 

 Adams in 1800. 



It was first noticed on the French coast at Havre bj- de Freminville in 1811, and 

 ten j^ears later was again recorded from Milford Haven by J. S. Miller, who was unaware 

 of the previous notice of its occurrence there. 



J. V. Thompson's description in 1827 of the pentacrinoid young, which at the time 

 be did not recognize as such, based upon specimens from Queenstown ("Cove of Cork"), 

 was the first record for Ireland. Soon after this, in 1834, J. E. Gray described from the 

 coast of Kent an entirely new type of echinoderm which subsequently proved to be 

 merelj' a detached centrodorsal. The announcement, made by J. V. Thompson in 

 1835, of the discovery that the Pentacrinvs evropaeus found at Queenstown was merely 

 the young of this species was accompanied by an interesting account of its occurrence 

 and habits. 



The use of the dredge in zoological investigations, begun by O. F. Miiller in 1799, 

 was introduced into England by Prof. Edward Forbes in 1831. This implement opened 

 up entirely new fields of work, and shed an entirely new light on the whole subject of 

 marine biologj'. For twenty years Professor Forbes worked along the west coast of 

 England and Scotland, among the Hebrides, on the east coast of Ireland, and m the 

 Shetlands, and even extended his operations as far as Nonvay and the Cyclades. This 

 work of Forbes was the inception of the intensive study of the distribution of marine 

 animals, and was the starting point for the whole science of biological oceanography, 

 at least as concerns bottom-living animals. The results obtained by Forbes and his 

 friend Dr. John Goodsir on a diedging trip to the Shetlands in 1839 were so interestmg, 

 and were so well presented by Forbes, that a committee for researches with the dredge, 

 with a view to the investigation of the marine zoology of Great Britain, was formed by 

 the British Association, including Messrs. Forbes, J. E. Gray, John Goodsir, William 

 Thompson, and Robert Ball, and a grant of £60 was set aside for its use. 



As a result of his studies, published in a long series of contributions (1831, 1835, 

 1839, 1841, 1844, and 1851), of which the most noteworthy in this connection are his 

 "History of British Starfishes" (1841) and the detailed summary of his results (1851), 



