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CHAPTEE XIX 



ON THE COLLECTION, EXAMINATION, AND MOUNTING OF 



FOEAMINIFERA 



In taking up the study of Foraminifera it will be 

 found impossible to confine ourselves either to the 

 recent or fossil forms, for, in order to learn something 

 of this group of animals, more especially with regard 

 to the morphology of the shell, one must be 

 acquainted with their occurrence as fossils in the 

 clays, shales, and limestones, as well as in their 

 more recent condition, whether in deep-sea oozes or 

 in shore sands. 



Or the Collection of Living Foraminifera. — The 

 surface of the ocean is in places teeming with 

 pelagic life, especially in the tracts occupied by the 

 warmer currents, as well as the more extensive areas 

 of tropical waters ; and this plankton fauna contains 

 a very large proportion of pelagic Foraminifera, as 

 Glohigerina, OrbuUna, Hastigerina, Si^hceroidinay 

 Pullenia, and Pulvimdina. The dead shells of these 

 genera are continually falling through the water to 

 form the bottom ooze of the ocean floor. 



The usual method of collecting the living 

 Glohigerin/B and other pelagic forms of life is by 

 the use of the ordinary surface tow net (fig. 37). 



V 2 



