A REVIEW OF THE TEILOBITES. 271 



fancy themselves quite safe, and clear of its manoeuvres, are 

 not unfrequently the ones hit, and it is no unusual thing to see 

 the native, from whose hands the weapon has sped, obliged to throw 

 himself on the ground, to avoid being struck by it on its return. 



The tomahawk or hammer is a rude and shapeless piece of stone 

 fastened on in the centre with the gum of the grass tree to a slight 

 wooden handle ; its principal use is to notch the smooth trunks of 

 trees, just sufficient to insert the great toe in, to enable the native to 

 ascend after the oppossum and other small animals. 



The only other article is a short heavy stick, rather thicker at 

 one end than the other, and about eighteen inches in length ; it 

 is used for throwing at short distances, and it also forms a wea- 

 pon by no means contemptible when wielded in the hand as a club. 



The quickness of vision and dexterity exhibited by the Australian 

 savage in avoiding the different weapons, are truly astonishing. This 

 is particularly the case as regards the spear ; so much so, indeed, that it 

 seldom occurs that one is struck by it, if he be at all prepared for the 

 assault. Five or six spears will be thrown at a man in rapid succession, 

 and, without moving from the spot, he will escape them all by a 

 slight bend of the body. From his childhood, practising with the 

 spear and boomerang is the principal pastime of the Australian, and 

 for hours together, mere infants may be seen amusing themselves 

 by throwing their tiny Weapons at each other. 



A REVIEW OF THE TRILORITES : THEIR CHARACTERS 

 AXD CLASSIFICATION. 



PAST I. 

 BT E. J. CIIAPMAX, 



PROFESSOR OF MINERALOGY A>T> GEOLOGY, OIYEESITY COLLEGE, TORONTO. 



Bead before the Canadian Institute, February 23/y7, 1S56. 



Amongst the fossil forms met with in our Canadian rocks, or, in- 

 deed, in the paheozoic strata generally, few can compete in interest 

 with the Trilobites. We may cite as some of the more salient points 

 which impart to the study of these extinct crustaceans an attraction 

 of no ordinary kind — the early date of their creation, and the im- 

 measurable periods that have rolled av/ay since their total oblitera- 

 tion as living types. And, again, the wide geographical range of 

 certain species ; their varied forms ; and, perhaps, as a further incen- 

 tive to their study, the very obscurity with which, in part, their history 



