420 Charles Emerson Beecher. 



cean ancestor. Its affinities are with both the other sub-classes, 

 especially their lower orders, but its position is not interme- 

 diate." 



In 1892 Beecher became greatly interested in the significance 

 of spines, accumulating data until 1S98, when he presented his 

 studies in a paper entitled "The origin and significance of 

 spines." This paper Beecher regarded as his best and most 

 philosophic work. In the opening paragraph he etates "the 

 presence of spines in various plants and animals is, at times, 

 most obvious to all mankind, and not unnaturally they have 

 come to be regarded almost wholly in the light of defensive 

 weapons." " Their importance lies not in what they are, but 

 in what they represent. They are simply prickles, thorns, 

 spines, or horns ; they represent, as will be shown, a stage of 

 evolution, a degree of differentiation in the organism, a ratio 

 of its adaptability to the environment, a result of selective 

 forces, and a measure of vital power." 



"In tracing the ontogeny of a spinose form, it has been 

 found that each species at the beginning was plain and simple, 

 and at some later period, spines were gradually developed 

 according to a definite sequence of stages. Usually after the 

 maturity of the organism, the spines reach their greatest per- 

 fection, and in old age, there is first an over-production or 

 extravagant differentiation followed by a decline of spinous 

 growth, and ending in extreme senility with their total absence." 



He found that all kinds of spines in plants and animals can 

 be arranged into eleven distinct categories. Further, that two 

 generalizations result as follows : " That spinosity represents 

 the limit of morphological variation, and second, it indicates 

 the decline or paracme of vitality." "Finally it is evident 

 that, after attaining the limit of spine differentiation, spinose 

 organisms leave no descendants, and also that out of spinose 

 types no new types are developed." 



Beecher's standing among biologists and paleontologists was 

 high ; he was a leader among students of Brachiopoda and 

 Trilobita. His paleontologic work at Yale was essentially of a 

 biologic and philosophic character. He had the artist's gift, 

 nearly all the drawings illustrating his various papers being 

 made by himself and exhibiting a high order of merit. He 



