42 THE DAWN OF LIFE. 



At this stage of the matter^ and after exhibiting to 

 Sir William all the characteristic appearances in com- 

 parison with such concretionary^ dendritic_, and crystal- 

 line structures as most resembled them, and also with 

 the structure of recent and fossil Foraminifera, I 

 suggested that the further prosecution of the matter 

 should be handed over to Mr. Billings, as palaeontolo- 

 gist of the Survey, and as our highest authority on 

 the fossils of the older rocks. I was engaged in other 

 researches, and knew that no little labour must be 

 devoted to the work and to its publication, and that 

 some controversy might be expected. Mr. Billings, 

 however, with his characteristic caution and modesty, 

 declined. His hands, he said, were full of other work, 

 and he had not specially studied the microscopic ap- 

 pearances of Foraminifera or of mineral substances. 

 It was finally arranged that I should prepare a de- 

 scription of the fossil, which Sir William would take to 

 London, along with Dr. Hunt's notes, the more im- 

 portant specimens, and lists of the structures observed 

 in each. Sir William was to submit the manuscript 

 and specimens to Dr. Carpenter, or failing him to 

 Prof. T. Rupert Jones, in the hope that these eminent 

 authorities would confirm our conclusions, and bring 

 forward new facts which I might have overlooked or 

 been ignorant of. Sir William saw both gentlemen, 

 who gave their testimony in favour of the organic and 

 foraminiferal character of the specimens; and Dr. 

 Carpenter in particular gave much attention to the 

 subject, and worked out the structure of the primary 



