ON FOSSIL POLYZOA. 161 
Fourth Report of the Committee, consisting of Dr. H. C. Sorsy 
and Mr. G. R. VINE, appointed for the purpose of reporting on 
Fossil Polyzoa. Drawn wp by Mr. Vie (Secretary). 
Part J. 
Cretaceous Ponyzoa. British AREA ONLY. 
THE Polyzoa of the Cretaceous epoch, especially in foreign localities, have 
been closely studied by Palexontologists, and many valuable memoirs 
published by foreign authors. In his ‘ Petrifacta Germaniz,’ Goldfuss 
described and figured nearly fifty species. Hagenow, in his Paleonto- 
logical works, accepts many of those previously described by Goldfuss 
and other authors, renames some, and adds to them nearly two hundred 
species besides. D’Orbigny also adds considerably to the number of 
Cretaceous species, discovered in the beds in the neighbourhood of Paris, 
and his admirable figures of some of these have increased very largely our 
knowledge of their varied forms. The rich Cretaceous beds of America 
have been partly investigated by Mr. Ulrich and by other American 
authors, but only a few species are, as yet, fully described, and many of 
the species are still undescribed. 
Sir H. P. De la Beche, in his apology for the introduction of the 
elaborate lists of organic remains in his ‘Geological Manual,’! says:— 
“Considerable attention has certainly been paid to such catalogues, as the 
zoological character of certain rocks is now the subject of much research, 
and as the result of such investigations may be the knowledge of some 
of the principal conditions under which the fossiliferous rocks were pro- 
duced. Moreover, the author considered that, for practical purposes, 
there was no alternative between rendering them as perfect as his means 
of information wculd permit, and omitting them altogether. It must, 
however, be confessed that, though constructed from apparently the best 
authorities, these lists require severe examination, for, unfortunately, the 
study of organic remains is beset with two evils, which, though of an 
opposite character, do not neutralise each other so much as at first sight 
may be anticipated : the one consisting of a strong desire to find similar 
organic remains in supposed equivalent deposits, even at great distances ; 
the other being an equally strong inclination to discover new species, 
often, as it would seem, for the sole purpose of appending the apparently 
magical word nobis.’ Between one and the other of these two extremes the 
Palwontologist is almost sure to slide; and though the caution, with its 
quiet innuendo, may be old, it is none the less valuable in an inquiry like 
the present. 
The list of Cretaceous Polyzoa, given by De la Beche contains no 
fewer than about fifty-six or fifty-eight species. Many of these bear the 
name of Goldfuss, but it is impossible to say whether the author intended 
the list as a British, or merely as a Cretaceous one. In all probability it 
was the latter. In his ‘Catalogue of British Fossils,’ Professor Morris 
admits about eighty species, distributed amongst thirty-five genera, many 
of these bearing the names of French authors. Professor John Phillips, 
1 Ed, 1832, Preface. 
1883. M 
