ECHINODERMATA 



OF THE 



BRITISH TERTIARIES. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



The remains of Sea-urchins and Starfishes found in the secondary strata of the 

 British Islands, have been sought for with avidity, and made the subjects of numerous 

 memoirs and beautiful illustrations, whilst those that occur in tertiary, beds have been 

 treated with undeserved neglect, and are but imperfectly known. The majority of them 

 are undescribed, even unnamed. That they are neither few nor deficient in interest, I 

 shall show in the following Monograph. Unfortunately, a great number of them are 

 known only from fragments. The imperfection of their relics has caused them to be 

 slighted by collectors. Only those gentlemen who have understood their geological 

 importance, have taken the trouble to preserve them. It is to be hoped, however, that 

 since attention will now be called to the interest attached to these fossils, a more diligent 

 search will be made, and both new forms and better specimens of those here recorded, 

 be brought to light. In the present state of the subject, the descriptions of most of the 

 species are necessarily imperfect, and the materials accumulated are not sufficient to 

 warrant, except in a few instances, the construction of a formal diagnosis. I have 

 therefore confined myself to a description as detailed as the specimens at my disposal have 

 admitted. 



The marine tertiaries of the British Islands can be distinctly divided into two groups, 

 each presenting a general zoological type and fades. These are the Eocene, and those 

 which succeed it. Under the first are included the Thanet beds and Plastic clays, the 

 London clay and Bognor beds, the Bracklesham beds, the Barton series, and the 



