ON THE LIFE-HISTORY OF THE FORAMINIFERA. Ill 



evidence, as to the nature of these bodies which he took for the 

 young, appears however to be less convincing. 



In 1860, M. ScHULTZE described (40) the production of 

 young in a species of Rotalina, closely allied to R. nitida, 

 Williamson, which had been kept for about a year-and-a-half 

 in an aquarium. The young consisted of three chambers of 

 which the first was the largest, measuring 25-34 fi. He states 

 that the central chamber of the parent shell was of the same 

 size as that of the young. 



In 1861, Strethill Wright (45) recorded his observation 

 of two large specimens of Spirillina vivipara, Ehrb., surrounded 

 by multitudes of very small ones ; and within one of the large 

 ones three small living SpirilliTwe existed. Ehrenberg (11) 

 had previously described and figured a specimen of this species 

 containing two young shells near the mouth. In his figure, the 

 central part of the coil of the young is represented of the same 

 size as that of the parent. In the same paper, Wright 

 described a specimen of Gromia, partly filled with a "milky 

 matter," which was found to consist of "large active molecules, 

 like spermatozoa, in which there was no mistaking the charac- 

 teristic movement." 



In the same year. Carter (10) called attention to the 

 existence of spherules in the shells of fossil Foraminifera 

 belonging to the following forms : Nummulites, Orbitoides, 

 Orbitolites mantelli, OrUtolina lenticularis, and Alveolina 

 elliptica. He considered that there could be "no reasonable 

 doubt" that they were "propagative agents." 



In 1865, Semper (43) sent home a short notice of a speci- 

 men collected on the reefs of the Pelew Islands, and referred by 

 him to the genus Nummulites. As Butschli points out ((6), 

 p. 141), and as Semper's figures clearly show, the specimen was 

 not a Nummulite, but one of the simple forms of the genus 

 Orbitolites. The peripheral chambers are described as larger 

 than those in the interior of the disc, and each contained a 

 young individual invested by a shell, and consisting of a central 

 chamber, and a second chamber surrounding it. 



In 1875, Schlxjmberger (32) described two specimens of 



12—2 



