554 
THE MEDUSA'S HEAD. 
Every one who has th& least smattering of geology is familiar with the fossils called 
Encrinites, and is well acquainted with them under the different popular names that they 
bear. They are. or rather were, Echinodermata set upon a long flexible stalk, and being 
constructed, like the Star-fishes, of an enormous number of joints. Popularly they are 
known by the name of Stone-lilies, or Screw-stones, and their disjointed members are very 
familiar under the title of St. Cuthbert’s Beads. The number of joints in an adult Encrinite 
is almost incredible. 
In the head only of one specimen, no less than one hundred and fifty thousand joints have 
been calculated to exist, exclusive of the numerous parts of which the stem is composed. 
These joints are frequently found separated from each other ; and as they are perforated by a 
small hole through which a thread might be run, they were formerly strung together and 
used as rosaries. Encrinites were found very plentifully in many marbles, which, according to 
Dr. Buckland’s energetic language, are as entirely made up of the petrified remains of Encrin- 
ites as a corn rick is of straws. These wonderful beings could hardly be dissected out of the 
stone by any exertion of human labor, but it is found that water will achieve a task at 
once too laborious and too delicate for human hands to undertake. It oftens happens that 
the abrupt faces of marble cliffs exposed to the weather, so that the annual rains are 
driven forciby upon them, and by their continual action wear away the soft surrounding 
substance of the stone, leaving the harder forms of the Encrinites as memorials of the time 
long passed away. 
The Encrinites have long ago perished, but there are still some existing species of stalked 
Echinodermata, which are closely allied to them, and are still more nearly connected with 
the history of the Feather-star. These are termed Pentacrinites, because their joints are 
five-sided. Many fossil species of Pentacrinites are found, and are seen in positions which 
seem to prove that they must have been adherent by their bases to floating objects, and thus 
carried about from one place to another, like the barnacles, which have already described aud 
figured. 
The Feather-star is a great rarity. The Comatula is a stemmed form found sparingly 
in the waters off South Carolina, A large species is found off Greenland, and is occasionally 
brought from off the coast of Maine, near Eastport. 
One living species of these strange creatures is still in existence. This being is appro- 
priately called by the name of Medusa’s Head, as the many arms that wave about its 
summit bear some resemblance to the fabled head of Medusa, with its burden of venomous 
serpents. 
It is not a very large species when compared with some of its fossil relatives, for the largest 
specimens hitherto discovered are only a few feet in length, and have a stem about as large as 
a common drawing-pencil. Several fossil species, on the contrary, are at least eleven or twelve 
feet in length, and measure a full inch across the stem. The Medusa’s Head is the only species 
at present known, though it is probable that others may be yet discovered. 
Euriale scutatum is a name applied to a very singular and always interesting form of 
Star-fish. A species found off Massachusetts Bay is named Astrophyton agassizi , Basket-fish, 
so called by old Governor Winthrop, of Massachusetts, who wrote an account of it with other 
natural productions, for the Proceedings of the Royal Society. Linnaeus called it Asterias 
caput medusce , a very good specific name — Medusa’s Head. This has been regarded as very 
rare. An occasional instance of its being drawn up by fishermen, was all that was known 
until it was taken in quantities off Cape Cod in one locality. 
A Star-fish, discovered by Mr. Thompson, and called by him Pentacrinus europceits, is, 
when full-grown, barely three-quarters of an inch in height, and with a stem no thicker than 
sewing silk. Without entering into the many and interesting details of structure, development, 
and the habits of this beautiful little creature, we need only observe that this being has been 
proved to be the young, or larval state of the Feather-star. During this stage of its existence, 
the young Comatula is affixed to its ever-lengthening stem, but when it has attained adult age, 
it leaves its footstalk and wanders freely through the ocean. 
