52 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 60 



cocheague) limestone is exposed, and the rock crowded with rounded 

 heads of Cryptozoon affords a unique building stone known as 

 " bull's eye " marble. In figure 55 the cleaved condition of the Upper 

 ( )rdovician slates illustrates the difficulty of securing well preserved 

 fossils in such a formation, for. as shown here, the cleavage is at 

 right angles to the bedding planes along which the fossils are to be 

 found. 



COLLECTING FOSSIL ECHINODERMS IN THE APPALACHIAN 

 VALLEY AND IN MISSOURI 



Important discoveries of fossil echinoderms. especially of those 

 known as cystids and crinoids, were made during a long field season 

 in 1012, under the direction of Mr. Frank Springer, associate in 

 paleontology in the U. S. National Museum. Mr. Springer's private 

 collector. Mr. Frederick Braun. started early in the season and made 

 careful researches for crinoids in certain ( )rdovician formations of 

 the Appalachian Valley which had hitherto received very little study. 

 Localities in Virginia and Tennessee were thoroughly searched, 

 resulting in the discovery of a number of new species and genera, 

 especially of cystids. These are deposited in the National Museum 

 and will form the subject of a monograph by Mr. Springer. Many 

 of the other fossils of these formations were gathered at the same 

 time and have been presented to the Museum by Mr. Springer. 



Later in the summer Mr. Braun was detailed to examine certain 

 Lower Devonian strata outcropping along the banks of the Missis- 

 sippi just north of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where crinoid stems 

 had been previously noted associated with a peculiar bulb-like organ- 

 ism known as Camarocrinus. These bulbs had been considered as 

 free floating organisms of an echinoderm nature, similar in habit to 

 the recent jellyfish, and it was Mr. Springer's wish to ascertain if 

 complete stalks of crinoids could not be discovered in connection 

 with them. After a protracted search for miles along the bluffs 

 facing the Mississippi River, Mr. Braun succeeded in locating the 

 crinoid layer at an accessible point and carried on quarrying opera- 

 tions there for several weeks. The work resulted not only in the 

 recovery of some of the most remarkable specimens of fossil crinoids 

 ever obtained, but in settling finally the fact that Camarocrinus is 

 only the bulbous root of the fine crinoid to which the name Scypho- 

 crinus has been given in Europe. Four large slabs were obtained 

 having an aggregate weight of 4.500 pounds. Two of these fit 

 together so as to form a single slab 4 feet by 7 feet, and containing 



