30 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES 



i. Scyphocrinus elegans Zenker 

 Plates I ; II ; III, figs. 1-4 ; IV ; V, figs. 1-5 



1833. Scyphocrinites elegans Zenker; Beitr. Naturges. Urwelt, 26, pi. 4, figs. A-F. 

 1840. Scyphocrinites elegans Zenker; Minister, Beitr. Petref., pt. 3, p. 112, pi. 9, fig. 8. 

 1850. Scyphocrinites elegans Zenker; Quenst., Handb. Petref., 621, pi. 55, figs. 1-3. 

 1852-54. Scyphocrinus elegans Zenker; Roemer in Bronn's Leth. Geog., ed. 3, vol. 1, pt. 2, 



p. 255, pi. 4, figs. 5a, b. 

 1879. Scyphocrinus elegans Zenker; Zittel, Handb. Pal., vol. 1, p. 372. 

 1881. Scyphocrinus elegans Zenker; Wachs. and Spr., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 298 



(Rev. Pal., pt. 2, p. 124). 

 1900. Scyphocrinus elegans Zenker; Bather, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, vol. 6, July, 



p. 115. 



( ?) Syn. Scyphocrinus excavatus and varieties; Waagen and Jahn in 

 Barrande, 1899. Systeme Silur. du centre Boheme, vol. 7, pt. 2, pp. 80-88. 



After the most careful comparison with the prevalent Bohemian form, 

 not only from the figures and descriptions of Waagen and Jahn, but with four 

 good specimens of my own from Bohemia, I am unable to point out a single 

 diagnostic character by which the Cape Girardeau specimens can be distin- 

 guished from it. In the general elongate form of the calyx (which does not 

 appear so constantly in Waagen and Jahn's figures on account of the flattening 

 of many of the specimens), the extraordinary shortness of the brachials 

 beyond the secundibrachs, and the sharp sculpture of the lower plates, they are 

 identical ; while substantially every one of the styles of the interbrachial pave- 

 ment upon which those authors base their three varieties of 5. excavatus is to 

 be found among the specimens in this collection. The parallelism in this respect 

 is most extraordinary, as may be seen by a comparison of the figures here given 

 with the preceding description of those structures, and with the figures of 

 Waagen and Jahn on plates 40 to 60 of their Monograph. 



The calyx is quite uniformly large and elongate, being usually from 

 112 to 125 mm. high, measuring from the base to the fork of the second 

 bifurcation of the ray, and about 92 mm. in width at the level of about the fifth 

 secundibrach, where the radial ridge leading to the arms usually begins to be 

 prominent. Among more than 50 crowns in this collection I have not found any 

 with calyx shorter than the smaller dimensions above stated ; but there are several 

 broken, or but partially exposed, which, from the relative size of the stem or lower 

 plates, must have been somewhat larger. The specimens are usually consider- 

 ably flattened, but several are sufficiently rotund to admit of accurate measure- 

 ment ; these have been utilized in constructing the restored figure on Plate IV, 



