906 Rervort oF THE STATE GEOLOGIST. 
conclusion that they are of brachiopodous nature, the normal 
brachiopod characters being somewhat obscured by their mode 
of growth. From the accompanying figures, taken from 
Waacen’s illustration of the genus, it appears that the valves 
when well preserved show a distinct hinge-line, faint articulating 
processes and muscular impressions, all more similar to the cor- 
responding structure in the brachiopods than to anything occur- 
ring among the corals or Rupisra. If this evidence of the 
brachiopodous nature of these fossils prove convincing, the 
remarkable development of the cellular testaceous tissue of the 
pedicle-valve, which produces the striking external resemblance 
to a coral, is certainly a no more extreme deviation from the 
brachiopod-type than are such bodies as Hirrurires, Caprorina, 
Raprorirss, etc., from the type of lamellibranchiate structure. 
The shells were evidently attached by solid fixation at the apex 
of the pedicle-valve, and this attachment strengthened by the 
epithecal rootlets extending downward from the walls of the 
valve, similar to those in Omrvnyma and other corals. 
Type, Richthofenia Sinensis, Kayser. 
Distribution. Carboniferous. 
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