64 MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



rated by the absence in the former of pseudopodial pores, and 

 are fundamentally distinguished by the different nature of the 

 sarcode-body. 



To the Sponges the Foraminifera are related in various ways, 

 one of the most striking links being found in Carpenteria, a 

 singular attached form of Foraminifer. The shell, namely, of 

 Carpenteria is conical and calcareous, composed of an aggre- 

 gation of chambers arranged in a spiral, and having its walls 

 perforated by numerous foramina of minute size. The interior 

 of the chambers, however, is filled with " a fleshy, sponge-like 

 body," strengthened by numerous spicula. Another curious 

 link between the Foraminifera and the Sponges is the Squa- 

 mulina scopula of Carter, which is truly a Foraminifer, though 

 originally referred to the latter. It consists of an arenaceous 

 test, forming a pedestal surmounted by an obversely conical 

 column. Both pedestal and column are more or less perfectly 

 chambered, and are filled with semi-transparent yellowish sar- 

 code. At the summit of the column is a minute aperture sur- 

 rounded by a brush of spicules, and the whole structure is fixed 

 by the pedestal to some solid object. 



To the Polycystina, the Foraminifera are obviously and 

 closely allied. They agree in the nature of the sarcode-body, 

 in the filamentous, inosculating pseudopodia, and in the phe- 

 nomenon of a pseudopodial circulation of granules. They 

 differ solely in the nature of the " test," which is calcareous or 

 arenaceous in the Foraminifera, but is always siliceous in the 

 Polycystina. 



BATHYBIUS, COCCOLITHS, AND COCCOSPHERES. It may be as well to 

 notice here a singular organism which is certainly referable to the Rhizopoda, 

 though its exact affinities are doubtful. Certain minute oval or rounded 

 bodies have long been known as occurring attached to the surface of the 

 shells of Foraminifera, and they were originally described by Professor 

 Huxley under the name of coccoliths. Subsequently it was discovered by 

 Dr Wallich that these singular bodies occur not only in the free condition, 

 but also attached to the external surface of little spherical masses of sarcode 

 to which he gave the name of coccospheres. The coccospheres are enclosed 

 in a delicate envelope apparently of a calcareous nature, and are studded 

 at nearly regular intervals by the coccoliths. More recently still, it has been 

 discovered by Professor Huxley that both the coccoliths and the coccospheres 

 are embedded in masses of protoplasmic or sarcodic substance, covering 

 wide areas of the sea-bottom, to which they bear the same relation that the 

 spicules of sponges or of Radiolaria do to the soft parts of these animals. 

 To this undefined and diffused protoplasm with its contained coccoliths and 

 coccospheres the name Bathybius has been applied by Professor Huxley. Its 

 exact position, as already said, is doubtful ; but it is believed by Dr Car- 

 penter to be a rudimentary form of the Foraminifera, and to be somewhat 

 allied to the ancient Eozo'dn* A curious point has recently been brought 

 to light by Dr Gurnbel, the celebrated palaeontologist, who has succeeded 



