78 



THE CHAIN OF LIFE. 



affirms that, "The theoretical evohition of the Cephalopods 

 is, like that of the Trilobites, a mere figment of imagination^ 

 without any foundation in fact."^ 



I have reserved no space to notice the geological history of 

 the other and higher group of Cephalopods, including the true 

 Cuttles and Squids. This is perhaps less to be regretted, as, 

 from the absence of external shells, they are likely to be much 



Fig. 7^.—Belemnitc.— Ahtr Philips. 



less perfectly known as fossils. So far as known, they are 

 vastly younger than the Nautiloids, for no examples whatever 

 have been found in the Palaeozoic. They appear abundantly in 



Fig. 74/1. — Belemnoteuthis antiquus. Supposed to be a Belemnite, with soft parts 

 preserved. — Jurassic. — After Mantell. 



the Mesozoic, but are there represented principally by an 

 extinct group of squids (Belemnites and their allies. Figs. 74, 

 74«), remarkable for the great and complicated development of 

 their internal support, which has a chambered float as well as a 

 solid sheath. This family becomes extinct at the close of the 



^ ♦' Un produit de I'imagination, sans aucun fondement dans la realite." 



