208 HOMOLOGIES. - 
these natural divisions, and on each such frag- 
ment is stamped a star-like impression resem- 
bling those found upon the loose stones or Tro- 
chites. 
About a century ago, Guettard the naturalist 
described a curious specimen from Porto Rico, so 
similar to these fossil lilies of the rocks that he 
believed they must have some relation to each 
other. He did not detect its animal nature, but 
from its long stem and branching crown he 
called it a marine palm. Thus far neither the 
true nature of the living specimen, nor of the 
Trochites, nor of the fossil lilies was understood, 
but it was nevertheless an important step to have 
found that there was a relation between them. 
A century passed away, and Guettard’s speci- 
men, preserved at the Jardin des Plantes, waited 
with Sphinx-like patience for the man who should 
solve its riddle. 
Cuvier, who held the key to so many of the 
secrets of Nature, detected at last its true struc- 
ture; he pronounced it to be a Star-Fish with a 
stem, and at once the three series of facts respect- 
ing the Trochites, the fossil lilies, and Guettard’s 
marine palm assumed their true relation to each 
other. The Trochites were recognized as simply 
the broken portions of the stem of some of these 
old fossil Crinoids, and the Crinoids themselves 
were seen to be the ancient representatives of 
