30 
VICTORIA MEMORIAL MUSEUM. BULLETIN NO. I 
Summary. 
From the above descriptions, it appears that Cycbcystoides 
was a free and not a fixed or parasitic animal; that it consisted 
of a circle of strong wedge-shaped plates, the outer portions of 
•which are excavated, so as to form a ring of spoon-shaped basins 
all around the animal; that this ring of basins was bounded on 
the outside by vertical, curved plates, and roofed by small, 
alternating, interlocking plates; and that the portion inside the 
ring was covered on one side by loosely arranged, irregular plates, 
while the other side was entirely covered with closely-fitting 
plates. The side with the small plates appears to have an 
aperture at the centre, while there is none on the opposite side. 
Outside the ring of strong plates there appears to be a border 
which is only partially calcified. 
The figure and description of C. salteri by Hall are incorrect 
in that he considered the spoon-shaped depressions to be on a 
separate series of plates, and he did not recognize the character 
of the vertical outer plates of the covering series. The restored 
figure given by Bather adds to these the mistake of placing the 
larger plates on the lower instead of the upper side. 
Interpretation. 
Throughout this paper, the writer has followed the usual habit 
of regarding this as an animal, complete in itself. Viewed from 
this standpoint, the following interpretation of the structures 
is possible. 
The animal was a free Cystidean or Edrioasteroid, with a 
strong but flexible ring of plates, within which was a body portion 
with a fairly rigid roofing of plates on one side and a partially 
calcified membrane on the other. The mouth is sub-tegminal, 
and the food was brought to it from the outer canal through 
arched channels, the outer canal collecting food from the water 
through the movable roofing plates. The anus is situated 
directly beneath the mouth, in the centre of the more mem- 
braneous side. The partially calcified ring outside the main 
ring of plates, might serve either as an organ for temporary 
fixation, or, possibly, in swimming. 
The objections to this interpretation, although not insur- 
mountable, are obvious and great. In the first place, no echino- 
