KEPORT ON THE EADIOLARIA. 601 



ring), and between these three girdles (perpendicular one to another) remain wide open 

 fissures of the shell or "gates" (Pi/ke). The beginning of the shell-building is the 

 same as in Larnacilla, the most simple form of Larnacida. From a quite simple 

 medullary shell, a spherical, subspherical, ellipsoidal, or lentelliptical central chamber, 

 arise two latticed wings, opposite on the poles of the transverse axis (Ifonozomiim). 

 Both wings are short and wide hollow fenestrated tubes, the axes of which are parallel 

 to the principal axis. Therefore they form together with the central chamber an 

 elliptical transverse girdle. This first girdle becomes crossed by a second lateral girdle ; 

 from both poles of the transverse axis arise latticed wings, which unite on the poles of 

 the principal axis, therefore the minor axis of this second larger ring is the major axis 

 of the first smaller ring {Dizonium). Between the two crossed rings remain four wide 

 open gates. Now follows the development of a third sagittal girdle, arising from both 

 poles of the principal axis and overgrowing the four gates. But as this third girdle 

 is larger than the second, four other larger gates arise between the two (in planes 

 perpendicular to the former four gates). Now we have the characteristic and most 

 important trizonal shell [Trizonium), composed of three elliptical lattice-girdles of 

 difi"erent size, perpendicular one to another, and enclosing a simple central chamber. 

 If the four gates of this Tn'zonium become closed by lattice-work, it passes over into 

 Larnacilla, the most important ancestral form of the Larnacida. 



This most significant " trizonal shell," either incompletely latticed in Trizonkiiu 

 (with four open gates), or completely latticed by fenestration of the four gates, in 

 Larnacilla, is to be found in far the greater part of all L a r c o i d e a, representing the 

 medullary shell, which is overgrown by an outer cortical shell. In many L a r c o i d e a, 

 in which this " Larnacilla-sheW " is absent, it is perhaps lost by phylogenetic reduction, 

 or retrograde metamorphosis. 



The same process of triple girdle-building, by which the typical Trizo7iium -shell or 

 Larnacilla-fihell is produced (Haplozonaria), is repeated once or twice in the larger 

 forms of Pylonida. The first system of three girdles (perpendicular one to another) 

 becomes overgrown by a second system of the same formation in the Diplozonaria, and 

 this becomes overgrown by a third system in the Triplozonaria ; in the highest genus of 

 this o-roup, Pylozonium, we find not less than nine girdles (three systems, each of three 

 o-irdles). Till now only one genus of the whole polymorphous family was well known, 

 Tetrapyle (with five girdles, three of the medullary, two of the cortical shell). If the 

 o-ates between the girdles remain open, all these forms must be regarded as Pylonida ; if 

 the gates afterwards become closed by a network, they pass over into other families. 



The fourth family of the L a r c o i d e a is the Tholonida, distinguished by the 

 polythalamous shell being composed of a certain number of roundish or hemispherical 

 chambers (domes or cupolas), which surround a primordial central chamljer in quite 

 reo-ular disposition, lying opposite in pairs on the poles of the three dimensive axes. 



(ZOOL. CHALL. EXP.— PART XL. — 1885.) Rp 76 



