﻿MR. F. W. O. RYMER JONES ON SOME JAVAN DEEP-SEA LAGEN.'E. 47 



r, 



appreciation ; but when we consider that this is repeated throughout the whole length 

 and breadth of ocean, we may indeed fling arithmetic to the winds. 



There is, perhaps, no family of the Poraminifera which presents such a varied and 

 rich collection of forms of such marvellous delicacy and exquisite beauty of contour as 

 the Lagenidse; and yet withal, they present a simplicity of structure and decoration as 

 beautiful as it is simple. Masks, amphorae, goblets, water-carafes, and flagons all have 

 their representatives among this mimic throng ; yet all are so delicately sculptured, and 

 present so great a variety of shape and surface-decoration, that it would be difficult to find 

 ■a more perfect type of grace and elegance than some of these microscopic forms possess. 



The wider a survey one takes of the Poraminifera the more closely do forms which, 

 taken separately, are entirely differentiated as regards shape, approach each other 

 through so many intermediate gradations, that it becomes far from easy to define the 

 proper limits of each family ; and it is this which makes a natural classification of them 

 SO difficult of attainment. Nor are the Lagence exceptions to this variability ; for 

 though, as a rule, there is throughout a general family likeness, yet they differ so 

 greatly, both as regards shape and external decoration, that it becomes extrcmoly 

 difficult to define with precision any peculiar characteristics of sufficient limitation 

 and unvarying combination to separate them from each other even specifically. 



With regard to the isomorphisms of Lagena they are by no means uncommon. With 

 Nodosaria Lagena blends so imperceptibly that it becomes a matter of uncertainty to 

 which group some of these forms belong, while some of the " wild " growths bear a degree 

 of resemblance to Tolyniorpliina. . I have in my cabinet a two-chambered form, occupyin 

 the neutral ground between the two-chambered Lagencd and Nodosarice, which takes 

 decided Dentaline curve, the eloni^atcd necks bein^]: excentric, though the septal line : 





_ja,i,(_^u. ii^v^^cj K^v^iXiQ v>-a.v.^^ii. vi xw, wx*v, q 



very constricted, and thus preserves the true Nodosarine character. Among the Millolie 

 this isomorphism is very remarkable, one porcellaneous form being monotlialamou«, and 

 having the shape of a subglobular neckless flask, the exterior of which is ornamented 

 with three small longitudinal riblets on either side. Another has the fcirm of a very 

 narrow elongated flask with a well-formed external neck, the older chambers being 

 enclosed within the flask and lying close to one of the sides. A somewhat similar 

 occurrence is observable in some of the arenaceous varieties of Miliola, where the last 

 chamber becomes greatly enlarged, and encloses the smaller ones within its walls. 



These points of similarity, however, are of no importance, as these shells in 

 respects differ so materially that they are widely separated. . 



The shell-walls of the Lagence are usually perforated with pseudopodial orifices, thougli 

 this characteristic is subject to great variation. In some shells these canal-pores appear 

 to be entirely wanting, the walls being beautifully smooth and of glassy transparency ; 

 while in others, such as L, Icevis, Montagu, figured by Messrs. Parker and llupcrt Jono« 



otb 



(Foram. from the N. Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, p. 340, pi. xJii. fig. 22), the forami 

 occupy only the lower third of the sheU. Sometimes, as in L. marginata, Montagu, 

 (PI. XIX. fig. 28), they are clustered round the margin of the shell in a wide horseshoe- 

 like band. A somewhat smiflar example from the Hunde Islands, is flgurod by Mes^^rs. 

 Parker and Rupert Jones {loc. cit. pi. xiii. fig. 44). In one shell (/.. marginata) these 



