REPORT OX THE FORAMIXIFERA. 
531 
Vaginulina legumen , var. ar quota, nov. (PL CXIV. fig. 13). 
Over a considerable area of the North Atlantic, at depths of less than 1000 fathoms, 
there occurs a variety of Vaginulina legumen characterised primarily by its peculiar 
arched contour and its very large dimensions. The test is sometimes half an inch in 
length and proportionately broad ; it is quite smooth externally, and the septa, especially 
in very large specimens, are often scarcely visible, owing to the thickness and opacity of 
the shell-wall. 
This variety is one of a series, of which the shell figured by Parker and Jones under 
the name Marginulina lituus (Phil. Trans., vol. civ., pi. xiii. fig. 14, a.b.) exemplifies 
another stage, connecting the typical Vaginulince with Cristellaria compressa and the 
allied forms. 
Vaginulina spinigera, H. B. Brady (PI. LXVII. figs. 13, 14). 
Marginulina, sp., "WTiiteaves, 1872, Report Brit. Assoc., Brighton Meeting, Trans., p. 144. 
Vaginulina spinigera, Brady, 1881, Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., vol. xxi., X. S., p. 63. 
Test short and broad, as compared with typical specimens of Vaginulina legumen ; 
compressed and somewhat tapering ; terminating at the primordial end in two (rarely 
three or more) long stout spines, one of which is usually in a line with the main axis 
of the shell, whilst the others radiate at various angles. Length of the shell without 
the spines, about -^th inch (3 '6 mm.), the spines often about two-thirds as long, or even 
occasionally as long as the body of the test. 
Mr. Whiteaves has accurately described this striking Foraminifer ( loc . cit.), referring it 
to the genus Marginulina, but without giving it a specific name. The name Marginulina 
spinosa appears in one of the lists of the marine fauna of the coast of Norway published 
by the late Prof. M. Sars, 1 but as it is unaccompanied by either description or figure it 
can only be surmised that it may possibly be intended for the same form. With refer- 
ence to the generic affinity of the species it may be observed that the test is always a good 
deal compressed, and therefore so far as the distinction between Vaginulina and Marginu- 
lina is of any value, the species belongs to the former rather than the latter genus. 
Vaginulina spinigera is not uncommon in the North Atlantic, north of lat. 45° N., 
at depths ranging from 100 to 1200 fathoms. In the Challenger collections it is exceed- 
ingly rare, but single specimens have been obtained from three Stations, namely : — off 
the coast of South America, near Pernambuco, 675 fathoms; off Sydney, New South 
Wales, 410 fathoms; and off the Ki Islands, 580 fathoms. 
1 Vidensk.-Selsk. Forliandlinger, 1868, p. 248. 
