872 Transactions of the Society. ^ 



XIV. — A Synopsis of the British Becent Foraminifera. 

 By Henry B. Brady, F.E.S., F.G.S. 



(Bead 9th November, 1887.) 



Nearly thirty years have elapsed since the puhHcation of Prof. W. C. 

 WilHamson's memoir on the *Eecent Foraminifera of Great Britain' — a 

 work in which the scattered threads of earlier investigation were collected 

 into an orderly skein, and interwoven with the results of a large amount 

 of independent research. Whatever be its imperfections — and, consider- 

 ing the circumstances of the time, they are fewer and less important than 

 might reasonably have been anticipated — that memoir represents fully 

 and adequately the state of knowledge with respect to the organisms of 

 which it treats up to the date of its publication, and practically marks the 

 commencement of the recognition of the recent Foraminifera of the 

 British Islands as a distinct branch of study. 



The material to which Prof. Williamson had access consisted chiefly 

 of shore-sands from various parts of the coast, together with a few 

 dredgings obtained by the late Mr. Barlee and the late Mr. Jeffreys from 

 the Shetland Seas, the western shores of Scotland, and one or two points 

 on the south-west coast of England — all from comparatively , shallow 

 water. Of recent years, thanks partly to the periodical money-grants of 

 the British Association, partly to the organization of local field-clubs, 

 and most of all to the enthusiasm of amateur naturaHsts, the area of 

 research has been vastly widened, and at the present time there are few 

 promising portions of our coast that have not been explored more or less 

 by means of the dredge; and our knowledge of every section of the 

 marine invertebrate fauna has been correspondingly enriched. 



So far as the Foraminifera are concerned, the additions to the British 

 list have been so numerous as to be bewildering, notwithstanding the 

 efforts that have been made from time to time by means of catalogues, 

 printed privately or otherwise, to keep pace with the record of fresh 

 occurrences. The latest catalogue of this sort, that drawn up by Mr. 

 Siddall in 1879, though complete or approximately so when issued, even 

 now requires an amount of revision that much diminishes its practical 

 value. The recent dredging operations on the south-west of Ireland 

 have added to our list a number of the deep-water species that venture 

 within the limits assigned to the British area; and we seem to have 

 arrived at a point from which we may profitably review our position. 

 Whether the time has yet come for a fresh attempt to treat the subject 

 fully and exhaustively, as was done by Prof. Williamson, may be open 

 to question ; but if so, the present paper can in no way prejudice such an 

 effort — indeed it has been intended in some measure as a prehminary 

 step in that direction, the aim having been to collect and sift existing 

 material, and to draw attention to some of the numerous points concerning 

 which our knowledge is defective. 



The employment of modern dredging appliances, and the prosecution 

 of researches in deeper water and further from land than was customary 

 a few years ago, have opened a new question, namely, — what is to be 

 understood by the term " British," as applied to the marine fauna and 



