The amphioxus itself, which more than any other realizes the type of the group it represents, was preceded, according to Haeckel, by the provertebrate, which no man has ever seen, but of which, nevertheless, the Jena professor gives us a figure, and describes the anatomy.
"The Old Riddle and the Newest Answer"
John Gerard
1853. 22-24. Yolk-segmentation in amphioxus.
"On the Origin and Metamorphoses of Insects"
Sir John Lubbock
"Among the acquisitions," MacGillivray goes on, "I may mention a new species of amphioxus, a genus of small fishes exhibiting more anomalies than any other known to Ichthyologists, and the lowest organisation found in the class.
"Thomas Henry Huxley; A Sketch Of His Life And Work"
P. Chalmers Mitchell