HA RD WICKE ' S S CIENCE- G SSI P. 



*9 



Professor Huxley and others made powerful speeches. 

 The association is about to extend its sphere of 

 agitation to Liverpool, Glasgow, Newcastle, and 

 other large towns. 



Mr. Goschen's Presidential Address to the Statis- 

 tical Society on December 6th, obtained much public 

 attention. His statistical inferences are most valu- 

 able at the present time. 



The Howietoun Fishery records the successful 

 exportation of salmon ova to New Zealand, viz. : 

 One hundred and thirty-five thousand in the S.S. 

 Kaikoura, three hundred and sixteen thousand in 

 the S.S. Doric, and one hundred and twenty-five 

 thousand in the S.S. Tongariro, making five hundred 

 and seventy-six thousand salmon ova, which were 

 obtained from the Forth, Tay, and Tweed Districts. 

 The whole of the consignments arrived in good 

 condition. The American land-locked salmon {S. 

 sebago) and the rainbow trout (S. irideus) have done 

 well during the past season, but did not spawn last 

 spring. It is hoped, however, they will do so next. 

 The cross between S. levenensis and S. salar $ proved 

 fertile last winter and has been re-crossed with 

 levenensis — thus : S. levenensis has been crossed by 

 (S. levenensis X S. salar g) <j, and produced the 

 largest fry at present in the Fishery ; and (S. levenensis 

 X S. salar parr <$ ) has been crossed by S. levenensis <$ , 

 the produce being fair fry. Thus it now appears 

 probable that trout may be improved in size by the in- 

 troduction of salmon blood without sacrificing fertility. 



A "Flora of Hertfordshire " is announced. It 

 is by the late A. R. Pryor, and will be edited for the 

 Hertfordshire Nat. Hist. [Society, by Mr. B. D. 

 Jackson, Secretary of the Linnean Society, with an 

 Introduction on the geology, climate, botanical 

 history, &c, of the county, by Mr. John Hopkinson, 

 F.G.S., and the editor. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Nobert's BANDS. — Ihavea slide of Nobert's bands, 

 and I find it is ruled to fifteen bands. Can any 

 reader tell me the distance between the lines of the 

 fifteen band slides ? — Micro. 



Knock's Slides. — We have received sketch 17 of 

 Mr. Enoch's famous Entomological Studies. It is 

 the only authentic drawing of the notable Hessian 

 Fly, from exact measurement. Accompanying it is 

 sketch 18 of the "Fairy Fly " {Camptoptera papaveris), 

 an exquisite object under the microscope. 



Another Evening at the Royal Micro- 

 scopical Society.— The " Scientific Evening" of 

 the Royal Microscopical Society, held on the 23rd 

 November, in the Library of King's College, was a 

 great success. The most important exhibit was the 

 display, by Dr. Crookshank, of a series of micropho- 



tographs of many kinds of Bacteria. These were- 

 shown in the Doctor's Laboratory, by means of the 

 Oxyhydrogen lantern. Dr. Crookshank was very 

 successful in his demonstration, which had a two-fold 

 object. Firstly, to show how capable photography 

 is, to depict these delicate organisms ; and the value 

 such results possess, in the facility for demonstrating 

 their portraits to numerous students in a class, with 

 absolute fidelity ; and, secondly, to show, that, 

 although many persons believe the various Bacterio- 

 logical forms to be all alike, more or less ; yet, the 

 fact is, when sufficiently high magnification is em- 

 ployed, as in the case of these photographs : it is 

 clearly seen that each bacteriological form is quite 

 specifically distinct ; and no two forms seem to be 

 quite alike. The various species seem to possess 

 almost as much individuality of character as the 

 various seeds of plants, when placed under the 

 microscope. The lecture, and the examination of the 

 objects and apparatus, in the Doctor's laboratory, 

 proved most instructive and interesting. In the 

 library a great number of most interesting displays 

 were made. Mr. Michael, the much-loved President 

 of the Quekett Club, exhibited a rare species of 

 Phalangium. The cyclosis in vallisneria was well 

 shown by Mr. Ingpen, under an Apochromatic quarter- 

 inch objective. Messrs. Beck had a good display. 

 Powell and Lealand's exhibit, as usual, was superb. 

 In one microscope they were giving results upon 

 Ampliipleura pellueida, with the analyser of the 

 Polariscope placed over the eye-piece. There was 

 a collection of Polyzoa shown by Mr. Hardy : 

 Mr. Hailes was showing objects, chiefly Foraminifera, 

 under a Stephenson's binocular. Mr. Dadswell was 

 showing the cyclosis in a bulblet of Chara (a mar- 

 vellous sight, one I had never before seen) : also, 

 some splendid specimens of " Pond Life," notably a 

 very large Amceba prineeps, of unusual activity. Mr. 

 E. T. Browne made quite a sensation with an 

 abundant collection of his new find, Orthesia insignis^ 

 of all sizes and ages, alive in a cork cell under a four- 

 inch object-glass. These insects were the admiration of 

 everybody. To most persons present, they were the. 

 greatest novelty in the room. Then there was an< 

 exhibition by another gentleman of a living house-fly, 

 regaling itself with sugar. Mr. Rousselet had a fine 

 Floscularia ornata. Messrs. Watson had some re- 

 markably beautiful slides of insects' eggs, diatoms, &c. 

 Mr. Freeman showed a collection of consecutive 

 sections of insects, prepared by Mr. Underhill, whose 

 skill in this direction is wonderful. Mr. Fitch had a 

 lot of clever dissections of spiders. Mr. Nelson was 

 showing Ampliipleura pellueida in the manner in 

 which he only can. Mr. Enock exhibited the Hessian 

 Fly, and a lot of his clever sketches of many minute 

 Hymenopterous insects. Baker's table, as usual, had 

 a fine display. The new apochromatic lenses, and 

 what they can be made to show, were well illustrated. 

 The well-known podura scale was splendidly shown. 



