NUMMULITIC LIMESTONE 53 



structed of a limestone that is composed 

 chiefly of foraminifera shells known as 

 Miliolida. 



The rocks comprising the Pyramids of 

 Egypt are almost entirely nummulitic, that 

 is, coin-shaped foraminifera. 



If the foraminifera supplied no more mate- 

 rial than that required for the construction 

 of these Pyramids they would be considered 

 extensive as products of animal life, but the 

 Pyramids are only a very small portion of 

 the shelly deposit of an ocean floor of earlier 

 ages, now considered as belonging to the 

 Tertiary formation, which extends along the 

 south of Europe and northern Africa into 

 Asia. 



The nummulitic limestone alone, which repre- 

 sents only one series of the foraminifera beds, 

 attains to a thickness of several thousand feet 

 and contributes largely to the formation of 

 the Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines, Carpathians, 

 and Himalayas. 



The mind is overwhelmed when one tries 

 to think either of the life represented by 



