﻿Schucheri 
  — 
  Proper 
  Name 
  for 
  Fossil 
  Beatricea. 
  293 
  

  

  Abt. 
  XIX. 
  — 
  The 
  Proper 
  Name 
  for 
  the 
  Fossil 
  Hydroid 
  

   Beatricea; 
  by 
  Chaeles 
  Schuchert. 
  

  

  The 
  object 
  of 
  this 
  article 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  main 
  to 
  point 
  out 
  

   the 
  correct 
  generic 
  name 
  for 
  the 
  singular 
  late 
  Ordovician 
  

   (Richmondian) 
  fossil 
  long 
  known 
  as 
  Beatricea. 
  Doctor 
  

   Plummer, 
  of 
  Richmond, 
  Indiana, 
  in 
  1843 
  described 
  these 
  

   fossils 
  as 
  cephalopods 
  under 
  the 
  generic 
  name 
  Aulacera. 
  

   In 
  1857 
  Billings 
  published 
  his 
  Beatricea 
  as 
  marine 
  algae, 
  

   while 
  others 
  thought 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  rugose 
  corals 
  most 
  

   closely 
  related 
  to 
  Cystiphyllum. 
  In 
  1865, 
  Hyatt, 
  also 
  

   unaware 
  of 
  Plummer 
  's 
  work, 
  concluded 
  that 
  Beatricea 
  

   was 
  a 
  cephalopod, 
  and 
  most 
  closely 
  related 
  to 
  Endoceras, 
  

   but 
  in 
  1885 
  he 
  gave 
  up 
  this 
  conclusion 
  and 
  then 
  referred 
  

   it 
  to 
  the 
  Foraminifera. 
  H. 
  A. 
  Nicholson 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  

   point 
  out 
  its 
  true 
  relationship, 
  referring 
  it 
  to 
  the 
  Stroma- 
  

   toporoidea 
  in 
  the 
  family 
  Labechiidas, 
  and 
  this 
  is 
  where 
  it 
  

   is 
  left 
  by 
  the 
  specialist 
  in 
  these 
  fossils, 
  W. 
  A. 
  Parks. 
  

  

  In 
  1857, 
  Billings 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  Report 
  of 
  Progress 
  

   for 
  the 
  years 
  1853-1856, 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  Canada, 
  the 
  

   following 
  : 
  

  

  "Plantas. 
  Genus 
  Beatricea. 
  The 
  above 
  generic 
  name 
  is 
  pro- 
  

   posed 
  for 
  certain 
  tree-like 
  fossils 
  collected 
  in 
  the 
  Lower 
  and 
  

   Middle 
  Silurian 
  rocks 
  of 
  Anticosti. 
  They 
  consist 
  of 
  nearly 
  

   straight 
  stems 
  from 
  one 
  to 
  fourteen 
  inches 
  in 
  diameter, 
  perfor- 
  

   ated 
  throughout 
  by 
  a 
  cylindrical 
  and 
  nearly 
  central 
  tube, 
  which 
  

   is 
  transversely 
  septate. 
  Outside 
  of 
  the 
  tube, 
  they 
  are 
  composed 
  

   of 
  numerous 
  concentric 
  layers 
  resembling 
  those 
  of 
  an 
  exogenous 
  

   tree. 
  No 
  traces 
  of 
  roots 
  or 
  branches 
  have 
  been 
  distinctly 
  

   observed. 
  There 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  two 
  species, 
  distinguishable 
  only 
  

   by 
  the 
  characters 
  of 
  the 
  surface." 
  

  

  These 
  two 
  species 
  are 
  B. 
  nodulosa 
  and 
  B. 
  undulata. 
  

  

  ^ 
  These 
  fossils 
  are 
  now 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  wide 
  distribu- 
  

   tion 
  in 
  the 
  higher 
  Ordovician 
  of 
  Anticosti, 
  Quebec, 
  the 
  

   Manitoulin 
  Islands 
  of 
  Lake 
  Huron, 
  Manitoba, 
  Ohio, 
  Indi- 
  

   ana, 
  and 
  Kentucky. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  curious 
  that 
  the 
  only 
  fossil 
  named 
  by 
  Doctor 
  Plum- 
  

   mer 
  should 
  so 
  long 
  have 
  remained 
  unnoticed, 
  and 
  all 
  the 
  

   more 
  so 
  since 
  he 
  described 
  and 
  figured 
  in 
  a 
  recognizable 
  

   manner 
  these 
  long 
  puzzling 
  organisms. 
  It 
  is 
  true 
  that 
  he 
  

   designated 
  no 
  genotype, 
  nor 
  did 
  he 
  name 
  the 
  species 
  in 
  

   hand, 
  and 
  yet 
  his 
  illustration 
  shows 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  the 
  

   widely 
  distributed 
  form 
  described 
  later 
  by 
  Billings 
  as 
  

  

  