EXHIBIT AT THE COTTON STATES EXPOSITION. 619 



An attempt was made to show the general character of the lower 

 forms of animals which inhabit the ocean. The series began with the 

 Foraminifera, the smallest of the shell-bearing Protozoa, and ends with 

 the forms which are believed to be the nearest to the vertebrate animals. 

 Most of the types shown are familiar only to the professional naturalist, 

 and are not even provided with popular names 5 no attempt was made, 

 therefore, to describe this series in detail or to do more than mention 

 some of the most familiar types. Sponges were shown, both as they 

 grow and after preparation for use, and among them was the beautiful 

 lace-like "Venus' Flower Basket." There were also sea anemones, 

 corals, and jelly-fishes, among the specimens illustrating the group 

 Coelenterata, etc., some of the most beautiful being from the Naples 

 Zoological Station and the explorations of the Fish Commission off the 

 New England coast. Among the Sea- Worms are the forms known 

 as Sea-Mice, Sea-Centipedes, and Tube-Worms. The group known 

 as Echinodermata was illustrated by specimens from each of its five 

 orders: (1) the Crinoids or "Sea-Lilies;" (2) the Starfishes; (3) the 

 Ophiurans or "Brittle- Stars;" (4) the Echinoids or "Sea-Eggs;" (5) 

 the Holothurians or "Sea-Cucumbers." There were also specimens of 

 the Cephalopod Mollusks, including the Pearly Nautilus, the Octopus 

 or "Devil-Fish," and the Squids and Cuttlefishes. 



The series ended with the representative of the so-called Protochor- 

 data, which includes the Ascidians or " Sea Squirts," and the Lancelet, 

 which, as has been said, occupies debatable ground, and was also shown 

 in the exhibit of the Department of Fishes. 



DEPARTMENT OF MOLLUSKS. 



This was shown in Alcove F, and is properly a part of the synoptic 

 series of marine invertebrates. It was exhibited in a single table case, 

 and Mr. C. T. Simpson had made the most of the very small space 

 available in selecting specimens which showed the wonderful beauty 

 and variety of form in the class of Mollusks. The exhibit is described 

 by him as follows: 



The families and subfamilies of recent shell-bearing mollusks are 

 arranged essentially according to Tryon's Structural and Systematic 

 Conchology. Nearly all the shell-bearing families are represented. 



In the collection Nos. 1 to 4 represent families of the class Cephalop- 

 oda, the most highly organized of the mollusks. It includes the Cham- 

 bered Nautilus, represented by numerous species in past geological 

 ages, but of which only four species are now living; the Argonauts, or 

 Paper Sailors, a genus in which the female only has a shell, or rather 

 an egg case, which is detachable from her body; the Octopuses, Cuttle- 

 fishes, Squids, and Ammonites, the last being extinct shells with 

 marvelously complicated chambers. 



No. 5 represents the Pteropoda, a class of mollusks having thin, fragile, 

 glassy shells, which float on the surface of the sea. They are sometimes 

 called " Sea Butterflies," and serve as food for whales. 



