PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 175 



terminal cell, wliicli is connected with all tlie others in the interior 

 by one or more openings for the psendopodia, the analog-y is not 

 complete, tliis being a solitary, and the sponge a compound or 

 aggregate animal. 



I believe the geographical range or distribution of species in this 

 group to be regulated by the same laws as in theMollusks and other 

 marine animals. In the gulf of Genoa I have found (as might have 

 been expected) species identical with those of our Hebridean coast, 

 and vice versa. 



In common with Dr. Carpenter, I cannot help deploring the ex- 

 cessive multiplication of species in the present day, and I would in- 

 clude in this regret tiie unnecessary formation of genera. Another 

 Linnaeus is sadly wanted to correct this pernicious habit, both at 

 home and abroad. 



The groujj iiow under consideration exhibits a great tendency to 

 variation of form, some of the combinations (especially in the case of 

 Margin uliiui) being as complicated and various as a Chinese puzzle. 

 It is, I believe, undeniable, that the variability of form is in an in- 

 verse ratio to the development of animals in the scale of Nature. 



Having examined thousands (I may say myriads) of these elegant 

 organisms, I am induced to suggest the following arrangement : — 



1. Lagena (Walker) and Entosolenia (Williamson). 



2. Nodosaria and Margiiudlnci (D'Oib.), &c. 



3. Vorticialis (D'Orb.), Rotalia (Lam.), Lohalula (Flem.), 

 Glohigerina (D'Orb.), &c. 



4. Textidaria (Defrance), Uvigerina (D'Orb.), &c, 



5. Miliola (Lam.), Biloculina (D'Orb.), &c. 



This division must, liowever, be modified by a more extended and 

 cosmopolitan view of the subject, as I only profess to treat of the 

 British species. To illustrate MacLeay's theory of a quinary and 

 circular arrangement, the case may be put thus. 



LageDadac. 

 1 





The first family is connected by the typical genus Lagena with 

 the second, and by Entosolina with the fifth ; the second is united 

 with the third through Marginuliria ; the third with the fourth 

 through Glohigerina ; and the fourth with the last through Uvige- 

 rina. 



Whether these singular and little-known animals are Rhizopodes, 

 or belong to the Amoeba, remains yet to be satisfactorily made out. 



London, June 18, 1855. 



