MINUTE THIXGS OF LTFK. 171 



individuals are ranch more voracious than others, always cramming 

 and gorging their bodies. One is mentioned by Dr. Lcidy as 

 happening to be in a stream near a sawmill, and as having tilled 

 itself with sawdust. These Attiwha feed generally on Conf'ervoe 

 and Diatomacea\ They spread out so much that they can inclose 

 things as large as themselves, by stretching and attenuating their 

 sarcode ; and the soft parts of the food are absorbed, while the 

 hard parts pass away through the body — for there is hardly any 

 integument — and are lost sight of. Instead of being merely this 

 simple, soft substance, there are some that have a horny coating, 

 such as the I)ifflii(/ia and ArceUa ; and there are others that have 

 a calcareous coating (Foraminifera) ; others have siliceous 

 spicules or a siliceous framework (Folycystina and other Radiolaria). 

 The projected angles, lobes, and threads of the body, varying in 

 the different kinds, are called " pseudopods." Some of these are 

 slender radiating filaments, and branch and interlace. Some are 

 hardened and strengthened with silica, and play their part as 

 indestructible atoms, like the sponge-spicules. 



Among those with calcareous shells we have the pretty Cristel- 

 laria with a discoidal growth, as a flat spire with sharp edge. 

 This form is particularly seen in the l^ummulites. They consist of 

 very many cells arranged most symmetrically, one after the other, 

 in coils, forming little flat disks, like coins ; and hence they have 

 been called "Nature's Money," "Peter's Pence,"and "Devil's Coin." 

 Some are thicker than others in the middle, and look like lentils ; 

 hence, as they are very common in Egypt, forming the building-stone 

 of the Pyramids, they were said to be lentils dropped by the work- 

 men and fossilized. Here are some Nummulites from the 

 Pyramids, and some from the Crimea, and elsewhere. The hills 

 round about Sebastopol and Balaklava are foi-med of Nummulites ; 

 also the Hala hills in Scinde, much of the south flanks of the 

 Himalayas, and great masses of the Alps and Pyrenees. The Indus 

 brings down pebbles of limestone, which are frequently cut and 

 polished, showing the structure of the Nummulites. We have 

 a nummulitic stratum in England, — at Bracklesham (Selsey), in 

 Hampshire, also in the Isle of Wight. We have also another 

 foraminiferal rock in the Mixcn and Clibs off Selsey, made up of 

 analogous shells — the AlveoUna. Here is a bit of Paris stone from 

 Mont Souris, made up of little shells of this sort, but chiefly 

 Miliola. Many are present in the Chalk. Some kinds of chalk 

 have 90 per cent, of Glohigerincc. Other limestones, such as the 

 Mountain-limestone, are here and there very rich in Fimilina. 

 In the recent condition Eoraminifera are abundant enough. Here 

 is one sort, the Thwporus, which forms great banks in Torres Straits. 

 The coral-islands also abound with Foraminifera ; such as the 

 Orhiculina in the West Indies and the OrhitoUtes at Fiji. In some 

 cases the prevalent winds bank them up in shoals along the shores. 



Taking the Foraminifera as examples of the influence of little 

 things, we may remark that here then are some of the mighty hosts 

 with which the Creator peoples and repcoples the earth and the 



