tuted
a crinoid (a marine zoophyte). These aquatic creatures—half-plant and
half-animal—usually twine their roots about some shell in the depths of
the waters, but sometimes they become detached and then, moving their
delicate tentacles, they creep along the bottom of the sea.
In
olden times parts, or segments, of an animal were worn as a protection
against harm from that particular creature, or else to endow the wearer
with some of its real or fancied qualities. In modern times this
tendency finds expression in the wearing of jewels of animal form,
wherein precious stones are grouped and arranged so as to constitute
different parts of the creature's body. Such jewels are often looked
upon as "mascots."
A peculiar fossil was known to the Germans by the name of Mutterstein, and is called hysterolithus in
the Latin treatises of Agricola, De Boot, etc., a word of Greek
derivation signifying the resemblance of the object to an organ of the
body. These fossils are formed from the contents of certain shells, and
retain the shape of the enclosing shell, which has broken away. (Some
of these formations were called enorchi from a fancied
resemblance to another organ and were regarded as phallic emblems,
while others were thought to figure the heart, especially large
specimens being named bucar-
