12 • Erwin Hinckley Barbour 



These our students christened Daemonelix balls, because of a 

 real or fancied resemblance to the old-fashioned New England 

 codfish ball. (Plate III.) Impelled by that hunger which is 

 engendered by outdoor life, they drew the names they needed 

 somewhat freely from the camp larder. However, they will 

 serve the present purpose quite as well as the formal names 

 yet to be proposed. Though so like the Daemonelix cakes in 

 all essentials, yet the Daemonelix balls differ from them dis- 

 tinctly, in that they are smaller in circumference and more 

 regular and uniform in size; in that they occur isolated and 

 alone, almost never in groups; and in that there is a slight 

 variation in form. 



The so-called balls are flat on the lower side, as if conform- 

 ing to the bed on which they grew, while the upper side is 

 noticeably convex. In this we see simply a contraction of 

 length and breadth, and an extension of height. Though sub- 

 ject to immediate contradiction, the author cannot refrain from 

 cherishing and presenting the fond delusion that possibly this 

 is but prophetic of the vertical habit found in all succeeding 

 forms. 



Just as in the case of the "cakes," we find, in the so-called 

 " balls," the surface covered with tangled organic tubules 

 surrounding a core of sand, penetrated frequently by tubules. 

 Microscopic examinations of sections cut from all kinds and 

 conditions of these show precisely the structure and tissue 

 already described. (See Plate XVII., Fig. 1.) 



This particular form, though confined apparently to a bed 

 but six to eight meters in. depth, was of very frequent occur- 

 rence. Many were weathered out and readily procured, while 

 others were in v)lace. They are not water-worn fragments of 

 Daemonelix proper. Out of the hundreds seen, numerous 

 examples were selected so as to represent all conditions of size 

 and shape. At Eagle Grag all the conditions are favorable 

 for observing a deep section of the rock of the place, because 

 of the canyon walls. 



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