The Tudor Specimen of Eozoon

Abstract

IN reference to the remarks made by Sir J. W. Dawson (NATURE, March 17, p. 461) on my paper on the Tudor specimen of Eozoon (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. xlvii. pp. 348–55), I should like to say that the whole point of that paper was that it was based on Sir J. W. Dawson's original type. The figure of this specimen has been repeatedly republished by Sir J. W. Dawson, and, in the absence of illustrations or details of other specimens from Tudor, upon its evidence alone rests the asserted occurrence of Eozoon in the Tudor limestone, and the great claims based thereupon. The value of other specimens from this locality was not rated very highly by Sir J. W. Dawson so recently as September 1888, when he remarked, "Without additional specimens,¹ and in the case of creatures so variable as the Foraminifera, it would be rash to decide whether the differences above noted¹ are of specific value.”² I may add that I have recently seen the specimens of Tudor limestone exhibited in the Peter Redpath Museum, and my estimate of their value coincides exactly with that of Sir J. W. Dawson in 1888. As Sir J. W. Dawson most kindly promises his assistance to other workers, perhaps he would submit to some of them any specimens from Tudor which he regards as more conclusive than his original type.