9 



be one of the first animated beings of our earth call- 

 ed into existence by the great Author of nature.* It 

 was first noticed more than two centuries ago, among 

 the petrifactions which abound in a calcareous rock, 

 at Dudley, in England, and was from this circum- 

 stance, called for a long time, the Dudley fossil. 

 Linne gave it the name of the Paradoxical insect; but 

 whether an insect, a crustaceous animal, or a shell, is 

 still considered by many as problematical. 



Notwithstanding the high antiquity of the family 

 of the Trilobites, and the remarkable characters the 

 different individuals which compose it, sustain in the 

 animal kingdom; till within a very few years, the 

 whole race has been almost entirely neglected by 

 naturalists. The first attempt at any systematic ar- 

 rangement of the genera and species, was made in 

 1815, by Alexander Brongniart, Professor of Minera- 

 logy, 8cc. 8cc., in Paris. f Until. that period, the term 



* It is obvious, that if most of the gelatinous animals which 

 now inhabit our seas, were to become extinct, few or no traces 

 of them could be found in any succeeding depositions of earthy 

 matter. Whatever kind of animal life, therefore, may have been 

 the first which appeared in our planet, must be entirely hypothe- 

 tical. All that we can with certainty say of it, is, that it was 

 best adapted to the circumstances, in which it was to exist, and 

 that it was consistent with the wisdom and design which we 

 see every where pervading the universe. 



t I cannot let this opportunity pass, without acknowledging 

 my obligations to Professor Brongniart, for his civilities, when 

 on a late visit to Paris. Every one whose curiosity leads him 

 to examine the royal manufactory of porcelain, a Sevres, of 



