﻿334 DK. L. MOYSEY ON PAL^OXYBIS PEOM THE [Aug. I9IO, 



bands, but this might well be due to the state of preservation of 

 the fossil. The body shows the usual deformity in its lower third, 

 and gradually tapers upwards into the beak, which is imperfect in 

 every specimen that has come to hand. 



The absence of an evident spiral arrangement of the segments of 

 this species affords a very marked distinction from the other species 

 of Palceoxyris, and from the allied genus Fayolia, but brings it so 

 near to the allied genus Vetacapsula, that it seems to me advisable 

 to place the fossil in the latter genus, and I have therefore 

 ventured to alter its name to Vetacapsula johnsoni. 



The fine oblique lines mentioned by Dr. Kidston as ornamenting 

 the segments of Palwoxyris prendeli have been noticed also on 

 several specimens of P. helicteroides. They are generally best 

 shown at the commencement of the body, and are so variable that 

 they can safely be referred to some accident in mineralization. 

 The fine parallel striae, mentioned by Lesquereux, may also be due 

 to the same cause. In most cases the segments appear smooth 

 without any evidence of ornamentation, nor do they show any trace 

 of carbonaceous matter on their surface. 



The majority of the Shipley specimens are encrusted with 

 Spirorbis sp., which is quite common on other fossils from the same 

 locality. On several of the Digby specimens, however, small 

 irregular bosses, and occasionally deeply excavated pits, have been 

 found, for the most part upon the beak (PI. XXIV, fig. 3, B). These 

 bosses and depressions are presumably due to some parasitic 

 organism, and are not normal to the fossil. It is curious to note 

 that in the figure of Carpolites helicteroides, 1 given by Morris in 

 Prestwich's ' Geology of Coalbrookdale,' there is shown a similar 

 excrescence on one of the segments of the body of the fossil. 



With regard to the mode of attachment of these fossils, 

 Ettingshausen 2 has shown that they occur in a verticillate or 

 umbellate manner. Schimper 3 gives a figure of Spirangium jugleri, 

 Ettingshausen, in which at least nine examples are seen arising 

 from a common centre ; and, according to his figure, it is the shorter, 

 broader, extremity that forms the point of attachment. In view, 

 however, of the discovery of the distinct and, in many cases, perfect 

 beak, and of the fact that the pedicle is always of variable length, 

 and so far has not shown a definite termination, it is more probable 

 that these organisms were attached by the pedicular end, and that 

 the end which carried the beak was free. In those Derbyshire 

 nodules that show two specimens, the fossils seem to lie at all angles 

 to one another ; in at least three instances they have been found to 

 lie with their beaks approximating or even touching, but this may 

 well be due to accidental juxtaposition. 



1 Trans. Geol. Soc. ser. 2, vol. v, pt. iii (1840) pi. xxxviii, fig. 12. 



2 ' Ueber Palceobromclia ' Abhandl. d. K.K. G-eol. Beichsanst. vol. i (1852) 

 pt. iii, no. 1. 



3 ' Traite de Paleontologie Vegetale' vol. ii (1872) p. 519 & (atlas) pi. lxxx, 

 fig. 5 (Spirangium jugleri). 



