10 
ZOOLOGY, 
called Foraminifera {JL^Ltm^ for amen , a hole or aperture; 
f evens, bearing). 
In some forms, as the fossil Nuwmulites, the chambers 
are numerous and regular, the shells being flat and consist- 
ing of eight coils situated in the same plane. A recent 
species of Foraminifer found at Borneo measures more 
than two inches in diameter, while a common form on the 
Florida reefs which is swallowed in large quantities by the 
Holothuriay or sea-cucumber, measures about one fifth of 
Fig. 5.—Rotalia. A Rhizopod, showing the pseudopodia. 
an inch in diameter. Most of our native species are much 
more minute. The EozooJi, so-called, is supposed by some 
to be a Foraminifer, but others regard it as of mineral ori- 
gin. These Foraminifera float in calm weather on the sur- 
face of the sea, and when they die their shells slowly sink 
to the bottom. They are exceedingly abundant, and the 
shells at the bottom accumulate in such quantities as to 
make a gray mud or ooze forming the bottom of the ocean 
at great depths: this soft^ deep mud is called GloMgerina 
