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It soon became clear to me, however, that my investigations would hâve to proceed on
other lines. There were several causes for this. The most important of these was the scarcity
of material. A comprehensive and thorough examination of a group needs a material rieh in
specimens and comprising a comparatively large number of species. For several reasons the
greater part of my work had to be carried out at Upsala and in this town there was only the
not too abundant material of the Swedish museums at my disposai. Moreover, during the
periods I spent at the west coast of Sweden in order to study Ostracods I soon discovered
how sparsely these groups were represented there — both with regard to species and to
indi-viduals. I had the same expérience as G. W. Müller had previously at Naples with regard
to the Cypridinids; I found that specimens of these groups were so rare „dass ich bald
die Lust verloren habe, besonders nach ihnen zu suchen“ (G. W. MÜLLER, 1894, p. 2, remark).
Because of the circumstances under which I was working it was thus necessary for me almost
com plet ely to accommodate my studies to a material which had, on the whole, been furnished
once for all. A fairly abundant material was at my disposai in some groups and my work has
expanded round these; other groups, on the contrary, couid unfortunately be treated only
rather cursorily because of the scarcity of the material both in species and individuals. This
may — at least partly — explain and account for the conglomerate character of the present work.
I myself look upon this treatise only as a preparatory work for the really exhaustive
monographs on the various divisions of the Ostracods and the problems connected with
them, which are awaited by everyone.
Among the problems that I was faced with during my studies of the marine Ostracods
and that can be advantageously dealt with on the basis of a material like that which was at
my disposai there was, in my opinion, one especially that demanded a quick and thorough
examination. This problem was that of classification and so I devoted most of my time and
labour to it.
Other problems, such as the comparative morphology and histology of the forms, also
need, of course, a new and thorough examination, as there is much to correct and add here too.
They may, however, be said to be so well known already — especially from G. W. MüLLER’s
large monograph, 1894, which is so rieh in morphological and histological facts — that it is not
absolutely necessary to reconsider them immediately if we are to have a soimd development
of our knowledge of this group of animais.
I do not mean by this that the main features of the current classification of the marine
Ostracods are incorrect. On the contrary, as a matter of faet I think that it is onlv
necessary to alter these very slightly. The Ostracods, like the Arthropods in general,
are characterized by what may be called a morphology that points outward. A conséquence
of this is that a quite modern revision of the classification of this group of animais — i. e. taking
carefully into considération as inany characters as possible, botli internal and external — is not
likely to attain results that differ so much from those gained by older investigators, whose work
is marked not only by too littie accuracy but by the faet that attention is paid only or
practically only to external characters, as a modern investigation of the classification of, let us sav.
the lower groups of worms. The latter are characterized by a morphology that — if I may sav
The main object oj
this work is the
classification of the
marine Ostracods.
The main features
of the current
Ostrn-cod system are
almost correct
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