The Origin of Life 



never the same shape for long, and un- 

 hampered by any exoskeleton, surround 

 and absorb the food they come into 

 contact with, the Foraminifera are some- 

 what restricted. Their shells are, how- 

 ever, perforated, and through these 

 perforations the tenant extends fila- 

 ments which enmesh the edible particles, 

 and draw them towards their interiors. 

 The shells of Foraminifera form one- 

 third of the bed of the Atlantic, and are 

 the chief constituents of chalk cliffs, 

 wherever they occur. A single ounce of 

 sand may yield one and a half million 

 of such shells which are being deposited 

 year in, year out, upon most parts of the 

 world's shores, compensating for the 

 ravages of erosion. 



When once the single-celled animal 

 contrived to not merely increase in size 

 but to multiply and sub-divide, progress 

 knew no bounds. In the world that was 

 in which the brain had scarcely come 



