Aug., 1891. 
CRINOIDS. 
183 
however, was still not yet universally admitted, and it is 
remarkable to find so acute an observer and careful systematist 
as Linnaeus placing them among the corals, as Ellis* had 
done before the publication of Guettard’s paper. 
Lamarckf in 1801 and 1816 adopted the same view as 
Linnaeus, in placing the crinoids among the Polypes, and this 
is the more remarkable as the specimen of Pentacrinus caput- 
Medusce described by Guettard was at his service for reference 
in the Paris Museum. 
Cuvier, in his “ Regne animal,” published in 1817, avoided 
the errors of his great predecessors, Linnaeus and Lamarck, 
and placed the crinoids in their true position, calling them 
Echinodermes pedicelles, or stalked Ecliinoderms ; and in 1821, 
J. S. Miller, a Bristol surgeon, published his classical work, 
in which, under the name of “ Crinoidea, or lily-shaped animals,” 
he gives a description of the structure of all the fossil crinoids 
known to him, and formulates a system of classification which 
has been the foundation of the work of all subsequent authors 
on this subject, and is a monument of the most careful and 
original study. 
In the year 1828 occurs a very interesting chapter in the 
history of the crinoids, when Mr. J. Y. Thompson, J a most 
ardent and observant naturalist, announced the discoverv of a 
new recent species of crinoid, to which he gave the name of 
Pentacrinus europceus. Several examples of this animal were 
found in the Cove of Cork attached to zoophytes, and, though 
very small, being only three-quarters of an inch high, the 
discovery created a great sensation in the scientific world, as 
being the first specimens of a crinoid ever found in European 
seas, and as also being the first crinoid ever examined in a 
living state. Further examination, however, revealed the 
remarkable fact that this little crinoid was only in a larval 
state, and ultimately developed into the Comatula rosacea, or 
well-known featlier-star of our seas. This was soon proved by 
Mr. Thompson’s own observations, which were continued, with 
zealous care, from the ovum to the adult state of the animal. 
These subsequent observations modified the scope of the 
original discovery, and their importance was not fully 
appreciated until Darwin enunciated his doctrine of evolution, 
and this case proved an example of the truth of his law that 
the life history of the individual is the history of the 
development of its race. 
* Phil. Trans., 1753. 
f“ Syst&me des aniraaux sans vert&bres,” 1801. “ Histoire naturelle 
des animaux sans vert&bres, 1815-1822. 
I “ Memoir on the Pentacrinus europceus ,” Edin. Phil. Jour., 1827. 
