.February ll, 1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
647 
jplace to place, but remains perfectly stationary under 
the microscope ; but you will see the constant action 
■ of these long processes, and the continual circulation 
of little granules inside, which seem to move along 
one side and then back along the other. Sometimes 
.two processes meet, and the granules pass along the 
one and back along the other. 
Both these are freshwater forms, which there is no 
difficulty in procuring, if you persevere in your 
search; but I will now proceed briefly to indicate 
some of the marine forms and show you wherein the 
difference consists. The marine forms, such as that 
which forms the GlobU/erina- shell, live by putting 
out threads of extreme delicacy through minute aper¬ 
tures in their shells. This Ghbujerina- shell is 
studded all over with extremely minute apertures, 
about the sdoo or e o\»o part of an inch in diameter; 
in some of the Nummiilites the diameter is less than 
inch, yet through these there pass out these 
exceedingly delicate threads, which extend them¬ 
selves around the shell. I have lately succeeded in 
getting some of these types with the threads ex¬ 
tended, and I have been able to mount them as pre¬ 
parations, and very beautiful objects they make. 
These threads form a sort of animated spider’s web ; 
they cannot take in anything large, as you see, by 
the fact that they come out of these minute aper¬ 
tures, but they extend, and then they coalesce with 
•one another sometimes, which shows that there is no 
membrane upon them; they are simply nervous 
threads, like those spun from a spider’s web. They 
coalesce occasionally into a mass, which forms a 
fresh centre of departure, and in this way particles 
of extreme minuteness are continually being en- 
irapped. But what is more, and I believe that is the 
usual mode of nourishment, it presents a very large 
and extended surface of sarcode, which is, I believe, 
always absorbing from the sea-water the protoplasm 
which is diffused through it, in a very dilute condi¬ 
tion. For our researches, of which I gave an account 
to the Royal Society last year (and chemical re¬ 
search has also tended to prove the same tiling), in¬ 
dicate that the whole mass of sea-water is to be con¬ 
sidered as a sort of very weak broth; that is to say, 
in every gallon of sea-water there is so much proto¬ 
plasm diffused, and that protoplasm is the result 
of the surface life of animals and plants. For in¬ 
stance, take the great Sargassa Sea, which lies in 
the inner circle of the Gulf Stream, the circle around 
which the Gulf Stream curves : in that sea there is 
an immense amount of floating seaweed, which is 
always giving oft' to the water this sort of gelatinous 
exudation; and whereas it was formerly supposed 
that the organic matter, which my friend Dr. 
Franklaiul found in the water around our own 
•coasts, was merely the result of the washing down 
ol the organic matter in rivers, and from the shore- 
life of shells, crabs, and so on,—we find that water 
brought up from the greatest depths in mid-ocean 
contains just the same proportion of organic matter 
as the surface water near to our own shores. There 
is evidence, therefore, of the universal diffusion of 
elementary organic matter, so to speak, throughout 
the ocean. At the bottom of the ocean no vegeta¬ 
tion can exist, because there is no light, none, at 
least, that can produce vegetation, and we find no 
evidence of vegetative action; and you all know, I 
presume, that these organic compounds all begin in 
the first instance with vegetative life ; and, therefore, 
cur belief is that it is the vegetative and animated 
life on the surface which is constantly giving off to 
the sea this protoplasmic substance that is thus 
diffused through it, and becomes the food of the 
immense mass of life at the bottom, which again 
supports animals of much higher organization. 
For instance, at these great depths we found star¬ 
fish of very high forms, which had their stomachs 
filled with Globicjcrime. Given Globigeruus, anything 
else can live; but how do the Globigerince live? Our 
theory is, that they and all other animals of that 
kind living at great depths are supported by this 
wonderful protoplasmic substance present in the 
water in contact with it, which it is constantly ab ¬ 
sorbing and turning into sarcode. 
I may here just refer to the diagrams on the wall, 
which represent some of the more remarkable forms 
we have met with, composed of sand grains glued 
together and arranged in many cases, as you see, 
with the most extraordinary regularity and finish. 
One, you see, is in a tri-radiate form, the rays being 
always straight; but sometimes there are four, and 
sometimes one is aborted. These are formed of sand 
cemented together with phosphate of iron. I have 
dissolved several of them in a rather strong solution 
of nitric acid to separate the sand grains; and my 
friend Professor Williamson has been kind enough 
to determine that the solution contains phosphoric 
acid and iron. One of these affords a very interest¬ 
ing illustration of a fossil type, which I worked at 
two or three years ago in conjunction with Mr. 
Brady, of Newcastle, with reference to which we 
contributed a paper to the ‘ Philosophical Transac¬ 
tions.’ It is one of the large fossil foraminifera, the 
larger forms of which, approaching the size of a 
small cricket ball, are found not only in the green¬ 
sand near Cambridge, but also in the Isle of Wight. 
My friend Mr. Brady had in his possession some 
remarkable fossils of the same kind, although grow¬ 
ing on a different plan, wliicli were brought by the 
late Mr. Loftus from the neighbourhood of Persia ; 
they are now deposited in the Museum at Newcastle. 
These, though framed on a different geometrical 
plan—one being built up of concentric spheres, while 
the other is a spiral winding round a long axis—are 
essentially the same in their structure, and are built 
up of sand grains, as represented in the diagram. 
Mr. Brady’s Loftusia would be just the same if, in¬ 
stead of being a flat spire, it was elongated. Some 
of the specimens I have myself examined have been 
two and a half inches long, and there is one in the 
British Museum nearly three inches. This will give 
you some idea of the enormous size these creatures 
attained in former periods. 
Now, in conclusion, I will briefly direct your at¬ 
tention to an example of foraminiferal structure, 
which is probably the most interesting of any yet 
revealed to us, viz. the very wonderful Eozouti Cana- 
dense, of which I have a very beautiful specimen in 
my hand. This is found in what are called the 
Laurentian rocks, in Canada. The Laurentian for¬ 
mation is the earliest kind of stratified rocks at pre¬ 
sent known. I say at present, because Sir William 
Logan, by whom it has been examined and de¬ 
scribed, says it contains pebbles of older rocks, and 
that he does not at all despair of discovering some 
older state of stratified rocks. At present, however, 
it is the oldest known, just as the Silurian strata of 
Sir Roderick Murchison were twenty or twenty-five 
years ago. Of the relative position of these Lauren¬ 
tian rocks you may judge when I tell you that they 
