No. 1614. NEW AND OLD CARBONIFEROUS FOSSILS—GIRTY. 283 
continuous from cell to cell, but not only do the cloace of the entire 
system, so far as observed, merge into a continuous tube, but they 
seem also to merge. with the spherical walls, which, as above remarked, 
are distinct from one another. 
The walls of the cloacx are pierced by closely arranged round 
pores by which the cloacal tube communicates with the cavity of the 
sphere. The latter communicates with the exterior by means of the 
large spout-like ostia, which are few in number and fairly constant 
in arrangement. The outer walls of the spheres are probably solid 
(i. e., without pores). In some specimens the wall clearly appears 
to be solid, but in others the evidence is more ambiguous. In no 1n- 
stance has conclusive evidence of porous structure come to light, such 
as is unquestionably presented by the cloacal tube. The large ostia 
probably furnished all the direct communication that was needed 
between the internal cavity, which, save for the cloacal tube, appears 
to have been empty, and the external medium. Indirect communica- 
tion was furnished through the cloaca. ‘The cloaca also served to 
connect with one another the several units between which direct com- 
munication seems to have been wanting. 
The interesting fossil for which this generic name is introduced 
resembles several established genera, while presenting characters in- 
compatible with any of them. Probably that whose relationship is 
most close is Stemmann’s genus Sollasia, from the province of Astu- 
rias, in Spain. //eterocwlia differs from Sollasia in the fact that the 
successive oscula are connected by internal walls into a central tube 
surrounding the cloaca, whereas in Sollasia the central cavity is unoc- 
cupied. There is no inclosed cloaca, and the oscula are not connected. 
From Amblysiphonella the present type differs in being more dis- 
tinetly composed of separate segments. This is shown by the fact that 
the lower wall of each spherical portion is repeated, so that where two 
units are in contact they are separated by a double partition. In 
Amblysiphonella the upper surface of one segment forms the lower 
boundary of the succeeding one. The party wall is not double, and 
the internal or cloacal wall connects above, but not below, with the 
outer wall. The interior of Amblysiphonella is more or less vesicu- 
lose, which is not the case with Heterocwlia. Furthermore, the latter 
appears to have spout-like ostia but not dermal pores, whereas A mbly- 
siphonella has dermal pores but no ostia. Much the same differences 
exist between Heterocelia and Sebargasia. 
Another related genus is Waagen and Wentzel’s Stesnmannia, from 
the Permian of India. Here again the Kansas form is distinguished 
by having ostia without pores, instead of pores without ostia, and 
there are also no internal vesicles. There seems to be the further dif- 
ference that the party wall is double in the present genus and in Stem- 
mannia single, as in Amblysiphonella and Sebargasia. 
Type of the genus—Heterocelia beedei. 
