TAXOCRINIDAE 361 



crenulated; tapering gradually for 10 or 12 mm., beyond which it becomes 

 cylindrical and the alternate columnals increase in length. 



All the specimens known to me are in the form of impressions from natural moulds 

 left by the decomposition of the fossil in the sandstone matrix. Roemer's excellent figure, 

 which I reproduce on Plate XLVIII, figure 5a, is partly restored, and I have given for com- 

 parison an accurate figure from a gutta-percha cast of the type specimen (fig. 6). I also 

 figure another smaller specimen, and give copies of three of Sandberger's figures of others. 

 All these are from the Coblentz beds of the Lower Devonian (the Spiriferen-sandstein of the 

 Sandbergers) from various localities in the vicinity of Coblentz. In figure 10, one of Sand- 

 berger's specimens, there seem to be rather abundant interbrachials both primary and 

 secondary. The structures are indistinct, but the very short and narrow first primibrach 

 indicates an altogether different type of ray, which does not belong to the species. 



None of the specimens expose the anal side, but Dr. Follmann (Unterdev. Crin., 1887, 

 p. 5) describes a specimen from an impression of the base which shows the posterior basal 

 differentiated from the others by having an additional side. In the type there is a peculiar 

 irregular basal which is evidently abnormal. Roemer described the calyx of this species as 

 consisting of basals and radials only, considering the plates which were partly evident below 

 the basals as only an enlargement of the upper stem joint. Johannes Miiller (Monatsber. 

 Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1858, p. 186) pointed out that these plates formed a part of the calyx 

 which could not be ignored, and stated them in his diagnosis as three. This was confirmed 

 by Follmann (1882, p. 165) who on a wax impression of the lower part of the calyx found 

 the 3 IBB plainly visible. The 4 IIBr are quite regular throughout the specimens except 

 figure 9, in which the details are indistinct. 



Roemer 1 in 1851 referred to this species a figure by Goldfuss in Petrefact. Germ, 

 plate 58, Figure 6B, under the name Cyathocrimis tuberculatus, of a fragmentary specimen 

 from the Grauwacke of the Rheinland, which is clearly excluded by its large interbrachial 

 plate. 



Cyathocrinus brachydactylus, described by F. A. Roemer upon an imperfect specimen 

 from an equivalent horizon in the Hartz Mountains, is probably this species. It is said to 

 have a similar tubercular ornament, and the general construction is substantially the same. 



Types. Roemer's original, formerly in the Anatomische Museum, is now in the Museum 

 fur Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany. 



Horizon and locality. Lower Devonian ; upper Coblentz beds ; Coblentz, Dillenburg, 

 Lahnstein, Olkenbach, and Wittrich on the Rhine ; Rammelsburg near Goslar in the Hartz, 

 Germany. 



Eutaxocrinus stiirtzii (Follmann) 



Plate XLVIII, figs. 11-12 



Taxocrinus stiirtzii Follmann, Unterdevon. Crinoiden, 1887, p. 6, pi. 1, fig. 3. 



A rather large species ; with crown elongate and narrow, arms long, rather 

 stout, tapering very slowly to very small finials; and with 4 IIBr. Surface 

 smooth. Column small, enlarging rapidly at the calyx to the diameter of the 

 base; proximal columnals thin in the enlargement, becoming longer and alter- 

 nating below. IBB low, visible above the column. iBr absent and anal struc- 

 tures unknown. The condition of the specimens does not admit of accurate 

 measurements; the least distorted crown is 36 mm. to near the fourth bifurca- 

 tion, and probably not over 15 mm. wide. 



1 Verh. Nat. Hist. Ver Rheinl. VIII, p. 363. 



