COLLECTION, EXAMINATION, ETC. 293 



' Living Foraminifera may be found by washing 

 in a fine muslin net tlie small seaweeds and 

 zoophytes growing in low-tide pools. The manner 

 of using the net is as follows : a quantity of weeds, 

 &c., having been gathered, the net is immersed in a 

 pool (care must, however, be taken that the upper 

 edge of the net is kept above water), the weeds 

 being washed one by one inside it ; after this is done 

 the contents of the net are turned into a large wide- 

 mouthed bottle full of sea water, for examination on 

 the return home. Of course many other organisms 

 besides Foraminifera will be found in this gathering, 

 such as Ostracoda, Copepoda, and other small crus- 

 taceans, which do not make the work any the less 

 interesting.' 



If we place the seaweed or the washed-out 

 material into small glass jars or tubes of sea-water, 

 the Foraminifera will travel to the sides and creep 

 about by means of their pseudopodia. They can 

 then be transferred to the stage aquarium for obser- 

 vation by means of dipping tubes. The latter may 

 easily be made by drawing out an ordinary piece of 

 glass tubing in the gas flame, and can be used either 

 straight or curved according to requirements 



(fig. 38). 



The following account of the method of collect- 

 ing living Foraminifera, especially from a silty area 

 like the Dee estuary, is given by Mr. Siddall, who 

 has had considerable experience in collecting and 

 observing these little organisms. Concerning the 

 Foraminifera obtained he says : ' These have in- 



