Apiocrinus (A. Parkinsoni). [Lign. 92, fig.] 4. (Wond.. p. 652.)—The Apiocrinite or Pear-Encrinite of Bradford, from its size, and the abundance of its remains in one particular locality, is the most generally known of all the British fossil Crinoids. It abounds in the beds of oolite, in the quarries on the heights above the picturesquely situated town of Bradford, in Wiltshire. The receptacle, detached ossicula, and the pedicle, are very common; and in some instances the entire endo-skeleton, from the peduncle to the extremities of the arms, is preserved. The late Channing Pearce, Esq., of Bradford, by unremitting attention to the collection of these fossils, obtained the beautiful specimens deposited in the British Museum.[273]
[273] Petrifactions, Room II. Wall-case G.
This Apiocrinite has a smooth receptacle of a pyriform shape, composed of large thin plates with radiated articulating surfaces; the stem is short and strong; the arms are simple, resembling those of the Marsupite; the peduncle spreads out into an expanded base, which is firmly attached to the rock, like that of the Gorgonia, and is generally of a rich purple colour.[274]
[274] Pictorial Atlas, pl. xlix. Pulley-stones and Encrinital marbles; pl. 1. Apiocrinites.
Lign. 92. Fossil Crinoidea.
| Fig. | 1.— | Eugeniacrinus. Switzerland. |
| 2.— | Cyathocrinus planus. Mountain Limestone. a. Basal plate of the receptacle. b. One of the plates composing the walls of the pelvis. c. Costal plate. d. Intercostal plate. e. Scapula, or ossicle that receives the arm. f. First ossicle of the arm. | |
| 3.— | Marsupites Milleri (G. A. M.). Chalk, Brighton. a. The semilunar cavity for an attachment of the arm. | |
| 4.— | Apiocrinus rotundus, Pear-Encrinite. Bradford. a. First ossicles of the arms. |
Sir Charles Lyell mentions an interesting fact relating to the occurrence of these fossils in the Oolitic limestone at Bradford. In Burfield quarry, on the heights that overlook the town, a bed of limestone was exposed, the upper surface of which was incrusted with the stony peduncles or roots of Apiocrinites; upon this stratum was a layer of clay, in which were innumerable remains of receptacles and ossicula of stems and arms; some of the stems were erect, others prostrate, and throughout the clay were the dismembered remains. This submarine forest of Crinoideans must therefore have flourished in the clear sea-water, till invaded by a current loaded with mud that overwhelmed the living zoophytes, and entombed them in the argillaceous deposit in which their fossil remains are imbedded.[275]
[275] Burfield quarry, on the heights of Bradford, is the locality referred to; but I believe it is rarely that any specimens of the Apiocrinite are to be found in an erect position. I could not learn from any of the local collectors, that an example had been seen by them. When I visited the quarry in June, 1848, no good section of the beds was apparent: a few detached plates of Apiocrinites were the only relics we could meet with. Mr. Reginald Mantell, when engaged on the construction of the railway near Bradford, sought repeatedly, but in vain, to discover any Apiocrinites in an erect position, or as if lying on the spot where they grew.