674 DR. W. B. CAEPENTEIl OX THE STEUCTURE, PHYSIOLOGY, AND 



sidcrare nequivi ; ipsum vero et facillime disjungitur a stella." Its colour he originally 

 speaks of as subrubens ; but in a later treatise' (Observationes, Cap. iii. p. 5) he describes 

 it as croceum; and he further remarks, — "rcperiuntur frequenter vario colore distinctae 

 veluti maculosa^ ; partes quidem cirrorum lutesccntes, alia; albicantes, aliaj rubentes, alia; 

 puUo colore," — a variety which has continually fallen under my own observation. And 

 he further notes the remarkable fact that if these animals are placed whilst yet alive in 

 fresh water, they impart their colour to it in a very short time. 



The figure and description of Fabius Columna were adopted, without the addition of 

 any further particulars, by Aldrovandus in his great work ' ])e Animalibus Insectis' 

 [Bononuv, 1602) ; and from this it seems to have passed into other systematic treatises 

 of the 17th Centuiy. 



At the end of that century, however, there occurs a very remarkable notice of this 

 type, on the part of a naturalist who deserves more honour than he has gained ; namely 

 Edwabd Lliiuyd^, who succeeded Dr. Plot as Head Keeper of the Ashmolean 

 Museum. 



In order rightly to appreciate its value, we must look back to the history of the ideas 

 which had prevailed up to that time in regard to the fossil Ckinoidea. 



The earliest author who systematically treated of Crinoidal remains was the celebrated 

 Agricoka,^; although from the manner in which he speaks of them it is evident that 

 they had long attracted the attention of Naturalists, and that the names Trochites, Enfro- 

 chics, and Encrinus had found their way into general use, — the first being applied to the 

 separated joints of cylindrical stems, the second to fragments of similar stems composed 

 of several joints, and the third to the summits, especially to that of Encrinus liliiformis, 

 the species most commonly known. Of the real relationship of the three kinds of bodies 

 thus distinguished, he does not seem to have had any idea. Agricola further gave the 

 distinctive designation Pcntacriniis to crinoidal summits which had lost their digitations, 

 and which showed five principal radiations ; whilst he conferred that of Astro'ites or Asteria 

 upon fragments of pentagonal stems, of which each separate joint presents some resem- 



' Minus cognitarum rariorumquc iiostro coclo oricntium stii-pium tufnaais, . . . item do Aquatilibus aliisque 

 nonnuUis Animalibais libcllus. Romce, 161(5. 



- Llhuyd was born in Carmarthenshire in the year 1C70 ; was a student of Jesus College, Oxford; travelled 

 for scientific purposes throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, and Brittany ; and died at the early age of thii-ty- 

 nino. His merits were thoroughly appreciated bj^ the late Professor E. Fokbes, who, in dedicating to him tho 

 genus Luiclia, thus eulogizes him : — " He was a man of great knowledge and great talent. His studies were 

 extended over large tracts of science and literature, and ho enlightened both with his researches and his writings. 

 He united a comprehensive and philosophical mind with an observing eye, and the energy to execute. Amid 

 the multiplicity of his studies there was no confusion. He wrote on insects, plants, fossils, antiquities, and 

 languages ; on all much and well. His principal works were ' Lithophylacii Britannici Ichnographia,' and 

 ' Archffiologia Britannica.' Ray praised him. Strange to say, his name is omitted in many of our cyclopaedias, 

 which devote whole pages to men of less repute." (British Starfishes, p. 136.) 



' See especially Book V. of the Supplement " De Natura Eossilium " to his great work ' Dc Re Metallica,' 

 first published about 1530, and many times subsequently reprinted. 



