Thurammina papillata Brady : a Study in Variation. 537 



In 1892 Chapman records T. albicans (Kef. 23), of small size 

 and very rare, in the upper zones of the Gaalt of Folkestone. 



In 1893 Haeusler summarized his various papers (Eef 24), and 

 referring to Thurammina records that it makes its first appearance 

 in Switzerland in the Lower Lias. In the Calcareous Beds of 

 Aargau (I'Etage Argovienne) Thuram-mioia^ appear in extraordinary 

 variety. After the Sequanicn the genus disappears almost com- 

 pletely. Five species of Thurammina — viz. liemisphxrica, albicans, 

 papillata, tuberosa and clcgantissima — are recorded as well as 

 T. canaliculata. 



In the same year Egger (Eep. 25) records T. papillata from the 

 west coast of Australia as " rare " in 359 metres, and figures a 

 compressed egg-shaped type with irregularly disposed papillae of 

 considerable altitude. 



Howchin, in his " Census of the Fossil Foraminifera of Aus- 

 tralia " (1893) (Ref. 26), records T. compressa Brady as rare in 

 three borinfj^s of Cretaceous age. 



In 1896 Goes, reporting on the Foraminifera of the " Albatross " 

 Expedition (Eef. 27), records a single specimen of T. jjapillata 

 from 724 fms. in the Caribbean Sea, and also figures and describes 

 a new species, T. erinacca. It is described as " somewhat wrinkled, 

 tuberculated and beset with short closely arranged spines ; some- 

 times the spines are more scattered and very produced in length. 

 Shape usually globular, seldom ovoid ; test sometimes provided 

 with a short neck or shaft. Colour usually grey-yellow, some- 

 times whitish, with black specks, some of which may be orifices. 

 Wall more or less thin; diameter seldom beyond 0-25 mm., 

 Pacific, 555 to 1879 fms. Not rare." It should be pointed out 

 that Goes himself describes this form with some hesitation ; the 

 description and figure have little in common with preconceived 

 opinions of Thurammina, but strongly suggest a Eadiolarian origin 

 for the specimens. Cushman, writing in 1910 (Eef 38), takes the 

 same view of the identity of Goes' specimens after an examination 

 of his material, and remarks that the mounted specimens were not 

 easily examined, but some are plainly Radiolaria, which are not 

 uncommon of this form and size in the Pacific. T. erinacea may 

 therefore be disregarded as far as our inquiry is concerned. 



Eimer and Fickert in 1899 (Eef. 28), in their attempt towards 

 a reorganization of the genera and species of the Foraminifera, 

 transferred Thurammina to a new family, Kyphamminidae (Kv(f>6<; 

 = tuberculate), of which it is the sole constituent, but give no 

 opinion as to its affinities. 



In the same year Egger (Eef. 29), under the singularly inappro- 

 priate name of Thurammina splendens, describes a new species 

 from the Chalk Marl of the Bavarian Alps. His figures represent 

 three entirely different forms, which, whatever their real nature 

 may be, are certainly not Thurammina. The description refers 



Dec. 19th, 1917 2 o 



