THE FORAMINIFERA. 45 



get in our district to float perfectly. I have seen a shore 

 pool at Holywell covered quite thickly with Polystomella 

 striato -pun data (the commonest form in the Dee), its reddish 

 coloured sarcode rendering it easy to distinguish on the 

 surface of the water. 



So little is even yet known of the life history of the 

 Rhizopoda, that it seems of some importance to know where 

 and how to obtain living specimens for study, and how best 

 to separate and keep them. They may always be got by 

 carefully scraping the surface of the velvety brownish mud at 

 the bottom of pools left by the tide ; or by skimming the top 

 of the water, if this mud be found to have risen under the 

 influence of sunlight. The oozy mud may be got rid of by 

 washing through a fine muslin net, and the residuum put 

 into small bottles filled with sea water. The bottle should 

 be kept uncorked in a cool place, out of direct sunlight, when 

 the Foraminifera will creep up the bottle sides, and live there 

 for months. They are readily transferred by means of a fine 

 pointed camel hair pencil to a slide or cell for microscopical 

 examination. 



The great abundance of the dead shells of Foraminifera 

 in and upon the sand banks of the Dee, even as high up as 

 Chester, eighteen miles from the sea, is due to the tide, the 

 " bore " of which collects them from the banks near the 

 mouth of the river. The frothy scum which floats with the 

 tide contains large numbers of forms ; but no living speci- 

 mens have ever been found so far from the sea. These shells 

 are deposited in streaks, and between ripple marks, upon the 

 banks by the receding tide ; beautifully clean and prolific 

 gatherings being always obtainable from these places. 



I can off'er no detailed information respecting the Rhizo- 

 podal fauna of the River Mersey. Beyond an occasional 

 scraping of the sands at Eastham and at New Brighton, and 

 the observation of numerous Foraminiferal shells in both 



