34 Mr. W. Murton Holmes on Foraminifera 
bard, and admired inch by inch, but not to the full length, 
unless the owner pressed the guest to do so, and then, with much 
apology, the blade was entirely drawn, and held away from the 
other persons present. After being admired it would, if appa- 
rently necessary, be carefully wiped with a special cloth, sheathed, 
and returned to its owner as before.” 
I will finish my paper with the concluding words of Sir Edwin 
Arnold’s able article :— 
‘* These high manners of the steel bred that Japanese courtli- 
ness and chivalry which have survived it. The cult of the 
Katana is now forever at an end in Dai Nippon—the Samurai 
and Lords of the Land have laid aside their proudly cherished 
weapons, and go abroad as peacefully as the Akindo, the mer- 
chant. Yet there are fine swordsmen still to be found among 
the quietest of the emperors, senators, and lieges, and I have my- 
self seen wonderful things done by some of them with ancient 
blades. Moreover, the measured spirit, the deep and headful 
reverence, the silent dignity, the instincts of manhood, which 
clustered round the steel are still characteristic of the race, and 
the swords, though no longer worn, are proudly and carefully 
preserved in many a mansion, castle, and temple. .... Japan, 
by a wonderful effort of abnegation on the part of her upper 
classes, altogether laid aside the perilous habit of going abroad 
with a girdle full of swords and daggers. It was a noble suab- 
mission to new ideas; yet to this day a Japanese gentleman 
raises your sword to his forehead, and bows deeply before he 
examines it; nor will he uncover a single inch of the shining 
and sacred steel without gravely obtaining your permission and 
that of the company present.” 
Mr. Pelton exhibited several fine blades by the leading Japanese 
swordsmiths. 
3.—FoRAMINIFERA FROM THE GauLt at MerstTHAM. 
By W. Murron Houmes. 
(Read May 27th, 1902.) 
Tur Foraminifera referred to in these notes were obtained in 
the early part of 1899, on the occasion of a visit of the Natural - 
History Club to the new cutting through the Greensand and 
Gault, on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, a 
little to the north of Merstham. 
Gault is a Cambridgeshire provincial term applied toa dark, 
