PORTAGE GROUP. 
247 
108 . 
1. Cyathocrinus ornatissimus, n. s. — Pelvic plates five, pentagonal; costalsfive? some¬ 
what heptagonal; scapulars hexagonal. Arms in part proceeding from the scapulas, and divid¬ 
ing and subdividing into hand and finger joints, which are tentaculated. Column somewhat 
pentangular above, becoming rounded, and the joints increasing in thickness below. 
2, 3, 4 and 5. Portions of the column nearer the base. 
This fossil occurs only in a limited stratum, upon the shore of Lake Erie, in the town of 
Portland. Some fragments of columns were first found on the shore near Eighteen-mile 
creek; subsequently a larger number were found farther up the lake, and finally these were 
traced to the original stratum which is not more than six inches thick, and thinning out in 
every direction within five feet of the centre. This stratum is composed almost entirely of 
the columns of this fossil, closely packed together. They appear to have flourished in great 
numbers in this favored spot, and to have been swept down suddenly, the whole forest 
becoming inundated by a deposit of mud. 
From the immense numbers of columns and the fragments of the superior extremity, there 
must have been several hundred individuals living in this small space, and so suddenly and 
completely were they overwhelmed that not a fragment appears to have escaped. 
