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a few words on the subject, and proposed to deal briefly with 

 methods of collection, and then to touch upon some of the more 

 interesting features of the life-history of the Foraminifera. 

 Foraminifera — at any rate, so far as the shore species were 

 concerned — were easily obtainable, and their preparation was 

 simple, and did not involve the use of chemical reagents. Pro- 

 bably every one had noticed that on most sandy beaches the sand 

 in the ripple-marks was of a different colour from the rest of the 

 sand. It was generally of a white colour, due to the presence of 

 Foraminifera and fragments of molluscan shells ; bat sometimes 

 it was dark, or even black, owing to the ashes and coal-dust 

 washed up from steamers. This deposit in the ripple-marks 

 should be carefully scraped together and collected by means of 

 a slip of glass, or, preferably, a strip of thin celluloid, such as 

 a Frena film. It must then be carefully dried at a very moderate 

 heat, and the coarser particles of sand or weed sifted out by 

 means of a wire-gauze sieve of about twenty meshes to the inch. 

 The fine material which passed through the sieve consists of 

 Foraminifera, Ostracoda, fragments of shells, and Bryozoa, mixed 

 with a quantity of sand-grains. The sand-grains could be easily 

 separated, owing to the difference in their specific gravity ; but 

 the other organisms were much more difficult to separate ; and 

 some objects, such as Ostracoda, which possessed practically the 

 same weight and density as the " forams," could not be separated 

 by any means which did not destroy the objects. If the dried 

 material is placed in a beaker and stirred up with water, it is 

 found that after the greater part of the material has settled to 

 the bottom some remains in suspension or floating on the surface. 

 This can be secured by pouring off the water through a sieve of 

 fine gauze (120 meshes to the inch), such as is used for the 

 collection of pond-life ; and, on being dried, it will be found to 

 consist almost entirely of perfect Foraminifera of the smaller 

 and lighter forms, mixed with Ostracoda and small Mollusca. 

 Great care should be used in the collection of these " floating ," 

 as the most delicate and beautiful species are invariably to be 

 obtained by this means. The quantity of floatings varies greatly, 

 according to the nature of the gathering, collections from a 

 muddy shore always yielding the greatest quantity — no doubt 

 because more of the organisms were living when collected, and 

 the drying-up of the protoplasm has sealed up the openings of 



