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 
Ordovician 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 1912, 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 Ordovician 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 
