A PIECE OF CHALK. 325 



nnnamed sea of an nnknown era we find the ocean floor covered with a 

 white, soft, sticky mud, the exact count erpai-t of that which is found in 

 the Atlantic at the present day. This mud would be almost entirely com- 

 posed of very minute but lovely shells, which are now kno%vn by the generic 

 name Foraminifera. They are so small as to require the aid of a good 

 microscope to reveal their lovely forms. As in thought we gaze upon the 

 scene with eyes enhghtened by modem sf^ientific research, we see these 

 shells slowly falling through the water like a snowstorm, unceasingly day 

 by day and year by year, as their tenants, once alive and swimming about 

 in the water above, die off in countless mjT^ads. Thus, generation after 

 generation died and sank to the ocean bottom, and in turn was buried 

 beneath the remains of its offspring. Thus, slowly but surely, fragment 

 by fragment, were the chalk cUffs and downs of Albion deposited beneath 

 the deep waters of a mighty sea. 



All who may desire to be satisfied that this is no legend or fancy 

 picture, have within easy reach the means of forming an independent 

 judgment. They have merely to take a piece of chalk, or preferably 

 some of the naturally formed powder foiind in chalk pits an I on exposed 

 chffs, and ascertain of what it is composed. I will describe an easy and 

 effectual method of doing this. If the natural powder is not within 

 reach, any soft piece of chalk reduced to powder by being scraped with a 

 knife will do almost equally well. Place some of the powder in an 

 ordinary medicine bottle, fill up with clean water, and shake vigorously for 

 some time. Then let the milky fluid settle for about ten minutes. Next, 

 by means of a syphon, easily made with a piece of indiarubber tubing, 

 draw off the contents of the bottle to within half an inch of the bottom. 

 Fill up the bottle with fresh water, shake up as before, once more let the 

 fluid settle, then draw off with the syphon to within the same distance 

 of the bottom. Do this again and again until the fluid ceases to be 

 milky, and becomes, as it were, dift'used with fine dust, the separate grains 

 of which will be plainly visible when the bottle is held close to the eye 

 against a bright hght. These grains are the treasures we are in search 

 of. Besides them, however, the bottle will contain some small particles 

 of chalk. To separate the one from the other is our next object, and it 

 may be effected by shaking the bottle well, and instantaneously di-awing 

 off the fluid into another bottle by means of the syphon. This operation, 

 if properly done, will remove the hghter shells and leave some of the 

 heavier and the chalk behind. Having allowed the shells in the second 

 bottle to subside, the water must be di-awn off" by the syphon. A good 

 layer of these tiny shells may be obtained by repeating the process above 

 described over and over again. The bulk of the water having been 

 syphoned off, the shells should next be carefully filtered on blotting 

 paper, then dried and stored in a pill box, or other convenient receptacle. 



The shells thus obtained, if the operation has been properly done, 

 should be perfectly clean, though fragments of shells will, of course, be 

 found mixed with perfect ones. In the various stages of the process it is 

 advisable to ascertain by means of the microscope that all is going on 

 well. The method will be found very simple, and I can vouch for its 

 success, for it has yielded me most satisfactorj' results. 



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