224 Mr. F. A. Bather on British Fossil Cricoids : 



L. posterior side ; distal ends of arms worn away. 

 (PI. X. %. 6.) 

 431 J a much weathered crown, greatly crushed in the trans- 

 versal (or lateral) plane ; free from matrix. 



For the ready loan of the specimens in their possession my 

 Lest thanks are due to Mr. Ilolcrof't and ilr. ^ladeley. I 

 have also to thank Mr. ]\Iadeley, in his capacity as Secretary 

 of the Dudley and Midland Geological Society, for lending 

 the specimen belonging to the Dudley Museum. For fur- 

 nishing the specimens from the Mason College Museum, Prof. 

 Charles Lapworth is to be tlianked. Finally, for permission 

 to figure the specimens in the National Collection, I am in- 

 debted to Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S. 



These specimens all appear to come from the Upper or 

 '' Thin " bed of the Wenlock Limestone of Dudley, concern- 

 ing which I am favoured by Mr. Madeley with the following 

 note : — " This bed is far more prolific of Crinoids, both as to 

 number and variety, than the Lower or * Thick ' bed, and 

 all those well-preserved specimens where the fossil lies on a 

 thin bed of fine shale on the top of the limestone come from 

 this Upper or Thin bed of the Limestone." 



Generic Diagnosis. 



IB. 5; B. 5; R. 5; Arms simple, dichotomous ; W in 

 Basal circlet, resting on r. post. IB. ; x rests on post. B. and 

 E,', and only just reaches top of Radial circlet. 



This arrangement of the anal plates, combined with the 

 great proportional width of all the other plates of the dorsal 

 cup and with the flat broad backs of the proximal arm-ossicles, 

 ])roduces a very flat appearance, and the fossil, as it lies 

 stretched on the rock, resembles the outspread jialin of a 

 hand ; hence the proposed generic name, from Oevap^ the 

 palm. 



Since all tlic above-mentioned specimens appear to belong 

 to one species, the foregoing characters are the only ones that 

 can be delinitoly taken as generic, and the following detailed 

 description applies to both genus and species. 



Detailed DESCRirxiON. 



Dorsal cup^ broad and composed of thin plates. Specimens 

 48049 B. iM., 57478a & b B. M., 138 Mason College, 

 144 31a^on College, Dudley, and Maileley give the following 

 average measurements: — Breadth at base 7' 14 miiliui. j 



