28 
EXTINCT MONSTERS, 
will tell you what these are — the remains of a huge lobster/ He 
arranged the specimens in the group before him with as much 
ease as I have seen a young girl arranging the pieces of ivory in 
an Indian puzzle. There is a homage due to supereminent genius, 
which Nature spontaneously pays when there are no low feelings 
of jealousy or envy to interfere with her operations ; and the 
reader may well believe that it was willingly rendered on this 
occasion to the genius of Agassiz.” Agassiz himself, previous to 
this, had considered such fragments as he had seen to be the 
remains of fishes. As we have said before, this creature was not 
a true lobster ; but Agassiz, when he expressed the opinion just 
quoted, was not far off the mark, and did great service in showing 
it to be a crustacean. There were no lobsters or scorpions at 
that early period of the world’s history, and this creature, with its 
long “jaw-feet” and powerful tail, was a near approach to a 
king-crab on the one hand and scorpion on the other. If living 
now, it would no doubt command a high price at Billingsgate ; 
but, then, it would be a dangerous thing to handle when alive, 
and might be more troublesome to catch than our crabs or 
lobsters. 
The front part of its body was entirely enveloped in a kind 
of shield, called a carapace, bearing near the centre minute 
eyes, which probably were useless, and at the corners two large 
compound eyes, made up of numerous little lenses, such as we 
see in the eye of a dragon-fly. This is clearly proved by certain 
well-preserved specimens. There are five pairs of appendages, 
all attached under or near the head. Behind the head follow 
thirteen rings, or segments, the last of which forms the tail, 
two at least of these bore gills for breathing. All but two of 
them, below the mouth, must have been beautifully articulated, so 
as to allow them to move freely, as we see in the lobster of the 
present day. But look at that lowest and largest pair of appendages, 
the end joints of which are flattened out, and you will see that 
they must have been a powerful oar-like apparatus for swimming 
