Foraminifera of the River Dee. 39 



going on ; and as tlie amount of tidal Avater which reaches 

 Chester and Saltney must of necessity be very much lessened by 

 reason of the narrowing of the channel through which it flows, 

 the character of the fauna of this part of the river will doubt- 

 less be greatly altered. An opportunity of verifying this de- 

 duction, by comparing the Foraminifera which are very plen- 

 tiful in the reclaimed sands with specimens collected fresh from 

 the river, has been afforded by some excavations that have 

 been going on during the past year ; and these comparisons 

 show that in the " sands " tliere is an almost total absence of 

 the thin-shelled " chitinous " forms now so common in the 

 river at the same distance from the sea. There can be no 

 doubt that the degree of salinity of the water has a marked 

 effect upon these lowly organisms ; and it is to be regretted 

 that a series of careful observations was not made to ascertain 

 this at the different points from which collections of Forami- 

 nifera have been made. The importance of this was not then 

 fully realized ; but it is hoped that the omission will be recti- 

 fied during the ensuing summer, when it is proposed that the 

 Entomostraca shall be worked out. 



The Dee, with its wide estuary, might reasonably be ex- 

 pected to be very rich in Rhizopoda ; and such proves to be 

 the case, the annexed List showing how very numerous its 

 Foraminifera are. Living specimens have as yet been obtained 

 only from the lower parts of the river, near to the sea ; but 

 the richest deposits of dead shells are found near to Chester 

 and Saltney, about 18 miles from the sea, Avhere they are 

 brought and deposited by the tide. Material for examination 

 has been collected from all parts of the river, but more parti- 

 cularly from the following : — 



No. 1. Chester (18 miles from the sea; water not perceptibly 

 saline, except at high water). A sand bank left bare at low 

 water ; sand collected at high- and low-water marks. During 

 spring tides very rich. 



No. 2. Saltney (16 miles from the sea; water as in last). 

 A sand bank completely covered each tide ; sand collected from 

 between the ripple-marks at extreme low water. The richest 

 collecting-ground yet found in the whole river. This^ and 

 no. 1 seem to owe their peculiar richness to their position, 

 being situated in each case at a bend in the river. Dredgings 

 between these points yielded very little. 



No. 3. Queen's Ferry (11 miles from the sea ; water slightly 

 brackish). Sand collected from sheltered spots at low-water 

 mark ; also dredged. Not very productive, 



No. 4. Connah's Quay (9 miles from the sea ; water de- 

 cidedly brackish). Shore-sand from here not very rich, but 



