460 ZOOPHYTES. 



will be seen by the following account. I have com- 

 pared the specimens I have collected with the ac- 

 count given by Mr. Young and Mr. Bird, in their 

 " Geological survey of the Yorkshire coast," and 

 find them and their account to agree. In pursuing 

 this subject, I shall attend to the following ar- 

 rangement and classification : 



ZOOPHYTES. 



Zoophytes^ or animal plants, partake of the cha- 

 racter of animals and vegetables. This order of 

 animals comprehends the whole of those bony sub- 

 Stances denominated corals, great quantities of which 

 are found in a fossil state. We cannot expect to find 

 any in this state but such as are coreaceous,orofa firm 

 substance. The animals and vegetables usually found 

 petrified are such as are naturally hard ; as the shells 

 of testacious and crustaceous animals the bones and 

 teeth of fishes and quadrupeds ; the ligneous parts of 

 shrubs and trees, with the hard stalks and leaves of 

 ferns and reeds ; the corals are divided into various 

 genera as tubepores, madrepores, cellipores, &c. 

 tubepores often occur in the alluvial beds, chiefly 

 in nodules of limestone. 



The madrepores, which are distinguished into 

 simple and compound, the former shewing only 

 one star, and the latter many, are found in this dis- 

 trict, both in the oolite and chalk. 



Many of the simple madrepores bear a resem- 

 blance to mushrooms, pears, and other fruit, rising 

 up from a stalk by which they appear to have been 

 fixed, having a cavity in the upper surface : we have 

 various kinds in the oolite at Kirkby-Moorside, 

 Helmsley and Malton. Here are also specimens 

 of what are called alcyonites, being regarded as 

 petrified alcyonia ; some are of an oblong form like 

 cucumbers ; they are a species of coral. 



ECHINITES. 



These are clearly allied to the zoophyte family. 



