CHALK MAKERS, OR FORAMINIFERA. 65 



by human agency. If we realise the fact that the 

 chalk is composed of them almost entirely, then we 

 must admit that wherever we encounter chalk we 

 have Foraminifera. Mixed with sand and converted 

 into mortar, the calcined chalk in the form of lime 

 must still contain myriads of them, so that not only 

 every brick building, but the plastered walls and 

 ceilings are mausoleums of hosts of Foraminifera; 

 whitewash abounds with them ; we swallow them in 

 chalk mixtures whenever our own internal arrange- 

 ments are disturbed ; glazed cards are manufactured 

 by their agency, and transferred to our pockets ; 

 crayon drawings are indebted for their high lights 

 and broad effects to shell remains ; and, indeed,, it is 

 more difficult to determine where no trace of them 

 can be found, than to enumerate their artificial 

 localisation by the hand of man. Through untold 

 ages myriads of minute atoms of life have built their 

 tiny shells, and died and wherefore 



" They roam'd, they fed, they slept, they died, and left, 

 Race after race, to roam, feed, sleep, then die, 

 And leave their like through endless generations." 



