sentences:  In Germany, the columnals were known as "Bonifatius pfennige" (St Boniface's pennies) and in America they are known as Indian beads.The "beads" are thick discs or short cylinders, which, when the crinoid was still alive, were articulated to form a branched structure, linked by soft tissue, nerves and ligaments which occupied the central hole (lumen).The columnals usually became disarticulated after the animal died.