Chapter I: Part 1

Transcriber Note: Text emphasis denoted as _Italics_.

A
MONOGRAPH
OF THE
TRILOBITES OF NORTH AMERICA:
WITH
Coloured Models of the Species.

Multa renacentur quæ jam cecidere.--Hor.

BY

JACOB GREEN, M. D.
Professor of Chemistry in Jefferson Medical College.

·—▸⏵►●◓●◄⏴◂—·

PHILADELPHIA:

Published by Joseph Brano, No. 12, Castle Street.

Clark & Raser, Printers.

1832.

Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1832, by Joseph Brano, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

To JOHN GEORGE CHILDREN, Esquire, F. R. S. L. & E.

The kindness which a traveller receives when in a distant land, must ever be among his most pleasing recollections your attentions therefore to me, during any short residence in London a few years since, cannot easily be forgotten. Suffer me, then, to inscribe this little work to you as a token of my gratitude.

Our pursuits in the Natural and Physical Sciences have been congenial. Your interesting researches with your original and magnificent Galvanic Battery, first drew my attention to the calorific effects of that mysterious agent; and your works on Natural History have stimulated my exertions in the same fascinating pursuit.

A large portion of your time and fortune have been devoted to the patronage or the cultivation of Natural Science so that the dedication of this work to you, if it were infinitely more worthy of your acceptance, would be due from me, both as a tribute of high respect, as well as of grateful acknowledgment.

_Philadelphia, October 1st, 1832._

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE.

Figure 1. Trimerus Delphinocephalus.
2. Calymene Diops.
3. Asaphus Micrurus.
4. Cryptolithus Tessellatus.
5. Paradoxides Boltoni.
6. Triarthrus Beckii.
7. Isotelus Cyclops.
8. Dipleura Dekayi.
9. Head of D. Dekayi.
10. Ceraurus Pleurexanthemus.

The above figures represented on the Frontispiece to this volume, were first published in the Monthly Journal of Geology, &c. for June, 1832, and I am indebted to C. A. Poulson, Esq., for the use of them in this Monograph.

INTRODUCTION.
—————

Some geologists imagine that the order of creation is registered in the rocks which compose the external crust of the earth, and that they can there clearly read a progressive development of organic life; in other words, that a succession of more perfect animals may be traced in ascending from the lower strata to the upper or more recent formations; that there is a gradual approach to the present system of things, and a succession of destructions and creations; worlds of living beings alternating with worlds of desolation and death, antecedent to the existence of man.

Others, again, contend that there is often a wide and palpable discrepancy between the nature of the rock, and the fossils which it contains, and, therefore, that such inquiries afford no clue, whatever, to the order of creation.[1] We propose not to enter the field of controversy. Fossils are undoubtedly historic medallions of remote periods in the natural history of our earth, and our design is, merely to illustrate with them a neglected department of ancient zoology, by describing a few which have recently fallen under our own observation.

[Footnote 1: Nothing can be more opposed to true science, than to pronounce on the priority of formation, or the comparative age of rocks, from either their structure, or the organic remains they present. M. Alexandre Brongniart thus propounds his opinion: "In those cases where characters derived from the nature of the rocks are opposed to those which we derive from organic remains, I should give the preponderance to the latter." This seems to us to imply an admission, that nothing definite can be inferred from the _nature of the rocks_; moreover, that between the nature of the rock, and the organic remains, there may be a palpable discrepancy; and that these may be even at complete antipodes with each other. The event has proved, from what we have already mentioned, that no evidence as to priority can be obtained from the nature of the fossil remains displayed in particular strata. In addition to what has been said on this subject, we may further state, that _encrinites_, _entrochites_, and _pentacrinites_ are found in clay slate, grauwacke, transition limestone, alpine limestone, lias, muschelkalk, and chalk. It may be reasonably asked how these three species of fossils could indicate any particular formation, when they are found in so many types and structures of rocks altogether different? If they would go to prove any thing at all, it would be that of a _contemporaneous_ formation; but certainly not distinct epochas. _See Eclectic Review, July, 1832._]

In some varieties of rocks there is often found the fossil remains of an animal which bears some resemblance to certain species of the crab. The back of this organic relic is commonly divided by two deep grooves or furrows, into three longitudinal lobes, and from this circumstance, the term _Trilobite_ has been applied as a family name to distinguish this whole race of beings. This general appellation, however, though in most of the species, highly appropriate, is by no means applicable to all.

The individuals which compose the family of the trilobites resemble each other in many important particulars, and form together an exceedingly natural group. The body, with but few exceptions, is divided transversely into three parts. The anterior portion or head often resembles the buckler of the _horse foot_ or _king crab_ (_limulus polyphemus_), so common on our sea coast. The middle portion is the _abdomen_, and is always separated transversely into a number of segments or articulations, generally diminishing in breadth as they recede from the head. The posterior end is the _tail_, which, though in some species, a mere prolongation of the abdomen, that can scarcely be distinguished from it, yet in others it assumes a genuine caudal appendage.

The head of the trilobite is also generally divided into three parts: the middle is called the _front_, or forehead; and the lateral portions the _cheeks_. In most cases, a projecting tubercle, or knob, is observable on the anterior surface of each cheek, which has much the appearance of an eye. Its reticulated structure is in many instances so analogous to that of the eyes of some crustaceous animals, and also of some species of insects, that there can be but little doubt that these tubercular projections, were true organs of vision.

Some of the genera which belong to this remarkable race of fossil animals, possessed the power of rolling or coiling themselves up into a kind of ball, like certain species of insects, or like the armadillo; and they are always found embedded in the rocks in this attitude.

Such are the general characters by which these petrifactions may be known, and they will be found illustrated in a manner more or less striking, in most of the species. The exceptions, which rarely occur, will be distinctly marked, when the species are described.

The superior covering, or upper shell of the trilobite is the only part of the animal, concerning which we have any satisfactory knowledge. It is conjectured that it was furnished with articulated feet, but no traces of any organs of progressive motion have hitherto been fairly discovered.[2] Hence, it may be reasonably supposed, that the structure of the lower portions of the animal were so soft and delicate, as to render them incapable of sustaining the process of mineralization, which the hard crustaceous covering of the back so successfully undergoes.

[Footnote 2: Mr. Parkinson states, that in a trilobite which he possessed he thought he perceived the _points_ of the feet; but on endeavouring to detach the piece of rock in which it was embedded, the specimen was entirely shivered, though he worked at it with the utmost care. A portion of the underside of a trilobite (_Isotelus gigas_) near the anterior edge of the head, was distinctly ascertained, by Dr. Dekay, but only enough to convince him of its analogy in this part with that of the limulus polyphemus no organs of locomotion could be seen. Mr. Stokes, the distinguished fossilist of London, has confirmed the observation of Dr. Dekay, by some dissections of his own.]

That these petrifactions were once marine animals there can be little doubt, for they are always found associated in the same rocks with shells, and other productions peculiar to the sea.

The Trilobite is supposed by many naturalists to be one of the first animated beings of our earth called into existence by the great Author of nature.[3] 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 circumstance, called for a long time, the _Dudley fossil_. Linné 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.

[Footnote 3: 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 hypothetical. 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.]

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 arrangement of the genera and species, was made in 1815, by Alexander Brongniart, Professor of Mineralogy, &c. &c., in Paris.[4] Until that period, the term _Entomolithus Paradoxus_, proposed by Linné, was applied to all the fossil remains, which in their general appearance bore any resemblance to that found at Dudley, and which he first described under that name. The confusion, therefore, which existed in this department of natural science, may readily be imagined; especially, as the species rapidly multiplied, when they were supposed to throw some rays of light on certain obscure geological phenomena. Soon after the appearance of Professor Brongniart's excellent work, the attention of other naturalists was directed to this neglected part of creation. The most important memoir, on account of the number of species, well figured and described in it, is one by Dr. E. W. Dalmann, published in the Transactions of the Swedish Academy, for 1826. There is also in the Acts of the Royal Society, at Upsal, an excellent paper on this subject by Professor Wahlenberg. Our highly esteemed friend, Dr. James E. Dekay, has also given in the first volume of the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, some very interesting and ingenious observations on the nature and the structure of the Trilobites, with a description of a new genus. These are the principal authorities which have been consulted in arranging the present work.

[Footnote 4: 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, at Sevres, of which he is the director, will no doubt acknowledge that his talents as a philosopher, are rivalled by his accomplishments as a gentleman.]

Our object in the present undertaking being merely to give a monograph of the species of Trilobites found in the rocks of North America; we leave to other and abler hands the more difficult and interesting task of determining with precision the connexion which may exist between these organic reliques, and the relative ages of the strata in which they are found.

It is supposed, indeed, that a sufficient number of well characterized species have not yet been collected and accurately described, to throw any certain and clear light on otherwise doubtful geological phenomena. What has been remarked by De Candolle, with regard to botanical geography, is perhaps true of these fossils as to solving the difficult problems of geology--"Let us not forget," says he, "that this science can only be commenced when the study of _species_ has been sufficiently advanced to furnish us with numerous and well authenticated facts."

We are well aware of the difficulty of settling the line which ought to divide species. Individuals perfectly identical in all their parts, are rarely, if ever seen; though a general resemblance may be easily traced. Among fossils, just discriminations of this kind are more delicate, than in recent specimens. The hand of time, accidental causes, and the influence of atmospheric changes often produce such characters as to render the determination of fossil species an exceedingly difficult task. We have no doubt, therefore, that a few of our Trilobites, which are now considered as perfectly identical with some found in Europe, will upon fuller examination, be discovered to be dissimilar, and of course certain geological speculations grounded on the first opinion, be ultimately abandoned.

The geographical distribution of organic remains, is an exceedingly curious inquiry. If accurately pursued, without reference to any preconceived theory, it will no doubt furnish much information as to the comparative ages of the different strata which compose the external crust of our planet--for that these strata were deposited or formed at periods of time more or less remote from each other, every one knows, to be a generally admitted _geological fact_. The occurrence of similar fossils in districts of country remotely situated from each other, certainly presents a phenomenon highly interesting to the speculative naturalist, and apparently indicates that the same powerful and general causes must have concurred to produce these isomorphous depositions. No fossils have contributed more to this kind of information, than those of shells, and as the mineralized species could not be satisfactorily studied, except by accurately comparing them with those which now inhabit our seas and continents; the search for shells, has become, from a simple amusement, the study of scientific men--or, as a writer remarks, "it was only after the period when it was perceived that geology and ancient zoology were destined to be enlightened by their fossil remains, that this research passed from the hands of amateurs into those of naturalists."[5]

[Footnote 5: We have not unfrequently noticed, both in the writings and conversation of some geologists, a disposition to sneer at the subsidiary branches of natural history. Mineralogy and conchology, are light and mean in their estimation, when compared with the study of extensive strata and ponderous boulders. Like Irving's testy governor of Manahatta, who settled the accounts of his clients by placing their books in the opposite scales of a balance, they decide on the value of a science, by the absolute weight of the objects embraced by it. Geology, as well as any other branch of natural history, may degenerate into a mere love for the curious, or have for its principal aim, the perfection or improvement of some ideal system of classification, without advancing a single step further.]

Another curious _geological fact_ appears to be established more especially by fossil trilobites; it is that precisely the same species of animal relic, is the most generally diffused over the globe, in proportion to the antiquity of the rock which contains it. Thus the transition limestone of England, France, Germany and Sweden, contains the species called the Calymene of Blumenbach, in common with the same formation which extends over so large a portion of the United States.

Different genera and species of the trilobite are now found in almost every part of the globe, and are frequently exceedingly abundant in the rocks which contain them. That they must have swarmed in particular places, is abundantly evident from a number of localities in our own country,--millions, for example, must have lived and died not far from Trenton falls, in the State of New York. There are very few of the numerous visiters to that romantic cascade, whose curiosity is not awaked, by the multitude of these petrified beings, seemingly of another world, which are there entombed.

Although many parts of the trilobite are now found distributed through the rocks which contain them, in such a manner as to lead to the conclusion, that they were separated by decomposition, after the death of the animal; yet the perfect preservation of others, and the rolled and disjointed attitudes which we should expect such creatures to assume when disturbed, lead to the conjecture, that they have been often suddenly destroyed, and as suddenly enveloped in that earthy matter, which afterwards became an indurated rock; thus preventing the separation of the harder parts, by the slow process of decomposition.[6]

[Footnote 6: Vide De la Beche's Geological Manual.]

The fossil remains of the trilobite family, are supposed by most naturalists to belong to a race of beings now extinct; but from the strong analogy which exists between them and certain species of crustaceous animals now living, it is highly probable that they will yet be found alive. This opinion will not be regarded as visionary, when it is recollected how large a portion of the surface of the earth is still unexplored by its enlightened and civilized inhabitants--how small the number of animated beings are yet known to the scientific world--and above all the fact, that many animals as confidently declared to be peculiar to a former world, are now found to be among the creatures at present in existence. This opinion, we think, is quite as plausible, and far more interesting, than the blank and unsatisfactory hypothesis that all the trilobites are confined to an order of things before the present glorious creation.[7]

[Footnote 7: The incorrectness of the inference that all the genera and species of fossil animals found in the transition rocks must be now extinct, will appear from the following extract from Bakewell's Geology:--"The _Madrepora stylina_, so common in transition lime-stone rock, is entirely wanting in the secondary and tertiary strata, but a living animal of this species has been recently discovered in the South Seas. The Pentacrinus makes its first distinct appearance in the lias; but is not frequently met with in the upper strata, and disappears entirely in the uppermost formations: hence it was long supposed that the species was extinct. A living Pentacrinus has recently been discovered in the West Indies, and its stem and branches in a perfect state have been sent to this country." (England.) In the Museum at Albany, N. Y., I have examined a recent Pentacrinus, which I conclude, came from the West Indies, from the proprietor's account of the manner in which he obtained it. It has been a very perfect specimen but the branches are gradually dropping off.]

There appears to have been known to naturalists, when the improved edition of Prof. Brongniart's work on the trilobites appeared in 1822, but 17 well marked species, and out of which he constructed the five following genera, which he thus characterizes.

_Genus First._ Calymene.

_Body_ capable of contraction into nearly a semicylindrical sphere.

_Buckler_ with many tubercles or folds. Two reticulated eye-shaped tubercles.

_Abdomen and Post-abdomen_ with entire edges. Abdomen divided by 12 or 14 articulations.

No elongated tail.

_Genus Second._ Asaphus.

_Body_ broad and rather flat. Middle lobe prominent and very distinct.

_Flanks or lateral lobes_ each double the size of the middle lobe.

_Submembranaceous expansions_ extending beyond the lateral lobes.

_Buckler_ semicircular, with two reticulated eye-shaped tubercles.

_Abdomen_ divided into 8 or 12 articulations.

_Genus Third._ Ogygia.

_Body_ much depressed into an oblong ellipsis not contractile into a sphere.

_Buckler_ edged, a slight longitudinal furrow arising from its anterior extremity. Posterior angles elongated into points.

_Without any tubercles_ except the eyes, which are neither prominent nor reticulated.

_Longitudinal lobes_ slightly prominent.

_Abdomen_ with 8 articulations.

_Genus Fourth._ Paradoxides.

_Body_ depressed not contractile.

_Flanks_ much broader than the middle lobe.

_Buckler_ nearly semicircular three transverse furrows on the middle lobe.

_Eye-shaped tubercles_ none.

_Abdomen_ with 12 articulations.

_Arches_ of the lateral lobes, more or less prolonged beyond the membrane which sustains them.

_Genus Fifth._ Agnostus.

_Body_ ellipsoidal--semicylindrical.

_Buckler and flanks_ edged--the edges being slightly elevated.

_Middle lobe_ with two transverse divisions, each composed of a single piece.

_Two glandular_ tubercles on the anterior part of the body.

In 1824, Dr. J. E. Dekay added a sixth genus to the family of the trilobites, which he describes in the following manner.

_Genus Sixth._ Isotelus.

_Body_ oval oblong, often contracted, not unfrequently extended.

_Head_ or _buckler_ large and rounded, equalling the tail in size, with but two oculiform tubercles.

_Abdomen_ with 8 articulations.

Frontal process beneath, with two semilunar terminations.

_Post-abdomen_ or _tail_ broad, expanded with indistinct divisions, as large as the buckler.

_Longitudinal_ lobes very distinct.

This genus, he remarks, will be sufficiently distinguished from the five genera proposed by _M. Alexandre Brongniart_ in his valuable and truly philosophical work on the trilobites by the following particulars.

From _Calymene_. By the presence of but two tubercles on the buckler not reticulated; by the abdomen with but 8 articulations.

From _Asaphus_. By the middle lobe, which is double the size of the lateral ones; by the absence of a membranaceous expansion on the sides; by the non-reticulation of the eyes, &c.

From _Ogygia_. By the rolled form, the rounded posterior angles of the buckler, and the distinct articulation of the longitudinal lobes.

From _Paradoxide_ and _Agnoste_ by characters too obvious to be enumerated. (See Annals of N. York Lyceum, Sec. Vol. I. pp. 174-5.)

In 1826, J. W. Dalman published in the Transactions of the Swedish Academy, and also in a separate work, an account of the trilobites found in the North of Europe, in which he has enriched the family by a number of fine species, and with the following genera, which he modestly proposes merely as subdivisions.

_Genus Seventh._ Nileus.

_Body_ short, capable of contraction into a sphere, smooth, convex.

_Abdomen_ with about 8 articulations, without any dorsal longitudinal furrows.

_Buckler_ sub-lunate, with large lateral eyes.

_Tail_ expanded, not so large as the buckler, without lobes.

_Genus Eighth._ Illænus.

_Body_ ovate oblong, contractile.

_Head_ rounded in front, eyes small, in the temples, very remote.

_Abdomen_ with from 9 to 10 articulations, trilobate.

_Tail_ expanded as large as the head.[8]

[Footnote 8: Some of the species described by Professor Dalman as included in this genus, we think ought to be referred to that of the Isotelus.]

_Genus Ninth._ Ampyx.

_Body_ very short, contractile.

_Buckler_ large, triangular, gibbous; eyes not remarkable.

_Abdomen_ short, articulations few (6?), trilobate.

_Tail_ expanded, not so large as the head.

Professor Dalman has two other genera, which he calls Olenus and Battus, the first is the Paradoxides, and the second the Agnostus of Brongniart.

In the 8th Volume of Annales des Sciences Naturelles there is a highly valuable paper "Sur les Trilobites et leurs gisemens," by the Count Rasoumowsky, in which he describes some new trilobites from Russia; the one which he has figured and described as a Calymene[9] from Tzarsko-Selo, undoubtedly belongs to a new genus, very near to the Isotelus. The middle lobe is visible or naked through its whole extent, and the lateral lobes near the tail are covered with a thick cuticular membrane. This genus we propose to call Hemicrupturus, and may be thus characterized.

[Footnote 9: The editors of the Annales remark that this is not a Calymene, but that it appears to belong to the genus Asaphus.]

_Genus Tenth._ Hemicrupturus.[10]--_Green._

[Footnote 10: From three Greek words which signify _half-concealed tail_.]

_Body_ contractile.

_Buckler_ oculiferous and not lobate.

_Abdomen_ trilobate, with 8 articulations.

_Tail_, costal arches covered, middle lobe naked.

The Asaphus expansus of Dalman, and several other known species may be arranged under this genus.

As Count Rasoumowsky has given no specific appellation to the fossil above alluded to, we propose to call it after his own name, _Hemicrupturus Rasoumowskii_. We examined the fine specimen from which our cast is taken in the cabinet of the Baltimore College, and for this favour we are indebted to the kindness of Dr. J. J. Cohen, one of the Professors in that rising institution.

The following list includes _all_ the genera and species of the Trilobite Family, hitherto described as far as known to the author. It is taken from De La Beche's Manual of Geology.

NAMES. AUTHORS. LOCALITIES.

Calymene Blumenbachii, Al. Brong. Europe--U. States.
Macrophthalma, do. Europe--U. States.
Variolaris, do. Europe.
Tristani, do. Europe--U. States.
Bellatula, Dalman. Europe.
Ornata, do. Europe.
Verrucosa, do. Europe.

Calymene Polytoma, Dalman. Europe.
Artinura, do. Europe.
Sclerops, do. Europe.
Schlotheimi, Brown. Europe.
Latiferus, do. Europe.

Asaphus Cornigerus, Al. Brong. Europe.
Caudatus, do. Europe--U. States.
Hausmanni, do. Europe--U. States.
De Buchii, do. Europe.
Brongniartii, Deslongchamps. Europe.
Extenuatus, Wahlenberg. Europe.
Granulatus, do. Europe.
Expansus, do. Europe.
Crassicauda, do. Europe.
Angustifrons, do. Europe.
Heros, Dalman, Europe.
Platynotus, do. Europe.
Frontalis, do. Europe.
Læviceps, do. Europe.
Palpebrosus, do. Europe.
Sluzeri, do. Europe.

Ogygia Guettardii, Al. Brong. Europe.
Desmaresti, do. Europe.
Wahlenbergii, do. Europe.
Sillimani, do. Europe--U. States.

Paradoxides Tessini, do. Europe.
Spinulosus, do. Europe.
Gibbosus, do. Europe.
Scaraboides, do. Europe.
Hoffii, Goldfuss. Europe.

Nileus Armadillo, Dalman. Europe.
Glornerinus, do. Europe.

Illænus Centaurus, Dalman. Europe.
Centrotus, do. Europe.
Laticauda, Wahlenberg. Europe--U. States.

Ampyx Nasutus, Dalman. Europe.
Olenus Bucephalus, Wahlenberg. Europe.
Agnostus Pisciformis, Al. Brong. Europe.
Isotelus Gigas, De Kay. United States.
Planus, do. United States.

Genera and Species not fully determined.

Trilobites Cephaleurya, Rafinesque, United States.
Simla, do. United States.
Granulata, do. United States.
Bilobites Lunulata, do. United States.
Lobata, do. United States.

From the short descriptions given by Professor Rafinesque of the five last mentioned fossils, I conclude that they belong to the genus Calymene of Brongniart.

The study of the trilobites naturally leads to the consideration of those beings which appear to have inhabited our earth previous to the creation of man. Every one knows that the sceptical naturalist has drawn from these vestiges of organic life, an argument contradictory to the Mosaic account of the history of the world, and though every cavil of the least importance, urged against the truth of the sacred historian, has been triumphantly confuted, still, the geological sciolist boldly impugns his veracity, whenever any new facts in his science can be distorted to his purpose. Such being the case, we cannot conclude this preface without briefly stating two or three methods by which any seeming discrepancies may be explained. First, those who imagine that the six periods of creation, mentioned in the beginning of the pentateuch, mean literally days of 24 hours each, believe that, as only a small part of the earth was at first required for the abode of man and the higher animals, the present continents might have remained as long beneath the waters, and have undergone every change necessary to solve this geological puzzle.

Again, others have thought that Moses, after recording, in the first sentence of Genesis, the great truth that all things were made by the will of an intelligent Creator--passed silently over some intermediate state of the earth, which had no direct relation to the history, or to the duties of man--and proceeded to describe the successive appearance of the present order of things. On this supposition, the fossil remains and peculiarities in the structure of the earth may have belonged to that intermediate state.

A third method of explaining the difficulty, and which we think highly satisfactory, is, by understanding the days of creation to mean, not ordinary days, but _periods of time_, in which the recorded events took place in the order described so briefly by the sacred historian. It is acknowledged by every one competent to judge, that among the Hebrews, _days_ and _weeks_ were often used in this manner. The accordance between the order in which, according to the account of Moses, the work of creation was accomplished, and the order in which the fossil remains of plants and animals are deposited in the earth, has surprised, and has been acknowledged by learned sceptics themselves.[11]

[Footnote 11: The Baron Cuvier, on this subject, remarks, respecting the Jewish legislator--"His books show us, that he had very perfect ideas respecting several of the highest questions of natural philosophy. His cosmogony, especially, considered purely in a scientific point of view, is extremely remarkable, inasmuch as the order which it assigns to the different epochs of creation, is precisely the same as that which has been deduced from geological considerations."]

It will be useless to push these arguments further. The catastrophes which have produced the secondary strata, and the diluvian depositions, could not have been local or partial phenomena; but rather than call upon a comet, with the abstracted philosopher, to deluge the earth for every new geological epoch--or to change the axis of motion of our planet--or to resort to any of his wild, fanciful, and impious theories, we should, with Sir Humphrey Davy, even prefer the dream that all the secondary strata were _created_, filled with the remains, as it were, of animal life, to confound the speculations of our geological reasoners.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

Every author who attempts a Monograph of any of the departments of Natural History, must necessarily depend, in a greater or less degree, upon the kindness and liberality of others. Rare and unique specimens, particularly of fossil species, are often scattered through different cabinets, and his work would be rendered very imperfect, if they were not intrusted to his care. In preparing the following Monograph on the plan of giving exact models of the species, instead of illustrating them by engravings in the usual manner, the specimens when used by the artist are perhaps more liable to accident, and it was at first supposed that this circumstance might have prevented the original design. But in no instance, where an application has been made, either to a public institution or to a private cabinet, has the author met with a refusal; indeed the courtesy, kindness, and liberality which he has experienced from naturalists, who have every where aided him in the prosecution of his work, form no inconsiderable portion of the gratification which he has received. Besides the acknowledgments to public museums, and to individuals, which are made in the body of the work, the author is desirous of recording in this place, the following cabinets from which he has derived much assistance.

IN PHILADELPHIA.

The Cabinet of John P. Wetherill.
The Cabinet of the Academy of Natural Sciences.
The Philadelphia Museum. (Peale's.)
The Cabinet of P. A. Browne, Esq.
The Cabinet of Dr. R. Harlan.
The Cabinet of William Hyde.
The Cabinet of J. Pierce.
The Cabinet of the Geological Society.
————
Lambdin's Museum, Pittsburgh, Pa.
The Cabinet of D. Keim, Reading, Pa.

IN NEW YORK.

The Cabinet of the Lyceum of Natural History.
The Cabinet of Dr. J. E. Dekay.
The New York Museum. (Peale's.)

IN ALBANY.

The Cabinet of the Albany Institute.
The Cabinet of Professor T. R. Beck.
Albany Museum.
The Cabinet of Dr. James Eights.
————
The Cabinet of the Rensselaer School.

IN BALTIMORE.

The Cabinet of Dr. Joshua J. Cohen.
The Cabinet of the Baltimore College.
The Cabinet of the Atheneum.
The Baltimore Museum.
————
The Cabinet of Professor Hall, Mount Hope.

TRILOBITES, &c.

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Genus Calymene. _Brongniart_.

The name of this genus is derived from a Greek word which signifies _obscure_ or _concealed_. The fossil animals included by it are characterized as having contractile bodies; the buckler as bearing many tubercles or folds--the cheeks as being oculiferous, and the abdomen and tail as being composed of from twelve to fourteen articulations or joints, without any membranaceous expansion. The Calymenes in thickness are nearly semicylindrical, and the buckler in front presents a _chaperon_ or upper lip more or Jess raised. In perfect specimens, there is a small furrow which seems to indicate a separation between the upper and under parts of this kind of lip. The eyes are always raised, and frequently present the remarkable structure observable in many of the _crustacea_; but as this part is generally very prominent, the _reticulations_ of the eye are commonly worn off or injured.

Professor Brongniart places but little confidence in any of the generic characters above enumerated, except the number of articulations of the abdomen: these, however, in our opinion, are more vague and uncertain than most of the others. The genus, however, we think may be readily identified, after becoming familiar with one well characterized species. The general aspect of the buckler is peculiar--the body is not so depressed as in most other genera, and the lateral lobes are destitute of all membranaceous expansion.

To the genus Calymene, belongs the celebrated Dudley fossil, called _Entomolithus paradoxus_ by Blumenbach, but which is not the same organic relic, to which Linné applied that name.

This genus includes a great number of species, and though some of them are said to be found in different and distant parts of the globe, they are according to our limited observation, for the most part confined, like recent species of animals, to particular districts. The C. polytoma, C. pulchella, C. bellatula, C. concinna, C. sclerops, and the C. punctata, all finely figured by Professor Dalman, and which are found in Sweden, have not yet been noticed in any part of North America.[12]

[Footnote 12: See the valuable and extensive communication of J. W. Dalman, M. D., on the Trilobites, in the Transactions of the Swedish Academy for 1820, part 2d.]

Calymene Blumenbachii. _Brongniart._ Cast No. 1.

Clypeo rotundato, tuberculis sex distinctis in fronte; oculis in
genis emintissimis; corpore tuberculato.

In this species the upper lip presents a furrow parallel to its edges. The lip is straight. The cheeks are a little projecting. There are six rounded tubercles on the front, and fourteen articulations on the back; the tail is small, and the shell is covered with small rounded tubercles of unequal sizes.

The above is Professor Brongniart's description of this trilobite, which is the famous Dudley fossil described and figured by Littleton, in the Philosophical Transactions, (London) in 1750. According to Dalman, several distinct European species have been published under this name. The true C. Blumenbachii, he says, has thirteen articulations to the abdomen, and about eight to the tail. In the cabinet of G. W. Featherstonhaugh, Esq., we have examined a fine perfect specimen from Dudley,[13] in which there is fourteen abdominal joints. There can be no doubt, however, that several species have been confounded under the name of C. Blumenbachii; Dalman's C. Tuberculata and C. Pulchella are, we think, distinct from it, though he has marked them only as varieties.

[Footnote 13: This famous trilobite, once formed a part of the cabinet of Mr. Parkinson, the distinguished author of the "Organic Remains," and is accurately figured on one of the plates of that splendid work. At the sale of the late Mr. Parkinson's fossils, it was purchased by Mr. Featherstonhaugh,]

The true C. Blumenbachii, no doubt, abounds in North America, and is one of the few examples of the occurrence of an identical species on both continents. The late Abbe Correa sent a perfect specimen to Brongniart, from the vicinity of Lebanon, in the state of Ohio. We have also seen a number of specimens from that state, which could not be distinguished from the Dudley trilobite. Our model was taken from a specimen found at Trenton Falls, in the state of New York.

The three following species found in the United States, will no doubt be considered by many as mere varieties of the C. Blumenbachii; we have ventured, however, to call them by distinct names.

Calymene Callicephala.[14] _Green._ Cast No. 2.

[Footnote 14: From two Greek words, which signify "beautiful head."]

Clypeo antice attenuato, figura liliiformi in fronte depicta;
oculis minimis; abdomine quatuordecim articulis; corpore plano.

The buckler is subtriangular; on the front there is a figure in high relief, somewhat resembling a _fleur de lis_; or perhaps more, the capital of a Corinthian column. The oculiferous tubercles are rather lower down on the cheeks than usual. The articulations of the abdomen and the tail cannot well be distinguished from each, other; fourteen in all may be easily counted. The middle lobe of the abdomen is nearly equal in breadth throughout. The ribs, or costal arches, are not grooved or bifurcated at their extremities. Length nearly two inches and a half.

This beautiful species is in the Philadelphia Museum, where it is labelled as being found in "Hampshire, Virginia." It is mineralized by a dark yellowish limestone. It differs from the C. Blumenbachii, in the form and number of its articulations; in the shape of the head; in having only two flat tuberculous elevations on the front; and in other particulars.

In the cabinet of the New York Lyceum, and in that of J. P. Wetherill, Esq. there are some examples of this species from the Miami river, near Cincinnati, Ohio. I have also seen it from Indiana, in a dark coloured limestone, very much distorted. It has never been found at Trenton falls, or at any other locality, as far as my knowledge extends, which yields the true C. Blumenbachii.

Calymene Selenecephala.[15] _Green._ Cast No. 3.

[Footnote 15: From the Greek for "lunate head."]

Clypeo antice rotundato, margine omni valde incrassato; prominentia
frontali utrinque trituberosa; corpore tuberculato.

The buckler is regularly lunate; the margin is slightly reflected or raised anteriorly, the posterior edge forms a continuous rim, running nearly parallel with the articulations of the abdomen. The front on each side has one large and two small tubercles, near its superior edge. The oculiferous tubercles on the cheeks are on a line with the lowest frontal tubercle. There are fourteen distinct articulations; but as the tail is mutilated and distorted, the total number of joints cannot, from this specimen, be ascertained. The body appears to have been covered with small pustules. These are very evident on the front. Costal arches simple, or not grooved. Length, one inch and three-fourths, breadth of the buckler one inch and one-fourth.

This species resembles a little the C. Pulchella of Dalman. The specimen from which the model was taken, is in the possession of Mr. R. Peale, of New York, who willingly lent it for this monograph. He informed me that it was found in the state of New York, but he was unable to name its precise locality. It occurs in a soft ash coloured limestone. No other petrifaction is observable in the fragment of rock which contains it.

Calymene Platys.[16] _Green._ Casts No. 4 and 5.

[Footnote 16: From a Greek word which signifies Flat,]

Clypeo antice rotundato; prominentia frontali utrinque quatuor
tuberculis.

The buckler is probably semilunate; but as the anterior portion is lost, this cannot be determined with precision. The posterior raised rim is not continuous, as in the C. Selenecephala, but is separated by the longitudinal dorsal furrows. The front is distinctly divided from the cheeks, and has four tubercular prominences on each side. Three of them are nearly on a line with the lateral edge of the cheeks, and gradually diminish in size, as they descend to the anterior part of the buckler. The other is smaller, and is between, and a little to the side, of the upper two. The cheeks form spherical triangles. The oculiferous prominences are close to the second large tubercle on the front. The cheeks are, however, quite imperfect. The articulations of the back cannot be distinguished from those of the tail. In our specimen they are all beautifully distinct, and are twenty-two in number. The posterior raised rim of the buckler seems to form an articulation; its extremities on each side are a good deal thickened and expanded. The costal arches suddenly curve downwards and backwards, near their middle, so as to divide the abdomen and tail into five unequal sections. The whole length is nearly three inches. The breadth of the buckler nearly two inches.

This fine large Calymene was accidentally discovered on the Helderberg mountain, by my friend, Professor T. R. Beck. One of the loose pieces of sandstone rolling over, near his feet, presented him the fine natural mould, from which he has kindly permitted our cast to be taken. The animal relic once enclosed in this matrix, must still be near that locality, and yet remains undiscovered, to reward the enterprise of some more fortunate naturalist.

One of our models represents the natural mould found by Dr. Beck. The other is a cast taken from it and exhibits, more satisfactorily, the various parts of the animal.

Calymene Microps.[17] _Green._ Cast No. 6.

[Footnote 17: From the Greek for "small eyes."]

Clypeo antice subattenuato; occulis minimis in lateribus capitis;
abdominis articulis a 14 ad 18; corpore depresso.

The buckler is semi-elliptical, slightly punctate, and much depressed anteriorly; the front and cheeks are not very distinctly marked. The eyes are very remote from each other, being situated near the posterior lateral angles of the head. They are not very prominent, and exhibit no marks of being reticulated. Before the eye on each side, there is a slight transverse indentation. It is difficult to distinguish the articulations of the abdomen from those of the tail. They are from fourteen to eighteen in number. Where the lateral lobes remain perfect, two narrow raised lines appear between each of the ribs; these are most evident on the caudal extremities of the animal. The middle lobe is in the form of a long, slender, and acute cone. The whole animal is an inch and a quarter long, and is much more depressed than any other Calymene which we have seen.

I am indebted to Mr. Titian R. Peale for the use of the original from which our model was taken, his liberality to those who cultivate Natural History is proverbial, and needs no encomium from me. The C. Microps is said to have been found near Ripley, Ohio. It occurs in black limestone.

The eyes of this Calymene are small in comparison with those of some other species--particularly the C. Bufo, C. Macrophthalma, and C. Anchiops.

Calymene Anchiops.[18] _Green._ Cast No. 7.

[Footnote 18: From two Greek words which signify "eyes approximate."]

Clypeo antice, caudaque postice rotundatis; oculis approximis,
magnis, excertis; articulis vigenti; corpore plano.

The buckler of this species is irregularly hemispherical; the front pyriform and without pustulations. The cheeks are almost entirely occupied by the eyes, which are placed very near each other on the upper part of the forehead; are very large and trilobate, the side lobes being elongated and attenuated in front. The articulations of the back are twenty in number, those of the abdomen not being distinguishable from those of the tail. The costal arches of the side lobes are round near their extremities, and are intersected with two or three raised lines. Length nearly four inches. Breadth about two inches.

It gives me great satisfaction in being able to describe, and to present to naturalists a good cast of this Calymene, which has excited for a long time so much interest and perplexity. The original fossil from which our plaster model was made is now deposited in the cabinet of the Albany Institute, and is the identical specimen from which a cast was long since made, by Dr. Hosack of New York, a specimen of which he sent in July, 1819, to the Royal Academy of Science, in France. Professor Brongniart referred the animal from which this model was taken, though with much hesitation and doubt, to the species, Calymene Macrophthalma. He remarks concerning it, "Il est beaucoup plus gros que les autres individus, et a prés de dneuf centimètres de longueur. C'est avec doute que je rapporté cette empreinte tres-peu nette à l'espèce actuelle; mais malgré ses formés obtuses, et l'absence de tout detail, elle est si remarquable par la grosseur de ces yeux et par le prolongement de son bouclier qu'on peut présumer qu'elle appartient an calyméne macrophthalme, et avec d'autànt plus de probabilité qu'elle vient aussi des Etats Unis d'Amérique. Elle a été trouvée, suivant M. Hosack, dans un schiste." We have seen the cast alluded to in the above note, and are not at all surprised at the uncertainty which it has occasioned. The apparent prolongation of the buckler is entirely occasioned by the loss of a small fragment from that portion of the head. The form and position of the eyes, further distinguish it from any of the numerous specimens of C. Macrophthalma, that we have examined. The raised lines which we have noticed as intersecting the costal arches of the lateral lobes are remarkable, though they may have been produced by accidental fissures in the epidermal covering of the animal. The head of the C. Macrophthalma is always marked by minute and prominent granulations, like _shagreen_--nothing of this kind appears on the buckler of the C. Anchiops.

I am informed by my friend, Dr. T. R. Beck, to whose liberality I owe this interesting species, that it was found in Ulster county, New York. It was supposed by Dr. Hosack, to have been discovered in the vicinity of Albany. Respecting the locality and geological relations of this trilobite, Professor Brongniart remarks, "un modéle en plâtre de trilobite envoyé à l'Académie des Sciences, en Juillet, 1819, par M. Hosack, et que j'ai rapporté, autant que la chose était possible, et toujours avec doute, au calyméne macrophthalme, a été trouvé dans le territoire d'Albany, êtat de New York. Or, les environs de cette ville sont indiqués, sur la carte géologique de M. Maclure, comme formés de terrains de transition. M. Hosack dit qu'il a été trouvé au milieu d'un rocher ardoisé, c'est à dire, dans un schiste probablement analogue à celui des environs d'Angers, qui renferme les Ogygies, et ce trilobite ce rapproche un peu de ce genre par la grosseur des tubercules qui recouvrent les yeux on en tiennent la place." The rock in which the Calymene Anchiops is found, appears to be a clay slate.

Calymene Diops.[19] _Green._ Cast No. 8, and fig. 2.

[Footnote 19: From the Greek for "Double Eyes."]

Clypeo lobato plano; rugis tribus in lateribus frontis; tuberculis
oculiformibus, eminentissimis et duplicibus; articulis octodecim;
cauda rotunda.

This species is very distinct from every other Calymene that we have seen. The outline of the buckler is lobate lunate; the front is very convex, and a good deal elevated above the cheeks or sides, from which it is divided by a deep furrow; on the posterior margin of the front on each side, close to the groove there is a prominent circular tubercle, before which there are three small transverse wrinkles. The cheeks are subtriangular; the oculiform tubercle is near the posterior superior angle, and is only separated from the tubercle on the front, by the furrow or groove, so that the animal seems to have had double eyes on each side; there are two curved lines on each side below the eyes, crossed near the front by a deep short canal. The middle lobe of the abdomen and tail is rather longer than the lateral lobes, and is rounded and very prominent throughout. It is composed of 18 articulations, seven of which appear to belong to the tail; it is, however, somewhat difficult to define the length of the tail with precision. The costal arches of the lateral lobes, particularly those near the tail, are bifurcate. Length almost three inches.

The original fossil, from which the cast was taken, is in the New York Museum. I am indebted to Mr. Rubens Peale, the liberal proprietor of that flourishing and important institution, not only for the use of it in this Monograph, but also for some valuable information relating to other species. The precise locality of Mr. Peale's specimen is not known, but in the cabinet of J. P. Wetherill, Esq., there is a fine head of the C. diops which was found in the State of Ohio. Both specimens are mineralized by the same kind of soft grey coloured limestone--and I have but little doubt that they were derived from the same place.

Calymene Macrophthalma.[20] _Brongniart._ Cast No. 9.

[Footnote 20: From the Greek for "Great eyes."]

Clypeo antice, caudaque postice attenuatis, oculis magnis exsertis.

This species, according to Al. Brongniart, who first described it, is remarkable for the magnitude and protuberance of its eye-shaped tubercles, and by the prolongation of the anterior portion of the buckler, in the form of a snout.

The back is marked by 12 or 13 articulations, which are thicker than those of the tail. The tail is short, pointed, and without expansion.

The middle lobe, or front of the _buckler_, in this calymene, is said by Brongniart to be marked on its sides by three oblique plicæ or wrinkles, but we have not been able to discover this character in any of the specimens to which we have access; neither do they exhibit any remarkable prolongation in the anterior portion of the _buckler_, as stated in his specific character. The specimens which we have examined, agree pretty well with the representation he has given of the C. Macrophthalma, Plate I. fig. 5. A. B. & C. made from a drawing by Mr. Stokes, from a fossil found in Coalbrookdale (Eng.).

This trilobite is common in several parts of the United States. According to Dr. J. E. Dekay,[21] the C. Macrophthalma is found on the Helderberg mountains, near Albany, and at Coshung creek, not far from Seneca lake, in the State of New York. It occurs also at Leheighton, in Pennsylvania--at the Falls of the Ohio, and at several other localities. We have examined a number of specimens of the C. Macrophthalma, contained in the rich cabinet of fossils, in the Academy of Natural Sciences, and have never seen any individual which resembles the fig. 4, Plate I. of Brongniart; and in no instance is the front of the buckler marked by three oblique folds, a character stated as peculiar to this species. The C. Macrophthalma, (variety) occurs in large quantities in Leheighton in Pennsylvania, and we are indebted to Mr. D. Keim, for some fine specimens from that locality.

[Footnote 21: See Annals of Lyceum, Vol. I. p. 188.]

The authority of Professor Brongniart is sufficient to place the C. Macrophthalma among the species of the United States, though we have been unable fully to identify it with his description.[22] He received a specimen, transformed into red jasper, from Prof. Ducatel, said to be found in the United States--no precise locality is given. Our model represents the animal which is supposed to be the one intended by Brongniart as the C. Macrophthalma of North America. It is, in our opinion, a variety of the C. Bufo. There can be no doubt that several species have been confounded under the name of C. Macrophthalma.

[Footnote 22: We have seen in the Cabinet of Mr. Featherstonhaugh, a fine group of trilobites, in the transition limestone, from Dudley, (Eng.) Among them there is a perfect head, which agrees exactly with the description given by Mr. Brongniart of the head of his Calymene Macrophthalma. If this belongs to the true macrophthalma, our species under that name is entirely distinct. Since our work had been prepared for the press, Dr. J. J. Cohen, of the Baltimore College, has shown us the fragment of a calymene from Berkley, Virginia, which agrees with Brongniart's description of the macrophthalma, and with the above fossil from Dudley. We regret that the imperfection of the fossil prevents our giving a satisfactory cast of it.]

The following extract of a letter from Professor Ducatel to the author, referring to the locality of this species, will be read with interest.

"I cannot be positive as to my recollection of the locality of the fossil referred to by Brongniart and yourself, but believe it is one of several found by my friend Dr. M'Culloh, in the neighbourhood of Berkley Springs, Virginia. I regret that I have not in my possession another specimen to present to you."

Calymene Bufo. _Green._ Cast No. 10.

Clypeo rotundato, convexo, punctato; abdominis articulis sexdecim;
cauda attenuata; corpore plano.

Buckler semilunate, front very large, rounded before and arcuated at the insertion of the middle lobe; surface convex, and marked with numerous depressed pimples. Mouth large, lunate, resembling that of a toad or frog, with a narrow raised rim on the upper and under lip. Below the chin there are no pustulations. Cheeks small, triangular, and separated from the front by a deep, rectilinear furrow; the eyes in our specimen are much injured, but they are large, and near the upper angle of the cheeks. Middle lobe with a series of distinct double articulations. Lateral lobes wider than the middle lobe, ribs deeply grooved near their insertion; articulations of the abdomen twelve; of the tail ten. Length four inches and a half; breadth of the buckler nearly two inches.

This fossil was presented to me some time since by Thomas P. Johnson, Esq., who mentioned that it was found in New Jersey, but that he could not learn its precise locality. Near Patterson, in that State, some trilobites have been discovered--perhaps the C. Bufo may have been derived from that locality. It is composed of a dark greyish limestone, easily cut with a knife.

Calymene Bufo. Variety, Rana. Cast Nos. 11 & 12.

This fine specimen differs from the one above described, in having the front of the buckler rather smaller, and of a different contour. The whole of the shell is also covered with granulations, which only appear on the head of the other; this, however, may be only an imperfection in the specimens in our cabinet.