THE ZOOLOGICAL POSITION OF THE 



TRILOBITES. 



THE veil of mystery which has so long hung over these 

 early inhabitants of the earth has, within the last 

 few months, been almost completely withdrawn. The 

 apparently endless variations of the Trilobites, none depart- 

 ing far from the common type, have so long excited the 

 admiration of intelligent students of nature, and have given 

 rise to so many speculations as to their relationships, that 

 an account of the most recent discoveries can hardly fail to 

 be welcome to a wide circle of readers. 



The fact that only the dorsal surfaces of the Trilobites 

 have been, as a rule, preserved, has always been especially 

 tantalising. While few natural objects have been so closely 

 and exhaustively studied as the jointed dorsal shields of the 

 Trilobites, their under surfaces have hitherto eluded even the 

 most searching investigations. Beyond the great labrum, 

 very little could be found which with any certainty could 

 be ascribed to the under surface of the original animal. It 

 is this long-looked-for under surface which has now been 

 partially discovered in at least two species. 



Although the new light has burst thus suddenly upon 

 us, the patient researches of naturalists, like Henry 

 Woodward and Walcott in recent times, not to mention 

 the earlier workers, have not gone altogether unrewarded. 

 Fragmentary glimpses of limbs, parts of limbs, and even 

 parts of series of limbs have been brought to light. But so 

 dense has been the mystery enveloping the group, so easy 

 was it to find traces which might be limbs or might not, 

 that all "discoveries" of this kind were looked upon with 

 suspicion. 



The limbs have now at last been discovered in a way 

 which leaves little to be desired, and it is now possible to 

 assign to the Trilobites their real position in the scale of 

 animate nature with an accuracy for which, two years back, 

 no one would have dared to hope. It must not, however, 



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