Notes and Comments. 313 
developed arrows in British East Africa are those of the A- 
Kamba, and the finish and balance of a good example is equal 
to anything that could be turned out in Europe. Most of the 
hunting tribes mark the detachable heads of their poisoned 
arrows to enable a hunter to establish a claim to his quarry. 
The wooden portion generally contains the clan-mark, and 
the iron point the personal mark, of the owner.’ 
THE MINERALOGICAL MAGAZINE.* 
No. 77 of this publication contains notes on Varieties of 
Zirkelite from Ceylon, by Messrs. G. F. Blake and G. F. H. 
Smith. Dr. Smith also describes an apparatus for preparing 
thin sections of rocks in use at the British Museum, and also 
“ The Graphical Determination of Angles and Indices in Zones.’ 
Mr. W. C. Smith gives an account of the Mineral Collection of 
Thomas Pennant, recently presented to the British Museum. 
Professor W. J. Lewis describes Ilmenite from the dolomite 
at Binn, Switzerland, and there is a paper by the late R. F. 
Gwinnell on Calcite crystals from a water tank near Grantham, 
Lincs. Mr. H. Collingridge gives a Note on the determination 
of the optic axial angle of a crystal in thin-section by the 
Mallard-Becke method.’ and Mr. L. J. Spencer contributes a 
(sixth) list of new mineral names, which is a long one, and 
contains many which seem mystic, weird, and wonderful. 
FORAMINIFERA. 
In No. 72 of the Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, 
Messrs. E. Heron-Allen and A. Earland have a lengthy paper 
on ‘The Foraminifera in their Role as World-builders: a 
Review of the Foraminiferous Limestones and other Rocks of 
the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.’ They point out that 
‘of extremely simple structure, mere protoplasm without 
differentiation other than the nucleus, they yet possess the 
power either of secreting a solid shell from the mineral salts 
absorbed from their surrounding medium, or of building up 
adventitious shells by the co-ordination of foreign material 
obtained from their immediate environment. These shells, 
from their minute size and composition, are peculiarly adapted 
for preservation as fossils. 
THE ORIGIN OF LIFE. 
Hence, whatever the origin of life may have been, we 
might reasonably expect that among its earliest records 
would occur Foraminifera of simple and ancestral types, and 
that subsequent geological periods would show a constant 
progression in their development. Such, however, is not the 
case. So far as our geological knowledge carries us at present, 
the Foraminifera make their first appearance in the rocks in 
* London, Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1913, pp. 309-394, price 5s. 
‘1913 Sept. 1. 
