The Basals of Eugeniacrinidæ

Abstract

In the course of my paper on Trigonocrinus I had occasion to refer to the views held by various writers as to the position of the basals in the Eugeniacrinidæ. As the question was then gone into thoroughly, and as the occasion is so recent, it is unnecessary to recapitulate the arguments there employed. Suffice it to say that I adopted the opinions of Prof. E. Beyrich and Prof. K. von Zittel in preference to those of Mons. P. de Loriol § on the one hand, and of Dr. P. H. Carpenter ∥ on the other. Dr. Carpenter, who was present at the reading of my paper, and joined in the discussion, was not wholly convinced by my arguments; at the same time he admitted that, if the specimens alluded to by Beyrich and v. Zittel showed the course of the axial canals to be as described by those authors, then I should be entirely justified in following their views as to the basals, anomalous though the said views appeared to him to be. I had already spoken to Prof. v. Zittel on the subject and could not doubt the accuracy of his observations any more than his good faith. The sceptical attitude, however, maintained by Dr. Carpenter in all his discussions with me, both private and public, induced me to write to Prof. v. Zittel; for it should be remembered that neither Beyrich nor v. Zittel had ever described the actual specimens on which they based their conclusions, and