CEPHALOPODA OP TBl^) OliETAGEOtfS MARLS. 283 



groove; apex obtuse, obscurely stellated; color yellowish white, opaque; 

 substance, radiated carbonate of lime." 



Dr. Morton gives as the length of his specimen 2 inches, with a breadth 

 of one-sixth of an inch. 



There is much doubt as to the true nature of the specimen from which 

 Dr. Morton drew the above description, but as the specimen itself is lost 

 no very satisfactory determination can be arrived at. The specimens to 

 which Dr. Morton refers as "the numerous individuals in the collection of 

 the Academy" are mostly before me, and there would seem to be but little 

 doubt of their being stems of an Eucrinite, although they do not have the 

 characteristic fracture of those bodies, nor yet appear to be made up of 

 easily separated rings, or to have the central perforation. The surface, as 

 Dr. Morton says, is longitudinally striated, and when well preserved has a 

 smooth glistening appearance under a hand glass, as if it had been polished, 

 but when weathered shows obscure transverse lines as if there were trans- 

 verse plates. The freshly broken end has a pearly radiating structure, en- 

 tirely different from the usual divisional planes of crinoid stems, which fact 

 offers an additional objection to their encrinal nature. The fragments have 

 a more or less general quadrangular structure, but when closely examined 

 all present an indistinct or obscurely pantangular feature. Dr. Morton 

 states, in his observations, that his original specimen preserved the rounded 

 lower extremity, but that none of the other specimens did, and those before 

 me are all squarely truncate at each end. It is possible they may be the 

 remains of some alcyonarian body as yet unknown. They are all from 

 the Middle Marl Beds, and probably all from Timber Creek, New Jersey, 

 the locality from which Dr. Morton cites his example. 



