BRYOZOA. 285 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



To Prof. A. H. Wortben, State Geologist: 



DEAR SIR: When I undertook this work it was with the in- 

 tention of preparing a complete monograph of the Bryozoa 

 found in the Palaeozoic rocks of the State. It soon became 

 apparent, however, that this could not be carried out, since the 

 class proved to be so numerously represented that neither space 

 nor the appropriation would suffice for the purpose. In view of 

 this I decided to select only the typical and most important 

 species and upon these to base a system of classification enabling 

 the student without much trouble to arrange his long neglected 

 material. To facilitate the study I found it necessary to write 

 a comprehensive introduction, containing a short bibliographic 

 sketch of the subject to date, an account of the general and 

 comparative structure of Palaeozoic Bryozoa, and a chapter on 

 their classification with notes upon recent methods of investiga- 

 tions. My classification is based almost entirely upon the 

 microscopic and really fundamental characters and I need not 

 therefore apologize if my system differs widely from those hitherto 

 employed. The time has arrived when some convenient and 

 natural arrangement for this large branch of the Palaeozoic 

 fauna is not only desirable but a pressing necessity if we would 

 use them to further the progress of stratigraphical geology. 

 There is no class of fossils better entitled to that distinction 

 than the Bryozoa, as they are more than usually persistent in 

 their characters. Those of the suborder TREPOSTOMATA are even 

 servicable where other fossils are too imperfect, since in most 

 cases they can be identified by means of thin sections. 



