FORAMINIFERA. 339 
It is Starcely more than a hundred and twenty years ago, 
that the’ existence of this numerous order of microzoa was 
first made known to naturalists by Beccarius, who detected 
a considerable number of species in the sand on the shores 
of the Adriatic. But the structure of the animals that 
_ secreted these shells is a discovery of comparatively modern 
date. The early collectors classed these microscopic bodies 
with the shells of true mollusca ; and even M. D’Orbigny, 
whose elaborate researches justly constitute him a high 
authority in this branch of natural history, in his first 
memoir, in 1825, described the involuted discoidal forms as 
Cephalopoda. This error was corrected by the investigations 
of M. Dujardin, who in 1835 satisfactorily demonstrated 
that the Foraminifera are animals of the most simple struc- 
ture, and entirely separated by their organization from the 
Mollusca. 
But the true nature of this class is so little understood by 
British collectors of fossil shells—of course I mean the 
uninitiated, and the amateur naturalist, for whose use these 
_unpretending pages are designed,—that in order to invest 
the study of the fossil species with the interest which a know- 
ledge of the structure and economy of the living originals 
can alone impart, I must give a history of the recent forms 
somewhat in detail, taking M. D’Orbigny as my chief 
authority.* 
The ForaMINIFERA are marine animals of low organization, 
and, with but few exceptions, extremely minute : in an ounce 
_of sea-sand between three and four millions have been dis- 
_tinctly enumerated. When living, they are not aggregated, 
but always individually distinct ; they are conpoadd of 
* The best work for the student to consult is M. D’Orbigny’s “ Fo- 
‘raminiféres Fossiles du Basse Tertiaire de Vienne, Autriche.” Paris, 
1846. 1 vol. 4to. with plates. I rejoice to learn that a Monograph 
on the British Foraminifera is in preparation by Dr. Carpenter and 
_ Professor Williamson ; than whom there are none more competent. 
