﻿HISTORY OF OBSERVATIONS. 



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the labours of Rouillier and Vosinsky and Ehrenberg. He describes, however, four new 

 species, the precise value of which it is very difficult to arrive at. It is to be regretted 

 that there is now no chance of determining the doubtful forms by a comparison of 

 specimens, for M. d'Eichwald states, in a letter to the author, that there were originally 

 very few of them, and what there were have long since been given away and lost sight of. 



In 1856 Prof. James Hall, of Albany, N. Y., described a foraminifer from the 

 Carboniferous Limestone of Indiana and Illinois under the name Botalia Baileyi. On 

 examination the morphological characters of this species are found to be identical with those 

 of Endothyra Bowmani, though the individual specimens are, on the average, of much 

 larger dimensions, and are better developed than any hitherto met with on this side of the 

 Atlantic. The difference, however, is only such as may be found in almost every species, 

 and is to be looked upon as the result of more or less favorable conditions of growth, 

 rather than as the expression of any more important zoological distinction. 



In 1861 Dr. Geinitz, with the help of Prof. Reuss and Dr. Richter, summarised 

 the Eoraminifera of the Permian system of Central Germany, in his great memoir on the 

 Dyas. He figures in all thirteen species, and of these seven are regarded as new to 

 seience, namely, five Nodosaria and two Textularia. The minuteness and indistinctness 

 of several of the figures are a great drawback to their usefulness, and in some instances 

 leave one really in doubt as to what they are intended to represent. In 1867 the 

 literature of the microzoa of the Zechstein formation received a further accession in a 

 paper by Prof. E. E. Schmid, of Jena; but his drawings, so far as the Eoraminifera are 

 concerned, generally illustrate individual modifications of well-known forms rather than 

 new species or important varieties. At the same time some morphological interest 

 attaches to one or two of his figures, particularly to a non-septate Trochammina, 

 partially unrolled and irregularly sinuous in contour, named by the author Serpula filum. 



There remains but one other memoir in this division of the subject requiring notice 

 here — Messrs. Jones, Parker, and Kirkby, * On the Permian Trochammina pusilla and 

 its Allies.' This is, in point of fact, a synopsis of the Permian species of the genus 

 Trochammina with their synonymy, posted up to the date of publication — 1869 ; and as 

 such is a valuable contribution to the history of the group. 



We turn once more to the literature of the Carboniferous fauna. In 1868 Principal 

 Dawson, of Montreal, described a Nodosaria-like foraminifer from a Canadian white 

 limestone under the name Dentalina priscilla, but not without some hesitation (expressed 

 in a letter to the author) as to its generic affinity. A comparison of this little fossil with 

 some similar organisms of Carboniferous age seems to indicate that its proper place is 

 amongst the thick-shelled imperforate forms to which, for reasons that will be stated in 

 due course, the new generic term Nodosinella has been applied. 



In 1869 I essayed to prepare a list of the species of Eoraminifera, Carboniferous and 

 Liassic, collected by my friend Mr. Charles Moore, of Bath, during his researches on 

 mineral veins. A new field seemed opened by the variety of forms brought to light by 



