132 HIDDEN BEAUTIES OF NATURE 



In the warmer waters of the oceans they attain a 

 greater size than towards the poles. They reached a 

 much greater size in remote geological times, so that 

 fossil forms are much larger than those now living. 



This will be apparent to you if you should have 

 an opportunity of seeing a piece of the limestone used 

 by the ancient Egyptians to rear the Pyramids. 

 This rock consists of shells of Foraminifera, and the 

 coin-shaped fossils it contains are called nummulites 

 (Lat. nummulus, a small coin). The Pyramids, doubt- 

 less, are a gigantic work, yet they are only a very 

 small portion of the mud of an ocean floor of early 

 ages, and form part of the rocks known as the 

 Tertiary, which extends along the South of Europe 

 and Northern Africa into Asia. All this immense 

 formation is the outcome of Foraminifera having 

 lived in abundance in the waters of an ancient ocean 

 which must have existed in this part of the world. 



We must concede, therefore, that the Foraminifera 

 of the past were of vast importance in carrying out 

 the Creator's plans ; for the nummulitic limestone 

 alone attains to a thickness of several thousand feet, 

 and contributes largely to the formation of the 

 Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines, Carpathians, and Hima- 

 layas, and extends through the Mediterranean basin, 

 Asia Minor, and Persia, into India. 



Most of the shells of the Foraminifera are made up 

 of calcareous or chalky matter, which the organisms 

 secrete from the surrounding sea water. Some, 

 however, have shells that are partly calcareous and 



