_Ovulites._ Figs. 33, K, L, and 35, F. In his Natural History of Invertebrate Animals, Lamarck described some small oval bodies from the Calcaire Grossier (Eocene) of the Paris basin under the name of _Ovulites_. He defined them as follows:—“Polypier pierreux, libre, ovuliforme ou cylindracé, creux intérieurement, souvent percé aux deux bouts. Pores très petits, régulièrement disposés à la surface[286].” [Illustration: FIG. 33. A and B, _Cymopolia barbata_ (L.); A, transverse section of the calcareous cylinder. B, verticillate branches and sporangium after removal of the calcareous matrix (A and B after Munier-Chalmas). C and D, _Acicularia Andrussowi_ Solms (C, after Andrussowi; D, after Solms). E, _Acicularia Miocenica_ Reuss; section of a spicula (after Reuss). F and G, _Acicularia sp._ (after Carpenter), F × 40; G × 20. H, _Acicularia Schencki_ (Möb.) (after Solms). I, _Acetabularia Mediterranea_ Lamx.; section of the cap (after Falkenberg). K and L, _Ovulites margaritula_ (Lam.) (after Munier-Chalmas); K slightly enlarged; L, a piece of the thallus more highly magnified. M, _Cymopolia barbata_ (L.) (after Ellis, nat. size). N, _C. barbata_ (L.); the surface of the thallus; magnified. O, _Penicillus pyramidalis_ (Lamx.) (after Lamouroux, nat. size).] The specimens are referred to two species, _Ovulites margaritula_ and _O. elongata_. By some subsequent writers[287] these calcareous fossils, like miniature birds’ eggs with a hole at either end, were included among the Zoophytes. Carpenter and others afterwards referred _Ovulites_ to the Foraminifera, and compared the genus with Lagena[288]. The single specimens of _Ovulites_ have a length of 2–6 mm. At each end there is usually a fairly large and somewhat irregular hole (fig. 35, F), and in some rarer cases there may be two apertures at the broader end of an Ovulite. A good example of _Ovulites margaritula_ with two pores at the broader end is figured by Michelin[289]. The surface of the shell when seen under a low magnifying power appears to be covered over with regularly arranged circular pores, which are the external openings of fine canals (fig. 33, L).