OBSERVATIONS 



ON THE 



GENUS 



$lar$ttptte0, or $e itors^iffee animate. 



Generic Character. 



An unattached animal with a subglobose body containing the viscera pro- 

 tected by calcareous plates, of which that in the centre at the base is angular, 

 having a series of costal plates resting on it, admitting intercostals at their 

 superior angles, these giving insertion to the scapulae from which the arms pro- 

 ceed. Space between the scapulae covered by an integument, protected by 

 numerous small plates. 



Observation. 



The Marsupites have not as yet been found in a living state, and may pro- 

 bably be considered as extinct animals. They furnish an instance, how much 

 an examination of the organic remains in the strata of the earth, enlarges our 

 zoological knowledge, tends to display new mechanism, and exhibits new links, 

 which render the transition between the species regular and gradual. 



Thus the want of the column formed of many joints, separates the Crinoi- 

 dea from the stelleridae. 



