534 



NA TURE 



{Oct. 2, 1884 



who remember their, within certain limits of deviation, 

 fixedness of type, will cordially agree with this. 



The subject of dimorphism is alluded to, and the two 

 quite distinct phenomena among Foraminifera described 

 by this term are explained, but the author does not seem 

 to select one of these above the other for the exclusive 

 right to the term, as would seem desirable. 



One of the most interesting subjects in reference to 

 deep-sea deposits is their direct connection with the pelagic 

 species of Foraminifera. As a rule these forms are not 

 of pelagic habit ; on the contrary, probably 9S or 99 per 

 cent, of the known species or varieties live in the sand or 

 mud of the sea-bottom, and possess no powers, of floating 

 or swimming ; but, on the other hand, some few forms, 

 belonging to eight or nine genera, do most certainly pass 

 their existence either in part or in whole at the surface of 

 the ocean, or floating at some depth below that surface. 

 These forms are found, too, in immense profusion, and a 

 relatively very large mass of the oceanic deposits consist 

 of their calcareous shells. A list of the at present ascer- 

 tained pelagic forms is given. The most prominent genera 

 are Globigerina, Pulvinulina, Hastigerina, Pullenia. The 

 question seems still unsettled as to whether the species 

 are exclusively pelagic, passing the whole of their time 

 living at or near the surface, or whether they can or do 

 pass a certain portion of it on the sea-bottom. Mr. Brady 

 adduces a series of facts which tend to the inference that 

 the Foraminifera which are found living in the open ocean 

 have also the power of supporting life on the surface of 

 the bottom-ooze, and further, so far as our present know- 

 ledge goes, there is at least one variety of the genus 

 Globigerina which lives only at the sea-bottom ; but the 

 author is most cautious not to express any dogmatic 

 opinion on the subject. 



In dealing with the composition of the test, the presence 

 of a considerable percentage (6 to 10) of silica has been 

 established as existing in the arenaceous forms. The 

 substance secreted for the incorporation of the foreign 

 bodies which cover the test has been proved to be com- 

 posed of ferric oxide and carbonate of lime in variable 

 proportions, the former being often in considerable 

 excess. It is not without interest to note the pre- 

 sence in some of the porcellanous forms of a thin 

 siliceous investment. A few Miliola; from soundings of a 

 depth of about four and a half miles, with somewhat 

 inflated segments, scarcely distinguishable in form from 

 young thin-shelled specimens of a common littoral 

 species, were found to be unaffected by treatment with 

 acids, and upon further examination it became apparent 

 that the normal calcareous shell had given place to a 

 delicate homogeneous siliceous investment. While im- 

 mersed in fluid, the shell-wall had the appearance of a 

 nearly transparent film, and this when dried was at first 

 somewhat iridescent. 



A list is given of those stations from which soundings 

 or dredgings were obtained in sufficient quantity to furnish 

 good representative series of Rhizopods, and maps are 

 appended showing the tracks of the Challenger, with 

 these stations marked, as also of the areas explored by 

 the Porcupine and the other northern expeditions. 



Any generalised summary of the details of the new 

 forms would be impossible. Of the several hundred 

 species described and figured, over eighty are here noted 



for the first time, and this without counting numerous well- 

 marked and named varieties, or the numerous new forms 

 already diagnosed in Mr. Brady's preliminary Reports. 



The family Astrorhizida? is the one which has received 

 the largest number of additions ; indeed our acquaintance 

 with the larger arenaceous Rhizopods is almost entirely 

 derived from the various recent deep-sea explorations. A 

 knowledge of the life-history of these forms is still needed 

 to place the classification of the group on a secure basis, 

 and as some few of the forms are inhabitants of compara- 

 tively shallow water, their investigation would seem to be 

 well worthy of the attention of observers at some of our 

 zoological marine stations. Many other problems to be 

 solved are also pointed out in this Report, the extreme 

 value of which will be recognised by all students of 

 biology. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN 

 The English Flower Garden : Style, Position, ant 

 Arrangement. Folloivedby a Description, Alphabetically 

 Arranged, of all the Plants best suited for its Embel- 

 lishment : their Culture, and Positions suited for each. 

 By W. Robinson, with the co-operation of many of 

 the best Flower Gardeners of the day. Illustrated with 

 many Engravings. (London : John Murray, 1883.) 

 A LOVE of flowers seems more or less characteristic 

 ^^ of most human beings, and the tending and caring 

 them is to most people a pleasant labour. Their bright- 

 ness of colour, their charm of form, the sweetness and 

 refreshingness of their varied perfumes please and delight 

 the senses, while the mystery of their lives and deaths 

 captivates the mind and awakes up the pleasures of hope. 

 In no European country has this love of flowers been 

 more manifested than in England, so that a flower garden 

 seems an indispensable adjunct of an English home. It 

 too often happens that many of those who love flowers 

 have not the knowledge requisite to take care of them, 

 and then the flower garden is handed over to the care of 

 others. What to grow and what not to grow becomes 

 then not so much a question of deliberate enlightened 

 forethought as a thing of fashion, commonplace and 

 unstable. No honest lover of Nature, no one who has 

 once known the beauties of plant life, could ever for a 

 moment remain pleased or satisfied with the arrangement 

 of things out of place which is so peculiarly characteristic 

 of one style of modern English gardening. It was not 

 always thus : anywhere in Continental Europe that one 

 visits " Le Jardin anglais" of some fine demesne or of some 

 public park, there one is sure to find some attempt to form 

 a natural prospect by the judicious arrangement of tree, 

 shrub, flower, and grass ; but in England itself, the very 

 home of Sylvia, all traces of Nature are too often oblite- 

 rated, and a meretricious display of colour, inclosed within 

 a sharply defined geometrical sameness of outline, takes 

 the place of a refreshing contrast in contour accompanied 

 with joyful surprises of brightness. What a difference 

 there is in the pleasure of viewing a large mass of Gentiana 

 acaulis in the centre of a wide expanse of scarlet geraniums 

 encircled with yellow calceolarias and viewing some few 

 tufts of the same plant opening their blue corollas amid 

 the grass by the borders of some Alpine meadow. Those 

 who love gardens and like to see in them some few touches 



