174 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



the animals belonged to the Cephalopoda ; and my subsequent ob- 

 servations were confirmed by the tlieory of Dujardin. I liiive since 

 placed all my drawings and specimens at the disJ)o^al of Mr. Wil- 

 liamson, of Manchester, who has j^iven such good earnest of what 

 he can do in elucidating the natural history of this group, by his 

 papers on Lagena and the Foraniiniferous mud of tlie Levant. 



The observations which I have made on niaiiy hui dved recent and 

 living specimens of various species, fully confirm Dr. Carpenter's 

 view as to the simple and liouiogeneous nature of the animal. His 

 idea of their reproduction by gvnimatiou is also pn-bably correct; 

 although I cannot agree with him in cons'uleriiig the granules which 

 are occasionally found in the cells as ova. These bodies I have fre- 

 quently noticed, and especially in ilie Lagnnc ; but they a))peared 

 to constitute the entire mass, and not nit-rely a part of the animal. 

 1 am inclined to think they are only dts ccated portions of the ani- 

 mal, separated from each other in con«equence of the al)sence of any 

 muscular or nervous structure. It may al o be questionable if tiie 

 term "ova" is rightlv applicable to an animal which has no distinct 

 organs of any kind. Possibly the fry may pass througli a metamor- 

 phosis, as in the case of the Medusa. 



Most of the Foraminifera are free, or only at'liere by tlieir pseudo- 

 podia to foreign substances. Sucli are the Logena of Walker, Nodo- 

 saria, Vorlicilais and Textularia, and the Mlliola of Lamack. The 

 latter has some, although a very limited, po.ver of locomotion ; which 

 is effected by exserting its pseudopodia to their full length, attach- 

 ing itself by them to a piece of seaweed, and then contracting them 

 like india-rubber, so as to draw tlie sliell along witli them. Some 

 of the acephalous mollusks do the same by means of tlieir byssus. 

 Tins mode of progression is, however, exceedingly slow ; and I have 

 never seen, in the course of twenty-four hours, a longer journey than 

 a quarter of an inch accomplished by a Miliola, so tliat, in compari- 

 son with it, a snail travels at a railroad pace. 



Some are fixed or sessile, but not cemented at their base like the 

 testaceous annelids. The only mode of attachment appears to be a 

 thin film of sarcose. Tlie XnZ»o<2^/a of Fleming, and the Rosalia and 

 Planorhulina of D'Orbigny belong to tiiis division. 



Dr. Carpenter considers the Foraminifera to be phytophagous, in 

 consequence of his having detected in some specimens, by the aid of 

 the microscope, fragments of Diatomacett and other simple forms of 

 vegetable life. But as I have dredged tiiem alive at a depth of 

 108 fathoms (which is far below the Laininarian zone), and they are 

 extremely abundant at from 40 to 70 fathoms, ten miles from land 

 and beyond the range of any seaweed, it may be assumed without 

 much difficulty, that many, if not most of them, are zoopliagous, and 

 prey on microscopic animals, perhaps even of a simpler form and 

 structure than themselves. They are in their turn the food of mol- 

 lusca, and appear to be especially relished by Dentalium Entale. 



With respect to Dr. Carpenter's idea that they are allied to 



sponges, I may remark that Polystomella crispa {an elegant and not 



uncommon species) has its periphery set round at each segment with 



i.liceous spicula, like the rowels of a spur. But as there is only one 



