Foraminiferous Limestone of New Zealand.--"On the eastern coast of the Middle Island of New Zealand, to the north of Otago, strata of yellow and fawn-coloured limestone appear on the surface at Ototara, and continue to Kakaunui. This rock is generally friable and porous; it contains terebratulæ, spines and cases of echinoderms, pseudo-belemnites, teeth of sharks, &c. A microscopical examination shows it to be in a great part composed of an aggregation of very small polythalamia."[339] The specimens of the Ototara limestone received from my son, are very rich in minute corals and shells, and foraminifera of the European cretaceous type: species of Rotalia, Cristellaria, Globigerina, Textularia, Rosalina, Nodosaria, Dentalina, &c. Among them are two forms which occur at Charing: namely, _Rosalina Lorneiana_, _Lign. 109, fig. 5_, and Textularia elongata: of the latter a specimen in flint is figured, _Lign. 119, fig. 3_. The soft parts of Rotaliæ are preserved in the Ototara limestone, as in our chalk. [339] Notes on the Geological Structure of the Middle Island of New Zealand, by Walter Mantell, Esq. of Wellington. 1848. There are likewise, as at Charing, cases of Entomostracæ of the genera _Basidia_ and _Cythereis_.[340] [340] See Geol. Journal, vol. vi. p. 339. pl. xxix. The assemblage of fossil remains in the Ototara rock has decidedly a cretaceous aspect, but till the geological position of the strata in relation to the other formations of the Island is determined, it would be premature to regard these limestones as the equivalents in time of the Chalk formations of Europe.[341] [341] A list of the Ototaran fossils collected by Mr. Walter Mantell, is given in Geol. Journal, vol. vi. p. 329. Tertiary Foraminifera.--The marine tertiary deposits which contain foraminifera in abundance, are so numerous, that it is unnecessary to particularize any. The sands of the Paris basin in some localities are so full of microscopic forms, that a cubic inch of the mass contains sixty thousand. The friable calcareous strata at Grignon are a loose aggregate of the shells of foraminifera and minute mollusks; and as the fossil shells from that locality are very common, and generally filled with debris, the student will have no difficulty in obtaining specimens for examination. The tertiary argillaceous deposits of England are less rich in foraminifera than the arenaceous; but the usual types occur in the London Clay, at Highgate, Clapham Common, Bracklesham Bay, &c. The Eocene marls of the United States are rich in foraminifera. [Sidenote: FORAMINIFERA OF THE FENS.]