383 Zoological Society : — 



shelly bodies attached to the surface of a Porites Coral, and to 

 different kinds of shells, such as Pecten and Cardita, which that 

 naturalist returned to Mr. Cuming as " not Cirripede ; " Mr. Cuming 

 then brought them to the British Museum, requesting me to ex- 

 amine and describe them. These specimens brought to my mind 

 the shells I had formerly received from Mr. Ritchie ; a casual ex- 

 amination of their form and structure at once showed me that they 

 could not belong to a Cirripede, and as they presented some cha- 

 racters which were not to be observed in the Mediterranean speci- 

 mens, a careful study of them led me to consider them as nearly 

 allied to the Foraminifera, but diftering from any form with which 

 I was acquainted, in being permanently attached to marine bodies ; 

 and they were so unlike, both in size and form, to any shells of the 

 kind previously known, that several persons to whom I had ex- 

 pressed this opinion doubted their affinity to them. I therefore laid 

 the specimens aside, in hopes that some other specimens might 

 occur that would more fully elucidate their structure, and show 

 their affinity to other known animals. 



Though most of the naturalists to whom I have shown Mr. Cu- 

 ming's specimens were inclined to regard them as a peculiar form 

 of Cirripede shell, each examination of them tended to strengthen 

 my original opinion, that they were a new form of Foraminifera ; 

 and this was further confirmed when I accidentally discovered that 

 the cells were filled with a fleshy substance, in which bundles of 

 simple sponge-like spicula were imbedded. This induced me to 

 show them to Professor George Busk, and to inquire of him if 

 he had ever seen any coral, or other natviral body, to which they 

 could be allied. He stated that he had not, unless they were the 

 shells of a Cirripede ; and on my expressing to him the opinion I 

 had formed of their probable formation and affinity, he stated that 

 it was not impossible that I was right, and that they might be an 

 intermediate form of Rhizopod between a Foraminiferous shell and a 

 Sponge, which is exactly the idea I had formed of their position, 

 considering them as a Sponge that was surrounded by and provided 

 with a shelly case with a single terminal oscule. 



Being desirous of obtaining other opinions on the subject before 

 publishing any account of them, I transmitted the specimens to my 

 friend Dr. William Carpenter, stating my belief that they were a 

 new form of Rhizopod which had been mistaken by several natural- 

 ists for the shell of a Cirripede, giving him permission to take off 

 and examine one of the specimens. He has most kuidly sent me 

 the following note : — 



" University Hall, April 23, 1858. 

 " My dear Sir, 



" Your guess was a very sagacious one. The structure of the shell 

 is most characteristically Foraminiferous, being riddled full of holes 

 like a Rotalia. In the interior of the only specimen I have laid open 

 was a brownish animal residuum full of Sponge spicules. Of course 

 there is no great improbability in the idea that the Sponge was para- 



