tween each two of the projecting rings. When the number is thus large, one of them in the centre increases in thickness, and forms a new annulation. The edges of the rings are bent very slight downwards, and each alternate one (in all the specimens examined,) in the lower part of the column is notched on the underside, as seen in fig 5. The columns are much larger at the top than at the bottom. One specimen tapers from one fourth of an inch at the base of the cup to one eighth, at the distance of fifteen inches below. Others become more rapidly small, while some of them are more gradual in their decrease. The length for individuals of the size above figured would be from twenty-four to thirty inches.

The form of the alimentary canal varies a great deal in different parts of the same column, being in general more or less star shaped with five rays, but sometimes circular. The separate thicker joints are usually seen in the shape of a flattened ring with the outside margin thick and rounded, but thinned down to a sharp edge around the perforation in the centre.

We think this species grew to a great size, there are columns in the Trenton Limestone on the Ottawa river more than half an inch in diameter at the larger or upper extremity, and which when perfect appear to have been six feet in length. Their form is the same as in this species, except that the annulations are not notched at the edges. The plates of the cup are smooth-the rays are keeled-there are four plates in each of the secondaries-the arms are branched and composed of very numerous thin and fiat joints. We think these are large full grown specimens of G. ramulosus.

The exceedingly prolific genus Glyptocrinus was established by Professor Hall, in 1847, in the first volume of the Paleontology of New York, and he there describes a very beautiful species G. decadactylus from the Hudson River Group. Afterwards, another species, G. Basalis, was found in North Wales, at Alt, yr Anker, Meifod, Montgomeryshire, in Lower Silurian Slates of an age nearly the same as that of the Trenton Limestone. It is described in Sedgewick and McCoy's British Paleozoic Rocks, page 87. A figure of the same species is given in Sir Roderick Murchison's new work, SILURIA, page 180, where it is stated that "fine specimens are to be seen in the Cabinets of the Museum of Geology in Jermyn Street, and in the Woodwardian collection of Cambridge." The surfaces of both of these species are ornamented with radiating bars or ridges which cover them with a net work of triangular spaces. The name of the genus, Glyptos, "sculptured" and Krinos, "lily," was suggested by the beauty of this peculiar ornament. Our species differs from both, not only in its smooth plates but in many other respect, and it is therefore to be considered new. It is proposed to designate it by the specific name ramulosus, in allusion to its branching arms.

There is another species of Glyptocrinus also of great size, but with the plates of the cup bordered by an elevated margin. Only one head of this species has been found.

Professor Hall has figured and described an encrinite under the name of Schizocrinus nodosus, the columns of which have the same structure and

form, nearly of joints, as the new species above described, The annulations are further apart, however, and if we understand figure 10, on plate 27 of the Paleontology of New York, the notches are upon the upper side of the rings instead of the lower, as in this species. We have seen many columns of G. ramulosus, which appeared to be perfect at their lower extremities, as they were tapered down to a very small size-but have never met with one still attached to the rock. We cannot therefore say how it was attached, whether by a branching root or by an expanded base, as in many other species. They are usually found coiled up, and the centre of the coil being the small end.

ARTICLE VI.-Fossils of the Upper Silurian Rocks, Niagara and Clinton Groups.

The fossils figured upon the plate opposite this page, are somewhat common in the Niagara and Clinton groups, two formations which constitute the most important portion of the Upper Silurian of Canada, so far as paleontology is concerned. These rocks cross the Niagara river, from the State of New York into Canada, in a narrow belt, which pursues a westerly course through portions of the Counties of Welland, Lincoln, and Wentworth, to the City of Hamilton, and then turning to the north, stretches away through Halton, Peel, Wellington and Grey, to the Georgian Bay. Along this line of country a rich harvest of beautiful fossils may be collected. Those upon the plate are:

Fig. 1.--Favosites Niagarensis.

2.-Pentamerus oblongus (dorsal view of a large specimen.
3.--Ditto

ditto (side view of a small specimen.)

4.-Ichthyocrinus lævis.

"5-Strophomena depressa.

66 6.-Avicula emacerata.

"7-Phacops limulurus.

Fig. 7 exhibits the form of a trilobite, closely resembling Phacops caudatus, a species very common in the Silurian rocks of England, and one of the most celebrated and best known fossils of this remarkable tribe in the world. Our species is of an elongated oval shape, with the tail prolonged into a sharp spine, and with a short rounded point in the centre of the front margin of the head. There are eleven segments in the thorax, fifteen in the central, and eight in each of the lateral lobes of the tail or pygidium. The head is in the shape of a crescent, with the posterfor angles extended backwards, and forming two sharp points. The glabella consists of one large elliptical lobe in the front, and three smaller lobes behind, which are elongated in a direction across the head, between the eyes. Each of the lateral segments of the body is obtusely pointed,-bent downwards at its outer extremity, and grooved upon its upper surface for a distance of two-thirds of

its length from the central lobe of the body outwards; the lateral segmenta of the tail are also grooved, and terminate in a thickened continuous margin which borders the whole of the posterior edge, and is extended into the terminal spine. The tail, pygidium, or caudal shield, as it is variously called, consists in the trilobites of only one piece, and what appears to be its division into segments are only furrows in its surface, arranged in the direction of the articulations of the body. In a recent large work upon the trilobites of Bohemia, (Systeme Silurien de la Boheme) its Editor, M. Barrande, shews that the young animals have but two or three segments in their body, and that as they become older others are developed out of the caudal shield. The front part of the shield is first furrowed across, and in course of time this furrow deepens, until it finally cuts off a new segment, which thereafter belongs to the body. One segment after another thus separates itself from the tail, until the animal has attained the number of the adult individual. In many genera of trilobites, such as Calymene and Phacops, the furrows upon the pygidium appear to mark out so many segments of the body, which never become completely developed. In others, such as Isotelus and Illænus, the tails are smooth, and not at all, or only very slightly furrowed.

The eyes of this species are of a crescent form, with the convex curve outwards, and they are on this side, the outside, covered with numerous small lenses. The structure of this organ is thus compound, like that of certain insects. In Phacops caudatus, the English species, there are “about 240” in each eye,* and it is probable that the American species has near the same number. This is the most abundant trilobite in the upper silurian rocks of America. In Hall's Palæontology, it is called a Phacops, but in the more recent classification, adopted by Mr. Barrande, in the work above quoted, that genus is divided into two, Phacops and Dalmanites. It is in the latter genus that our species will most probably be classed hereafter.

Phacops from the Greek Phakos, a "lens ;" and Ops, the “ 'eye."The specific name is probably from Limulus, the “king arab," and Oura, a “tail,” this trilobite having a tail like that of the king crab.

Pentamerus oblongus is a fossil shell peculiar to the Clinton group, and of a very variable form. It is generally of an oblong oval shape, with a surface either smooth or but slightly marked by faint concentric lines. In old full grown shells there are several concentric ridges, indicating stages of growth. Professor Hall says: "In the smaller and medium sized forms, the shell has a general oval or ovate form, sometimes slightly trilobate at base, it is so much depressed, that the thickness or depth of both valves is only about half the width. This proportion sometimes continues even in very old shells, the trilobate character of the base being often very conspicuous. In the majority of the specimens, however, the valves become gradually more gibbous as the shell increases in size, and the trilobate

*This is the number given by Mr. Salter, in the 2nd Decade of the Geological Survey of England, and he states that the number 400, given in Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise, was probably intended for both eyes.

character may be either preserved or entirely lost. Although the general and prevailing form is oval or ovate, yet we not unfrequently meet with forms that are roundish, and the ventral valve wider than long." Figures 2 and 3 are examples of two of the shapes in which this species occurs. It is very abundant in the Clinton group, and is also found in the Caradoc formation in England.

Pentamerus, Greek; 5-partite, in allusion to the 5 chambers inside of the shell of this genus.

Ichthyocrinus lævis.—The encrinites of the genus Icthyocrinus have a round slender smooth column, five plates in the pelvis and five primary rays, but no interradial plates as in Glyptocrinus. The rays are subdivided into secondaries, tertiaries, &c., at irregular intervals, and the free arms are composed of single flat plates, like those of the cup below. It does not clearly appear from the descriptions of this genus given by the different authors, whether or not, the primary rays consist always of three plates. Professor McCoy says three, but Professor Hall says that the first subdivision takes place upon the fourth or fifth plate from the pelvis. often found with its arms folded up over the summit. some geologists to be identical with the I pyriformis of the Dudley Limestone in England. It certainly resembles it very much. Sir R. Murchison

This species is very
It is considered by

says the English species “extends its range to North America," having allusion, no doubt, to the one now under consideration. It is found in the Niagara shale at Lockport, and will probably be discovered in Canada.— The name appears to have been derived from Icthys, a fish; and Krinos, a lily; Lavis, smooth.

Strophomena depressa, fig 5, is a fossil of a genus closely allied to Leptena. It has a straight hinge line, the surface of the shell is flat and furrowed by strong concentric undulations, and the margin at the sides and base is abruptly bent down. It is often the same breadth above as it is at the base, and it is then of a square shape, with the two lower angles rounded. The surface is also marked by radiating lines; fig 5 is a specimen full grown, but they are sometimes much smaller and not so broad above in proportion to their size. This species is also known by the name of Leptena depressa.

The generic name Strophomena is derived from the Greek, strophos, bent; and mene, crescent, in allusion to the shape in which one valve is bent under the other. In the first reports of the New York Geologist, this fossil is called Strophomena depressa. In the second volume of the Paleontology of New York, it is designated Leptena depressa. In a recent and beautifully illustrated memoir upon the Brachiopoda of Great Britain, by T. DAVIDSON, Esquire, F. G. S., published in the works of the Palæontographical society of London, the genus Leptena is divided, and this species falls back into the section Strophomena, which will henceforth most probably, include several other American fossils now classified in the genus Leptena. This fossil is also known as Leptena or Strophomena rhomboidalis.

It has a very extensive geological range. Sir R. Murchison says: "The universally spread Leptena depressa, now more correctly referred to the genus Strophomena, extends upwards throughout the whole series from the very oldest beds of Llandeilo to the upper Ludlow rock."-SILURIA, page 186. Professor Hall says: "This species has a wide range, occurring in the Clinton group, and ranging to the Upper Helderberg limestones; and if we include the similar or identical species Leptena tenuistriata as the same, we have the example of a species ranging from Lower Silurian to Devonian, and traversing three systems of strata."-PALEONTOLOGY OF NEW YORK, Vol. 2, page 258.

Avicula emacerata (Fig. 6) is a very pretty shell, not uncommon in the Niagara group. Prof. Hall, says :-" It is easily recognised by its left valve (the one figured) the strong rays of which are regularly cancellated by concentric striæ. The right valve is rarely seen, and it appears to have been extremely thin and fragile, nearly or quite flat, marked on the body of the shell by concentric lines only, while the wing has sometimes a few obsolete radiating striæ. In consequence of the depressed form of this valve, the line of separation between the wing and the body of the shell is not distinctly marked." The extent of the posterior wing, the long projecting point above in the figure, is variable, and the anterior wing, or that at the left angle above in the figure, is sometimes curved downwards.

Avicula, "a little bird;" Emacerata, thin.

Favosites Niagarensis.—Fig 1 is an example of a very extensive group of corals, abundant in the Silurian rocks. They are usually met with in the form of rounded or irregular shaped bodies, covered all over with angular cells, and thus have the appearance of petrified honey combs. Each of those cells, however, is the stony tube-like skeleton of one of those marine animals, which, in the present age, furnish by their growth, materials for the extensive coral reefs of the tropical oceans. As the corals, on account of their abundance, require much consideration, we shall in another place enter into the examination of their structure somewhat in detail, and shall defer until then any further notice of the species figured in the plate.

ARTICLE VII.-Natural History of the Moose Deer, Alces Americana.

There are, according to the more recent systems of classification, fortytwo species of ruminating animals properly included within the limits of the family CERVIDA. The greater number of these are remarkable for their beauty, strength keen sense, of sight and smell, and above all for their swiftness in flight. They are in general of an agile graceful form, with a slender but muscular neck, small tapering head, large lustrous eyes, and long sinewy and powerful legs, their principal protection against their enemies being in speed. Certain species herd together in vast droves, preferring wide grassy plains, open forests and hills of low elevation, but never frequent rugged and high mountains, like the chamois and goat.