This exquisite species of the extinct Crinoideans which swarmed in the seas of the secondary ages of Geology, is equally interesting and attractive to the amateur collector and the scientific observer. The specimen figured is a charming example of the "_Stone Lily_" partly expanded, attached to a block of limestone studded with encrinal ossicula. Mr. Parkinson informed me that it was formerly in the collection of Mr. Jacob Forster, and cost him twenty guineas; from five to ten guineas is now the usual price for a specimen in a good state of preservation, with any part of the column attached. This Encrinite is not known to occur in England. The specimens seen in collections are for the most part from Lower Saxony: this species has only been found in the limestone strata called "_Muschelkalk_" one of the subdivisions of the _Trias_, or New Red Sandstone formation, of Germany.[43] The most celebrated locality of these fossils is in Brunswick, near the village of Erkerode, about two miles from the town bearing the same name. The bed in which they are found is a soft argillaceous cream-coloured limestone, about one foot and a half in thickness; and the stone is composed chiefly of trochites, or detached ossicula of the stems, and a few fragile shells and corals. [Footnote 43: Medals of Creation, vol. i. p. 322. Wonders of Geology, vol. ii. pp. 534, 549.] An elaborate account of the structure of the skeleton of the Lily Encrinite is given by Mr. Miller, in his valuable work, "The Natural History of the Lily-shaped Animals," (1 vol. 4to. 1821.) Mr. Parkinson had previously carefully investigated the different parts which enter into the composition of the receptacle and column, and had given them names analogous to those employed to designate the bones of the skeleton in vertebrated animals. This nomenclature has very properly been abandoned; but I subjoin Mr. Parkinson's description of the figures, to record his ingenuity and skill in dissecting organic remains:-- "Fig. 1, The Lily Encrinite, with part of its vertebral column attached. In this specimen is seen the extensive capacity for motion yielded by the peculiar form of the vertebra; in the superior part of the column; and by the fortunate removal of a portion of the fingers, a fair view is given of the natural arrangement of the tentacula. Fig. 2. The pentagonal base, composed of the ossa innominata, and forming with the scapulæ and clavicles, the pelvis, in which were contained the organs of digestion, &c. Fig. 3. The Lily Encrinite, detached from its vertebral column. _a_, the centre of its base, formed by five cuneiform ossicula, or _ossa innominata_. a, one of the _ossa innominata_ detached. _b_, the ribs, or _articuli trapezoides_; forming, with the preceding bones, the pentagonal base. b, one of the ribs detached, showing its internal surface. _c_, the clavicles.