142 KITTON, ON DIATOMACEiE. 



a specific character; and this alone entitles them to be acknow- 

 ledged and referred to by others." And again, at page 106, 

 "Microscopical differences are by themselves of little im- 

 portance. To see is one thing, to understand and combine 

 ■what we see is another. The eye must be subservient to the 

 mind. Every supposed new species requires to be separated 

 from its allies, and then subjected to a series of careful 

 observations and critical comparisons. 



" To indicate many apparently new species is the work of 

 an hour ; to establish only one on a sure foundation is some- 

 times the labour of months or years. A naturalist cannot 

 be too cautious. It is better to allow diatoms to remain in 

 the depths of the sea, or in their native pools, than, from 

 imperfect materials, to elevate them to the rank of distinct 

 species, and encumber our catalogue with a load of new 

 names, so ill defined, if defined at all, that others are unable 

 to recognise them. The same object may be more easily 

 obtained by attaching them in the mean time to some 

 already recorded species, Avith the specific character of 

 whigh they sufficiently accord. In all such cases, the 

 question to be solved for the advantage of naturalists is not 

 vs^hether the object noticed be a new species, but whether 

 it has been proved to be such, and clearly characterised.^^* 



Dr. Carpenter, in the preface to his introduction to the 

 * Study of Foraminifera,' says : " But nearly a parallel case, 

 as regards the first of these points (the derivation of a 

 multitude of distinguishable forms from a few primitive 

 types) as presented by certain of the humbler groups of the 

 vegetable kingdom, in which it becomes more and more 

 apparent from the careful study of their life history — not 

 only that their range of variation is extremely wide, but that 

 a large number of reputed genera and species have been 

 created on no better foundation than that afforded by 

 transitory phases of types hitherto only known in their state 

 of more advanced development.^' "And the main principle, 

 which must be taken as the basis of the systematic arrange- 

 ment of the groups of Foraminifera and Protophyta, that of 

 ascertaining the range of variation by an extensive com- 

 parison of individual forms, is one which finds application 

 in every department of Natural History, and is now recog- 

 nised and acted upon by all the most eminent botanists, 

 zoologists, and palaeontologists." 



* Since the above quotation was written, I have to deplore the loss of my 

 old friend and correspondent, — a loss that will be acutely felt by all who 

 have had the pleasure of corresponding with him. He was at all times most 

 willing to assist the student with information and specimens.. 



