The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-03-18
lilies GROW
IN DEPTHS
Of OCEAN
~ ~~u
In Spite Of Roots and Petals
They Are Not Plants,
Experts Say.

Experts Gay.
In abysmal ocean depths, az well
az in comparatively shallow waters,
grow organisms Of such rare beauty
and delicacy Of structure that they
have been called "sea lilies," says a
bulletin from the Cleveland Museum
Of Natural History.
Many OF them, particularly those
which grow beneath many thousand
feet of ocean water, have long
graceful stems. fastened into the
ooze Of the ocean bottom by nu.
nerous rootlike projections. Upon
this stem grows the flowery, feath.
cry head or calyx. the Blossom Of
the oily" The petals" Of this
Flower" always are five, or a
multiple Of five. in number.
Such has been its general form
for all Of the millions Of years that
have passed since It made it's an.
pearance on the earth in pre.Devo-
Man times, even back in those re.
mote ages before the. shale beds
were formed on ocean bottoms. back
indeed, in the days when the lime.
stone which has created Niagara
Falls was only slime on the ocean
floor.
For in the Niagara limestone this
organism. many species Of it. are
found preserved. "Stone lilies," they
are called. From the rocks of the
world over 200 species have been
20 nR h.
come from animal sedimentary
rocks near Burlington, Iowa, and
Charlottesville, Ind, and are to be
seen in museums all over the world.
"Ses Lilies" Are CrlnOids.
In spite Of their roots" stems
and beautiful blossoms. sea lilies"
and "stone lilies" are not plants
at all. but crinoids, close relatives
Of the starfish.
Some Of the commoner shallow.
water varieties which are stem.
less are known, in fact, as feather
stars" because they 80 closely
resemble the familiar starfish.
Such crinoids actually do look
very much as IL a starfish had
multiplied his conventional five
points. grown a stem from the
middle of his back, and then
turned himself upside down and
taken root.
As with the starfish. the arms
are used in procuring food, and
| olon Por 1oonvn4fjou TNAa,, $500,
in the latter case, be used as
legs upon which the creature
crawls spiderlike over the ocean
floor, or as oars with which 1t
swims away with very graceful
movements.
One modern crinoid with q body
only two or three inches in diam.
eter has long feathery arms which
attain a length of six feet and
are used for the usual dual pur-
pose of swimming and collecting
food.
The greatest crinoids of which
we have any knowledge are found
as fossils in the rocks of Wurt-
temberg, in southwestern Ger
many. Their stems varied in
length from fifteen to fifty feet.
Such forms lived in the days
when crinoids were near the
height Of their development. To.
day they are very evidently on
the decline, and there seems to
be a tendency for them to lose
their stems, although many re-
tain the roots" by which they
anchor themselves when at rest.
CrmOi1s Are GregariOus Animals.
That crinoids are and were grega.
rious animals 10 made evident by
the fact that 10000 individuals were
obtained in a single trawl In the
north Atlantic. AS fossils they are
frequently found packed 30 closely
together as to indicate their habit
Of living in colonies.
Attempts to keep crinoids in
aQuaria frequently meet with little
or no success. It 10 q common thing,
when in captivity, for them to break
or all their arms, as If by such
motion, they might make good their
escape.
Like starfish, which also break
OFT arms in times Of great danger,
they are able to replace these lost
parts by the process of regeneration,
provided they do not perish too
soon after their old arms are dis.
carded.
Sudden changes in temperature
are fatal to crinoids and doubtless
cause the death OF many shallow
water forms, although those forms
which live at the great depth of
1900 feet have nothing to fear
from this direction.
Crinoids feed upon the smallest
form of animal and vegetable life
10 be found in ocean waters. and
are fed upon by fish, although
probably not to SO great an extent
as In former times.
They are an easy prey to many
types or parasites, and 1t is prob.
ably these which are their greatest
enemies. Small crustaceans actual.
ly live in their body cavity
sponges bore into their stems.
these same stems.
"OTHER WOMEN" N AMEn