Note 69 — Chapter VI
Reading edition
As the term Infusorial-earth must be abandoned, it will be convenient to substitute a name simply expressive of the nature of the most abundant organisms that enter into the composition of these deposits: that of Microphyta, or Microphytes, (from μικρος, mikros, small, and φυτον, phyton, a plant), signifying very minute vegetables, may perhaps be admissible: in this sense the word microphytal is employed in these pages.