404 E. HERON-ALLEN AND A. EARLAND 



echinoderm plates in a more or less perfect condition. The plates 

 which overlap each other are fastened together without visible 

 cement. No special aperture at either end of the test, the 

 extremities being closed by means of similar plates set at an 

 angle so that they resemble the incurving petals of a flower. 

 Surface of the test neat and regular, and entirely devoid of 

 extraneous matter, but the projecting edges of the flat (or slightly 

 curved) plates used in the construction of the test give a some- 

 what irregular or serrate appearance to the outline. Hyaline- 

 white in appearance, with slight iridescenco when dry, due 

 apparently to diffraction effects caused by the film of chitin with 

 which the separate plates are probably fastened together. Length, 

 1*8 mm. ; breadth at truncate extremity, "350 mm., widening to 

 *4 mm., and again diminishing somewhat rapidly to '250 mm. at 

 the tapering extremity. 



This curious little organism was first observed by Earland 

 in 1907, when examining material dredged by the Scottish 

 Fisheries Board's cruiser " Goldseeker," which is engaged in the 

 research work of the International North Sea Commission. Tiie 

 dredging, which was taken at Station 8, Moray Firth (57° 55' N. 

 3° 20' W.) in 33 fathoms ( = 60 metres), consisted of a fine 

 muddy sand such as covers large areas in the Moray Firth. 

 Only a single specimen was observed, although a considerable 

 quantity of material was cleaned and examined. This specimen 

 was at first passed by the observer as being merely a fragment 

 of an Ophiocoma, such remains being of frequent occurrence in 

 the material. A certain irregularity in the arrangement of the 

 plates, however, led to its examination under a higher-power 

 objective, when the composite nature of the test became apparent. 



The specimen was subsequently submitted [as Technitella 

 legjtmen (Norman)] to Mr. Joseph Wright, F.G.S., of Belfast, 

 pre-eminent among the authorities on the British rhizopoda, who 

 stated that, in his opinion, it was "not Technitella legumen, and 

 probably not a foram at all." There being no ready means of 

 deciding the rhizopodal nature of the organism without risking 

 its destruction, the specimen was set aside in the hope that 

 others would be found. For more than a year no other was 

 observed, although a very large quantity of material from 

 adjacent stations was examined. Patience was at last rewarded 

 by the discovery of a similar specimen in a dredging taken by 

 the " Goldseeker" at Station 41 C in the North Sea (56° 35' N., 

 0° 10' W., depth 73 metres = 39-71 fathoms). The bottom at 



