896 DH. P. A. BATHER OX 



der Petrefaktenkunde ' (1885, p. 967) Ili/pocrimis was still placed 

 Avith Echinoeiicrinites and its allies. 



Zittel (1875, ' Handbuch der Palseozoologie,' Bd. i. p. 413), 

 who established the Cystidean group Aporitidee on the lines 

 indicated by Miiller (1854), placed Hypocrinus therein next to 

 Cryptocrinus. R. Hoernes (1884, Elem. d. Pal. pp. 123, 124), 

 remarking that both genera possessed pores, especially Hypo- 

 crimis, transferred them to the Caryocrinidai. Hypocrinus was 

 also associated with Cryptocrinus by M. Neumayr (1889, ' Die 

 Stamme des Thierreiches,' p. 403), who, however, made no 

 particular remarks on the genus. 



Hypocrinus was not naentioned by Wachsmuth and Springer 

 in their ' Revision of the Palaeocrinoidea,' although the name 

 appears within round brackets in their privately issued index. 



Before 1890 no one had placed the genus anywhere except 

 with the Cystidea ; in that year, however, in the second of n)y 

 papers on "British Fossil Crinoids" (Ann. Mag. Kat. Hist, 

 ser. 6, vol. v. p. 324), I associated it with Achradocrinus, stating 

 that it appeared to differ from that genus only in having three 

 infrabasals instead of five. In the concluding part of the same 

 paper [torn. cit. p. 385) Achradocrinus and Hyjyocrimis formed 

 Series 3, Achradocrinites, in the family Cyathocrinidae, Series 2 

 being Codiacrinites, containing Codiacrinus and Lecythiocrinus. 



The view that Hypocrinus was a crinoid was accepted by 

 P. Herbert Carpenter (1891, "On certain Points in the Mor- 

 phology of the Cystidea," Journ. Linn. Soc, Zool. vol. xxiv. 

 pp. 14-16). " Hypocrinus'' he said, " is certainly a very singular 

 form and one would like to know more about it." Carpenter 

 considered it to be allied to Lecythiocrinus White, of the Coal 

 Measures of Central North America, but also mentioned its 

 affinity to Codiaa-imts. 



Our knowledge of the genus was increased through two cups 

 collected by Dr. A. Wichmann in 1888-9 at the same locality 

 of Ajer Mati, and described by Professor A. Rothpletz (1892, 

 ' Palfeontographica,' Bd. xxxix. p. 74) under the names Hypo- 

 crinus milleri Beyr. (a lcq:)sus calami, as Prof. Rothpletz tells me, 

 for H. schneideri) and Hypocrinus (?) pyriformis (melius piri- 

 formis), n. sp. Since Dr. Rothpletz stated that Crinoidea were 

 represented in the Wichmann Collection by columnars alone, and 

 since between their description and that of Hypocrinus he placed 

 the account of an echinoid radiole, he must be supposed to have 

 regarded Hypocrinus as a Cystid. 



"whether the views of Herbert Carpenter and myself were 

 unknown to foreign writers or whether we were merely thought 

 unworthy of attention, subsequent authorities continued to refer 

 Hypocrinus to the Cystidea, associating it as before with Crypto- 

 crinus. Among text-books one notes Felix Bernard (1893, Elem. 

 de Paleont. p. 159), Von Zittel (1895, ' Grundziige der Palii- 

 ontologie,' p. 155), and Koken (1896, 'Die Leitfossihen,' p. 290).- 

 In 1895, Dr. 0. Jaekel was describing from the Devonian 



