t^ 



TRENTON LIMESTONE. 



89 



* 127. 1. ECHINO-ENCRINITES ANATIFORMIS ( n. sy>.) . 



Pl. XXIX. Figs. .1 rt, i, c, d, e,f. 



Body composed of four scries or ranges of plates ; basal or pelvic plates four, three of 

 them pentagonal, and one wiiii the upper angle truncated ; second series hexagonal ; ihe 

 tliird series indistinct, those forming the summit not visible. Column short ; lower ex- 

 tremity very slender, and composed of joints which are twice or thrice as long as broad ; 

 in ascending, the diameter increases, and the joints are shorter, finally becoming flat rings 

 with prominent sharp edges, being nearly one half the diameter of the cup above. 



The summit of the specimen pri^seiUs an apijearanre as if the original had been provided 

 with arms or tentacula, but there are no remain.s of tiiem ol)S(;rvaiile. 



Our species approaches very closely to those figured and described by H. VoN Meyer 

 and VoLBORTH, as quoted by Von Buch in his paper on the Cystidea* ; and also those 



* Journal of the Geological Society of London, No. 5, 1846. 



The accompanying illustration, fif;. 1, is from this paper of M. von Buch, ami will convey a more definite idea of 

 the form of these bodies than tlic imperfect specimens tlius far seen in our rocks. 





.K' 



Fig. 1 a, the summit, with the mouth ; b, the ovarian aperture ; c, tlie base. 

 Fig. 2. Lateral view of a specimen, showing the ovarian aperture. 

 Fig. 3 a, the base of the specimen ; 3 b, lateral view of tlie same. 

 Fig. 4. A portion of tlie column of the same species. 



Fig. 5, as above, is the Echino-encrinites striatus of Panher. A small portion of the column is still adhering to 

 the body, and the side on which is situated the ovarian aperture a is much extended. 



{Paleontology of Russia and the Ural Mountains, pag. 29 & 30, pl. 1 & 27.) 



M. VoLBORTH has recently discovered the very delicate tentacula of the Eehino-cncrinitcs (Bulhtin de la Classe 

 Phys. Math, de S.-Petersbourg, Vol. iii. no. ). They are placed on the border of the buccal aperture, and do not 

 pierce tlie plates as in ordinary Crinoideans. These tentacula are not fimbriated ; and since, according to M. v. Buch, 

 the animal was provided with an ovarian aperture, they were not required for protecting the eggs, as in the true 

 crinoideans. The views of von Buch, however, do not entirely coincide with those of M. Volborth, who regards 

 this aperture as the anus.* 



* S«e note on page xiv. t>f M. PR Verneuil's General View of the PalKozuic Fiiuna of Russia. 



[ Palaeontology.] 



12 



