two new Oenera allied to Loftusla. 175 



structures " in Loftusia persica^ which he has aptly com- 

 pared to " a piece of fine sponge" (Phih Trans. 1870, p. 745) 

 — the largest foraniiniferal test seen being discoid and about 

 l-164th in. in diameter (fig. 2d) and the scarlet spherules 

 about l-1500th, but very variable in this respect, from circum- 

 stances which will appear hereafter. 



As might be expected^ the foraminiferal detritus presents 

 a great number of minute and microscopic forms which appear 

 to be chiefly discoid, among which are some like Discorhina 

 and PlanorhuUna^ wherein the great thickness of the marginal 

 cord and ribs or intercameral septa is out of all proportion to 

 the size of the cavities of the test ; but they are one and all 

 more or less broken down in a manner that evidences assimi- 

 lative digestion ; so that it becomes impossible for any one 

 but an expert to say what their original forms were, and thus 

 point out the families or genera to which they respectively 

 belong ; while fragments of the marginal cord and inter- 

 cameral septa, often crossed by transverse strise like the 

 marginal cord and of tubular appearance, are plentifully scat- 

 tered through the whole substance, which fragments might be 

 mistaken for the remains of structure -proper to the fossilized 

 animal, were they not occasionally connected (that is a portion 

 of the striated cord with a bit of the intercameral septum 

 attached to it) , so as to reveal their true nature. 



But these fragments and the number of foraminiferal tests 

 mixed up with the striated granules of calcspar and the 

 tangled thread-like " yellow substance " produce a confusion 

 of material in which it becomes difficult to distinguish the 

 indistinctly marked " fragments " of the proper animal. 



Still of all these parts the most interesting are the opaque 

 scarlet spherules (fig. 4, J), which are not only so numerously 

 scattered throughout the mass as in some places to give it a 

 reddish hue, but appear in many instances in the chambers of 

 the foraminiferal tests themselves (fig. 5), thus evidencing 

 the source from which they were originally derived, as I 

 shall more satisfactorily show in the " Observations " that 

 will be appended to this description ; while in many places 

 they may be seen in linear or reticular arrangement indicative 

 of having been in a tubular structure or investment of the 

 yellow substance, although nothing but the faintest tinge of 

 this remains, so that it might have been no more than a simple 

 line of protoplasm (fig. 4, a). 



Loc. Karakoram Pass, Karakoram range of mountains. 

 " The so-called ' Karakoram Stones,' i. e. corals, occur in 

 dark shales below the limestone, which are capped by a yel- 

 lowish limestone, well bedded, but of unascertained age :" 



