REPORT ON THE FORAMINIFERA. 
503 
abnormally large primordial chamber ; whilst Nodosaria approximata differs only in its 
greater length and larger number of segments. Characters like these cannot be accepted as 
valid zoological distinctions, on any principle short of naming each individual specimen. 
In the recent condition Nodosaria plebeia is rare, but it has been found with allied 
forms in the North Atlantic, at a depth of 435 fathoms. 
As a fossil it occurs in the Middle Lias and in the Chalk, as well as in certain deposits 
of Tertiary age. 
Nodosaria (D.) solnta, Reuss (PI. LXII. figs. 13-16 ; — var. PI. LXIV. fig. 28). 
Dentalina oligostegia, Reuss, 1850, Haidinger’s Naturw. Abhandl., vol. iv. p. 25, pi. ii. fig. 10. 
„ lilli , Id. Ibid. p. 25, pi. ii. fig. 11. 
„ soluta , Reuss, 1851, Zeitschr. d. deutsch. geol. Gesellsck, vol. iii. p. 60, pi. iii. fig. 4, a.b. 
„ globifera, Reuss, 1855, Sitzungsb. d. k. Ak. Wiss. Wien, vol. xviii. p. 223, pi. i, 
fig. 3. 
Nodosaria soluta, Bornemann, 1855, Zeitschr. d. deutsch. geol. Gesellsck, vol. vii. p. 322, pL xii. 
fig. 12. 
Dentalina globuligera, Neugeboren, 1856, Denkschr. d. k. Akad. Wiss. Wien, vol. xii. p. 81, pi. ii. 
fig. 10. 
Nodosaria ovularis, Costa, 1857, Mem. Accad. Sci. Napoli, vol. ii. p. 141, pi. i. figs. 8, 9. 
Dentalina distincta, Reuss, 1860, Sitzungsb. d. k. Ak. Wiss. Wien, vol. xl. p. 184, pi. ii. fig. 5. 
„ catenida, Id. Ibid. p. 185, pi. iii. fig. 6. 
„ discrejoans, Id. Ibid. p. 184, pi. iii. fig. 7. 
Dentalina soluta, Stache, 1864, Novara-Exped., geol. Theil, vol. i., Palaont., p. 203, pi. xxii. 
fig. 29. 
Nodosaria ( D .) grandis, Reuss, 1865, Denkschr. d. k. Akad. Wiss. Wien, vol. xxv. p. 131, pi. i. 
figs. 26-28. 
„ „ soluta, Id. Ibid. p. 131, pi. ii. figs. 4-8. 
,, „ guttifera, Parker and Jones, 1865, Phil. Trans., vol. civ. p. 343, pi. xiii. fig. 11. 
Dentalina soluta, Hantken, 1875, Mitth. Jahrb. d. k. ung. geol. Anstalt., vol. iv. p. 29, pi. ii. 
figs. 2, 14. 
Nodosaria soluta is on the whole the most typical representative of a group of 
Nodosarice characterised by large globular segments of nearly equal size. The segments 
are comparatively few in number, usually from three to five, but occasionally as many as 
eight ; the primordial chamber is often relatively large, and nearly always mucronate. 
The shell is sometimes a good deal bent, but more often nearly straight ; it varies in 
magnitude from ^Wth to ^th inch ( 1 to 5 mm. ) and in rare cases attains a length of lyd 
inch (8 '4 mm.), or even more. The presence or absence of the terminal mucro and other 
quite unimportant details have been made the ground of distinction in most of the forms 
enumerated in the synonymy. The figures given in PI. LXII. sufficiently illustrate the 
general characters of the species ; the specimen represented in PI. LXIV. fig. 28, exhibits 
very faint superficial striae on the basal aspect of the segments. 
Nodosaria soluta is not uncommon in the North Atlantic, at depths ranging from 300 
