FORAMINIFERA. 235 
FORAMINIFERA. 
W* have lately received several slides of Foraminifera from 
various parts of the country on the sea coast, and, therefore, 
call attention to some notes on the subject in the July number of 
the Journal of the Postal Microscopical Society. 
Mr. Charles Elcock writes that large quantities of Foraminifera 
abound in the little hollows between the ripple marks on the 
sand at Southport. A bit of newspaper being gently pressed into 
one of these hollows brought up no less than seventeen species, 
and it is probable that the ripple marks on other coasts may be 
made to yield a similar supply. The shelly debris from these 
hollows may be scraped up with a teaspoon to the depth of an 
eighth of an inch, and the Foraminifera floated from it. Mr. 
Elcock remarks that specimens would probably be found on every 
shore on our coasts, especially at low tides, those occurring in soft 
oozy mud appearing beautifully clean and lustrous when washed 
out. 
In the same number Mr. J. W. Measures gives a description of 
the silt obtained from a depth of 23 feet at the Docks at Sutton 
Bridge, in Lincolnshire. Silt is a deposit, from a state of suspen- 
sion in seawater, of sand in a state of extreme subdivision, loam, 
shells of Foraminifera and Ostracoda, and a small quantity of 
vegetable matter. The presence of Foraminifera shows it to be 
of marine origin. Mr. Elcock has examined this silt, and mounted 
a slide containing 48 species of Foraminifera from it. He speaks 
of it as being the most difficult raw material to manipulate he has 
ever met with. 
In order to obtain Foraminifera from shore collections, dredg- 
ings, &c., the material must be washed with plenty of fresh water 
in a sieve, made of miller’s silk gauze, 180 threads to the inch, and 
when the salt is washed out the whole thoroughly dried, and 
passed through a fine sieve having from 50 to 60 holes to the 
inch. The sifted material should now be placed in a ropnd- 
bottomed basin holding three or four pints, and filled up with 
clean cold water, stirring well with a spoon, and allowing to stand 
for a minute or two for the sand to settle. ‘The chambers of the 
Foraminifera being filled with air float on the surface, and may be 
easily transferred to a filter with a piece of card and a wash bottle. 
For the information of those who wish to prepare fossil 
Foraminifera we refer our readers to Mr. Elcock’s admirable 
paper in the September number of the Journal of the Postal 
Microscopical Society for 1882. 
