AND ITS RELATIONS TO EEOENT COMATUL^]. 207 



Act. cheltonensis is interesting as being one of the two oldest 

 known Comatulce, so that Act. Mulleri, of the Bath Oolite, must 

 be disestablished. Since describing this species* I have obtained 

 some information respecting the " Solano crinus" mentioned by 

 Mr. Charles Moore, F.Gr.S., in the ' Geological Magazine' for 

 1875. This fossil was found by Mr. Moore in the Inferior Oolite 

 at Dundry, and is an unmistakable Antedon, as I have learnt from 

 a drawing of it which he kindly sent me. It is quite a different 

 type from Act. cheltonensis, having high radials more like those 

 of Ant. antarctica (PI. XII. fig. 29#). It is very interesting to 

 find that while most of the Jurassic Comatulce are rather synthetic 

 in their character, the two genera Antedon and Actinometra were 

 yet distinctly differentiated at the earliest period at which we 

 have any record of their appearance. 



XV. — We have now to consider an interesting fossil that was 

 figured by Groldfussf under the name of [Solano crinus Jaegeri. He 

 describes it as resembling S. scrobiculata in external form, but as 

 differing essentially, " durch seine Beckenglieder, welche so breit 

 sind dass sie auf der ganzen Grelenkflache zusammenstossen, und 

 hier fiinf ausstrahlenden Furchen zur Aufnahme der Saule 

 bilden. Die Saule ist nicht bekannt." Figures 24, a, b, & c on 

 PI. XL, are copied from Goldfuss's representations of this very 

 elegant type, the difference between which and the Comatulce 

 represented by him (PI. IX. fig. 1, PI. X. figs. 14, 15) is self- 

 evident. In the latter the basals are small and not in contact 

 with their fellows for the whole length of their sides ; whereas in 

 S. Jaegeri they form a completely closed ring beneath the radials 

 (figs. 24, a, c). This was recognized by Pictet $, who suggested 

 that S. Jaegeri should be removed from Solanocrinus, as typified 

 by S. costatus with small basals, and that it should be placed in a 



separate genus (Comatula), which he had defined as follows : 



r Les Comatula, Lamarck (Astrocoma, Blainv.), ont les bras bi- 

 furques une ou deux fois. Le calice est compose d'une piece 

 centrale, de cinq petites pieces basales et de cinq brachiales qui 

 alternent avec les basales. II porte dix series de ramules egales " 

 This classification is a very singular one. Lamarck's name 

 Comatula had been already adopted by d'Orbigny for the Solano- 

 crinus group characterized by the presence of external basals. 

 These are not present in any of Lamarck's original specimens 



* Quart. Journ. G-eol. Soc. vol. xxxvi. p. 54. 



t Op. cit. p. 168, Taf. 1. fig. 9. J Op. cit. p. 288. 



