222 Fossil Animalcul(B in the PrimiLive Mocks 



formation of iron oxyde. The sulphite, too, decomposing the 

 lime of the encrinites and corals, destroys the colour and 

 crystalline appearance of the rock. Thus rendered porous, 

 it obtains a rough surface, and a brownish colour (imparted 

 to it by the oxide of iron). The multitudes of very 

 minute fossil remains which this rock contains, and which 

 have been alluded to above, with a few exceptions, cain 

 be detected only by the aid of a powerful glass. Those 

 which are of sufficient magnitude to be perceived by the 

 naked eye are Inhabitants of the deeper parts of the ocean; 

 and, judging from their diminutive proportions, I should 

 suppose them to belong to the most primary era of organic 

 life — the harbingers of those higher orders of existences 

 which, after the lapse of countless millions of ages, now 

 people the altered surface of our planet. 



The forms which I have been able to recognise in these 

 remains are : — 



1. Cyatocrinites (probably) pinnatus^ (vide diagram.) This 

 species, whose habitat is the tropical seas, belongs to the 

 family Trocliyten ( Echinodermata ). The animal manifestly 

 attached itself to rocks and other solid bodies at a vast depth, 

 beyond the Influence of the turbulent waves which agitate 

 the surface of the ocean. Not possessing the full power of 

 locomotion, but capable only of swaying to and fro, lashed, 

 as It were, to the rock, they depended on procuring prey by 

 the motion of their long fringed arms, which also served as 

 an additional means of security In retaining their immutable 

 position. None of the remains under consideration are so 

 perfectly distinct as to enable me to discover any signs of the 

 caput, or of the roots of these remarkable animals. The 

 trunk consists of a long jointed column, only small portions 

 of which, about a quarter of an inch in length, are at all 

 distinguishable. A hollow channel or central orifice passes 

 longitudinally through this column; both the upper and 

 lower surfaces of the joints around it are replete with 

 dichotomous ribs. 



The rarity of the encrinite In the modern seas is a circum- 

 stance of a very remarkable nature ; when we consider the 

 immense number of fossil species already discovered, and 

 find whole masses of rock consisting of their rellgnla. At 

 an earlier period of the existence of our planet, when a high 

 degree of temperature favoured the propagation of beings, of 

 which only rare analogies now obtain In the tropics, encrinites 

 swarmed the ocean, and were the original cause of the depo- 

 Bitlon of the calcareous rocks. 



