§7. 



ANIMALCULES IN FLINT. 



303 



cephalopoda in clay, and the capsule of the eye and mem- 

 branes of the stomach in certain fishes of the chalk.* In 

 the flints such specimens are by no means rare, and from 

 the semi-transparency of that mineral, are easily detected 

 under the microscope. The annexed figure (Lign. 51) 



Lign. 51. — The shell of a rotalia, containing the fossilized remains of 

 the body of the animal; in flint (highly magnified).^ 



represents the body of a Rotalia, in its shell, imbedded in 

 flint ; the original is invisible to the naked eye, but under 

 a good microscope its structure is beautifully defined ; the 



* I would refer the general reader, who is not conversant with the 

 various conditions in which the remains of vegetables and animals 

 occur in the mineral kingdom, according to the circumstances under 

 which they were originally imbedded, and the chemical changes 

 they may have subsequently undergone, to my remarks "On theNature 

 of Fossils or Organic Remains," Medals of Creation, vol. i. chap. iii. 

 See also " Instructions for the collecting of Fossils" vol. ii. p. 885. 



f Specimens of the Eotalias, Xanthidia, and other minute fossil 

 organisms of the chalk and flint, may be obtained of Mr. Topping, 

 the well-known microscopic artist, No. 1, York Place, Pentonville Hill, 

 London. See Medals of Creation, vol. i. pp. 78, 244, for " Instructions 

 how to prepare Fossils for the Microscope ." 



