530 
THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
Nodosarice by its compressed form and broader outline, as well as by its marginal aperture, 
and from the elongate Cristellarice by the absence of spiral arrangement in its very early 
segments. 
No good end appears to be gained by the retention of Defrance’s genus Plcmularia. 
The term, as employed by d’Orbigny, Cornuel, and others, included a number of complanate 
Nodosarince, differing from the more typical Vaginulince chiefly, if not solely, in their 
greater degree of lateral compression ; together with a few forms with spiral commencement, 
more properly classed amongst Cristellarice. 
The genus Vaginulina is very widely distributed. In one form or other it is met 
with in all the great oceans, in the Mediterranean, and in the Adriatic ; but it is only in 
the North Atlantic that it is a prevailing type. Its geological range extends as far back 
as the Upper Trias ; it is common in the Lias and Oolite, and has been found in marine 
sedimentary rocks of almost every succeeding age to the present time. 
Vaginulina legumen, Linne, sp. (PI. LXYI. figs. 13-15). 
Nautilus legumen, Linne, 1758, Syst. Nat., 10th. ed., p. 711, No. 248; — 1767, 12th ed.,p. 1164, 
No. 288. 
Nautilus (( h'thoceras ) leguminiformis, Batsch, 1791, Conchyl. des Seesandes, No. 8, pi. iii. 
fig. 8, a. 
Vaginulina legumen, d’Orhigny, 1826, Ann. Sci. Nat., vol. vii. p. 257, No. 2. 
Vaginulina laevigata, Roemer, 1838, Neues Jahrb. fur Min. &c., p. 383, pi. iii. fig. 11. 
Dentalina legumen, Williamson, 1858, Rec. For. Gt. Br., p. 21, pi. ii. fig. 45. 
Vaginulina legumen, Jones, Parker, and Brady, 1866, Monogr. Foram. Crag., p. 64, pi. iv. fig. 9. 
It appears best to accept the earliest specific appellation, that used by Linne in the 
“ Systema Naturae,” for the typical smooth forms of the genus. It is employed in this 
sense by Williamson, and also apparently by d’Orbigny, who attributes to a distinct 
species, Vaginulina elegans, the varieties which have limbate sutures. With this limita- 
tion, Vagimdina legumen is characterised by the nearly straight, pod-like contour of the 
test, and the non-spiral arrangement of the segments. Individual specimens differ 
amongst themselves in their relative length, width, and degree of compression ; in other 
respects they present tolerably uniform features. The septa are often thick and 
transparent, without being limbate externally. It is impossible to draw any definite line 
of separation between the smooth Vagimdince and the ensiform varieties of Cristellaria. 
Vaginulina legumen is a cosmopolitan species, living at every depth down to 2000 
fathoms or more. It is commonest in shallow water, the smooth forms being often 
associated with the limbate and costate varieties. 
In the fossil condition it occurs as far back as the Trias ; it is found also in the Lias, 
and, associated with other Nodosarince, in many later deposits of Secondary and Tertiary 
