INHABITING MULTILOCULAR SHELLS. 457 
Having now concluded our remarks on the Belemno-sepia, we 
come, in the last place, to the family named by M. D’Orbigny the 
“ Foraminifera,” so called, as we have already mentioned, from the 
unconnected holes or foramina in the septa, through which no tube 
passes, and whose existence, so far as we know at present, is of 
small importance in the structure of the shell. 
Unfortunately for the general understanding of this part of the sub- 
ject, the species, both recent and fossil, which are included among the 
Foraminifera, are, for the most part, so small, and their structure re- 
quires commonly such very minute and careful examination before it 
can be at all understood, that few have turned their attention to so 
unpromising a branch of natural history ; and there is even great dif- 
ficulty in communicating the little knowledge we have in a conve- 
nient and popular form, especially without the assistance of figures. 
It is certainly somewhat remarkable that out of fifty-two genera, 
comprising altogether many hundred species, which are found in 
such vast abundance, both in a recent and fossil state, that, on the 
one hand, we have whole mountains made up of them, while, on the 
other, they almost render the ocean, in many latitudes, alive with 
their countless myriads ; notwithstanding all this, it is probable that 
a very small proportion of my readers will be aware of having seen 
a single specimen, or feel confident in identifying one genus, even after 
they have read the description about to be given. Perhaps, however, 
one reason for so curious a fact will, in a great measure, clear up 
the mystery ; for it must be admitted that where the dimensions of 
any species of this great family are sufficiently large to bear exami- 
nation by the unassisted eye, the form is so very unpretending, and 
bears so little resemblance to any thing organic, that more than a 
superficial glance is required to distinguish the specimen from a 
shapeless stone ; while, in the great majority of species, the shell is 
so extremely minute that it might pass muster for a grain of sand or 
a particle of dust. 
Still, to the naturalist, there is something attractive even in this 
_ minuteness and obscurity. We love to be exclusive in our devo- 
tions: and who is there, eager in the pursuit of science, who has not 
some little exclusive favourite—some little idol of an opinion or ex- 
periment—which he fondly fancies is confined to himself and his 
own little circle? It is fortunate that such is the case ; for to this 
feeling, perhaps, we owe much of minute and laborious research, 
little rewarded by the multitude, but carrying its own recom- 
pense with it, and requiring nothing more. 
But to proceed. In order to give as definite an account as possi- 
VOL. 1X., NO. XXVII. 58 
