﻿62 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  between 
  Seneca 
  and 
  Cayuga 
  lakes. 
  The 
  discovery 
  was 
  an 
  inter- 
  

   esting 
  one 
  as 
  the 
  genus 
  had 
  not 
  before 
  been 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  American 
  

   Paleozoic 
  rocks, 
  but 
  no 
  attempt 
  was 
  then 
  made 
  to 
  analyze 
  the 
  struc- 
  

   ture 
  of 
  the 
  specimens. 
  A 
  halftone 
  plate 
  of 
  the 
  better 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  

   individuals 
  found 
  was 
  given 
  and 
  the 
  intimation 
  made 
  that 
  the 
  species 
  

   was 
  not 
  identical 
  with 
  the 
  German 
  H. 
  rhenanus 
  F. 
  Roemer, 
  

   the 
  only 
  form 
  hitherto 
  referred 
  to 
  the 
  genus. 
  The 
  publication 
  of 
  

   this 
  figure 
  induced 
  Prof. 
  H. 
  P. 
  dishing 
  of 
  Adelbert 
  College, 
  to 
  call 
  

   my 
  attention 
  to 
  a 
  slab 
  of 
  similar 
  fossils 
  in 
  his 
  possession 
  which 
  had 
  

   years 
  ago 
  been 
  acquired 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  Samuel 
  G. 
  Williams 
  while 
  pro- 
  

   fessor 
  of 
  geology 
  at 
  Cornell 
  University. 
  This 
  specimen 
  has 
  been 
  

   placed 
  in 
  my 
  hands 
  ; 
  it 
  is 
  from 
  the 
  Portage 
  beds 
  at 
  Earl's 
  quarry, 
  

   Ithaca. 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  now 
  five 
  individuals 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  of 
  Helianthaster, 
  the 
  

   two 
  from 
  Interlaken 
  of 
  which 
  one 
  displays 
  the 
  ventral 
  aspect 
  of 
  the 
  

   arms 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  external 
  cast 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  side 
  

   of 
  another 
  individual 
  ; 
  both 
  of 
  these 
  are 
  damaged 
  about 
  the 
  oral 
  

   region. 
  The 
  Earl's 
  quarry 
  slab 
  carries 
  three 
  individuals 
  all 
  in 
  ven- 
  

   tral 
  aspect, 
  and 
  all 
  casts. 
  Of 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  the 
  mouth 
  parts 
  are 
  

   missing 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  other 
  two 
  they 
  are 
  retained, 
  in 
  one 
  particularly 
  

   well. 
  Not 
  long 
  ago 
  I 
  was 
  successful 
  in 
  obtaining 
  a 
  magnificent 
  

   specimen 
  of 
  Helianthaster 
  from 
  Bundenbach 
  which 
  has 
  admirably 
  

   lent 
  itself 
  to 
  preparation 
  and 
  which 
  elucidates 
  some 
  points 
  of 
  struc- 
  

   ture 
  not 
  recited 
  by 
  Stiirtz 
  in 
  his 
  admirable 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  structure 
  

   of 
  H. 
  rhenanus 
  and 
  is 
  indeed 
  of 
  much 
  more 
  commanding 
  

   proportions 
  than 
  the 
  material 
  illustrated 
  by 
  that 
  author. 
  

  

  As 
  this 
  genus 
  is 
  a 
  novelty 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  paleontology 
  it 
  is 
  of 
  

   interest 
  to 
  call 
  attention 
  to 
  these 
  recent 
  discoveries 
  with 
  such 
  detail 
  

   as 
  the 
  preservation 
  of 
  the 
  specimens 
  permits. 
  Helianthaster, 
  from 
  

   its 
  original 
  description 
  by 
  F. 
  Roemer 
  1 
  was 
  a 
  hardly 
  recognizable 
  

   genus. 
  It 
  was 
  only 
  after 
  Stiirtz 
  rediscovered 
  and 
  analyzed 
  the 
  

   species 
  from 
  the 
  Bundenbach 
  shales 
  that 
  an 
  approximate 
  conception 
  

   of 
  this 
  very 
  commanding 
  ophiuran 
  was 
  attained 
  2 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  

   light 
  of 
  these 
  determinations 
  alone 
  that 
  the 
  specimens 
  here 
  con- 
  

   sidered 
  can 
  be 
  intelligently 
  interpreted. 
  

  

  In 
  regard 
  to 
  Helianthaster 
  rhenanus 
  the 
  description 
  

   given 
  by 
  Roemer 
  in 
  founding 
  the 
  genus 
  [op. 
  cit. 
  p. 
  147] 
  was 
  based 
  

   on 
  specimens 
  pyritized 
  but 
  involved 
  in 
  the 
  shale 
  in 
  the 
  usual 
  mode 
  

   of 
  preservation 
  of 
  the 
  Bundendach 
  starfish 
  and 
  no 
  attempt 
  was 
  

  

  1 
  Paleontographica. 
  1862. 
  v. 
  9. 
  

  

  2 
  Paleontographica. 
  1885. 
  32 
  81, 
  pi. 
  8, 
  fig. 
  3, 
  3a; 
  1889,' 
  36.: 
  218, 
  pi. 
  26, 
  fig, 
  

   14, 
  15, 
  15a; 
  pi. 
  27, 
  fig. 
  14. 
  

  

  