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group of Pentacrinites, upwards of thirty in number, in the most graceful attitudes, as if the creatures were sporting in their native element: a matchless specimen.

Apiocrinites. In the lowermost compartment there are choice examples of the Bradford Encrinite (Apiocrinites Parkinsoni), collected by the late Channing Pearce, Esq. A recent Pentacrinus caput medusa from the West Indies, is placed in this case for comparison with the fossil remains. On the right-hand shelf are fossil Starfishes of the genera Asterias, Goniaster, Amphiura, Comatula, &c.

Lily Encrinite. On the left there are examples of various genera of Crinoidea, viz. Eugeniacrinites, Cyathocrinites, Apiocrinites (A. Prattii, from the Author's collection), Encrinus Townsendi; and of the beautiful Lily Encrinite (E. liliiformis), from the Muschelkalk of Brunswick.

On the uppermost shelf are some fine specimens of casts of Crinoideal stems (commonly called screw or pulley-stones), in chert; from the mountain limestone of Derbyshire.

MINERALS.

TABLE CASE 1.-[54.] Contains the sulphates of lime. Selenite or sparry gypsum, from Montmartre, Bex, Oxford, &c.; anhydrite; bardiglione; and tripe-stone, a fibrous compact variety.

On the table near the window, beneath a glass shade, there is a remarkably fine group of selenitic crystals, from Reïnhardsbrunn, Saxe Coburg presented by his H. R. H. Prince Albert.

2. [7.] Sulphuret of copper, copper glance, or vitreous copper.

In this case are specimens of the so-called "Frankenberg corn-ears,” which are fossil vegetables mineralized by vitreous and grey copper; sulphuret of copper and iron; copper pyrites; variegated copper ore; Tennantite.

3. [53.] Sulphates of barytes and strontian. Celestine, &c. 4. [8.] Sulphuret of lead or galena.

5. [52] Nitrates and sulphates. Sulphates of baryta or heavy spar; Bolognese spar; ketten-spaths or chain-spar, from the Hartz; cawk, of Derbyshire; hepatite or fetid baroselenite; wolnyne, from Muzsay in Hungary.

6. [9.] Sulphurets of bismuth, of copper and bismuth, of copper and tin, or tin pyrites.

The remainder of this case is filled with sulphuret of mercury, or cinnabar.

7. [51.] Green carbonates of copper. Fine and rare varieties of malachite; compact malachite, from the Ural Mountains.

8. [10.] Sulphuret of silver; common silver glance, massive, crystallized, &c. Sulphurets of antimony.

9. [50.] Carbonates of copper; copper azure, &c.

10. [11.] Simple and double sulphur salts, formed by the sulphurets of antimony or arsenic, with basic sulphurets of electro-positive metals. Jamesonite; geocronite; kobelite; boulangerite; zinkenite; silverblende, red or ruby silver, &c.; bournonite; polybasite.

11. [49.] One half is occupied by carbonate of zinc or zinc-spar; calamine. The other half contains carbonates of lead or lead-spar; carbonate of bismuth; rare carbonates of cerium; of yttria on orthite from Ytterby, Sweden.

12. [12.] Grey copper or fahl-ore. Sulphurets of arsenic; yellow and red orpiment; arsenio-sulphurets.

13. [48.] Brown spar. Carbonate of iron; carbonate of manganese, crystallized and in globular and botryoidal shapes, of various shades of rose colour, on sulphuret of manganese, &c.

14. [13.] Oxides and hydrous oxides of manganese.

*There is one table of minerals, near the north-east window, not labelled.

The four following tables in this room stand parallel with the windows, and are numbered consecutively from east to west.

ORGANIC REMAINS.

TABLE CASES 15, 16, 17. Fossil Birds of New Zealand.These three cases contain a fine series of vertebræ, bones of the extremities, &c., dug up by Walter Mantell, Esq., of Wellington, from a bed of volcanic sand (menaccanite), on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, near the mouth of the river Waingongoro.

15. Among the interesting relics in this case the visitor should notice the femur, tibia, and fibula of the same young individual of one of the most gigantic species of Moa. The bones of the hind limbs in this case belong to several species of birds, and are in a remarkably perfect state.

16. Contains the only known skull of a most extraordinary type of bird, which is referred to the genus Dinornis: the other cranium, with mandibles approaching somewhat in configuration to those of the Cassowary, is the generic type of Palapteryx.

In this case are the skull, and bones of the sternum, wings, and legs, of the Notornis Mantelli, of which genus the only known recent example has lately been obtained by Mr. Walter Mantell. (See Frontispiece of this Volume.)

There are also tarsometatarsals of a remarkable extinct genus named Aptornis: bones of a species of Nestor, and of the

existing Apteryx; and portions of egg-shells of three distinct kinds of birds, which were dug up with the fossil bones.

Other remarkable objects in this case are a femur or thighbone of a Dog: the only relic of a terrestrial mammalian found in the most ancient ossiferous deposits; and calcined bones of Men, Moas, and Dogs, that were dug up by Mr. Walter Mantell from the ancient fire-heaps of the natives, at Waingongoro.

17. A fine series of vertebræ, and tarsal, and phalangeal bones, of various species and genera of Birds, from the same locality.

18. This table-case has been removed since the plan was engraven.

**The intelligent attendant to whose surveillance Rooms I. and II. are entrusted, is MR. SAUNDERS, who has for many years been attached to this department of the British Museum.

Rooms II. and III. are superintended by MR. THOMAS PRIESTLEY.
Rooms IV. and V. are under the custody of MR. LINGARD.

Rooms V. and VI. are taken charge of by MR. DAVIES.

The civility and intelligence of these officers, and their obliging attention to me on all occasions, I am gratified in having this opportunity of acknowledging; and I may add, that the visitor, desirous of examining any particular specimen, will have no difficulty in accomplishing his object by application to the attendant of the Room in which it is contained.

CHAPTER II.

PART II.

FOSSIL

STELLERIDE

STARFISHES

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CRINOIDEA- ENCRINITES -PULLEYSTONES-MARSUPITES-APIOCRINITES-LILY ENCRINITE-PENTACRINITES

PETREMITES.

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FOSSIL STELLERIDÆ.- -Wall-Case G.-Under this name are comprised two groups of radiated animals; namely, the Asterida, or Starfishes, and the Crinoidea, or Lily-shaped zoophytes, of which there are specimens of many species and genera in the case to which I would now direct attention.

The zoophytes, popularly called Starfishes, from their stellular forms, are so generally diffused through the seas surrounding our Island, that the common five-rayed Asterias must be familiar to every one, and will serve as an illustra tion of the general appearance and structure of the beings whose petrified remains are the subject of examination. This species belongs to the division in which the rays are elongated and far exceed in length the diameter of the disc; in another group (the Cushion-stars), the body is angular, and the lobes or rays are short, and not longer than the diameter; while in a third subdivision (Comatula and Ophiura), the arms are distinct from the body, and elongated and articulated, as in the Crinoidea.

The external surface of the common Starfish is soft, and attached to a tough coriaceous integument, investing a skeleton composed of numerous calcareous ossicula, arranged in regular series along the margins of the rays. Each ray has a longitudinal furrow or groove, perforated at the sides by alternating rows of pores through which tubular tentacula are protruded. The mouth is situated in the centre of the under

surface. Now, if we imagine a Starfish placed with its mouth upwards and the five rays fringed with long articulated tentacula, and fixed by the centre of its dorsal surface upon a jointed stem, we shall have the essential characters of a Crinoidean; and the animals of one recent genus of Asteridæ are actually in this condition in the earlier stage of their existence: these are the Comatulæ, or Feather-stars.1

From the importance of the Crinoides in the economy of the ancient world, the history of this only crinoideal type at present inhabiting the European seas, which once swarmed with these beautiful creatures, presents many points of interest to the naturalist. The receptacle of the soft body of the Comatula, like that of the crinoideans, consists of a cupshaped calcareous base, which sends off from its margin five arms, that quickly subdivide, and are beset on each side with rows of articulated pinnæ; on the convexity there are also numerous slender-jointed simple tentacula. The mouth is situated in the centre of the area surrounded by the arms, and is capable of being elongated. In the young state, the Comatulæ are attached by a jointed stem to other bodies." The stem is composed of about eighteen joints, which are pentangular. After a few weeks the Feather-star becomes detached from its peduncle, and ranges the sea in freedom.

Four fossil species of Comatula have been discovered in the Solenhofen slate; and it is not improbable that some of the numerous Crinoideans may be species of this genus in the early stages of development.

In another group of Asterida (named Ophiura or Serpentstars) the rays are long and slender, and without grooves or tentacula, and are distinct from the body. These organs are extremely flexuous, and in some species beset with spines, and enable the animal to seize and entwine round its prey. There are several fossil Ophiura from the lias in this Case.

Goniaster. These Starfishes are of a pentagonal form, and bordered by marginal plates; several fossil species occur in the white chalk, and in this collection there are some beautiful

1 The reader interested in this subject should peruse the elegant and charming_volume on British Starfishes and other Echinoderms, by Professor Forbes. 1 vol. 8vo. John Van Voorst. 1841.

2 See "Medals of Creation," p. 333.

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