FORAMINIFERA 51 



admiration. Even if they were as large as 

 they are represented in the illustration they 

 would be looked upon as attractive, but we 

 have to try and realise that many of the 

 Foraminifera are no bigger than a pin's head, 

 while many are very much smaller. Beauty 

 where there seems to be no space for its 

 display must always impress us all the 

 more. 



In nature the shells of this family play so 

 gigantic a part that the mind seems unable 

 to grasp an idea of the enormous range they 

 cover in the earth's crust, to say nothing of 

 their numerical strength or the amount of 

 individual life they represent. 



They form an Order in the Animal King- 

 dom belonging to the sub-kingdom Protozoa 

 and to the class Ehizopoda. 



Most of the foraminifera are microscopic, 

 and their beauty is seen only under the 

 microscope. The tiny animals themselves are 

 marine, gelatinous, and almost structureless, 

 but their shells are composed of carbonate of 

 lime for the most part. 



