458 Mr. W. Lonsdale on the Genics Lithostrotion. 



lastrea [Styl. irregularis) ; and he states that it " is remarkable 

 for the nearly perfect transverse chambering of the central area ;'* 

 a character delineated however to a certain extent in the Russian 

 fossil Styl. inconferta {op. cit. pi. A. figs. 2, 2 a), but believed 

 not to be persistent. Prof. M'Coy * has further described another 

 carboniferous basaltiform genus^ Stylaxis, also composed of ad- 

 jacentj polygonal, easily separable tubes; and it is distinguished 

 by having, " 1st, a thin, flat, straight axis ; 2nd, a broad inner 

 area composed of numerous curved, vesicular plates in ii-regular 

 rows converging upwards to the axis; 3rd, an outer area com- 

 posed of smaller and more curved vesicular plates in rows incli- 

 ning obliquely upwards and outwards.^' The mode of increase 

 is likewise fissiparous [op. cit. woodcut, p. 119. fig. a). Two spe- 

 cies are described, and one of them, Stylaxis Flemingi, is regarded 

 by Prof. M^Coy as probably the Lithostr. striatum of Dr. Fleming ; 

 but he considers that authority to be wrong, in referring to 

 Lhwyd and Parkinson's fossils as specifically identical with that 

 noticed in the ' British Animals.' In the ' Archives du Museum 

 d'Histoire Naturelle' other species of Stylaxis are mentioned, 

 and one of them, Styl. Portlocki, is stated to occur in the carbo- 

 niferous series of V/ales (Carbonifere, Galles, p. 453). Nema- 

 phyllum arachnoideum of Prof. M'Coy is also transferred to the 

 genus {op. cit. t. v. p. 454). 



The reader has thus had brought under his attention the fol- 

 lowing basaltiform corals found in the carboniferous limestone of 

 England, independent of the species of Stylaxis mentioned in the 

 'Archives' : — 



1 . Lhwy d's Lithostrotion sive Basaltes minimus striatum et stel- 

 latus. 



2. Parkinson's Welch fossil, identified by him, but on insuffi- 

 cient evidence, with Lhwyd's Lithostrotion. 



3. Dr. Fleming's Lithostr. striatum, considered by that autho- 

 rity as equivalent to both the preceding fossils, a determination 

 regarded as doubtful. 



4. Mr. J. Phillips's Cyathopkyllum hasaltiforme, identified in 

 the ' Geology of Yorkshire ' with Parkinson and Fleming, but 

 for the reasons before given believed to be distinct. 



5. Prof. JVI'Coy's Stylastrea irregularis. 

 6. Stylaxis major. 



7. ■ Flemingi, regarded by Mr. M'Coy 



as possibly the Lithost. striatum of Dr. Fleming. 



Each of these fossils possesses the striated and stellated cha- 

 racters mentioned by Lhwyd in his definition, if such it can be 

 considered; each of the latter six might therefore with equal 



* Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd Series, vol. iii. p. U9 ef seq.. Fe- 

 bruary 1819. 



