10 BULLETIN 88, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



nearly every year. Unfortunately, Mr. Harris died on October 17, 

 1897, when the work was still in the first stages. 



At odd times during subsequent years the writer kept up his studies 

 and in the spring of 1904 the work on the Asteroidea was practically 

 completed. Then came his appointment to the chair of paleontology 

 at Yale University. Here new duties and new lines of thought kept 

 him away from the study of the Paleozoic ophiurids which had been 

 planned, but the hope was strong that somehow the time would be 

 found to complete the work. However, this hope has not materialised, 

 others have gone to work on the starfishes, and one genus and general- 

 ization after another has slipped away. Therefore it was thought 

 best to revise what had been done, bringing the asterids up to date. 

 In regard to the ophiurids, it was found impossible to restudy the 

 specimens, but as the writer had kept abreast of the literature, this 

 was put into order and is here presented, in the hope that subsequent 

 workers will find it useful in enabling them to find the references on 

 any species and the taxonomic status of any form. 



A study of the specimens in the Harris collection made it plain 

 that no satisfactory taxonomic and systematic results would follow 

 unless the undertaking also embraced many other Paleozoic forms, 

 of Europe as well as of America. Species and genera had been pro- 

 posed in a very loose manner; in fact, most of the Paleozoic litera- 

 ture on asterids and ophiurids up to the tune this work began had 

 no other value than to force the reviser under the rules of nomencla- 

 ture to recognize the names proposed. The International Rules of 

 Zoological Nomenclature have here been strictly followed. Under 

 these circumstances, all of the type-specimens had to be seen, and most 

 of them have been accessible. In this way the work finally came to 

 be extended to all Paleozoic Stelleroidea. To make it plain how little 

 the American Paleozoic starfishes were known in 1889, it will suffice 

 to give one example: Miller in his North American Geology and 

 Palaeontology lists 23 species under Palseaster'j in the present work 

 there is but a single form of this genus, the genotype, P. niagarensis, 

 the remainder having been distributed among seven genera, all new 

 and proposed in the past few years or at this tune. As a result, every 

 paleontologist will be obliged to disregard what he has learned re- 

 garding American Paleozoic starfishes and start anew. To facilitate 

 this, a list has been prepared and is here presented of all the names 

 so far given to Paleozoic asterids and ophiurids, with cross references 

 to the names adopted in this work. 



Now that this study is finished, at least for the present, it is plain 

 to the author that his species and genera are also in some cases too 

 comprehensive. The future student will restudy the specimens along 

 with the new material and go more deeply into the detailed structure 

 of the parts. He who attempts this, along with painstaking recon- 



