66 Suggested Terms in Crinoid Morjjhology. 



place, there sliould be some means of expressing the facts in a 

 simple manner. Ceteris paribus, the names employed should 

 at once convey to the mind the idea denoted by them, and 

 should involve as little change as possible from terms that 

 previous naturalists have been accustomed to use. It will 

 also be advantageous if the system of terminology is capable 

 of extension both along its own lines and to parallel struc- 

 tures, and if it can be readily expressed by intelligible symbols 

 such as can be utilized in formulae. 



It is believed that the system about to be detailed does 

 fulfil these conditions as far as possible, and since not one of 

 those conditions has been adequately fulfilled by previous 

 systems, it may claim to be their superior in these respects at 

 least. 



Examination of the Carpenter-Wachsmuth system brings 

 to light one term, and one only, that has a meaning, viz. the 

 Miillerian term " distichals." At first, therefore, it seemed 

 natural to suggest that the successive orders of brachials 

 should be designated monostichals, distichals, tetrastichals, 

 octastichah, and so on. This plan would inform us how many 

 corresponding branches there ouglit to be at the level alluded 

 to ; but as this number would only be complete in a regu- 

 larly dichotomous arm, such information would in many cases 

 be merely misleading. Another objection to the system, so 

 far as Paleozoic forms Avere concerned, lay in the words " so 

 on." For instance, such a term as " eikosinoctokaihekato- 

 stichals " would not commend itself to the gentlemen who are 

 so anxious to eliminate Greek from the education of a man 

 of science, and even a mathematician might take some time 

 in discovering that " 128 stichals " signified the fifth post- 

 palmars. 



This suggestion may therefore be set aside for the ])resont. 

 Instead, recourse may be had to the Latin language and to 

 the method of simple enumeration. The term " Bracliialia " 

 may be simply combined with the Latin ordinal numbers. 

 Since, however, this plan would produce rather lengthy words, 

 even in their anglicized form, it seems advisable to shorten 

 " bracliialia " to " brachs." The terms thus formed are easily 

 represented symbolically by the respective Roman numerals 

 preceding '' Br," e. g. IV 13r., while the actual ossicle alluded 

 to may be represented by an arabic numeral placed below the 

 line after " I3r," e. g. IV Brj. ^Vhen it is desired to indicate 

 the fact that the ossicle alluded to is an axillary, the sutlix 

 " axil " may be combined with the ajjpropriate numeral ; 

 while in the symbols " ax " will supplant " Br" (sec Table, 

 p. 57). 



