FOSSIL INFUSORIA. 35 



account of fossil Infusoria. A fossil animalcule ! 

 Is it possible that such minute and delicate 

 bodies can be changed into, and preserved as, 

 fossils ? This is really the case, and the following 

 extracts will prove the truth of this remark. 



Ehrenberg says, " The Infusoria, in conse- 

 quence of their siliceous shells (lorica), form in- 

 destructible earths, stone, and rocky masses. 

 With lime and soda we can prepare glass out 

 of invisible animalcules, use them as flints, pro- 

 bably prepare iron from them, and use the 

 mountain-meal, composed of them, as food in 

 hunger." 



To prove this marvellous fact, the following 



interesting extracts are drawn from Pritchard's 



c History of Infusoria ' : 



