274 MR. H. B. BRADY ON SACCAMMINA CARTERI. 



of the test of the fossil under consideration and that of recent 

 species of the same genus or other allied arenaceous Foramini- 

 fera — a circumstance the more to be regretted as the process of 

 mineralization has also obscured the minuter structure of the 

 former so far as to prevent accurate observations on the nature 

 of the sand-grains and cement used in building its investment. 



Zoological. — To revert to the Elfhills specimens. The sub- 

 spherical bodies which constitute the mass of the rock may be 

 examined to some extent by means of sections, but far more 

 completely and accurately by washing the marly or crumbling 

 mass resulting from partial disintegration by the long-continued 

 action of air and moisture. The residue after washing this ma- 

 terial consists chiefly of the arenaceous spheres, fragments of 

 Encrinites, and a few kindred fossils. The spherical or, rather, 

 fusiform bodies average about one-eight of an inch in length, 

 and one-twelfth of an inch in transverse diameter : large speci- 

 mens may be found measuring one-sixth or even one-fifth of an 

 inch by one-ninth or one-eight of an inch, but such are of rare 

 occurrence. Sometimes they are more elongate, and extreme 

 examples have been noted in which the conjugate and transverse 

 diameters were in the proportion of three to one. The two ends 

 are usually produced and tubular, apparently for the passage of 

 sarcode stolons or pseudopodia : they are sometimes symmetri- 

 cal, but more frequently one end tapers more gradually than 

 the other : occasionally the base is rounded, and the shape is 

 completely pyriform. The question arises whether these bodies 

 represent individual animals, or to what extent they may have 

 been connected with each other when living. It is not at all 

 unusual to find on any weathered piece of the rock two segments 

 connected by a stoloniferous tube — rarely, three are found in this 

 condition — and in one or two instances four or five have been 

 noticed still retaining connexion with each other. The bulk and 

 weight of the segments and the comparative tenuity of the inter- 

 mediate processes would be sufficient to account for the separa- 

 tion into single chambers, were this less constant than it is ; but 

 there is no need to suppose that the single segment may not 



