312 Mr. F. A. Bather on British Fossil Crinoids. 



served respiration ; but whether, as Trautschold has sug- 

 gested *, it was also connected with reproduction seems more 

 than doubtful. Further, in its morphological relations to 

 the plates of the dorsal cup it differs, as will shortly be 

 seen, from the anal tube of other Crinoids. 



The Fistulata then are justly separated as an easily recog- 

 nized group. But it is one that has presented many diffi- 

 culties to the systematist, as evidenced by the numerous and 

 conflicting classifications that have been proposed. Into all 

 these it is as unnecessary, as it would be wearisome, to enter; 

 for the observations and erudition of Messrs. Wachsmuth and 

 Springer enabled them, four years ago, to put forward a 

 classification which was an enormous advance on all systems 

 previously maintained either by themselves or by other authors. 

 Since that time one or two alterations, occasionally for the 

 better, have been proposed ; and these will be alluded to in 

 their proper place. Mr. S. A. Miller, in his recently published 

 { North American Geology and Palaeontology ' (Cincinnati, 

 1889), has on pp. 214-216 given a classification of Palaeozoic 

 Echinodermata, to which politeness necessitates some allusion. 

 It is, however, so remarkable a production that only the 

 previous work done by this enthusiastic palaeontologist can 

 induce one to believe that he has put it forward in good faith. 

 It is then the genera as defined by Messrs. Wachsmuth and 

 Springer, to which one or two may be added, and the families 

 into which those genera were by them distributed, that will 

 form a natural basis for the following discussion. 



Discussion indeed might seem unnecessary, especially as 

 the new forms to be hereinafter described do not throw much 

 fresh light on the subject. But, in endeavouring to assign 

 these new forms to their place in the system, I was confronted 

 by certain difficulties. Thinking that those difficulties were 

 due to my own obtuseness or ignorance, I attacked the subject 

 afresh on every side. Still, now that all is done, I find 

 myself unable to accept in their entirety the views of Messrs. 

 Wachsmuth and Springer ; and, thinking it hardly compatible 

 with scientific honesty to describe forms in terms with which 

 I cannot agree, I feel bound to set before the public what 

 seems to me to be the truth of the matter. 



Terminology. 



Before plunging into a lengthy argument it will be as well 

 to clear the ground by an explanation of the terms employed. 



* Op. cit., and " Ueber Crinoideen, Zusatze unci Berichtigungen," Bull. 

 Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou, lvii. pp. 140-145 (1882). 



