The inorganic constituents of echinoderms

In a recent paper on the composition of crinoid skeletons we showed that crinoids contain large quantities of magnesia, and that its proportion varies with the temperature of the water in which the creatures live. This result was so novel and surprising that it seemed desirable to examine other echinoderms and to ascertain whether they showed the same characteristics and regularity. A number of sea urchins and starfishes were therefore studied, their inorganic constituents being analyzed in the same manner as those of the crinoids