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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  points 
  in 
  evolutionary 
  history. 
  This 
  is 
  an 
  enlarging 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  in 
  

   the 
  interpretation 
  of 
  past 
  life, 
  and 
  admitting 
  its 
  general 
  effectiveness 
  

   we 
  can 
  conceive 
  and 
  can 
  justify 
  a 
  concurrence 
  of 
  physical 
  energies 
  

   which 
  need 
  not, 
  and 
  indeed 
  should 
  not 
  logically, 
  be 
  restricted 
  to 
  some 
  

   single 
  outburst 
  and 
  some 
  single 
  definite 
  moment 
  in 
  earth 
  history. 
  

   This 
  intimation 
  is 
  that 
  life 
  itself 
  may 
  be 
  polygenetic, 
  though 
  we 
  

   would 
  not 
  have 
  it 
  interpreted 
  as 
  applying 
  to 
  the 
  reiterative 
  appear- 
  

   ance 
  of 
  inceptive 
  life 
  through 
  the 
  ages, 
  which 
  is 
  an 
  old 
  conception 
  that 
  

   still 
  awaits 
  its 
  justification 
  ; 
  it 
  is 
  rather 
  only 
  the 
  precise 
  implication 
  

   of 
  a 
  terrestrial 
  condition 
  so 
  controlled 
  that 
  by 
  the 
  intersection 
  of 
  the 
  

   requisite 
  forces 
  life 
  came 
  into 
  being 
  at 
  the 
  points 
  rather 
  than 
  at 
  the 
  

   point 
  of 
  such 
  intersection 
  — 
  a 
  crude 
  way 
  of 
  stating 
  it, 
  perhaps, 
  but 
  It 
  

   is 
  an 
  intimation 
  of 
  my 
  meaning. 
  

  

  When 
  we 
  gaze 
  upon 
  some 
  of 
  Walcott's 
  Burgess 
  Pass 
  fossils, 
  see 
  

   the 
  extraordinary 
  intricacy 
  of 
  their 
  anatomy, 
  as, 
  for 
  example, 
  the 
  

   crustacean 
  Burgessia, 
  with 
  not 
  merely 
  the 
  delicately 
  toughened 
  parts 
  

   of 
  its 
  exterior, 
  but 
  the 
  evidence 
  of 
  internal 
  organs 
  of 
  great 
  refine- 
  

   ment, 
  the 
  lobulation 
  and 
  venation 
  of 
  renal 
  organs; 
  and, 
  in 
  the 
  trilo- 
  

   bite 
  Neolenus, 
  the 
  multiplex 
  delicacy 
  of 
  gills 
  and 
  swimming 
  or 
  walk- 
  

   ing 
  organs, 
  the 
  effective 
  impression 
  is 
  that, 
  as 
  between 
  such 
  creatures 
  

   and 
  their 
  nearest 
  allies 
  and 
  perhaps 
  their 
  offshoots 
  of 
  to-day, 
  there 
  

   is 
  no 
  difference 
  in 
  degree 
  of 
  specialization 
  of 
  structure, 
  no 
  progress 
  in 
  

   perfection 
  of 
  organic 
  function. 
  Indeed, 
  we 
  may 
  even 
  go 
  further; 
  

   modern 
  allies 
  of 
  these 
  creatures 
  are 
  in 
  close 
  straits 
  of 
  adjustment 
  to 
  

   their 
  own 
  physical 
  surroundings, 
  which 
  are 
  too 
  often 
  indicative 
  of 
  

   the 
  surrender 
  of 
  progress, 
  and 
  to 
  this 
  I 
  shall 
  again 
  make 
  reference. 
  

   But 
  the 
  Walcott 
  fossils 
  are 
  from 
  the 
  Middle 
  Cambrian, 
  almost 
  the 
  

   oldest 
  term 
  in 
  the 
  whole 
  long 
  series 
  of 
  rocks 
  in 
  which 
  life 
  has 
  been 
  

   well 
  preserved, 
  and 
  we 
  here, 
  in 
  this 
  year 
  1922 
  of 
  the 
  Christian 
  era, 
  

   are 
  unable 
  to 
  find 
  that 
  any 
  progress 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  structure 
  

   of 
  these 
  creatures 
  or 
  along 
  the 
  direct 
  line 
  of 
  their 
  development 
  and 
  

   succession. 
  Their 
  successors 
  in 
  time 
  and 
  place 
  have 
  adjusted, 
  read- 
  

   justed, 
  adapted, 
  and 
  readapted 
  themselves 
  without 
  having 
  produced 
  

   a 
  creature 
  of 
  their 
  tribes 
  which 
  can 
  be 
  called 
  a 
  more 
  intricate 
  or 
  a 
  

   more 
  perfect 
  mechanism. 
  

  

  And 
  yet 
  what 
  has 
  gone 
  on 
  in 
  that 
  vast 
  interval 
  of 
  time 
  from 
  then 
  

   to 
  now? 
  The 
  successive 
  derivation 
  of 
  all 
  intermediate 
  types 
  of 
  life 
  

   have 
  come 
  into 
  being. 
  The 
  trilobite 
  Neolenus, 
  from 
  the 
  viewpoint 
  

   of 
  the 
  paleontologist, 
  stands 
  for 
  a 
  tremendous 
  conception 
  of 
  the 
  vast- 
  

   ness 
  of 
  time 
  behind 
  it. 
  This 
  inconspicuous 
  thing, 
  standing 
  back 
  be- 
  

   hind 
  us 
  in 
  the 
  dim 
  days 
  of 
  the 
  Cambrian, 
  stripped 
  bare 
  now 
  by 
  the 
  

   arduous 
  labors 
  of 
  its 
  discoverer, 
  reveals 
  a 
  creature 
  so 
  highly 
  special- 
  

   ized 
  that 
  it 
  must 
  have 
  commanded 
  uncountable 
  ages 
  for 
  its 
  production 
  

   by 
  any 
  such 
  process 
  of 
  organic 
  development 
  as 
  that 
  to 
  which 
  we 
  

  

  