346 Dr. G. C. Wallich on the Coccosphere. 



being observable even in the fossil coccoliths, I presume the 

 stem must be continuous with the disks. 



Instead of the watch-glasses and holloAV spheroid of wax, 

 imagine a shirt-stud made of colourless glass, with a minute 

 shallow hole drilled at the centre of the larger oi its two disks, 

 which (as in the case of the coccolith) would constitute the 

 outer disk. Imagine this glass stud to be enveloped in trans- 

 parent varnish or any glairy fluid. On looking down upon it we 

 should see (tig. 5, h) a minute central ring formed by the edge 

 of the minute central hollow ; external to, and at a little dis- 

 tance from this, a second ring (c) , formed by the outline of 

 the stem of the stud ; again, a little external to this, a third 

 ring ((7), formed by the outline of the smaller of the two disks of 

 the stud [e) ; and lastly, the marginal outline. Of course the 

 multiple " central clear-spaces " might be imitated by drilling 

 a corresponding number of holes in the outer disk (see Plate 

 XYII. tig. 7). Now here we should have precisely the same 

 appearance of concentric rings and central spaces as we find in 

 the " coccolith ; " and what is more, they would have a similar 

 origin. Of course the only difference observable in looking 

 down on the coccolith or the glass stud from the direction of 

 the inner or smaller disk, would be that the " central clear 

 space " would be somewhat less distinct, whereas the outline 

 of the smaller disk would be more distinct. 



I have now to refer to Mr. Carter's views as embodied in 

 his paper on " Melohesia unicellularis " (Annals and Mag. 

 Nat. Hist., Mar. 1871). Let me, however, at once confess 

 that whilst I dissent, in toto (for reasons already assigned), from 

 the view that the " coccolith " is, in any sense, " a cell^'' I am 

 quite prepared to adopt Mr. Carter's opinion, if he will permit 

 me, as applicable to the parent and entire structure, namely 

 the coccosphere with its " coccoliths.'''' The only difficulty I 

 see in the way of regarding the Cqccosphere as a protophyte, 

 resides in the remarkable evidence of its relationship to certain 

 Foraminifera, furnished by the discovery (at first in one or 

 two specimens only, but afterwards in many) of shells so 

 regularly studded with coccoliths, as to suggest the idea that 

 the chambers originated as coccospheres *. One thing would 

 seem certain, that this regularity is incompatible with the 

 supposition that the coccoliths got into their position acciden- 

 tally. How then, did they attain it ? I once asked Mr. Car- 

 ter if he could explain the matter ; and he obligingly sent 



* See my observations on this subject, and accompanying figures in 

 ' The Annals,' for July 1861, p. 5o; and in the 'Monthly Microscopical 

 Journal; for Jan. 1869, pp. 37, 88. 



