358 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



"Finally we espied the most supremely interest- 

 ing crustacean of the entire expedition, who with 

 the unobtrusive modesty of the truly great, made 

 no flaunting claim for attention, a shy, small crea- 

 ture which might well have been overlooked as one 

 of the myriad amphipods surrounding him. Yet a 

 subtle prescience of immemorial mysteries pro- 

 claimed him to be a Missing Link. This is 

 one of the most bromadic of phrases, and is misused 

 ninety-nine times out of a hundred, but in this par- 

 ticular case it is as well deserved as it can be when 

 applied to any creature still hving on the earth 

 today. We looked, afraid to look, mutely ques- 

 tioning the unbelievable evidence. It was more in- 

 scrutable than the Sphinx as it was unquestionably 

 £eons older in its characters. With fear lest our 

 treasure vanish in the dispassionate light of scien- 

 tific fact, we examined this exquisitely delineated 

 ivory figurine. 



"Could it be an aberrant amphipod? Yes, sug- 

 gested the side plates and some of the appendages, 

 but no, declared the stalked eyes and macruran- 

 like carapace. Could it be a macruran? But the 

 carapace is composed of seven articulated plates, 

 and the first abdominal segment has no counterpart 

 in macruran morphology. Vaguely, it calls to mind 

 the anterior abdominal segments of a Lithodid 

 crab. Is it a crab ? Still more impossible. 



"Segment by segment we analyze the mystery, 

 and tabulating the data, find that we have a primi- 

 tive macruran crustacean, so aberrant from all 

 known forms that a new family must be established 



