242 



NA TURE 



[August 19, 1922 



only to the difficulties of biological research in war- 

 time, but also to the method of preservation adopted 

 for most of the dredgings containing foraminiferal 

 specimens. The collectors appear to have put un- 

 warranted confidence in formalin, " than which no more 

 unsatisfactory medium for . . . Foraminifera can be 

 imagined." Messrs. Heron-Allen and Earland have 

 been compelled, therefore, to expend much time and 

 trouble in cleaning the material entrusted to them 

 so as to render it at all suitable for study, and they 

 " can only review the results as a tantalising sketch of 

 the possibilities which would have attended upon an 

 ample supply of properly collected Antarctic material." 

 Nevertheless, the authors are able to record 650 species 

 and varieties of these fascinating Protozoa, of which 

 46 are new to science. 



In looking through the systematic list, which 

 occupies by far the greater part of the memoir, the 

 student of distribution cannot but be impressed by the 

 wide range of many of the types. Species recorded 

 here from the far south are identical with those, already 

 enumerated in lists by the same authors, of Foraminifera 

 from the North Sea, and from the Atlantic waters around 

 the shores of Conacht. Several types are common 

 to Arctic and Antarctic regions, but these are almost 

 all pelagic forms, and capable of the most extensive 

 migrations. The only exception, Globigerina pachy- 

 derma, Ehrenberg, with its " curiously thick-walled " 

 shell, is " the typical Globigerina of Arctic deposits," 

 reaching its southern limit about the Faeroe Channel. 

 Nevertheless, the authors do not consider that its 

 presence in the Antarctic Ocean affords any support 

 to the once-popular " bipolarity " theory of specific 

 origins. Apparently G. pachyderma is " a local 

 variation " of G. dutertrei, d'Orbigny, a transition from 

 the one form to the other being clearly demonstrable 

 as dredgings from more southerly stations are examined. 

 This transition is supposed to be " induced by con- 

 ditions of temperature," and the authors believe that 

 " the same gradual transition [from G. dutertrei to 

 G. pachyderma] which we have described in the Antarctic 

 could be traced in the Arctic and temperate seas." 



Systematic students of the Foraminifera will be 

 especially interested in the number of hyaline species 

 of which arenaceous isomorphs are described — for 

 example, Bifarina porrecta (Brady), Bolivina punctata, 

 d'Orbigny, and Rotalia soldanii, d'Orbigny. The 

 authors express their agreement with Butschli, Faure- 

 Fremiet, and other recent workers at the order, in 

 considering that the existence of such isomorphs — 

 the formation of an arenaceous instead of a calcareous 

 test due to some obscure physiological reaction — may 

 necessitateu ltimately a revision in the classification of 

 the Foraminifera. " We do not think the time has 

 NO. 2755, V0L - ! IO ] 



yet arrived to abandon the generally accepted, if 

 artificial, system of Brady, which, with some modi- 

 fications, is followed in this Report. But we have 

 endeavoured to clear the way towards a proper zoological 

 allocation of the Lituolidse by refraining wherever 

 possible from the creation of new arenaceous species, 

 and retaining our new arenaceous forms in the genera 

 to which they naturally belong." 



Among the newly described forms the genus Den- 

 dronina, referred to the Astrorhizidse, comprising two 

 New Zealand and two Antarctic species, is noteworthy. 

 The test is built of fine mud, sand-grains, and sponge- 

 spicules, and the sessile D. arborescens assumes a 

 complex branching habit, attaining a height of 5 to 6 

 millimetres. The authors believe that the genus may 

 be represented also in tropical seas (Indian Ocean). 

 Polytrema miniaceum (Pallas) was found in great abun- 

 dance in the New Zealand area, at one station " practi- 

 cally every solid organism " being " more or less covered 

 with it." It is a sessile foraminifer of very wide range, 

 and the authors have made a special journey to Corsica 

 so as to study the species in life in Mediterranean 

 waters. The organism in its early free stage settles 

 on some object, wherewith it gains connexion by 

 thrusting out protoplasm from its under surface and 

 forming " a thin layer of incrusting chambers." The 

 protoplasm subsequently streams out from these, 

 surrounds the young spherical test, and constructs a 

 wall of small chambers which overgrow and envelop 

 the latter. Finally the characteristic branching, 

 arm-like processes grow out. The occurrence of 

 siliceous sponge-spicules inside the chambers of the 

 Polytrema has given rise to much discussion ; the 

 authors have observed sponge and foraminifer " close 

 together and approximately the same size," and do not 

 altogether reject the possibility of a true symbiosis. 



In order to reduce the cost of publication, the 

 authors have restricted to a minimum their synonymic 

 references. The eight plates illustrating the memoir 

 have been admirably drawn by Mr. M. H. Brooks and 

 are excellently reproduced. All the workers concerned 

 may be heartily congratulated on the results made 

 known in this most recent outcome of Antarctic explora- 

 tion and research. G. H. C. 



Water Underground. 



Nouveau Traile des eaux souterraines. Par E.-A. 

 Martel. Pp. 838. (Paris : G. Doin, 1921.) 50 

 francs. 



IN M. Martel's treatise, stress is naturally laid on 

 what he has styled " speleeology." For him, 

 subterranean water moves in a fascinating world of 

 caves. The conception of a general water-table in 



