Excerpt from A Monograph of the Entomostraca of the Cretaceous Formation of England Of the numerous microscopic organisms afforded by the disintegration of the Oolitic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary strata, whether calcareous, argillaceous, or sandy, the Polythalamia and the Entomostraca are by far the most abundant. The latter attract observation by their larger relative size, but have not been hitherto very extensively described. Our present observations are confined to the Entomostraca of the Cretaceous Formation, comprising the Chalk, Chalk-marl, Gault, and Greensand. The strata that have afforded the species herein described are the greensand beds of Blackdown (siliceous), of Warminster (calcareous), and of Farringdon (arenaceous); the Speeton Clay; the Gault of Folkstone and of Leacon Hill, near Charing; the Grey Chalk and Chalk-marl of Dover; the Cretaceous Detritus of Charing; the Red Chalk of Flamborough; and the common White Chalk of the south-east of England. In the above-mentioned strata these little fossils lie about irregularly in all directions, and are not found in layers such as are often formed by the Entomostraca of the Wealden and Tertiary beds; many are broken or eroded, and some bear evidence of having been crushed whilst in a recent state. The animal matter of the carapace is well preserved in the Gault specimens, and more or less so in others; individuals bearing a trace of transparency and of original colouring occur, but are extremely rare, in the Chalk; whilst in the Gault a large proportion remains transparent. The specimens generally occur as separate valves, but perfect carapaces are not unfrequently found, the latter condition being dependent upon the strength of the hinge attachment, which varies considerably in different species. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.