GISSING : FLORA OF WAKEFIELD. 269 



their stately heads and fallen back into ruin and decay. These tiny 

 homes of creatures long since dead preserve all the beauty and 

 perfection of their pristine state. We have reason to believe that 

 at the bottom of the ocean fresh strata are being built up by the remains of 

 creatures which belong to the same order as those which compose the Chalk 

 Hills around us. These Zoophytes are named Foraminifera, or chambered 

 shells, on acconnt of the form and character of the shells. The inhabitant 

 belongs to the lowest developement of animal life. Its body is very 

 similar to soft gelatine. The name by which its substance is desig- 

 nated is sarcode. It is lil^e a mass of granular matter without any 

 tunic or outer covering to hold it together. When it is about to 

 move, it has power to develope a slender thread-like filamcBt, which can be 

 absorbed again into the granular mass. When it feeds it simply envelopes its 

 food with the substance of which it is composed, and receives it into the 

 centre of the living jelly ; when all nourishment is extracted the mass opens 

 . again and execrates that which is not digested or absorbed. Has it sensation 

 —has it volition 1 We think not So far as our observation can discern, there 

 is feeling without ' nerve, locomotion without limbs, action without muscle, 

 eating without a mouth, digestion without a stomach, and it builds up its own 

 home without exertion. 



MATEEIALS EOE A FLOEA OF WAKEFIELD AND ITS 



KEIGHBOUEHOOD. 



By T. W. Gissing. 



(Continued from page 252. j 

 Order— LILIACE^. 



Agraphis. Linh. Blue Bell. 

 A. nutans, Link. Wild Hyacinth, or Blue Bell. P. April — July. Com- 

 mon. The variety with white flotvers, is occasionally found. 



Allium. Zinn. Garlic. 

 A. ursinum, L. Broad-leaved Garlic, or Eamsons. P. April — June. 

 Frequent. 



