268 



A Plea for a New " Williamson." 

 By Arthur Earland. 



Of all branches of microscopy there is probably none more 

 neglected by what we may call the casual worker than the 

 Foraminifera. The reason is not far to seek. Most micro- 

 scopists are primarily attracted by subjects which have a 

 literature readily accessible to the beginner. The enthusiasm 

 of such a beginner who asks, " In what book shall I find 

 figures and descriptions of our British Foraminifera ? " is not 

 unreasonably damped by the reply, "There is no work which 

 contains what you require." 



The fact does little credit to either British rhizopodists or 

 British publishers, but the fact remains. It is now nearly 

 half a century since the Bay Society published Williamson's 

 " Monograph on the Recent Foraminifera of Great Britain."^ 

 From that day to this it has had no successor, and though 

 the classification and nomenclature are more or less obsolete^ 

 it still remains the base upon which the student of British 

 Foraminifera must build up his studies. 



The M'idely felt need for a new w^ork on the subject is best 

 expressed by the fact that Williamson figured and described 

 some ninety varieties only, while at the present day there 

 cannot be far short of three hundred varieties recognised as 

 British. For the remaining two hundred the student must 

 refer to a score or more of isolated papers, scattered through 

 the transactions of various societies, many of them provincial 

 or foreign, and all but inaccessible to the average microscopist. 



It is true that the admirable report on the Foraminifera 

 of the Challenger Expedition contains figures of most British 

 Foraminifera ; but the cost of this great work renders it 

 unattainable to all but a few students, and, moreover, the 



