210 PROCEEDINGS OF THE PALEONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



HYDROZOAN AFFINITIES OF SERPULITE8 80WERBY 

 BY W. ARMSTRONG PRICE 



{Abstract) 



SerpuUtes MacLeay ( erroneously attributed to Murchison by writers), a 

 I'aleozoic genus, commonly provisionally placed with the tubicolous annelids, 

 and to which have been referred conical tubes of a variety of form and com- 

 position, is restricted to chitinous tubes with marginal ridges appearing upon 

 the flattened test. Several species formerly placed in the genus Enchostoma 

 Miller are transferred to SerpuUtes. 



A branching, tubular, plantlike organism from the Devonian of Parana, 

 Brazil, identical in the structure of individual tubes with tubes of Serpulites, 

 appears to be closely related to the latter, as has been pointed out by J. M. 

 Clarke. 



Ruedemann has enumerated points of resemblance between Serpulites and 

 Conularia, among which are the possession by the young of both forms of 

 terminal disks for attachment and the possession by both of longitudinal 

 ridges, which he interprets in the case of Conularia and Serpulites as thick- 

 enings of the test. 



An unflattened test referred to Serpulites from the Pennsylvanian of West 

 Virginia is described, which shows two internal, cylindrical bodies, composed 

 of galena and other crystalline materials, lying beneath the marginal regions 

 where the "ribs," or ridges, are seen upon flattened specimens of Serpulites. 



The appearance of these marginal mineral deposits can not be considered 

 to have a direct connection with the marginal ribs, if the latter are thicken- 

 ings of the insoluble chitinous test. The suggestion has been offered that they 

 may be replacements of internal structures composed of soluble materials, but 

 no explanation of the presence of such problematical bodies is apparent. It 

 is considered possible that the animal possessed two internal canals within 

 the body tissue, and that, in the case of the specimen described, mineral sul- 

 phides and other salts were deposited in the canals in the presence of decay- 

 ing organic matter. In the case of flattened specimens which show marginal 

 welts in the flexible test, it is suggested that flattening took place before the 

 complete decay of the animal body, and that the canals were more rigid than 

 the intervening portion of the animal body. 



If the latter interpretation should be confirmed by further investigation, 

 the relation of Serpulites to the annelids would appear remote. The branch- 

 ing habit of the tubes and of the marginal ribs of the organism from Parana 

 suggest a possible relationship with the Hydroids and Graptolites, in which 

 case canals can be more readily understood. It is possible that the signifi- 

 cance of the internal bodies may be ascertained by a further study of unflat- 

 tened tests. These are found chiefly in limestone. 



Following this paper Dr. Kindle gave a preliminary account of his 

 work in the basin of the Lower Mackenzie Eiver and described the salient 

 faunal and stratigraphic features of the section, about 5,000 feet thick, 

 ranging in age from Middle Silurian to Upper Devonian. Professor 

 Schuchert, in discussing this paper, called attention to the important 



