382 



G. R. VINE ON THE FAMILY DIASTOPORID^. 



these circumstances we may not expect very strongly marked 

 boundary lines " *. 



The family Tubuliporidse, Hincks, is thus denned : — " Zoarium 

 entirely adherent, or more or less free and erect, multiform, often 

 linear, or flabellate, or lobate, sometimes cylindrical ; Zooecia tubu- 

 lar, disposed in contiguous series, or in single lines ; Ooscium an 

 inflation of the surface of the zoarium at certain points, or a 

 modified cell " f . 



These further Notes have reference to the Diastoporce found in 

 the English Lias and Oolite, and are the results of a very careful 

 study of material kindly and liberally placed at my disposal by two 

 good local workers, Mr. E. A. Walford, of Banbury, and Mr. E. D. 

 Longe, E.G.S., of Cheltenham. Whilst I was engaged in the study 

 i was continually perplexed with the ever-varying modes of growth 

 of what may be considered to be true Diastoporce. To fix many of 

 these forms under the descriptions already given by authors is 

 indeed impossible ; or to call them, arbitrarily, " species " or 

 " varieties " would give a false idea of their significance. The 

 wisest course to adopt is to call them "types;" and in giving them 

 specific names I have kept this suggestion constantly before me. 

 Between the Liassic and Oolitic forms very little variation is per- 

 ceptible if we select groups of the same or similar habit. If, as in 

 the Inferior Oolite, for instance, we take the three or four different 

 types, and try to correlate them under one specific name, the varietal 

 or typical divergency is at once apparent. In this paper I have 

 directed the attention of the palaeontologist more particularly to 

 these typical forms ; and it remains now for local workers to mark 

 the differences well, and then, by a rigid and philosophical scrutiny, 

 to try and ascertain whether any of these varietal types creep gra- 

 dually from one into the other. The doing of this as it ought to be 

 done depends on whether material for the scrutiny is accessible to 

 the student ; and besides the material, patience is needed to follow 

 out a set design to its conclusion. To take away the stigma so con- 

 tinually repeated to our disadvantage, " the imperfection of the 

 geological record," work done in the direction indicated must be 

 attempted, even if it be imperfect ; but, after going over only a 

 small portion of the labours of two local workers, I believe it to be 

 possible to carry out the design to perfection, or nearly so, if keen 

 eyes and willing hands are engaged in the task. 



I am not aware that previously to the labours of Prof. Quenstedt 

 the attention of the palaeontologist had ever been directed to Liassic 

 Polyzoa. In his great work, ' Der Jura,' many Liassic fossils are 

 described and figured, and amongst others we have figured and 

 described the earliest known Mesozoic Diastojoora. Quenstedt 

 names it D. liasica ; and he says of it, " One usually recogn 

 the primary cell ; at first a rapid increase occurs ; but the poly- 

 zoarium soon divides itself into two groups, draws itself back, and 



* Brit. Mar. Polyzoa, vol. i. p. 425. 

 t Ibid. voL i. p. 424. 



