Page:Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Volume 85.djvu/91



Shortly after his discovery of the remarkable Burgess shale fossils in British Columbia in 1910, Dr. Charles D. Walcott described the more striking species of the major classes of animals and plants represented, to bring to the attention of the scientific world their exceptionally well preserved anatomic details. Subsequent quarrying at the locality yielded many additional specimens of the described forms as well as examples of rarer species not secured in the first season's work.

During my 13 years' association with Doctor Walcott he frequently dwelt upon the fact that he considered his papers on the Burgess shale forms rather in the nature of announcements than as completed studies of these wonderfully preserved fossils. He always intended to return to the study of the described species and to publish more detailed descriptions and interpretations of their form and structure. However, the stress of war times and advancing years prevented a realization of this hope. Nevertheless, from time to time, he had photographs prepared or made notes of his observations regarding structure, all of which were preserved with the collections.

At the request of the National Museum authorities I have assembled these notes and illustrations for publication so that they may not be lost to science. It must be remembered that none of the statements, and particularly none of the interpretations, in the following pages should be regarded as Doctor Walcott's final opinion, since he recognized many of them as tentative. He more than once stated that fully 15 years' work remained to be done on the 35.000 Burgess shale specimens in the National Museum's collections.

All generic and specific names, having been created by Doctor Walcott, are, of course, to be credited to him, and not to us jointly.

In order to show clearly exactly what Doctor Walcott wrote and, on the other hand, what I have added—chiefly by way of explanation—two type faces are used. Doctor Walcott's manuscript is printed in 10-point type, while the explanations added by me appear in the smaller 8-point type.

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